| Newsletter #8 - July 1st 24 2019 July is the official start! It is now upon us. July is the month that makes candidates for Wards, Boards, DHB's, Council and Mayor official. It will be another four to five weeks before we learn all the names, so it should be a fun time for the media! Next week the first candidate interviews by NBR get released, and in just over a weeks time Stuff will be doing a feature interview with me. They consider me to be one of the top four Mayoral candidates so their attention will be the shot in the arm that we were waiting for. I'm also now booked in for two debate meetings with Grey Power - Howick/Pakuranga and North Shore so that's more traction. In other interesting news Mike Lee confirmed he is not running for Mayor, he will however be running again for Council. In even more interesting news the Communist League are putting up another candidate and they want to mirror the socialist regime of Cuba. Yup you read that right - Cuba. Anyway, back in the real world this are going to now heat up in the race, the dictatorship wants of the other candidates will come to the fore and we will have to wade our way through them all. Game on I say.... Remember you can see all the previous newsletters HERE but for now, let's rip into newsletter #8, and take a look at the week that was. Waste To Energy is a MUST! I'm really pleased to officially announce that I will be fighting and lobbying to have a Waste To Energy Plant built in Auckland - or not too far from us. I spoke about it in the last newsletter and since then I have had a meeting with Veolia who run 65 of the plants around the world. It is an incredible asset that we must have. Here is a video of my thoughts after the meet. (Youtube) DTEK - They are Awesome. Last week I had a really inspiring meeting with the lads that run Down To Earth Kiwis NZ - DTEK NZ - and they are doing a great job of organising clean ups of Auckland's mangroves, creeks, rivers and waterways. They showed me photos of the rubbish sitting in our water - and it ain't good. So far they are getting very little (read: nothing) assistance from Auckland Council and I certainly want to change that. Meanwhile their next big rubbish cull is July 21st focusing on the Whau and Henderson creeks - I'm already booked up that weekend with work but if you can make it then please do so. They'd be really keen to hear from people with dinghies, jetskis and kayaks... We'll get to the problem of how the rubbish ends up there later - and how I will help them from the Mayor's office, for now though, the community needs to rally together to help them clean it up. Job Done. Just to prove how serious I am, I took my darling wife out for breakfast last Saturday and I've already started to fix the city... And Speaking of Job Done... I took my lad to the wrecker yard last weekend and showed him the part he needed and how to remove it so he can get his first car on the road. He ripped straight into it. He then fitted the alternator to his car, did some wiring and other repairs and it's running like a finely tuned clock again. Real world life lessons and a very proud Dad. Inorganic Collections I ran a Facebook Poll last week asking the above question - and this was the clear result. Yes we know the collections can cause some issues, but compared to the pros of doing it, well, we have to reinstate them. The online booking system doesn't work well enough and too much rubbish is being taken to local parks, shop areas, creeks, waterways etc. In saying this, a full recycle facility along with a Waste to Energy plant will change all of this for the better. But until we get one built, we need to return to what we had. Councillor Should Apologise Seems the reports are true - the man who died while riding a Lime Scooter had a “medical event” and his death was nothing to do with the unit at all. Unfortunately JT’s running-mate and current Auckland Councillor Christine Fletcher immediately jumped to conclusions, and was rather vocal in the media using the incident to push her own barrow of agendas by demanding "a complete review" of scooter safety... fantastic work on her part. She owes the company an apology - but it won't come. That's sadly how long term politicians work. We really need to change the script. Thank Goodness for Common Sense The new bridge project for Wynyard crossing (aka the expensive wrong timing Panuku vanity project) has been postponed until after the America's Cup event. This pleases me a lot - because we do not have the funds for such things. Core functions. Core roles. Those should be our focus. Not vanity projects like a new bridge to impress America's Cup attendees. I'm also hoping that this gives us time for a redesign - as one of the Facebook page commentators said "nothing shows off Auckland better than