Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Signs of confusion

So the diVision banner is to stay outside the supposedly neutral Mayoral office, says the Diva.

Back from his Australian sojourn and looking for a fresh stoush, he's informed us that it gives a "very strong message" that he is "a reformist mayor with a reformist agenda, endorsed by the good people of Wanganui at the 2004 elections".

It also reminds us that for the Diva, the politics never stops, and the insignificant nuances of blatantly using a public office (the Mayoralty) and a public office (the Mayoral office) to further political ends are "petty" and irrelevant.

But... didn't Dotty promise to have it taken down?

Oops, yes she did. Further underlining her unsuitability for the position of Deputy Mayor in a Laws-led Council, it seems she forgot that the normal customs don't apply when the Diva's in charge.

Well, "good people", we're sure that such a reformist zeal will put other political leaders to shame. We await with eagerness the "Vote Labour" signwriting on the side of Ministerial LTDs, the colourful party rosettes our Parliamentarians will henceforth wear when going about their official duties, the day the doors of Bellamys are flung open to paying diners with all proceeds going to Labour HQ, and of course the day when all public buildings stand as reminders of the fleeting electoral promises made by their inhabitants!


Comments on this post are now closed.

103 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's a place for your junk, Mickey; at the dump. The rubbish removal people will be along shortly...

Anonymous said...

You could drop into Carol's too.

Anonymous said...

With Mickey in Oz, I wonder if Helen 'phoned him to get the press release. I wonder if Dot knew Helen was calling him. Who does Helen work for exactly?

Anonymous said...

You are showing "signs of confusion" Watchers. I work nearby so went and had a look yesterday. I'm not political but it looks ok to me. By the way the banner doesn't lean against anything, it is on a stand alone stand. Aren't there more important things to worry about than this.

Anonymous said...

Anon, let me explain this to you, then, since you're "not political". The placement of advertising in public buildings is of concern. The placement of a political advert from Vision Wanganui in a public building, when there's a buy-election approaching, more so.

Anonymous said...

Where would be the place to put the advertisement then? In a private building where the public can't see it. Vision are entitled to advertise the same as anyone else I would have thought and the more public the better. The election is months away. Hey, should we ban vision and let everyone else advertise. That sounds fair.

Anonymous said...

Sounds good to me. After all, Vision's advertising is a pack of lies.

Anonymous said...

Quote from the diVision sign: "it is time for new leadership and a new council".

Hear hear.

Anonymous said...

"Quote from the diVision sign: "it is time for new leadership and a new council".

At last, an honest phrase from Mickey!

Anonymous said...

Even the name is a lie. If they were called "The Blinkered Vision of Michael Brian Laws" it might be more accurate.

Anonymous said...

Mickey's ego stroking banner isn't for us, grasshopper: he's trying to pull his own divided bunch together. After all, he's only there 3 half-days a week, which at a grand total of 12 hours pw makes him a casual employee. It's like a big "back soon" sign.

"The mayor will be back soon. If your enquiry takes place on a Wednesday you will have to wait 'til Thursday afternoon. If a Friday you will have to wait 'til Monday afternoon. In the meantime, please take a number. You must be here when your number is called. Have a nice day."

Anonymous said...

extraordinary to see michael`s press release on his website today
what do other councillors think?it is so demeaning for everyone
he is like a spoilt child

Anonymous said...

As a ratepayer in this lovely city I'd rather have Michael not available sometimes and doing the nitty gritty real work when he is in his office, rather than not available sometimes because he is out shaking hands, cutting ribbons, kissing babies and neglecting the real work, like some Mayors.

Anonymous said...

...doing the nitty gritty real work when he is in his office...

He's in his office for 12 hours a week. Wake up dupe.

Anonymous said...

no he's not dickhead.I often see his car at the council pre 9am and well after 7pm - not everuone works nine to five.

Anonymous said...

He lends his car to others, according to Lawsmob, so the fact that it's there or not indicates nothing, pottymouth.

Anonymous said...

