From: Hamish McNeilly [Fairfax Dunedin Bureau Chief]
Sent: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 6:16 p.m.
To: Elizabeth Kerr
Subject: So Albert Epere on drug raid. See my earlier links
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Gang member loses gardening contract with Dunedin Council after arrested for speeding
By Hamish McNeilly Last updated 17:11, December 16 2015
A gang member has lost his contract to maintain Dunedin’s public gardens after he was arrested for racing on a state highway. In October, the Dunedin City Council awarded Mauri Kohatu Incorporated, a $52,000 trial contract to maintain some city greenspaces until June 30, 2016. […] In a statement issued late Wednesday, the council said it suspended its trial social procurement contract with Mauri Kohatu after becoming aware of Epere’s alleged offending on Monday. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75172101/gang-member-loses-gardening-contract-with-dunedin-council-after-arrested-for-speeding
Man arrested after police raid on Dunedin gang pad
By Hamish McNeilly Last updated 13:45, December 16 2015
Armed police took part in an early morning raid of a Dunedin gang house. Police raided a Pine Hill Rd property on Wednesday morning and arrested a 49-year-old man. The property was understood to be connected with Black Power. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75154505/man-arrested-after-police-raid-on-dunedin-gang-pad
█ Embarrassing for Dave Cull, Sue Bidrose, Rebecca Williams and all the uninformed Do-gooder councillors and staff at Dunedin City Council who wanted to throw ratepayers’ money at criminal gangs.
Link received from Hamish McNeilly
14/12/2015 3:32 pm (GMT+12:00)
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### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 13:51 14/12/2015 Gang member on Dunedin City Council contract arrested for driving incident
By Hamish McNeilly
A gang member who secured a $52,000 contract with the Dunedin City Council has been arrested after an alleged driving incident. Police were called by concerned motorists following reports two southbound vehicles were passing on double yellow lines south of Palmerston, about 5pm on Sunday.
The vehicles – a 2008 black Holden Commodore Clubsport and a blue 2000 Holden Commodore Berlina, each containing two adults and three children – allegedly reached speeds up to 150kmh as they passed each other.
Officers pulled over the two vehicles near the Dunedin suburb of Pine Hill, and arrested the two male drivers, aged 49 and 50. […] One of the drivers involved was understood to be Albert Epere. Read more
### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 11:41, October 13 2015 Gang member’s council contract: $37 an hour and no patches allowed
By Hamish McNeilly
A gang member will be paid $37 an hour and forbidden to wear gang regalia as part of a Dunedin City Council weed control contract. […] Black Power member Albert Epere would control weeds, litter and maintain paths at six Dunedin sites until June 30, 2016. A copy reveals the $52,000 plus GST contract was based on a 30-hour working week with a fee schedule of $37 an hour. Read more
Received from Gavin Bartle
Tue, 6 Oct 2015 at 10:51 a.m.
On 6/10/15 10:20 am, “Gavin Bartle” wrote:
Dear elected representatives, [DCC]
Today I read with horror an ODT article that DCC is channeling ratepayer funds to an active senior member of an organised criminal group.
I’m not sure what kind of game you all think your playing, but is an absolutely unacceptable use of rates money.
This man, Albert Epere, is a current and active member of a vile violent group of thugs that prey on honest Dunedin citizens, he is in no way reformed or renounced his criminal associations.
This funding must be stopped and the contract terminated, the staff who allowed this must be instructed not to be so foolish again.
From: Lee Vandervis Date: 6 October 2015 at 10:44 Subject: Re: rates money funnelled to organised crime To: Gavin Bartle
Hi Gavin.
That I agree with you, is suggested by my request for information today as below.
Kind regards,
Lee
—— Forwarded Message From: Lee Vandervis Date: Tue, 06 Oct 2015 09:29:43 +1300 To: Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham, Andrew Noone, Andrew Whiley, Chris Staynes, Doug Hall, Hilary Calvert, John Bezett, Jinty MacTavish, Kate Wilson, Lee Vandervis, Mayor Cull, Mike Lord, Neville Peat, Richard Thomson, David Benson-Pope, Aaron Hawkins Conversation: Gangster’s DCC Contract – LGOIMA requests for information Subject: Gangster’s DCC Contract – LGOIMA requests for information
Dear Sue, Sandy, and Mayor Cull,
Who made the actual decision to award a $52,500 DCC Contract to a gang leader outside of the contractual requirements specified in our DCC Procurement documents?
