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| The face of our angry Mayor...better known as his Toyota Look. |
"Mayor Grant Smith has finally opened up about the reasons for the grant, which a majority of councillors supported in a behind-closed-doors meeting in 2017.
A week after the Taxpayers' Union revealed its existence, Smith said he and council staff had responded as quickly as they could to share information kept secret until chief executive Heather Shotter released it".
[So does Heather Shotter run the Council and it's democratic processes? I thought we had got rid of CEO dictatorships with the replacement of one Paul What was his name? again 'Wylie...]
https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/109982983/toyota-grant-paid-to-secure-23-million-expansion-and-keep-car-giant-in-palmerston-north-says-mayor
" So-called Employment portfolio? Councillor Adrian Broad; said having Toyota based in Palmerston North was a powerful selling point in marketing the city's benefits to other businesses interested in locating here". [Give us an example!!]
This stupid statement and non policy enforcement of present policy, makes one wonder why we have a development policy at all, if we ignore it every time one of the big boys puts a little pressure on:
As it would appear Toyota did. But the latest would suggest they did not ask! https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/110007067/toyota-did-not-ask-for-palmerston-north-ratepayer-for-handout
And the Mayor and Councillor Broad obeyed their instructions to the letter...and hoped, and prayed, that the public would remain ignorant...but alas their cunning scheme went astray. and alas once again their faith in their PR team proved a flop.
"In August 2017, city councillors first [secretly] debated the potential grant in the private part of a council meeting under the headline on the agenda: "Toyota Distribution Warehouse Extension – development contributions". Now its true that the PNCC has a development contributions policy, well for some!...but it would seem that if your company is big and powerful enough the council can and will reverse its development rules.
So the real question is 'Did Toyota demand that the development tax be dropped or they may take their redelevopement to elsewhere. If that was the case, that is in 'legal terms' black-mail or theft.
Yet, instead of reporting the threat to the police or other authority, the council staff with Mayoral support obviously recommended acceptance of Toyota's demands... very Trumpish, is that behaviour. one where lies become a key part of a mis-applied decision making process.
A better and more honest review of what took place regarding Toyota...was and is that the council was yet again caught out...thanks to the ACT Party... Here is what Community Activist Fred Hirst said in response to an earlier W/C item on the subject: https://wheelerscornernz.blogspot.com/2019/01/how-they-voted-wheelers-courner-special.html
Palmerston North deserves better leadership, one that leads by using an ethical standard acceptable across the board. Not one that measures ethics by the size of your wallet. What makes this stuff up more ironic is that the ACT party revealled it... especially considering its history of Corporation Welfare policy Vs Social policy.
2.
Talking about stupid political statements NZ First list MP Darroch Ball...stated 'Lets stop blaming the police', Ball jumping on the band wagon debate about police chase policy...According to Ball National got it all wrong back in 2017...oh dear me...how do you legisilate for bad police behoviour...ie planting evidence in a murder trial...the bullet casing in the Arthur Allen-Thomas case...the cop that planted that evidence got praised not condemned by the later police chief...Darroch Ball has a very selective memory...a sort of a Grant Smith memory...remember the good things but hide the bad...
3.
When School kids play up...teachers attempt to put them on the right track...but it would seem that when Councillors and Mayors play up we are meant to turn a blind eye...and hope that some one else will save us...
A bit of advice to the council...since you record each vote...then at the end of each month...collate those votes by name. Using Title of vote: Name of voter: For: Against: Abstained: not present. And publish a monthly copy via the media and the Council's web page.
This will certainly give individual voters a clear picture of the habits of individual councillors in regard to democratic processes. And after all that was one of the major reasons why electronic or computer based voting was introduced. It was meant to lead to MORE democracy...not less.
" So-called Employment portfolio? Councillor Adrian Broad; said having Toyota based in Palmerston North was a powerful selling point in marketing the city's benefits to other businesses interested in locating here". [Give us an example!!]
This stupid statement and non policy enforcement of present policy, makes one wonder why we have a development policy at all, if we ignore it every time one of the big boys puts a little pressure on:
As it would appear Toyota did. But the latest would suggest they did not ask! https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/110007067/toyota-did-not-ask-for-palmerston-north-ratepayer-for-handout
And the Mayor and Councillor Broad obeyed their instructions to the letter...and hoped, and prayed, that the public would remain ignorant...but alas their cunning scheme went astray. and alas once again their faith in their PR team proved a flop.
"In August 2017, city councillors first [secretly] debated the potential grant in the private part of a council meeting under the headline on the agenda: "Toyota Distribution Warehouse Extension – development contributions". Now its true that the PNCC has a development contributions policy, well for some!...but it would seem that if your company is big and powerful enough the council can and will reverse its development rules.
So the real question is 'Did Toyota demand that the development tax be dropped or they may take their redelevopement to elsewhere. If that was the case, that is in 'legal terms' black-mail or theft.
Yet, instead of reporting the threat to the police or other authority, the council staff with Mayoral support obviously recommended acceptance of Toyota's demands... very Trumpish, is that behaviour. one where lies become a key part of a mis-applied decision making process.
A better and more honest review of what took place regarding Toyota...was and is that the council was yet again caught out...thanks to the ACT Party... Here is what Community Activist Fred Hirst said in response to an earlier W/C item on the subject: https://wheelerscornernz.blogspot.com/2019/01/how-they-voted-wheelers-courner-special.html
- What we don't know, is what information were Councillors given (or not
given)for them to believe they were making an informed decision to
support this grant? Was there a concealed threat or 'chill factor' if
the proposal wasn't supported? What was the justification for the public
to be excluded from this discussion?
There is much more to this issue than has been revealed so far given the support by Councillors, whom we would least expect to approve this grant, to a corporation for which this amount is 'chump change'. This ratepayer money could have been spent to make a meaningful difference to members of our community in hardship. -
16 January 2019 at 21:06
Palmerston North deserves better leadership, one that leads by using an ethical standard acceptable across the board. Not one that measures ethics by the size of your wallet. What makes this stuff up more ironic is that the ACT party revealled it... especially considering its history of Corporation Welfare policy Vs Social policy.
2.
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| Darroch Ball... |
3.
When School kids play up...teachers attempt to put them on the right track...but it would seem that when Councillors and Mayors play up we are meant to turn a blind eye...and hope that some one else will save us...
A bit of advice to the council...since you record each vote...then at the end of each month...collate those votes by name. Using Title of vote: Name of voter: For: Against: Abstained: not present. And publish a monthly copy via the media and the Council's web page.
This will certainly give individual voters a clear picture of the habits of individual councillors in regard to democratic processes. And after all that was one of the major reasons why electronic or computer based voting was introduced. It was meant to lead to MORE democracy...not less.
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| Wheeler's Corner Mondays 4pm 99AM. |
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