Peck vs his own Council

Former Labour MP Mark Peck is a Wellington City Councillor. He is best known for voting to force the Council to pay a so called living wage to all Council employees, yet refusing to pay it to his own staff on the basis he can’t afford it.

Once again he seems to be conflicted between his role as a business (cafe) owner and a Councillor.

The Council has put in a temporary pop up on Bond Street.

This photo is from Blandforddaily, taken by AnnaB.

Looks pretty cool.

Cr Peck said on Facebook:

“Pop-up feel-good” unwelcome subsidy against hardworking business owners!

Wellington City Councillor Mark Peck says he has been contacted by some retailers who are angry that the “pop-up feel good” in Bond Street is an unwelcome attack on their ability to trade and discriminatory in the extreme.

Spending $100K of ratepayers’ money to temporarily enhance Bond Street with a pop-up display makes fish of them and fowl of the rest, he said. There is a strong call for everyone to be treated the same.

Using this logic, there would be no Cuba Mall developments, or basically anything at all that enhances a retail area.

Now Cr Peck owns a cafe just around the corner from Bond Street, in Dukes Arcade. Despite his disclaimer, it seems clear he is advocating on his own behalf, but using his role as a Councillor.

Comments on Facebook were not very supportive:

A real shame you’ve taken this angle Mark. I’ve been to the pop-up and it’s brilliant – I’ve never seen so many people on Bond Street. Great council initiative and clearly serving rate payers and visitors well.

Of course it’s Council’s job to get involved, provide social spaces, beautify the CBD and, yes, help business development. There can’t be a popup over the entire city and a dark, dead end with a majority of small businesses (exception of the Mojo chain) is a great place to have it. To places like the Rockshop – what a shame they are on an already busy street which didn’t need a “pop-up”.

This inner city resident who has you as a councillor and helped run your campaign would be thrilled if you perhaps stood up for residents before businesses.

That’s a member of his own campaign team!

Our streetscapes should be as exciting and vibrant as our city aspires to be, and as it often achieves. It’s excellent to see spaces like Bond Street experiencing this treatment. …

So would you prefer full-time polkadots, or none at all? Both are absurd, and it’s clear you’d have preferred none at all. I’m not entirely sure what your post achieves other than making you appear as a bit of a grump. Wellington’s retail sector is doing terribly. Yeah, Bond St benefits. That’s great. Where in your post is a plan or advocacy for the other businesses you’re saying you’re representing? Where’s the recognition that the positive news, albeit made weird by Ritchie, translates to good national advertising as Wellington as a happening and exciting place? It seems to me that these events are an obvious strategy for our city, so if you were speaking on behalf of our businesses then shouldn’t your position be “more”, not “less”? …

They money is also spent now, Mark, so it would be a waste to take it down immediately. And just dumb. In all of your media release, there isn’t thought at all to the people of Wellington – and I’ve only heard positive comments so far from people about the pop up ideas. I haven’t been down to Bond Street yet but looks pretty fun to me. …

Firstly I love the look – and what it’s done to the dark, often forgotten little street. I remember around six years ago when Dale from Mojo and Ian McKinnon were first talking about making something happen – so the idea has been brewing – and needed for some time. Looking beyond Bond Street the new activity is helping pull people through to traders like Man to Man and others who also feel out on a limb sometimes, I felt proud when I walked down the street today and saw what was happening because it’s pretty damn cool the city has made this happen. …

A real own goal.