Will the gang leader Mr Albert Epere be contracted to do the work personally himself, or is he contractually free to ‘arrange’ others to do the actual Contract work?
Why did Councillors not get the opportunity to debate and decide on this clearly political departure from DCC Procurement process?
Have the Audit and Risk Subcommittee given their stamp of approval to this risky departure from best Contracting practice?
Please forward a copy of the full original contract awarded to Mr Epere.
Regarding Mongrel Mob and Black Power access to DCC contracts Mayor Cull is quoted by TV3 as saying “The work is on a trial basis and the gangs would have to “satisfy” the chief executive and show they were up to the job before being awarded a contract, Mr Cull says.”
What has Mr Epere, leader of Black Power, done to satisfy our CEO that he is up to the job under the terms of our Procurement and Audit and Risk procedures?
Regards,
Cr. Vandervis
—— End of Forwarded Message
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█ 6.10.15 ODT: Gang boss secures council contract
A Black Power kingpin with multiple prison stints behind him has won a $52,500 Dunedin City Council contract to maintain several areas of the city’s public land. […] The contract was signed yesterday and covers land in Opoho, St Leonards, Abbotsford, Logan Park, Caversham Bypass and Bridge St.
Albert Epere, a patched Black Power leader has served prison terms for assault and grievous bodily harm.
Rebecca Williams [DCC] said she did not know “anything about becoming a Black Power member” and confirmed the council had not looked into what it took to become a patched gang member as part of its due diligence for the contract.
Rebecca and Mad Hatter Cull with Black Power member. Douglas Field (6.10.15)
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█ 8.5.12 ODT: Five sentenced over Dunedin gang clash
With Epere, Ryan and Witehira, the judge acknowledged they had all been out of serious trouble since about 2003 and Epere and Witehira were now involved in organisations putting something back into the community. And Ryan had moved away from Dunedin and was taking steps to sort out his life.
DCC CULTURE OF ENTITLEMENT
‘Enormously disappointing’ —And Enormously Expected.
‘ONE MAN’ did it. An outright fairytale.
DOLLY didn’t, either. More to come !!
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### ODT Online Mon, 10 Aug 2015 Further cases of fraud at council
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council says the discovery of five more examples of fraud and theft inside the organisation is “enormously” disappointing. […] Details of the smaller incidents emerged last week, in response to Otago Daily Times questions, a year after the discovery of the Citifleet fraud. Read more
You are able to search by submitter or subject/topic and view the details of the submission received by the Dunedin City Council to the DRAFT Long Term Plan 2015/16-2024/25.
The submissions are listed in alphabetical order of surname first.
There is no SMALL CITY in this image.
Guess we haven’t started building yet. When we do it will take consolidated council debt to way over the existing +$600M which, of course, Mayor Liability Cull is already bleakly and ‘creatively’ responsible for.
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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Long Term Plan Consultation Document Unveiled
This item was published on 27 Mar 2015
‘Building a Great Small City’, the consultation document for the DCC’s Long Term Plan (LTP) 2015/16 – 2024/25, has been released.
Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says the LTP is designed to enable the Council to examine the bigger picture and set a strategic direction for the city covering the whole range of DCC activities. Now priorities have been proposed, the Council wants to hear from residents.
The consultation document is now available at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/ltp
Public consultation on the LTP opens on Saturday (today) and closes at 5pm on 28 April. People are encouraged to provide their feedback early and, if possible, use the online form.
A snapshot of what is proposed, presented in a map fold newsletter, will be delivered to every Dunedin household. Once consultation has started, there will be further information on the DCC website and copies of the LTP consultation document will be available at DCC facilities such as libraries and the Customer Services Agency in the Civic Centre. There will also be public workshops and LTP stands in public places and at events, with the opportunity for face-to-face discussion with Councillors. These will be held around the wider city during the consultation period.
For the first time, comments on the DCC Facebook page and tweets to @DnCityCouncil using #LTP will also be considered as feedback.