You've got to love anon at 11:32. Keep on taking the Diva devotion potion, dupe, then come and tell us all about how Michael being absent on Wednesdays and Fridays, and every morning on Radio Lifeless, makes him a full-time mayor. What a sap.

Anonymous said...

wanker - make it up. it'll make your bitter life no better. Rather have a positive force like Laws than a negative fuckwit like you. Oh shit that's right - he got elected and youre still a nobody.

Anonymous said...

don't spose there are election regs on signs in a public building ?

Anonymous said...

Dickhead said: I often see his car at the council pre 9am and well after 7pm - not everuone works nine to five.

That's because, dickhead, he parks it there while he's boring listeners silly on radio lifeless, nine to noon.

Anonymous said...

the people who descend to name calling in here are a bit sad...can't yer stick to the topic ?

Anonymous said...

Just read my Chron. He made a fool of you Dot. I just don't understand why you Vision people take it

Anonymous said...

I suppose Laws did hand pick his team. now we can see the qualities he was looking for

Anonymous said...

When his car is there, he is there. And he works from out of the office, wherever he is. Get a life, he's a great Mayor. Where did this absent every Friday come from. He never said he would give up his radio or tv and he still got elected.

Anonymous said...

anonymickey, you are N-O-T a great mayor and you spend far too much time, wherever you are, spinning stories on this blog.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was the CEO's job to ensure the ratepayers' property is properly used.

Is there a doctor in the house? And what does he think of this?

Anonymous said...

I don't think Doctor Warburton's degree is in psycho-pediatrics.

Anonymous said...

Some poor innocent said:

"He never said he would give up his radio or tv and he still got elected"

You make it too easy. you really do: here's what Mickey said:

"One question though has been posed of me all week.

Will I have the time to do all my media commitments and still, if elected, be mayor of Wanganui?

Answer: If elected, my media commitments will have to fit around the mayoralty and not the other way round."

We're not stupid, we knew he was lying at the time, but you could at least try to avoid rewriting history, "anon".

Anonymous said...

harold land-i`m glad you`re there-nice to have discussion
the abuse does us no good

and maybe there are/should be rules re the vision ad at council

Anonymous said...

Wait a second: rules? For political advertising? On Council premises? Sure: it's unacceptable, period.

Anonymous said...

So, where is the CEO?

Oh, perhaps he's getting a billboard advertising his meat factory done for the entrance to his office.

Anonymous said...

Hell the CEO isn't in his office, shall we do a blog about him

Anonymous said...

Just who pays Helen Lawrence to release pieces of mayoral crap like today's humdinger to the Chron?

Can it possibly be me and my fellow ratepayers?

How do you feel about that, Dotty?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if one of the anonymickey commenters who seem to have unfettered access to Laws' time sheets could please enlighten us as to how he accounts for the time he spends spinning himself silly in this blog?

ie, is it counted as official mayoral duties or celebrity engagements?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if you anon (6.25pm) spend wanking in here anonymously. I come here to abuse you loser shits because you are such losers. What tossers would get so upset that they lost an election, have no ability to influence a city council, can't stop Laws doing exactly what he wants to do and when, and then say that loser Ray Steephens is their knight in shining armor. Is this the ame Stephens whose wife left him but he thinks its fun to have a crack at the mayor's marriage?

Anonymous said...

Word is that Ray isn't alone these days anyway. Lose a wife, gain a girlfriend, slag off the Mayor, he is a busy boy, when does he work for the ratepayer and what does he do

Anonymous said...

ray stevens stands up to the mayor and no messing
he is a breath of fresh air at the moment even if he absents himself almost as much as michael
he will fight for reason ,common sense and the city
can we get back to the topic=should the sign be there?
who can inform local govt in wellington to ask them
carol????

Anonymous said...

Really? Would you mind telling us, anon, just what Cr Stephens said in terms of "having a crack at the mayor's marriage"?

Anonymous said...

"when does he work for the ratepayer and what does he do"

That's an easy one. He makes sure the ratepayers get to know about how the mayor is abusing his power, and the ratepayers' premises.

