Letter to the Editor
A Division. Promises Begin, But What About the Betrayal?
Current Councillors have commenced election statements using the power of office to gain profile and credibility amongst their Divisions. The Divisions that they have opposed for six years, in 2007 Councillors, Dyne, Perrett, Friske, Neilsen, Watt, and Petersen voted to remove Divisions, when they admitted that the majority in this region wanted to retain them. After the 2008 election with the new councillors Walker, Engerman, Gate, they had a secret meeting and conspired to make a pact to resist the re-establishment of Divisions. They knew that their incumbent profile gave them a huge advantage, they knew that the Divisional system made them much more accountable to the individual divisions. They did not want this responsibility, so voted against divisions and voted to prevent the residents from having their say on the matter. Even after they received information from their own survey that the majority wanted Divisions.

Now instead of a rate rise demand in the mail, we get ‘offers of assistance’, we get ‘pleadings’, they pledge ‘support’, ‘help’,’ they want to represent the division, they are privileged to represent the division that they destroyed. We have to ask, why no contact when there was no division? Would these Councillors destroy their divisions again? The answer would have to be, “faster than the speed of light”, they loved the anonymity of no divisional responsibility.
They offer no Rate moratorium or a reduction in levies. No list of real value for the money that you have given them. They are not apologetic, not one iota, for blowing the budgets four years running, extorting further amounts from us to pay for there mismanagement.
Proudly bragging about rate equalisation as there major achievement, not reducing them to an equal level, but increasing them to the highest level. Reminding us all of Gamblers bragging about their losses, or girls ‘shopping till they are dropping’ bragging about how far over their credit card limit they are. Well it is your credit they are using, they have been borrowing on your account. Do you really want another four years of this?

Ron Owen