Mr Cull says, “The LTP allows us to look at the aspirations outlined in our strategy documents and how we should prioritise these over the next 10 years. This means the LTP needs to balance our financial goals, such as debt reduction, and our desire to develop Dunedin to make it a more attractive place to live and do business. Our Financial Strategy imposes a 3% rate increase limit unless there are exceptional circumstances. This is in line with the average 3% ‘cost of living’ increases faced by local government. Under current proposals, an overall 3.8% rate increase is proposed for 2015/16. The exceptional circumstances are that, in addition to our usual inflationary pressures, we have had to provide an extra $1.5 million for the Forsyth Barr Stadium and budget for losing $4.5 million of dividend from Dunedin City Holdings Limited, which owns companies on the DCC’s behalf. We have absorbed some of those costs, but cannot absorb them all. We also need to balance rate limits against a range of new proposals in the LTP which the Council believes are worth investing in. We need public input on these, plus feedback on several other projects that have been included as unfunded items, such as new aquatic facilities for Mosgiel and lighting for the University of Otago Oval.”
Amendments to the Local Government Act have changed the way LTPs are developed and consulted on with the community. Past long term plans have involved first producing a full draft plan which was then put out for public consultation and feedback. Under the new system the DCC is required to produce this consultation document which sets out the issues the city is facing and the options for managing them. Key issues include putting the Stadium on a more achievable financial footing, tackling the city’s ageing infrastructure and addressing low economic growth.
The consultation period will be followed by hearings and deliberations in May and a final LTP will be adopted by the Council in June.
A range of supporting documents and an online submission form will be available at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/ltp from 7am on Saturday (today).
Contact Dave Cull Mayor of Dunedin on 477 4000. DCC Link
With a self-imposed aim to keep rates rises to no more than 3%, the council still needed to find millions of dollars in savings each year for the next decade.
### ODT Online Wed, 25 Mar 2015 Council accused of being in denial over long-term plan
By Chris Morris
Councillors say the Dunedin City Council is in “denial” over the need to raise rates, or cut services, to plug a $68 million budget shortfall over the next decade. The claims came amid warnings from Crs Aaron Hawkins and Jinty MacTavish yesterday, as councillors met to sign off on a public consultation document summarising the council’s long-term plan. Read more
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Quelle surprise…. it’s not like these latest mumblings from Councillors on DCC budgets and projections is “News!” to the Dunedin ratepayers and residents who closely follow Council fortunes.
What IS news is the “greenie sustainables” of Greater Dunedin have finally woken up!
Is there a political split forming in Greater Dunedin? – when indeed, historically, we’ve been told by the ‘loose connection with incorporated society’ that its members have no shared policy, that their elected representatives are free to (think) and vote independently…. with some cohesion, nevertheless.
Well might Cr Lee Vandervis provide a standing ovation to Cr Aaron Hawkins’ voicing of major concerns. It was incumbent on Cr Jinty MacTavish, practically and politically… to agree with her Green Party confederate.
Interesting times. Wait for the YouTube video.
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Dunedin City Council Extraordinary Meeting 24 March 2015 at 12 noon
Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers
Agenda Item 4
ADOPTION OF DRAFT LONG TERM PLAN 2015/16 – 2024/25 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AND CONSULTATION DOCUMENT
Report from the General Manager Services and Development (Simon Pickford). Refer to pages 4.1 – 4.8.
Supporting documents and consultation document circulated separately and are also available on the Dunedin City Council website.
Reports and recommendations contained in this agenda are not to be considered as Council policy until adopted.
█ Report – Council – 24/03/2015 (PDF, 176.8 KB)
Adoption of Draft Long Term Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25 Supporting Documents and Consultation Document
█ Report – Council – 24/03/2015 (PDF, 2.8 MB)
Adoption of Draft Long Term Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25 Supporting Documents and Consultation Document
Attachment 7 – Dunedin City Council Draft Long Term Plan Consultation document for adoption 24 March 2015
█ Report – Council – 24/03/2015 (PDF, 2.4 MB)
Adoption of Draft Long Term Plan 2015/16 – 2024/25 Supporting Documents and Consultation Document
Draft Infrastructure Strategy for adoption 24 March 2015 (replaces previously issued document)
Site Admin
What if? Dunedin has received a total of 17 emails from Lee Vandervis, including two with email attachments. A further three emails have been withheld from publication due to privacy reasons, and which may be actionable.