Oh, and how Laws treats suckers like Dotty who throw their lot in with him.

Anonymous said...

Anon 6.23

My suggestion is for you to seek professional medical help, you seem unable to put anything on this blog without using foul language. If the 6.33 submission is the best you can do, Hell anon get help quickly.

Funny how there were no postings like this until Micky got back.

Is that you Micky out there???????

Anonymous said...

Word is that Ray isn't alone these days anyway. Lose a wife, gain a girlfriend, slag off the Mayor, he is a busy boy, when does he work for the ratepayer and what does he do

7:00 PM, October 26, 2005


He had the same "problem" of attending council meetings under Chas, and wasn't it Ray S who had a code of Conduct complaint upheld after Keith Hindson complained about him??

Anonymous said...

ray stevens stands up to the mayor and no messing
he is a breath of fresh air at the moment even if he absents himself almost as much as michael
he will fight for reason ,common sense and the city
can we get back to the topic=should the sign be there?
who can inform local govt in wellington to ask them
carol????

7:15 PM, October 26, 2005



You still here Joan? Haven't you a Rep play to be getting on with??
Perhaps you could stand for the by-election so we can reject you again.

Anonymous said...

Is that you Micky out there???????

7:41 PM, October 26, 2005

No it's me dickhead come to give you a taste of your own bile.

Anonymous said...

Check the photo in the Chron. Notice what Mickey's banner is leaning against. Is this guy for real? In any event, there's a simple solution: if you leave your junk lying around on Whanganui public property, Mickey, it's going to get thrown away.

6:32 AM, October 26, 2005

==============================

It's WANGANUI, dickhead. Wanganui, and the referendum will stick it up you lot good and hard.
"They don't like the cold steel up em, Captain Mainwaring."

Anonymous said...

lol. I only add the 'h' to upset you, puppy. Your time is over, you wannabe Pom. Take your Dad's Army and piss off back to Warmington on Sea.

Anonymous said...

As a Pom, I resent that remark. It's the Frogs who insist on spelling native words wrong. He should piss off back to Vichy.

Anonymous said...

7:41 PM, October 26, 2005

No it's me dickhead come to give you a taste of your own bile.

8:11 PM, October 26, 2005

---------
Well then if it aint you Micky who are you ????
Still can't post anything without abuse.. Get HELP quick.

Anonymous said...

Speculation is rife, Lawrence, as to Pottymouth's identity. I just read his posts as political messages from the Vision party.

Anonymous said...

Hey, John B -- all this cyber abuse won't be doing your tingly litle finger any good.

Imagine the ACC declaration:

I, John B, have developed severe occupational overuse syndrome because of the huge amount of time I spend on blogs like Laws Watch defending the indefensible and abusing anyone I enounter.

Laws Watch said...

The question of the propriety of political signage on public land is left to individual Councils to decide. A sample of policies of other Councils:

Rotorua: "Signs are to be located on private property only".

Hamilton: "No Council-owned land may be used for the erection of... Local Authority election signs".

Hauraki: "Signs and hoardings shall be located entirely on privately owned land".

Matamata/Piako: Temporary signs... not located in any public place or on public buildings..."

Waitomo: "...signs for Local ands Central Government elections be located on private land".

Waipa: "No signs will be permitted... on any... public place controlled by Council".

Wanganui, conveniently, seems to have no policy, leastways not publicly accessible.

Anonymous said...

And the sign is supporting which candidate for an election that is how many months away.

Laws Watch said...

The above Councils permit the erection of signage for periods ranging from a very permissive three months to a rather restrictive one month prior to election day. Wanganui's by-election is about 4 months away (107 days), so it'd be illegal in anyone's jurisdiction.

As to who it's supporting, why any and all candidates who eventually declare themselves as standing for Vision, of course.

Anonymous said...

