Other WCC Wards
September 24th, 2007 at 8:41 pm by David FarrarI’ve had a few people ask me to share my thoughts on the other Wellington City wards, after my main WCC post, so will do so below.
Northern Ward
- Robert Armstrong – experienced, hard worker, doesn’t grand stand
- Hayley Wain – a new face who has taken her role seriously and deserves a second term
- Ngaire Best – a former Councillor, strong community links, sensible
- Ian Hutchings – another former Councillor who would be an asset. Very strong on financial management and useful engineering background.
- Roger Ellis – would be a good Councillor but competing with other candidates. Useful business and community background. Former United Future board member.
- Jonathan Fletcher – no profile but has sensible outlook and policies
- Tane Woodley – demoted as he goes on about peak oil, otherwise looks ok
- Mike Collett – too parochial – only focused on his ward
- Jim Candiliotis – no policies
- Helene Ritchie – Was sacked by Labour as Deputy Mayor in 1980s, not got better since.
Onslow-Western Ward
- Andy Foster – Andy doesn’t need my help to get elected. Most in his ward know him. He’s involved in almost every major issue and works hard to get results.
- John Morrison – A sensible Councillor and even potential Mayor one day. Passionate about sports and rec especially but also about keeping costs down.
- Jo Coughlan – Jo would be a great Councillor. Vibrant, intelligent, positive about Wellington and with good business and community experience. I went to Otago Uni with Jo and she is a great sort.
- Jack Ruben – A crusader for causes but not a team player
- Pauline Scott – Waffly bio, hard to work out what she would do or vote on.
Eastern Ward
- Ray Ahipene-Mercer – don’t agree with him on a few issues, but he is respected for his work, and his willingness to work as part of a team.
- Leonie Gill – not a high flyer, but well attuned to local issues.
- Ruth Gotlieb – had a good run in the past, but now on DHB also
- Rob Goulden – Rob’s policies are generally ones I agree with, but the real concern is his abaility to work with staff, the Mayor and other Councillors. Rob would be higher if he hadn’t sued his own Council.
- Josie Bullock – gets marks for clear policies!
- Ian Macfarlane – is on the Executive of Grey Power
- Paul Bailey – unknown quantity
Southern Ward (2 spots)
- Celia Wade-Brown – A Green Councillor but a good one.
- Rex Nairn- like his focus on accountability for expenditure and debt
- Ida Faiumu-Isa’ako – a strong community background
- Shelagh Noble – a town planner which can be both good and bad.somewhat wishy washy bio statement
- Bryan Pepperell – wants to keep penalising business, rates would skyrocket
- Bernie Harris – lots of buzz words, no specifics
- Lorraine Edwards -anti aquatic education centre
- John Robinson – also oppossed to the aquatic education centre
Community Boards
Won’t give rankings for them, but people who I think should get a high ranking are:
Tawa - Ngaire Best, Graeme Sutton
Makara/Ohariu - Andrew Falloon, Christine Grace, Ruth Paul
All just my views of course. Any candidate who feels hard done by is welcome to make their case in the comments.
Related posts:
- C&R Candidates for Auckland Council
- Super City Wards
- Wellington City Council 2010 election
- Wellingtonian on Wellington City Councillors
September 24th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
“Tane Woodley – demoted as he goes on about peak oil, otherwise looks ok ”
yeah wouldn’t want to elect a public official who is concerned with dealing with the imminant collapse of supply of the energy source our civilisation is most dependent on.
Vote:September 24th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
See my other post – Andy Foster is dangerous. You should hear what he says when the public is excluded from meetings. He is very green and anti-business. And he is strongly opposing Transmission Gully.
Roger Ellis should be in your top 3 for Northern.
Everyone wanting to make an informed vote should look at the analysis and question responses on http://www.wellingtonchamber.co.nz
Vote:September 24th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Sam – define imminent – by what year will the supply collapse. And how much money will you bet on it?
Vote:September 24th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
“See my other post – Andy Foster is dangerous. You should hear what he says when the public is excluded from meetings.”
How’ve you heard what he says when the public is excluded CharlotteM?
Vote:September 24th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
G’day Dave and Sam,
Sam, cheers for the back-up. Yeah, it would be nice to have some leadership, Red or Blue, that wasn’t either intellectually incapable of understanding Peak Oil (Key and Co) or too scared to speak and act on on it (Clark and Assoc). I think I can understand how Churchill felt in 1936 as he watched war with the Nazis approaching while the Western world stuck it’s fingers in it’s ears, closed its eyes and went ‘Lalalala’ very loudly. Oh for a few more Spitfire factories and tank regiments….. Oh sorry, I mean public transport funding and limits on urban sprawl.
David, Peak Oil is imminent, and may already have happened; it’ll be another year or three before we’re certain. Oil production is flat right now around 84-85 million barrels a day according to the US Govt Energy Information Agency, and the highest figure is still July 2006. Maybe OPEC still has some spare production, but we won’t know until they actually use it. They’re talking a good talk at the moment, but there’s not much walking going on. Everyone else who matters is either plateauing (Russia, Canada, Nigeria) or declining fast (Mexico, Norway, UK).
Certainly the International Energy Agency is deeply concerned as it’s recent Medium-Term Oil Market Report points out. They point to a major supply crunch by 2012. This might be of some interest to the National Party, as you have a fair to moderate chance of gaining government next year, so this will hit Key and Co right in their first term, maybe around the next election. If only for the sake of your political survival, have some of your policy wonks read this report.