The first batch of seven emails feature at this post, with the remaining ten emails (some repeats to different recipients as Mr Vandervis follows up with Kyle Cameron of Deloitte, responsible for the Citifleet investigation) to be added at Comments after being photographed and stitched back together to retain threads.
To be noted, this is part document proof of Cr Vandervis’ efforts from 2011 forward to elicit information on suspicion of fraud occurring at Citifleet. The emails show DCC Senior Management were aware of fraud allegations well prior to 2013/14, despite Council’s formal media statements to the contrary last year. They also support the obvious need that existed for a wider fraud investigation in regards to Council tendering processes, service contracts, traffic of car parts and tyres, staff credit card spending (by multiple available cards) and more – quite apart from disposal of at least 152 Council vehicles in the period 2003-2013, the set arbitrary window for investigation by Deloitte.
The DCC chief executive having taken a fraud complaint to Dunedin police was advised police had insufficient resources for follow up. There was then a three-month gap before police received the Deloitte investigation report commissioned by the Council. Three months is long amount of time to minimise and remove critical evidence within Council and about town. Dunedin City Council knows that. Deloitte knows that. Dunedin police know that. We can assume the Council’s insurers know that, yet they paid out $1 million in two instalments, for the ‘lost’ vehicles only [see DCC media release]. The three-month gap in itself is a suspicious if not criminal activity against Dunedin ratepayers and residents.
For more information at this website, enter the term *citifleet* in the search box at right.
Received from Lee Vandervis
Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:19 a.m.
█ Message: I have had enquiries today from members of the public regarding my initial 2011 investigation of Citifleet complaints. For the public record, I am forwarding the related emails I have on record from that period, some of which you may find interesting enough to publish.
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Batch #1 (six emails distinguished by blue subject lines and flags)
### ODT Online Tue, 17 Mar 2015 Council sets up whistleblower committee
By Eileen Goodwin
An internal audit policy adopted by the Dunedin City Council shifts responsibility to governance level, an “important change”, councillor Richard Thomson told a council meeting yesterday. […] Cr Lee Vandervis asked how easy it would be for the general public to tip off the council’s whistleblower, given he was “beginning to tire of the role, given recent events”. Read more
█ Comments not allowed at ODT Online.
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It is completely ludicrous that our little Cr Thomson is today making public comment on DCC’s new Whistleblower Policy – given Cr Thomson as chair of DCC Finance Committee has had every opportunity to treat his colleague, Cr Vandervis, the Council’s most notoriously effective Whistleblower, with all fairness and due respect but has actively failed on that count, time and time again.
What is it with Cr Thomson, our import from Southern District Health Board and former Otago District Health Board. Doesn’t the Councillor see it as his mission to relieve Dunedin Ratepayers from the living hell of the nearly unsurpassable multimillion-dollar mountain of corruption and fraudulent activity perpetuated at the Council and through its CCOs. Whitewash is not removal, Councillor.
A quietly spoken SDHB informant tells me Susie Johnstone, a chartered accountant, was wheeled in by the Health Board after the Swann fraud, for mop up. Well, Detectives, who wheeled her in and what was the nature of the mop up?
Separately, following Cr Thomson’s uptake into local body politics, Ms Johnstone was recommended for the position of independent chair of the DCC Audit and Risk Subcommittee.
The ARS committee is now to deal with Whistleblowing (no surprises there). As we have already published in previous months, via intimations of the Draft Whistleblower Policy: the DCC contact for Whistleblowers has been a Balclutha woman, whether actively.
Connections regularly multiply. The timing of Council’s announcement of its new Whistleblower Policy is sheer craziness in light of yesterday’s illegitimate farce of a conduct hearing, held at the expense of the DCC Chief Whistleblower. A woman from Balclutha was a witness at the hearing….
Rule of Thumb for DCC Whistleblowers: use outside means.
Good to see Eileen Goodwin reporting on Council business.
