Let them eat cake (& waterslides)
Back in September LawsWatch looked into its crystal ball and predicted the ratepayers of Whanganui were going to take a bath over the splash centre extension they’d been conned to tick the box for in Referendumb 2005.
Since the champagne corks popped and Mr Unsworth clinked glasses with Mr Laws the swimming pool saga has picked up the velocity of an uncontrolled ride down a mythic waterslide. On Friday this week, with the ink barely dry on the mayor’s LTTCP protestations of penury, he will take the council into the deep end with an additional $1.3 million cash splash for this leaky project.
It’s not so long ago that he was asserting firm limits on the ratepayers’ contribution and talking up the community fundraising possibilities. One RAV’s worth of raffle tickets later, and a big thumbs down from the Lotteries Commission, he’s ended up with a highly-tagged contribution from the Whanganui Community Foundation that won’t even cover the cost escalation since the project got the go-ahead less than a year ago.
So as Vision’s rapidly diminishing credibility sinks beneath the putrid stagnant water of its most public failure to date, the mayor now tells us:
"It is time for Council to honour the Referendum '05 results and underwrite the venture immediately."The messy dog-paddle race for safety has been, not surprisingly,a highly secret affair and the integrity of the referendumb process, never a major selling point for Vision’s brand of "democracy", is now well and truly the victim of death by drowning.
- How does a referendum mandate for the council to put up $2.5 million over two years get stretched to cover the twists and turns of the present financial high-dive act?
- How many of those who ticked the "right" box understood they were buying… twin hydroslides, a café and a small gym?
- Will the mayor’s chlorine-induced amnesia block memories of this addendum to the Referendumb blurb?: "The additional operating expenditure of this project will need to be borne by the Splash Centre and not the Council. Council's contribution is the capital funding and some projects may need to 'cut their cloth' as a consequence."
- Why is he blaming "some critics" for the $800,000 per year estimated increased running costs when the figure came straight out of a report tabled last September by council officer Keith Hindson? Is the financial estimates process now also subject to Deputy Dotty’s magic legal formula for delivering nil rates rises in revaluation years: namely, if the lawyer you’ve got doesn’t tell you what you want to hear keep looking till you find one that will.
13 comments:
Interesting to see that Wanganui inc is advertising for a marketing manager “with responsibility for events, tourism and marketing”. Where does this leave Jenna Lees, aka the fairy godmother? And wasn’t it just a week or so ago that someone was warning that Wanganui Inc seemed to be poaching on Mr Shackleton’s turf?
It sounds like people are just starting to get the LTCCP “summary”. According to my calendar we’re now halfway through The Week Beginning April 17. So what went wrong, Mickey, since the publication of this particular lie on the council website three weeks ago?
Audit Office approves Draft LTCCP:
“…. the summary document will be delivered to every Wanganui household in the week beginning Monday, April 10.”
Oops that pesky calendar got it wrong -- we're actually two weeks past deadline. So can the anonyworker from Guyton St who is usually so keen to share the inside info with us please explain this. Does it have anything to do with the spin fairy spinning out, for instance?
It sounds like people are just starting to get the LTCCP “summary”. According to my calendar we’re now halfway through The Week Beginning April 17. So what went wrong, Mickey, since the publication of this particular lie on the council website three weeks ago?
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Who cares? i got mine on Saturday and rwad the entire plan on the website about 7-8 days before that. Is that all you losers have to moan about?
According to an anonymous commenter at 7.48pm this evening:
Breaking News.... Read it here first as it most likely won't be in the Chronc.
Helen Lawrence arrived at work this morning and packed up her desk and walked out.
Now what does that say to you (Laws lovers) about the way Micky treats council staff?
Go Helen !!!! you have my respect for having the guts not to put up with the crap Micky puts out.
Best wishes and success for wherever you go and whatever you do in the future.
We would caution readers to treat this as an unsubstantiated rumour until such time as we're able to verify the veracity (or otherwise) of this information.
We've posted it in the interests of keeping people as up-to-date as possible. If Ms Lawrence, or any other credible source with a WDC email address, contacts us via email (as opposed to anonymous comment) to deny the story, we'll be happy to post a correction.
It’s a good thing Mickey Mayor was away doing whatever it is he does on Wednesdays when he’s not being a foul-mouthed mayor. After he slagged off Peter Robinson et al in the Chron (and even Mrs Robinson at a public meeting recently) he just might have bought himself a fight when the “hysterical scaremongers” turned up with their submissions yesterday.
In the mad mayor’s absence however, even diVisionaries like Higgie and Hughes managed to appear mildly conciliatory and even ate a big slice of humble pie in admitting that the council hadn’t done its homework (apparently they spent about half an hour on it before firing it out and letting people like Stephen Palmer and Peter Robinson do the hard graft, effectively pro bono work for this lazy council).
Or was it because they were all (officers and councillors) too busy chasing naughty loggers and bad bad gang patch wearers and boy racers?
PS: The absence of His Worshit also meant Helen L was able to clear out her desk without copping any more mayoral abuse.
Helen was goneburger from the day she agreed to look after Michael's precious 3-ply toilet paper for him. How could he respect someone who would demean herself to that extent?
Can confirm ... the Spin Fairy has left the building. We'll just have to wait a see if the Diva can 'sweet talk' for back again ...
After what we've been hearing today will there be a code of conduct against the mayor? Like the one against Cr Stevens.
Don't get too excited little children. The word around council is that he's found a replacement already and a little too happy about the outcome for my liking.
Anonymous said...
After what we've been hearing today will there be a code of conduct against the mayor? Like the one against Cr Stevens.
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Hardly. This is the mayor remember and the council (including the likes of "gentleman" Don McGregor) decided last year that he can say whatever he likes about whoever he likes. Why shouldn't he abuse some fellow dropout from central govt politics if the mood grabs him?
Those in a very good position to know at the Palmerston North and New Plymouth Aquatic Centres say that 5.4 million seems a pretty optimistic estimate for our pool's expansion plans. Palmerston North's facility cost 8 million and apparently Tauranga's (which is reputed to be the deluxe version with all the whistles and bells) came in at 20 million.
This mad mayor is nothing more than an abusive, foul-mouthed, psychopathic bully - isn't it time he was held to account?
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