a boomerang..." Oh and by the way... Council also needs to step in and stop the Chamberlain Park fiasco - because that is currently the ultimate in unwanted legacy building by the local board. Top to Bottom The report to the council’s Appointments, Performance Review and Value for Money Committee says: "The council’s finance department has delivered on key investment challenges, maintained borrowing within prudent levels and its overall costs were reasonable as measured against existing benchmarks." So here's a neat stat for you... Auckland Council has over 10,000 full time equivalent employees and annual staff costs of $866 million. Figures released as part of the council annual report late last year showed the Auckland Council Group’s wages bill was up, along with the number of staff earning six figure salaries. The total number of Auckland Council Group staff earning over $100,000 increasing from a total of 2,250 in 2017 to 2,473 in 2018 Nearly 2500 staff in Council are paid over $100,000 per annum. So here's what I promise to do if in office: Take a look at what each and every one of those $100k+ roles are and see if they are justified. Then I'll report back. Fundraising. I didn't want to do it, but friends and family have convinced me it's actually ok to ask. So I have begrudgingly setup a donation page HERE It's to boost the exposure on Social Media platforms which is to be fair enormously powerful. So if you would like to help, even if you're not on one, please do so. Every penny raised will go towards Social Media marketing - and just like I'll do when in office, the books will be open! And as much as I do hate asking, I'm at the same time extremely appreciative. Alright, that's it for Newsletter #8. Have a great week, I'll be in touch again soon. Thanks for your interest. My Video Library All my videos such as "The Engineer" are available to watch on the website. You can find the videos HERE. This Mayoral campaign is being fought on two fronts: The newer world of social media, and the old-school way with print and advertising. Your help in this fight is genuinely appreciated. If you have any friends or family, work colleagues, or community groups that would benefit in hearing more about our plans, please do inform them. Forward them this email, let them know about the social media pages, and of course, tell them about the website where they can subscribe to this newsletter. I sincerely thank you for your interest and support. |
Newsletter #8 - July 1st 24 2019 | |
July is the official start!
It is now upon us. July is the month that makes candidates for Wards, Boards, DHB's, Council and Mayor official. It will be another four to five weeks before we learn all the names, so it should be a fun time for the media!
Next week the first candidate interviews by NBR get released, and in just over a weeks time Stuff will be doing a feature interview with me. They consider me to be one of the top four Mayoral candidates so their attention will be the shot in the arm that we were waiting for.
I'm also now booked in for two debate meetings with Grey Power - Howick/Pakuranga and North Shore so that's more traction.
In other interesting news Mike Lee confirmed he is not running for Mayor, he will however be running again for Council. In even more interesting news the Communist League are putting up another candidate and they want to mirror the socialist regime of Cuba. Yup you read that right - Cuba.
Anyway, back in the real world this are going to now heat up in the race, the dictatorship wants of the other candidates will come to the fore and we will have to wade our way through them all. Game on I say....
Remember you can see all the previous newsletters HERE but for now, let's rip into newsletter #8, and take a look at the week that was.
| |
Waste To Energy is a MUST! | |
I'm really pleased to officially announce that I will be fighting and lobbying to have a Waste To Energy Plant built in Auckland - or not too far from us. I spoke about it in the last newsletter and since then I have had a meeting with Veolia who run 65 of the plants around the world. It is an incredible asset that we must have.
Here is a video of my thoughts after the meet. (Youtube)
| |
Last week I had a really inspiring meeting with the lads that run Down To Earth Kiwis NZ - DTEK NZ - and they are doing a great job of organising clean ups of Auckland's mangroves, creeks, rivers and waterways.
They showed me photos of the rubbish sitting in our water - and it ain't good.
So far they are getting very little (read: nothing) assistance from Auckland Council and I certainly want to change that.
Meanwhile their next big rubbish cull is July 21st focusing on the Whau and Henderson creeks - I'm already booked up that weekend with work but if you can make it then please do so.