It's not supporting any candidate so legally it can't be an election hoarding and nor does it ask anyone to vote for Vision. LawsWatch, your facts are wrong and I'm sure you've seen it Carol so you must know that.
Having supported a candidate in an earler election I believe that the council policy on election signs is that they can be put on public land and all the ones at the Dublin Street bridge and at the Purnell-Fitzherbert-London intersection last year mean that policy must still be operational.
From what I could see in my Chronicle this morning the sign seems to carry more a philosophical message so maybe Kalil Gabrain might be next.

Anonymous said...

Wanganui got some good coverage on the Prime show tonight. Go Michael. A great ambassador for Wanganui and much better looking than Tim Shadbolt.

Anonymous said...

You probably mean Khalil (NB: With an H) Gibran but I think the philosopher role model for Michael B Laws is one Adolph Hitler and his famous philosophical tract Mein Kampf:

Through clever and constant application of propaganda,
people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way
around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."

Anonymous said...

Memo Marion:

Mickey seems to be stealing your identity again.

Laws Watch said...

It's not supporting any candidate so legally it can't be an election hoarding

Whilst the Electoral Act 1993 unequivocally treats signs for candidates and signs for parties the same, the Local Electoral Act 2001 is silent on the matter. In the absence of statutory guidelines, it would presumably come down to whatever the WDC policy is on electoral hoardings.

Does anyone who stood last time have a copy of any explanatory notes and/or rules they may have been given that they might care to share with the rest of us?

nor does it ask anyone to vote for Vision

Nor does that advertisement we just saw showing happy people quaffing wine actually plead with us to drink, but my, we have a powerful thirst right now ;-) Whether advertising is direct or indirect, it's still advertising.

I believe that the council policy on election signs is that they can be put on public land... that policy must still be operational.

Thanks for that info. Hopefully, in the absence of any policy available online, someone might share the rules with the rest of us as suggested above. You're most likely right - but then the question is, can anyone else put up a sign outside the Mayoral office, as Ray Stevens has suggested?

From what I could see in my Chronicle this morning the sign seems to carry more a philosophical message so maybe Kalil Gabrain might be next.

If that's philosophical, we'd hate to see blatantly partisan self-promotion, anonynmous! As for philosophers, we'd imagine Nietzsche is more in keeping with the Diva's thought processes.

Anonymous said...

"Southland has been receiving a lot of good news lately ... By way of contrast I’ve been following the conflicts in Wanganui. That’s because in his election campaign, Michael Laws announced that he was going to ‘do a Tim Shadbolt in Wanganui’. Having a high profile certainly helps to put a city on the map, but that doesn’t give you the right to insult people. ... The whole sorry saga did little to promote Wanganui and I would be surprised if he doesn’t become another one term Mayor. John Banks also had a knack for offending people." -
Tim Shadbolt, Southland Express, Mayor’s Column, 18 July 2005

Anonymous said...

You have to understand the back history to that remark of Shadbolt's but I do know Laws never said he wanted to do a Shadbolt - his ego would never have allowed such a compsarison!
Shadbolt was pissed off because Laws had roasted him on radio, TV and in his column over the Dancing with the Stars voting being stacked. He also said somethjing about Shadbolt abandoning Invercargll to stand as a NZ First by-election candidate. Is that right??

Anonymous said...

"I do know Laws never said he wanted to do a Shadbolt"

You have remarkable access. (/sarcasm off)
Since you've clearly listened to his every utterance, and been there to hear everything, perhaps you can settle an argument. Was it a lap top, or a fax machine?

:)

Anonymous said...

Yes, anon (10.39) Laws was right -
Shadbolt got 5% of the Selwyn by-election vote in 1994 as the NZ First party candidate while still serving as mayor of Invercargill. Shadbolt lost the next mayoral election in Invercargill after that (1995), and was re-elected (1998).

Anonymous said...

You have remarkable access. (/sarcasm off)
Since you've clearly listened to his every utterance, and been there to hear everything, perhaps you can settle an argument. Was it a lap top, or a fax machine?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I went to a campaign meeting where he described Shadbolt as a buffoon who ran for mayor because he needed the money, if that counts.

Anonymous said...

That's so sad, anon. Mickey really sprayed that openly even then?