There is no way in hell I can convince you of this on a blog post, but I might have some chance to do so face to face. As we both work in the middle of town, maybe we can meet for coffee or a beer (or three) and talk about oil. You can throw all the stuff about markets and technology at me, and I can explain why neither will work, not in any satisfactory manner anyway. I promise not to try and convert you to veganism, if you promise not to force Ayn Rand onto me.
Oh, one last thing. I understand a few other things besides Peak Oil, but this post is long enough. Anyone interested in the rather lengthy list of policies we have can check out the Wellington Greens website.
Cheers,
Tane Woodley
Green Party Candidate
Northern Ward
[DPF: Thanks for the post and taking the time to put forward your views. I have to say that I do think if oil starts to get short, then petrol say goes to $4 a litre and that will encourage different technologies]
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 7:18 am
David you seem like the kind of Tory who could vote for a Labour candidate where I never will or could no matter how good they are. That party is for losers.
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 7:27 am
Richard
Not all WCC Councillors agree with his views and are happy to tell tales………….
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 7:58 am
That Andrew Falloon character sounds awfully dodgy, no wonder you didn’t reveal too much else about him
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 8:45 am
G’day David,
Regarding your reply, “[DPF: Thanks for the post and taking the time to put forward your views. I have to say that I do think if oil starts to get short, then petrol say goes to $4 a litre and that will encourage different technologies]”
As I said, the market ($4 a litre) will not be enough to encourage different technologies when those technologies simply cannot replace oil. This is something that I’m happy to talk to you about in a calm, lucid and possibly engaging manner over a drink or two, because it cannot be adequately explained on a blog post.
Quite simply, this is a problem that the market and technology cannot solve. Not in a way that will allow our current level of energy consumption anyway.
Cheers,
Tane Woodley
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 8:49 am
What does oil supply have to do with the functions and responsibilities of a Territorial Local Authority?
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Very happy for drinks. I’m out of Wellington most of the next three weeks, so how about after the elections on the 13th?
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 9:38 am
“Sam – define imminent – by what year will the supply collapse. And how much money will you bet on it?”
Funny- no answer. I guess he’s still feverishly calculating..
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 10:09 am
David,
OK, after the 13th is good, maybe after work on the 18th or 19th (Thur or Fri). Thanks for taking up the offer, and I look forward to meeting you.
PDQ,
Oil supply has no direct relation to local government, but the impacts of an energy crunch will be felt at all levels. Territorial authorities can go a long way to ameliorating the impacts by working with Regional Councils to improve public transport, but especially through better urban design. More compact suburbs, better infill development and an end to greenfields expansion. Who can afford to live miles from schools, shops and work when petrol is at $4 a litre? Energy poverty of this type is already an issue in Melbourne and Sydney (too poor to live close to the city, too poor to afford the fuel to drive into work).
This isn’t the only issue out there, but it is a pretty big one, and it is one that local government is already grappling with. The more debate and discussion we have around it, the better.
Cheers,
Tane Woodley
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Redbaiter,
Read the executive summary of the International Energy Agency Medium-Term Oil Market Report. It’s only six pages, and pretty easy to follow. It starts off with “…this report sees increasing market tightness beyond 2010, with OPEC spare capacity declining to minimal levels by 2012″. It then says “It is possible that the supply crunch could be deferred – but not by much.”
When the IEA, once famous for predicting peak in 2037, comes out and talks about major supply crunches in 2012, then you know that something is up. This is not definite proof, but it is about as good as forewarning can get. Have a read, it’s worth the time and effort.
You’ll find it at http://omrpublic.iea.org/mtomr.htm
Cheers,
Tane Woodley
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 10:47 am
Thanks Tane.
“More compact suburbs, better infill development and an end to greenfields expansion.”
I would have thought that Wellington’s geography imposes just that more than any City Plan could. But otherwise I guess that philologically I take a very different view as to the extent that Councils interfere with private property rights, or indeed their power to interfere at all.
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 11:49 am
North Shore elections..
I feel bad cause ive never voted in a local body election…
now i dont know who the hell to vote for arghhh
does nation endorse anyone on the shore?
can anyone (other than the likes of sonic) tell me who i should be voting for (right wingers
)
cheers!
Vote:September 25th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
dime,
Shore Can are good. They want to cap rates. Nats and Act people in there.
Vote:September 28th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Some very sharp observations in your comments on candidates.
With respect to your comments on my (Daran Ponter) approach to broadband, you may of course be aware that one of the key planks of the growth of the Wellington region, identified in the Wellington Growth Strategy (Feb 2007) is “Affordable, high speed broadband available to all houses and businesses in the region”. The Regional Growth Strategy included two regional councillors, one of whom was Fran Wilde (commonse, practical).
A number of other regional councils are starting to get involved with facilitating community broadband inititaives, unless of course companies like Telecom show more enthusiasm for providing us with the sort of broadband service which is becoming stand in many parts of the OECD.
An inititaive like this can only be contemplated as a parnetship between business, city and district councils and regional councils.
A copy of the Strategy can be found at http://www.wrs.govt.nz/docs/latest_updates/WRS_Consultation_Doc.pdf
cheers
Daran Ponter
Vote:Greater Wellington Regional Council Candidate