They'd be really keen to hear from people with dinghies, jetskis and kayaks...
We'll get to the problem of how the rubbish ends up there later - and how I will help them from the Mayor's office, for now though, the community needs to rally together to help them clean it up.
| |
Just to prove how serious I am, I took my darling wife out for breakfast last Saturday and I've already started to fix the city... | |
And Speaking of Job Done... | |
I took my lad to the wrecker yard last weekend and showed him the part he needed and how to remove it so he can get his first car on the road. He ripped straight into it.
He then fitted the alternator to his car, did some wiring and other repairs and it's running like a finely tuned clock again.
Real world life lessons and a very proud Dad.
| |
I ran a Facebook Poll last week asking the above question - and this was the clear result. Yes we know the collections can cause some issues, but compared to the pros of doing it, well, we have to reinstate them.
The online booking system doesn't work well enough and too much rubbish is being taken to local parks, shop areas, creeks, waterways etc.
In saying this, a full recycle facility along with a Waste to Energy plant will change all of this for the better.
But until we get one built, we need to return to what we had.
| |
Councillor Should Apologise | |
Seems the reports are true - the man who died while riding a Lime Scooter had a “medical event” and his death was nothing to do with the unit at all.
Unfortunately JT’s running-mate and current Auckland Councillor Christine Fletcher immediately jumped to conclusions, and was rather vocal in the media using the incident to push her own barrow of agendas by demanding "a complete review" of scooter safety... fantastic work on her part.
She owes the company an apology - but it won't come. That's sadly how long term politicians work. We really need to change the script.
| |
Thank Goodness for Common Sense | |
The new bridge project for Wynyard crossing (aka the expensive wrong timing Panuku vanity project) has been postponed until after the America's Cup event.
This pleases me a lot - because we do not have the funds for such things. Core functions. Core roles. Those should be our focus. Not vanity projects like a new bridge to impress America's Cup attendees.
I'm also hoping that this gives us time for a redesign - as one of the Facebook page commentators said "nothing shows off Auckland better than a boomerang..."
Oh and by the way... Council also needs to step in and stop the Chamberlain Park fiasco - because that is currently the ultimate in unwanted legacy building by the local board.
| |
The report to the council’s Appointments, Performance Review and Value for Money Committee says:
"The council’s finance department has delivered on key investment challenges, maintained borrowing within prudent levels and its overall costs were reasonable as measured against existing benchmarks."
So here's a neat stat for you...
Auckland Council has over 10,000 full time equivalent employees and annual staff costs of $866 million. Figures released as part of the council annual report late last year showed the Auckland Council Group’s wages bill was up, along with the number of staff earning six figure salaries.
The total number of Auckland Council Group staff earning over $100,000 increasing from a total of 2,250 in 2017 to 2,473 in 2018
Nearly 2500 staff in Council are paid over $100,000 per annum.
So here's what I promise to do if in office:
Take a look at what each and every one of those $100k+ roles are and see if they are justified. Then I'll report back. | |
I didn't want to do it, but friends and family have convinced me it's actually ok to ask. So I have begrudgingly setup a donation page HERE
It's to boost the exposure on Social Media platforms which is to be fair enormously powerful. So if you would like to help, even if you're not on one, please do so.
Every penny raised will go towards Social Media marketing - and just like I'll do when in office, the books will be open!
And as much as I do hate asking, I'm at the same time extremely appreciative.
| |
Alright, that's it for Newsletter #8.
Have a great week, I'll be in touch again soon.
Thanks for your interest.
| |
This Mayoral campaign is being fought on two fronts:
The newer world of social media,
and the old-school way with print and advertising.
Your help in this fight is genuinely appreciated.
If you have any friends or family, work colleagues, or community groups that would benefit in hearing more about our plans, please do inform them.
Forward them this email, let them know about the social media pages, and of course, tell them about the website where they can subscribe to this newsletter.
I sincerely thank you for your interest and support.
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