I wonder what it's like to believe that wealth equals worth. Especially when you're reliant on your own "celebrity".

Anonymous said...

I shorthanded that earlier comment - he was asked a Q about if he was "doing a Shadbolt", meaning "I'll be mayor, anywhere" and he replied something along the lines of having grown up here and then he said Shadbolt stood for Invercargill because he needed the money and that was not a good reason to get into local bodies - something like that.
That part of Laws I admire and thats not taking the salary and I reckon hes right saing that councilors shouldnt be paid because its community work not an income.

Anonymous said...

He doesn't work the hours, so he shouldn't get the salary. Or the car. Which we pay for.

Anonymous said...

And when he is there he does more harm than good, with his divisive agenda and his abuse, so he doesn't deserve a red cent.

Anonymous said...

The criticism of the mayor for using every media op to promote Wanganui is a bit silly and on 2 counts. First, he said he would prior to being elected and second because that's part of a mayor's job. There are billboards all over Auckland and Wellington promoting Radio Live and that Prime show is great for Wangas because we keep featuring in them. When Tim Shadbolt did his Borneo trip or his Dancing with Stars appearances did he cop criticism for spending weeks overseas or every week dancing? I read somewhere that his council urged him to go because it promoted the south and it really did.
Laws will never win with you guys because you hate him but not taking the salary was also a good gesture and appreciated by most of us ratepayers because council takes too much of our money already.

Anonymous said...

Bullshit: I pay just over $100 a month for all the services council provide: it costs almost as much for Sky Tv. Wanganui's high rates are due to the stormwater separation expenses (which were required by law), not Council spending.

Anonymous said...

New mayor's column already up -
www.mayormichael.co.nz

Anonymous said...

Bullshit: I pay just over $100 a month for all the services council provide: it costs almost as much for Sky Tv. Wanganui's high rates are due to the stormwater separation expenses (which were required by law), not Council spending.

8:08 AM, October 27, 2005



This is a fundamental misrepresentation of the situation.
The council was required to upgrade its stormwater/sewage works because it had done nothing for years and even decades. Horizons were making noises that consents could be declined in the future if the river wasn't cleaned up and so Wanganui's council was finally required to act.
The major expenses of the stormwater separation haven't even hot Wanganui yet and that's the worrying part. The sewage treatment plant hasn't been built and the stormwater separation is only half completed.
As a council observor, the last council said it could do all this and have maximum debt at $43 m. But this new lot have discovered that the peak debt was underestimated by 25% and now it looks like $54m-plus. It could be more if that $3m in outstanding debts not collected because of slack financial control is correct.
Add the fact that Wanganui's rates are amomngst the highest in NZ and this community one of the poorer ones, and this council is between a rock and a hard place. What LawsWatch should be considering is how come the last council and the Chronicle between them reported none of this. If this was a Wellington or Auckland, the Audit Office office would be in here so quick ... that's right they were.

Anonymous said...

I wonder where Ray Stevens was during all this? At the garage pretending it wasn't happening?

Anonymous said...

This is a fundamental misrepresentation of the situation.

No it's not: I pay $110 a month in rates, and $96 to Sky. Council provides somewhat more than Tv. Go live in Palmerston North if you want a no-frills town. Wanganui has great amenities (like the hated by Mickey Cooks Gardens) and it's worth paying a little bit extra for them.

Anonymous said...

In a couple of the previous posts anon says the Mayor doesn't take his salary.
That is absolute rubbish!!!

The mayor is paid his salary and has to be, that is the law.
If the mayor chooses to give away part of his salary after the tax is paid that is up to him.
Personally I am not sucked in by this so called generosity. After all it is ratepayers money that pays his salary and bought the car he drives.

Anonymous said...

So what Lawrence? He was elected democratically & is entitled to the salary & car. He gives away his salary and that's honourable.

Anonymous said...

Give me a bucket.

Lawrence is right. Mickey doesn't save the ratepayer a cent by giving away his salary, and you can bet he writes it off as a charitable donation on his tax return.

Anonymous said...