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### ODT Online Tue, 17 Mar 2015 Vandervis accused of ‘bullying’ behaviour
By Vaughan Elder
Dunedin City councillor Lee Vandervis’ aggression towards colleagues was slammed as unacceptable at a code of conduct hearing yesterday. The committee heard evidence relating to three complaints, two of which related to him behaving in an “aggressive” manner. […] The panel’s independent chairman, Prof Stuart Anderson, of the University of Otago’s faculty of law, noted the committee needed to look at Cr Vandervis’ intent and not whether he was correct. Read more
█ Comments allowed at ODT Online.
How many comments will be lost and deleted?
****
### ODT Online Tue, 17 Mar 2015 Councillor apologises for ‘loudness’
By Vaughan Elder
[…] In an effort to not upset people, [Cr Lee Vandervis] would no longer go to the audit and risk subcommittee – where he was accused of being aggressive towards the independent chairwoman – and make his complaints to chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose by email rather than in person. These two steps would “more” importantly stop him from being the subject of further “political back-stabbing”, he said. Read more
● For more, enter the terms *vandervis* and *citifleet* in the search box at right.
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Documents: Dunedin City Council – Standing Orders (PDF, 1019.0 KB)
The Standing Orders set out rules for the conduct meetings of the Dunedin City Council and includes the Code of Conduct for Elected Members, as adopted at the inaugural Council meeting Oct 2010.
DCC Committee Structures and Delegations Manual (PDF, 328.7 KB)
This document details the constitution of the Council, Committees and Subcommittees, and the delegations to the Chief Executive.
Received from Lee Vandervis
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 at 9:32 a.m.
█ Message: Your readers may be interested in an example of how extraordinarily difficult it often is for Councillors to get information from staff – especially if that information is about staff.
An important example is highlighted in the following email trail – important because as the original Citifleet whistleblower in 2011, I am still getting flack and having information withheld that could help to get to the bottom of DCC frauds.
Thank you for this sudden response after more than 3 months of nothing.
Further follow up LGOIMA requests are as follows;
Why has this multiple LGOIMA request not been acknowledged or decided upon within the required 21 working days?
When you say that this is “our response” who exactly has been responsible for the decisions in the response?
Are you aware that the last time I went to the ombudsman to hurry up an information request, it took several attempts and 11 months to get an answer?
Looking forward to a response by return.
Cr. Vandervis
——————————
On 11/03/15 4:03 PM, “Grace Ockwell” [DCC] wrote:
Good afternoon Lee,
Thank you for your email of 20 November 2014 and your follow-up email requesting information about the Deloitte Report on Citifleet. Your request has now been forwarded to me to process. It has been considered under the provisions of LGOIMA and the following response is provided. I have repeated your request (or parts thereof) to give context to our response.
a full copy of the original Deloitte Report on Citifleet [including all appendices] as referred to below.
The Police have yet to conclude their investigation of this matter and therefore a copy of the full Deloitte report is still withheld pursuant to section 6(a) of LGOIMA to avoid prejudicing the maintenance of the law and the detection of offences. It is also withheld pursuant to section 7(2)(a) of LGOIMA to protect the privacy of individuals.
As part of the full report from Deloittes I also wish to have, again on grey paper if necessary, the separate Deloitte investigation report and recommendations to CEO Bidrose regarding investigations into the activities of ‘certain DCC employees’. [2.10(b)]
The information provided to the CEO in relation to staff is withheld pursuant to section 7(2)(a) of LGOIMA to protect the privacy of individuals and pursuant to section 7(2)(c) as the information provided is subject to an obligation of confidence.
In addition I wish to see the Deloitte file ‘to support a complaint to the Serious Fraud Office/Police’, and any Citifleet related advice to Council’s legal advisors.
All correspondence between the Council and our legal advisors (including correspondence between Deloitte and our legal advisors on the Citifleet matter) is withheld pursuant to s 7(2)(g) of LGOIMA to protect legal professional privilege. Additionally, some but not all of the material is also withheld pursuant to section 6(a) of LGOIMA to avoid prejudicing the maintenance of the law and the detection of offences.
Finally I wish to have sent to me the electronic copy preserved by Deloitte of information that DCC controls as referred to in 2.10(a) and any associated analysis results.
