No more council sellouts
before the election
No more council sellouts
before the election
And yet this seems to be underway with secret negotiations behind closed doors last week with an end date of mid-August for agreement.
It appears Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee wants to pressure the out-going council to sign-off on a new agreement stacked with government priorities for spending of ratepayer money.
Brownlee did the same thing in the dying days of the previous council under Bob Parker.
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With just two months before the election it would be a travesty of
democracy were the current mayor and council to sign off a new cost-sharing
agreement with the government.
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That left the city with huge bills for the so-called anchor projects (which are a government priority rather than a Christchurch priority) and a timeline which ensured many on council would adopt a Brownlee-inspired asset sale programme.
Christchurch has suffered enough body blows to its local democracy in recent years without the mayor and council signing off on this latest outrage.
Mayor Dalziel quite rightly heavily criticised the previous council for doing deals with the government behind closed doors to hobble an incoming council. Now it appears she has allowed herself to become trapped in the same position.
These negotiations must be put on hold till a new council has got its feet under the table.
NOTE: It’s worth remembering the government of the day paid the entire bill for the 1931 Napier City rebuild when it wrote off the council’s government loans in 1938. Prime Minister John Key said the government would pay “whatever it takes” to rebuild Christchurch – we should insist he keeps his word.
Team Minto joins with
Striking Stickman
Striking Stickman
The first full day of campaigning kicked off this weekend
with John and a small delegation attending the Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration, at the Peace Bell in the Botanic Gardens.
A small group of 10 went to support the First Union Pak’n Slave Stickman picket before heading out to the Lyttelton Farmers Market while the rest hit their distribution sectors.
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One policy victory – five to go
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Earlier in the week we achieved our first policy victory with Council announcing that it would not proceed with the sale of City Care.
Our candidate described the decision as "a victory for the people of Christchurch who have always been overwhelmingly opposed to the sale of city assets”
The sale of city assets was sprung on the people of Christchurch after the last local body elections. It was never raised as a possibility before the election by the Mayor or any of the seven councillors who supported her initiative to sell assets.
We want a mayor and council elected who will pledge not to sell assets.
In the meantime we are chalking up one policy victory with five to go.
The other policies we will be fighting to win through the campaign are:
- Free and frequent public transport (as far out as Rangiora, Darfield and Rolleston) to be funded from the money saved by rescheduling the big roading projects
- The living wage paid as a minimum for all council work (funded by managing down the salaries of senior council managers)
- Swimmable rivers across Canterbury
- 1000 new council homes for rent and rent to buy over the next three years
- End the corporate stranglehold on the rebuild with stiff rate increases on undeveloped land in the CBD.
If you are keen to join the team flick us an email.
The merchandise
And don't forget the merchandise
- Badges $2 each
- T-shirts $25 each S, M, L, XL and XXL
- Bumper Stickers $2 each
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