You're a bitter person aren't you?
He can't write off the donations unless they're to a registered charitable trust and the max is less than $1,000 anyway. when did you last make a donation?
By my calculations, if he gets $70,000 gross a year and is taxed at 38c then he gives away $40,000-plus per year to Wanganui causes. That contrasts with the councillors who keep all theirs so its honourable allright.

Anonymous said...

When did I last make a donation? Last week. That's the point, dupe. Everybody gives to charity, but only Mickey sprays about it. Your ridiculous comparison seems to imply that Councillors who don't donate their salaries are "dishonourable". That in itself epitomises your mean-spirited agenda. The only reason Mickey donates his salary (and I've yet to see any proof of that though I have reasonable hearsay that it's true) is so he can tell us. Yes, I think he's a low-life.

Anonymous said...

I'm not having a conversation with a rational person am I? I'm talking principles and you're playing the man. Why don't you lift your argument out of your bitterness. What's he ever done to you?

Anonymous said...

There's a theme emerging in Mickey's posts on his own blog, and his comments here, that Councillors shouldn't take their salaries. The effect of such a move would be to favour established political parties (or organised commercial interests) over independent councillors. Further, it favours richer individuals over simply middle income or, horror of horrors, poor people. Perhaps this is inevitable, but if it is to be the case, perhaps the Labour party needs to get it's ass into gear for the next triennials here.

Anonymous said...

"I'm talking principles and you're playing the man."

You could be describing your mayor.

Anonymous said...

I work in a number of community organisations and I don't get paid. I would put in 25-30 hours a week which would be more than your average local politician works on council issues. They get $25,000 a year, I get nothing but we both make Wanganui a better place. The mayor is right - it should be the idea of service that motivates people to stand for council and not the salary.
As for poorer people not being able to stand for council, I just don't get that argument at all.

Anonymous said...

"I'm talking principles and you're playing the man."

You could be describing your mayor.

10:32 AM, October 27, 2005

Now, you're playing the man!

Anonymous said...

What's he ever done to you?

Good question anon. Let me hazard a guess. Perhaps anon is in some way related to Dave Foster. Or Richard Munneke, or the staff at the Sarjeant, or the staff at council, or the Lions members who look after Kowhai Park. Or Tuffy Churton, or Joan Street, or Ray Stevens, or anyone from Napier, or Hawkes Bay in general, or Reuben Paterson, or...

Anonymous said...

"They get $25,000 a year, I get nothing but we both make Wanganui a better place."

Don McGregor has commented that cutting councillors salaries has the effect of making it a "rich man's game".

With respect, you weren't elected, they were. I think $25k is reasonable compensation for being a servant.

As for the ad hominem remarks, can you be serious? The mayor sees them as a legitimate tactic, which according to you means he isn't "rational", but you're defending him...

Anonymous said...

What's he ever done to you?

Good question anon. Let me hazard a guess. Perhaps anon is in some way related to Dave Foster. Or Richard Munneke, or the staff at the Sarjeant, or the staff at council, or the Lions members who look after Kowhai Park. Or Tuffy Churton, or Joan Street, or Ray Stevens, or anyone from Napier, or Hawkes Bay in general, or Reuben Paterson, or...

10:51 AM, October 27, 2005



Examples, please. The above tells me nothing.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
So what Lawrence? He was elected democratically & is entitled to the salary & car. He gives away his salary and that's honourable.

9:39 AM, October 27, 2005

------------------------
I have no problem with the fact the mayor was democraticly elected. I have no problem with a Mayor getting a salary and a car. I do however have a problem with the ammount of work this mayor does for the ammount he receives. (Salary and car).
As I have said before giving away his salary to his pet projects does not impress me. I have dificulty in finding that "honourable".

Anonymous said...

CR RANGI WILLS comments this week ...

Referenda and information

This council has raised the level of debate and interest in local issues. We have clearly defined the issues, including our funding problems, and given the community the opportunity to tell council what they think our future priorities and direction should be. A friend said to me recently “This is the first time I have been provided with information in a form I can read, absorb, develop an opinion – and I like it.”

