Kiwiblog

There has been a bit of media attention of how C&R fared in Auckland – with them only getting 5/20 seats. And it is true they did fall short of their goals.

But there hasn’t been a lot of focus on how two other tickets fared – Labour and City Vision (which is Labour/Green basically).

Now C&R managed the following:

• 5 Councillors
• 32 Board members
• 3 Licensing Trust members
• 6 DHB members

So 46 reps elected.

City Vision only got a total of 12 candidates elected, and Labour got 14, six of whom are merely licensing trust reps.

So while not the result that C&R would have wanted, neither was it as bad as some media have made out.

City Vision Councillors have been pinged in Auckland, according to the Herald:

Independent auditor John Walton says the existing local contractor, Clean Stream Waiheke, has been “canvassing” City Vision councillors – forbidden under the tender rules.

Mr Walton has recommended the company be disqualified.

I’m not sure what is worse – lobbying Councillors to give you the tender, or the Councillors who respond positively to the lobbying. Tenders should be based on the best fit against agreed criteria – not personal whims of Councillors.

Mr Walton said Clean Stream’s executive director, John Stansfield, had sent emails to City Vision’s councillors and one of those councillors, Cathy Casey, had responded and appeared to be advising Waiheke groups favouring the local company.

Mr Walton has recommended Dr Casey be forbidden to take any further part in the tender process. He believes other City Vision councillors should also be excluded to remove any perceived conflict of interest.

Ouch – that is a big slap down. It is saying we can’t trust you to do the right thing as you have shown bias.

Last night, Dr Casey said she had hired a lawyer after she discovered her emails had been searched by a council officer without her permission in an attempt to discredit Clean Stream.

They are not Dr Casey’s e-mails. They are the Councils. She sent them from her official Council e-mail address. That in itself is a staggeringly stupid thing to do.

Mr Bhatnagar said Dr Casey had tried to unethically influence the tender outcome in Clean Stream’s favour and sought to organise media stunts, such as getting islanders to block part of Queen St with wheelie bins.

Another email from City Vision councillor Glenda Fryer agreeing to raise a matter from Mr Stansfield at a City Vision caucus was “outrageous”, Mr Bhatnagar said.

And here is where it gets very murky. The partner of Mr Stansfield is a City Councillor – Denise Roche, who often votes with City Vision. She is a Green Party member, and represents the Hauraki Gulf Islands. Now there is no suggestion here Denise has done anything wrong, but it is a bad look that City Vision Councillors are inappropriately involved, when they have such strong political links.

I almost can’t believe this one – from Aaron Bhatnagar:

The City Vision Councillors are focused on the big issues that matter to Aucklanders – the Tamil Tigers:

City Vision Councillor Graham Easte has proposed a notice of motion about supporting the Tamil cause and the conflict in Sri Lanka. There’s even going to be a deputation from some Tamil supporters group to come and speak to us. …

Aaron correctly notes:

Firstly, I don’t know what this has to do with Auckland City. Yes, the conflict that has raged in Sri Lanka is very sad, but it’s not council business. And even if it was somehow Auckland City’s role to leap into the dispute, why would we be taking sides? The cause is lost – the Tamil Tigers got defeated last week. There may be 4000 Tamils in Auckland, but there are probably more Sinhalese Sri Lankans living in Auckland.

I want my City Councillors to spend their time on libraries, parks, facilities, keeping rates down. Not pretending to be the UN.

The Herald reports that Auckland City Council is joining the list of organisations that recognise the severity of the economic recession, and have pledged to keep overall salary levels constant.

But City Vision is upset:

The freeze has upset the left-leaning City Vision ticket and the Public Service Association, which represents 500 council staff.

“This council has no moral right to penalise workers to keep rates down,” said City Vision councillor Cathy Casey.

Says it all really. Cr Casey not only wants higher rates for “workers”, but also for herself:

City Vision believes staff should get a pay rise this year and wants councillors to take a 3 per cent pay increase from the Remuneration Authority.

What part of recession is so hard to understand. Thousands of Aucklanders are going to be losing their jobs and their income, and Cr Casey wants to make it even harder for them to be able to pay their rates.

Aaron Bhatnagar blogs that a City Vision Councillor voted to ban smoking outside in the Auckland CBD.

Why not just cut out all the in between steps, and just start shooting smokers?

Newzblog shows that some on the left do not think it is a mortal sin to post photos of attractive people – they have a photo spread of Eliot Spitzer’s hooker.

Aaron Bhatnagar exposes hypocrisy from City Vision on water charges.

Steven Price criticises a judgement where an “insulting language” conviction was upheld against a man who taunted two police officers.

The Hive notices how Dr Cullen tells the Speaker how to rule, and how she always does.

Aaron Bhatnagar is having fun,

Cathy Casey from City Vision accused C&R of making diversity a dirty word at the Auckland City Council.

Aaron reveals that what she is complaining about is the decision not to fund a $12,000 cocktail party to celebrate diversity. And just to really have fun, he points out that C&R have five Crs and Community Board members who are ethnically diverse – two Chinese, one Samoan, Aaron (half Indian) and one Maori, while City Vision he labels monochromatic as they don’t have any non Europeans.

And for good measure he posts photos also.

Personally I think City Vision have a political death watch.  They’ve spent three months whining about C&R cutting funding to various politically correct causes.  C&R will just slaughter them in 2011 (if all other things stay even) by publishing the list of all the things they have saved the ratepayer from funding and how City Vision would have rates skyrocketing for their pet projects.