The Police have not yet concluded their investigation of this matter and therefore the preserved electronic copy of information held by Deloitte which the Council controls is withheld pursuant to section 6(a) of LGOIMA to avoid prejudicing the maintenance of the law and the detection of offences. It is also withheld pursuant to section 7(2)(a) of LGOIMA to protect the privacy of individuals.
As you are aware, as we have withheld information, you have the right pursuant to section 27(3) of LGOIMA to have our decision to withhold information reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Yours sincerely
Grace Ockwell
Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council
——————————
From: Lee Vandervis Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2015 09:37:03 +1300 To: Sandy Graham [DCC], Sue Bidrose [DCC] Conversation: Further LGOIMA requests Subject: Re: Further LGOIMA requests
Dear Sandy and Sue,
Can you please update me by return on where these LGOIMA requests have progressed to?
Regards,
Cr. Vandervis
——————————
On 24/12/14 10:13 AM, “Lee Vandervis” wrote:
Dear Sandy,
Again I request a full copy of the original Deloitte Report on Citifleet [including all appendices] as referred to below.
I can accept that the full report may have to be provided on grey paper.
As part of the full report from Deloittes I also wish to have, again on grey paper if necessary, the separate Deloitte investigation report and recommendations to CEO Bidrose regarding investigations into the activities of ‘certain DCC employees’. [2.10(b)]
In addition I wish to see the Deloitte file ‘to support a complaint to the Serious Fraud Office/Police’, and any Citifleet related advice to Council’s legal advisors.
Finally I wish to have sent to me the electronic copy preserved by Deloittes of information that DCC controls as referred to in 2.10(a) and any associated analysis results.
Ratepayers have paid quarter of a million dollars for the production of this information and I wish to see all of it as a public representative in the public interest.
It is not acceptable to me to have only been provided with the public redacted report along with the public at such a late pre-Christmas stage.
Regards,
Cr. Lee Vandervis
——————————
On 13/10/14 10:32 PM, “Lee Vandervis” wrote:
Dear Sandy,
You have not answered the question as to why one elected representative [the Mayor] seeing the entire Deloitte report [and parts of the report appearing in Audit and Risk Subcommittee agendas] is not likely to “prejudice the maintenance of the law including the investigation and detection of offences.” but that this is still an excuse for not showing the entire report to other elected representatives like myself. Especially given the number of comments the Mayor and CEO have been making to the media regarding the subject of the Deloitte Report.
Your claim that the Stadium review is not yet completed and is still in draft form directly contradicts the advice of the quoted Audit and Risk agenda of 7/10/14 which plainly says that the Stadium “external review has been completed”. If the former, since it can’t be both, why can’t I see it anyway? And why have we then been misled in the A&R agenda?
Being “of course entitled to have that decision reviewed by the Office of the Ombudsmen.” is a farcical affront, given the last response from this dysfunctional excuse for a government department took ELEVEN MONTHS to reply to my request to see the faults list for the long completed Town Hall redevelopment, which you also refused.
This systematic stonewalling of this elected representative by DCC staff is unacceptable to me.
### ODT Online Wed, 4 Mar 2015 Council plans sweeping internal audit
By Chris Morris
An outside company will be paid to pry into every corner of the Dunedin City Council in the wake of the Citifleet fraud. The move came as members of the council’s audit and risk subcommittee yesterday endorsed two new policies designed to better protect the organisation from fraud. Read more
### ODT Online Tue, 3 Mar 2015 Look at audit, disposal policies
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council is continuing to close the gaps in its defences in the wake of the $1.5 million Citifleet fraud. Councillors at today’s audit and risk subcommittee meeting will consider a new internal audit policy, and an updated asset disposal and write-off policy, which aimed to better protect the organisation against fraud. Read more
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The Council’s audit and risk subcommittee:
Susie Johnstone (Chairperson), Janet Copeland, Councillors Chris Staynes, Richard Thomson, Hilary Calvert and Mayor Dave Cull (Ex-Officio Member)
Received from Jeff Dickie
Sat, 7 Jun 2014 at 3:41 pm
You could be forgiven for thinking Cull, Bidrose, the Finance Committee, and the majority of compliant councillors don’t have a vision for Dunedin’s future. That to believe that, not hearing bad news, smiling and riding a bike, will make the financial mire we are now in go away. That to continue to spend huge amounts on yet more foolish projects will somehow fix things. That to embrace a culture of no accountability will magically preclude the idiots who have cocked up so many DCC things in the recent past, doing EXACTLY the same thing again.