For the opponents of “referenda” who see the exercise as silly and costly, and an abrogation of governance responsibility, I say I don’t have the arrogance to believe I will always know best.

Ratepayers Association

I represent the Ratepayers Association on council. My role is to ensure that their policies are, where possible, adopted by council or have an influence on policy development.

The Association’s policies align closely with many of Vision’s policies and I make no apology for supporting those policies through council processes."

Now here's a question for you LawsWatch. is Rangi a Diva dupe too?

Anonymous said...

Vision don't need to win the by-election because with Rangi Wills they have a 7-5 majority already.

Anonymous said...

Examples, please. The above tells me nothing.

Sure: go to google and type in some of those names next to "Michael Laws".

Anonymous said...

Rangi Wills said:

"For the opponents of “referenda” who see the exercise as silly and costly, and an abrogation of governance responsibility, I say I don’t have the arrogance to believe I will always know best"

If you're reading this, Rangi, "always knowing best" is not what you were elected to do. You were elected to learn and understand the issues, and make decisions based on your personal experience and character. You might have to own your mistakes that way, but that's how you accrue mana, bro.

Anonymous said...

So how come you take the car Micky. Whats the difference between the car and your salary. Come on, give it up

Anonymous said...

The maximum political gain has already been acheived by spraying the "I give to charity" line. Perhaps in a year or so's time, when the spray has worn thinner, would be the best time, politically, to donate the car and spray that around the place too.

Anonymous said...

No it's not: I pay $110 a month in rates, and $96 to Sky. Council provides somewhat more than Tv. Go live in Palmerston North if you want a no-frills town.

Is that Palmerston North or Phalmerston North

Anonymous said...

Just come back from a trip to Auckland. When I mentioned where I lived, the replies were 'colourful'. One I liked best was ... "oh you have that Mad Mayor"... I kind-of-like the MMM .. Mad Mayor Michael.

Anonymous said...

"is Rangi a Diva dupe too?" Yes.

Re Ms Lawrence's feeble attempt to provide adequate information about items on the last referendumb, and no doubt on the one ahead, even Marty Lindsay has admitted they stuffed up.

Compared to the single, suposedly "neutral" paragraph about each item on the glossy referendumb form, Michael Laws made sure he got acres of coverage for his pet projects.

Cr Lindsay at the strategy meeting:

"What we learned from Referendum 05 was that we probably didn't do as good a job as we could do in explaining the issues".

Of course, one assumes that someone has talented and experienced as Helen Lawrence could do better, but her boss is more interested in having her fire off press releases giving the gospel according to Michael Laws.

She is N-O-T there to serve the ratepayers yet we pay her salary. Or perhaps she donates it to Save the Horses.

Anonymous said...

It was interesting staying in town for the weekend, too, Pip.

Several out-of-towners introduced conversations in similar MMM fashion and then compared him unfavourably with Invercargill's Tim.

Anonymous said...

This could catch on ..The Mad Butcher, Mad Dog Prebble and now our very own Mad Mayor Mickey.

Anonymous said...

Marty wants to have the issues explained better? Neutrally? In a balanced fashion? Sack Helen and muzzle Mickey, Marty. That should help.

Anonymous said...

If the rest of the country regards Wanganui as a laughing stock for being duped by Mickey, what can they think of Uber-Dupes like Dotty?

Anonymous said...

Come on Tricky Micky, Give the car up

Anonymous said...

Don't you listen to them Michael, Your doing a wonderful job. You keep hold of that car and anyway if you gave it up what's poor Muzza going to do on his Saturday afternoons if he can't wash it for you

Anonymous said...

Getting back to the vision sign on public property outside the Mayors door...
Laws watch (9.07pm)had examples of other councils policies restricting this...
any word on a policy here ?
whats the protocol on that if we don't have one ?
Might be a while til the next annual plan

Anonymous said...

Come on Tricky Micky, Give the car up

Yeah, it's terrible when people run for office just to get a car. What's the matter Mickey, can't you afford a car?