Follow the money

A week is indeed a long time in the hit-and-run politics practised by the mayor of Wanganui. It’s just over a week since Michael Laws launched his assault on the Government-funded tourism MRI (Major Regional Initiative) designed to develop international-standard branding and promotion of the attractions of the Ruapehu, Rangitikei and Wanganui districts.

Many Watchers have found remarkable similarities between this episode and the shameful Sarjeant Gallery campaign with which Mickey commenced his reign of terror as the Mad King of Wanganui two and a half years ago.

Both involved:

• Mayoral abuse of individuals who were voluntarily giving their time, expertise and passion for good causes.
• Mayoral abuse of the ratepayer-funded Council website to dance around the lines of defamation.
• Hysterical demands for the resignation of individuals concerned.
• Much ado about 'confidential' minutes.
• Dumb and complicit silence from council CEOs and others like, in this case, Cr Murray Hughes.
• The whole thing fuelled by the willingness of the Wanganui Chronicle (with John Maslin acting as chief propaganda minister) to run Mickey’s press releases under the biggest headlines while leaving any attempt at balance coveraged for later, and smaller.

As some Watchers have noted, Wanganui’s Mickey Mouse mayor briefly went quiet, retired to his hole, chewed his tail and planned his next assault on decency and democracy. The Chronic got around to running some stories from the other side (notably, though, by reporters other than Michael Laws' one-trick pony John Maslin) and even, today, an editorial attempting to be balanced. Then Mickey burst out of his hole this afternoon and upped the ante by pretending his madness might be taken seriously by the Auditor General.

But no doubt the "victims" of the MRI tirade, principally its chair Uwe Kroll, are now wondering, "what the hell was that about?!" Similar rhetorical questioning is no doubt taking place in the minds of those, like David Cairncross and Bill Millbank, who were left in the Sarjeant wreckage and are now reconsidering the worth of volunteering their time and expertise in future.

As one commenter has advised LawsWatch, when you’re looking to explain the apparently inexplicable actions of Michael Laws, it always helps to follow the money. And once again, the money trail seems to lead to Mr and Ms Flim-Flam's (a.k.a. Mickey and Sally Patrick) grand Heart of Wanganui folly.

Way back in late 2004-early 2005, when the Heart was no more than sketches on a paper napkin left behind after Mickey and Sally met for coffee at Indigo, it would have been apparent to a blind mouse that the Sarjeant extension plan, with its generous dollop of government dosh, could not be allowed to progress if Mickey and the then-librarian were to push their mega-million dollar library-museum-underground carpark scheme past an unsuspecting public. By now Watchers should be chanting, pantomime-like: "Follow the money!!"

Fast-forward to February 2007 and there’s a referendumb on Sally's and Mickey’s Heart project looming, not to mention another election. Mr Flim and Ms Flam know their cockamamie scheme is in for a hiding as some hard questions begin to be asked about funding arrangements. Vision has shaken dry just about every council piggy bank Mickey can get his hands on, from mayoral relief funds to prime land assets, so the MRI money box (with its cool $2 million), must be looking pretty attractive right now. Especially since it seems some of that dosh will be headed the way of the Waiouru Army Museum multi-million dollar expansion when according to Mickey’s "me me meeee!" brand of illogic, it should be tossed with gay abandon at his delusional Heart.

So, just as the Sarjeant extension had to go – and went, amid a hail of bullets and corpses – Michael Laws will doubtless have seen the MRI’s democratic processes for allocating the cash from its piggy bank as a threat to the Mickey-Sally Flim-Flam Inc museum-library-carpark. He may even really believe that he can convince the government to disband the MRI and give him the keys to the piggy bank!

So where’s the harm in that, Watchers? Consider the damage that’s been done to Wanganui’s reputation as a result of this bout of mayoral madness. And it’s not just about Michael Laws, who’s headed for a dose of his own medicine at the ballot box in just over seven months (further headline-chasing cheap publicity stunts notwithstanding) because the stink of institutional rot at 101 Guyton Street will linger long after he’s danced off the scene.

CEO Dr David Warburton has shown an astonishing degree of complicity in allowing the council website to be used to put the ratepayers in jeopardy of civil action and Michael Laws even seemed to be pointing the finger at his CEO in the matter of the leaked MRI minutes.

Forelock-tugging Vision lackeys like Murray Hughes may not have the good sense to flee the wreckage of their inglorious time in power and leave Wanganui to get on with the job of rehabilitating its reputation, but others can see this for what it is - just another step in Wanganui’s journey under Michael Laws to pariah-dom … a rogue district that cannot be trusted or liked by its fellow councils or governments or government funding institutions and is the object of ridicule and contempt wherever thinking people gather.

Admin note - 28 February, 1.15pm: Formatting edits were made to this post to correct HTML errors caused by the transfer of text from Word to Blogger. The opportunity was taken to make small changes to the text which do not alter the sense of the post. A new illustration was also added.

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