Pie-eyed pipers
Councillors McGregor and McDahya, that is. They play together in a pipe band, but they are also moonlighting as the support act for the Diva at council, playing the same tune on the Ballance statue on Monday, and last week McDahya fell into line with McGregor on getting the H back on the referendumb. Then they piped Colin Whitlock and his wife into their farewell, also last Monday.
Both of these examples of McG and McD bloc voting are on fairly contentious issues in terms of fragile relations with the iwi - and they went for the provocative option on both. With people like Sue Pepperell counselling a reasonable and consultative approach on these sorts of issues, the Diva must be grateful that he has such staunch support from the pie-eyed pipers.
Perhaps they'd support one compromise - we're sure a local sculptor could fashion a Whitlock head for attachment to a Ballance body. After all, the Diva presaged just such a development back in his speech on 14 April 2003, part of which we've already deconstructed. Talking about Wanganui's debt, he said:
Personally I think we should declare war on the United States, immediately surrender and wait for their army to occupy us. Having that many troops would sure stimulate the local economy – not to mention the female population. But given that we haven’t gassed Marton, threatened a chemical strike on Raetihi or erected giant statues of Colin Whitlock in the mainstreet then I’m betting that even that tactic might fail.Now that Ballance has officially got the heave-ho from Moutoa Gardens, perhaps it's time?
Given Colin Whitlock's undoubted service to Wanganui - despite the Diva's concerted pre-election efforts to suggest otherwise - perhaps some sort of acknowledgement beyond McGregor and McDhaya's piping is appropriate.
At the farewell, Iwi representative John Maihi commended Colin for his role at the time of the Moutoa Gardens occupation, saying "Thanks for your support, with Chas, in moving forward and bringing us together" so we'd probably have their support in switching Ballance for Whitlock.
It would surely be a better epitaph than a dodgy book deal.
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4 comments:
Anonymous said...
I agree, the man is so negative, he just can't help himself.
Wonder what Colin is really thinking as he leaves this rubbish littered, gang infested city of ours?
I'd buy that book!
The book deal should be interesting. It would be very unusual for a first-time author to be given an advance on royalties for an as-yet unwritten work. Perhaps Colin is intending to write this tome off his own bat & WDC is going to give him access to the files to help. Any money paid to Colin would surely have to come from his publishers. Or will WDC be entering into a "joint venture" with said publishers?
Looks like Don McGregor forgot to drink his Diva Devotion Potion yesterday. He says letting Michael decide things leads to Wanganui looking "rude and arrogant", but I bet what he really meant to say is that the Mayor is rude & arrogant.
Obviously Cr McGregor didn't think Laws was rude and arrogant back when he voted like a good little sheep to exonerate him on the code of conduct breaches.
And I seem to recall that some of the conduct charges referred specifically to the mayor acting like a one-man band and not getting council approval for things.
Now McGregor's behaving like a demented diva himself, because of what are basically breaches of the army protocol manual and the Wanganui Royalists' Society etiquette guidelines.
But it's still okay for the mayor to abuse whoever he likes, whenever he likes, eh Don?
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