Just look at how many of the idiots who have foisted this debt and the numerous foolish failed projects are still on council. These people do have a vision, and here it is!
Hopefully the cycle trail will lead there.
Jeff Dickie
Woodhaugh
****
An opinion piece from 28.9.12, written by Calvin Oaten, continues to have currency.
The End of The Golden Weather?
Are we coming to the end of the ‘Golden Weather’? I say this, not in the meteorological sense, but rather in the sense that perhaps our society and its economic construct might be on the verge of a catastrophic change. Why? Well it seems that many signposts are pointing to an approaching collapse of the present model of the economy as constructed. This requires constant growth in order to sustain an ever increasing social budget. Read more
Do you believe “anything” Audit New Zealand says after DCC decided to build the stadium with such a BAD business case? NOPE
[NZ Farce] Ratepayers needed to know they were getting as good a service as any other ratepayers would get from other councils. –Lothian
### ODT Online Wed, 28 May 2014 Financial stability still a risk, committee told
By Debbie Porteous
Financial sustainability, a new funding model for Forsyth Barr Stadium and detecting potential fraud might be its highest priorities risks, Audit NZ has suggested to the Dunedin City Council’s new audit and risk subcommittee. Complying with legislation was not such an issue for the council, but it should work on putting all its management policies and procedures into one document so there was broad understanding of everything happening in that area, Audit NZ audit director Ian Lothian said. Read more
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Audit and Risk Subcommittee:
Susie Johnstone, chairwoman (accountant)
Cr Richard Thomson
Cr Chris Staynes
Cr Hilary Calvert
Janet Copeland (employment law specialist)
● City councillors may attend all meetings of the subcommittee.
Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Audit and Risk Subcommittee Appointment Made
This item was published on 26 Feb 2014
The Dunedin City Council has appointed the first of two independent members to its new Audit and Risk Subcommittee. Susie Johnstone, who is managing partner of accounting firm Shand Thomson, Balclutha, has been appointed by the Council as Subcommittee Chair.
Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says Mrs Johnstone has a great deal of experience leading audit and risk committees across a range of public sector entities. “We are very fortunate to have someone of Mrs Johnstone’s calibre on the Subcommittee. Her skills, attributes and knowledge will be of huge benefit to the Subcommittee’s work.”
Mrs Johnstone is Deputy Chair of the Otago Polytechnic Council and a director of REANNZ, which is responsible for the provision of an advanced high capacity internet service to the New Zealand research and education communities. She is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and a member of its Governance Committee. She has also served on the boards of Tourism New Zealand, the Southland, Otago and Southern District Health Boards, the New Zealand Blood Service and the New Zealand Hockey Federation.
Mrs Johnstone says, “I am looking forward to working with Council and am supportive of their increasing focus on the governance aspects of audit and risk. These matters tend to fly below the radar until something doesn’t go so well so the Council is to be commended for taking the initiative in this area.”
The Audit and Risk Subcommittee has been set up to provide the Council with a degree of comfort that risk is being managed appropriately within the organisation. The Subcommittee’s responsibilities include risk management and internal control and it will oversee governance policies in areas such as conflict of interest, insurance, procurement, risk, fraud, and health and safety. It will also include oversight of the Annual Report.
The Subcommittee will report directly to the Council.
At this stage, the Subcommittee members are Mrs Johnstone, Cr Richard Thomson, Cr Hilary Calvert and Deputy Mayor Chris Staynes. The Council will shortly publicly advertise for a second independent member.
![rebecca and mad hatter cull with black power menber parts 1 and 2 [371100] Douglas Field 16.12.15 (1)](https://dunedinstadium.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/rebecca-and-mad-hatter-cull-with-black-power-menber-parts-1-and-2-371100-douglas-field-16-12-15-11.jpg)
Douglas Field 16 Dec 2015 [click to enlarge]![man-with-lawn-mower [lantapix via 123rf.com] 1](https://dunedinstadium.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/man-with-lawn-mower-lantapix-via-123rf-com-11.jpg)
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What if? Dunedin... 