Bill Dalton

I have been saying for some time that the silly season of local politics is upon us, but the real nonsense is about to begin.

Nominations opened last Friday and close August the 20th. Some, like me, who don’t like playing games, have already lodged their nomination forms. Others will play the tired old game of saying they are unsure or not going to stand only to put their nomination in near the end because they have “come under enormous pressure to do so”. Frankly if they need someone else to make up their mind for them then they should find something else to do.

But the worst part of any election year is the plethora of ugly electioneering signs that will soon desecrate our city. Some of these signs are in deplorable condition having been used in many elections. Some of them will show us what the candidate looked like 3-6-9 years ago. Some are bound to have “Say no to water meters” plastered all over them. But all of them will be ugly.

Any overseas tourist arriving in our district between August and October in election year must think we live in the scruffiest country in the world.

Why don’t we ban election boardings? Why don’t we say to candidates they must use the established media or flyers delivered to letterboxes to get their message across? As long as everyone has to abide by the same rules, no one will be disadvantaged.

And our district would be a much better looking place for residents as well as visitors.

It strikes me as a bit of an insult to say to the voters, I want you vote for me because you saw my name on a billboard. Surely the 45% of the potential voters who bother to vote think more about the issues than that.

Frankly I find electioneering tiresome and non-productive. In 2007 the Hawkes Bay Today arranged a campaign meeting at the Municipal Theatre. There were about 6 people there who weren’t brothers, sisters, mothers etc of the candidates. There were 26 of us on the stage. A question was asked and we all in turn stepped forward to give our answers. Virtually every answer was the same.

I fail to see how that helped anyone decide who they were going to vote for.

One single issue group got all candidates to answer an extensive questionnaire then endorsed their own candidates anyway.

Hopefully, this time around, there will be less of that time wasting rubbish.

I was toiling away in my office yesterday when my attention was drawn to a disturbance outside.

It became abundantly clear that some fellow had brought some youngsters into town to ride their skateboards – in this case, in the skateboard free zone around the Napier City Council and Library buildings. A parking warden was requiring them to stop and depart.

The parents’ behaviour, in front of these impressionable young kids was just appalling. He was arguing that they had “a right” to be able to skate in this prohibited area. He argued that the kids skateboards were vehicles and vehicles were not banned – the nonsense went on and on. In the end the police came.

To me, this incident epitomised everything that is wrong with society. We have brought these kids up telling them they have rights and don’t be pushed around. We have been ridiculously soft on penalties. We have encouraged them to challenge authority. Now they have kids of their own, this scary pattern is going one further. The next generation is saying to hell with authority I’m going to do exactly what I want. And you know, in this soft feely touchy climate that pervades society today, there is very little we can do about it.

The really frightening thought is that our society is clearly taking the early steps on a path that can only lead to the total breakdown of law and order. To anarchy.

Whatever happened to parents who would say to their kids, I think the bylaw is wrong, however it is a bylaw and you must obey it.

Whatever happened to parents who would say to their kids, I don’t like some of society’s rules so I am going to work hard and get myself in a position to make changes? Wouldn’t that be a better example to young kids?

Every night we hear of youths up to no good, tipping over cars, stealing, fleeing the police, attacking police. They have no respect for the rule of law.

And frankly that attitude develops when they are encouraged to skateboard where it is prohibited and then watch their father insult and abuse the officer who is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the rules.

Statistics tell us that only about 90% of eligible voters bother to ensure that their names are on the electoral roll and less than half of them will vote at this years local body elections. And that’s a shame.

And it would suggest that they are satisfied with their current representation – that there are no burrs under their saddles. But that’s not what I see as I move about the city on business and socially. Everyone seems to have advice for us councillors on how we could better handle one project or another.

Of course being election year, the village nutters are out in force but very early in my first term I recognised them and blocked their emails so I don’t get their rubbish. Others have rational views we want to hear.

Many have opinions on specific projects. I am constantly given advice on Westshore erosion control, a project which is on temporary hold as we get professional advice on new information that has come to hand.

Naturally a large number of citizens are concerned about what is happening at Marineland and I can tell you we are well down the track in terms of providing a family friendly attraction on the Marineland site.

It is really interesting that everyone has an opinion on what they perceive as problem areas the council is grappling with but no one ever says well done when projects come to fruition.

Of course one of the most successful things the current Napier City Council has done is to keep the rates increase to under 2%. It was tough work to keep the increase so low and this small increase compares favourably with similar areas in the country.

The cross country drain may not be very sexy but it is a real success story. Over the last couple of months we have had some incredibly heavy rain and our drain has proven invaluable.

And we are really chuffed about securing the government funding for the Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery Project. I have been on this fundraising committee from its formation and it is gratifying to see it all coming together. Naturally we are still looking for support to ensure the project is one we can be all proud of so if you would like to contribute, give me a call.

One thing you can be assured of – the project will proceed; will be completed on time and within budget.

That is the Napier City Council way.

I am delighted that at today’s Napier City Council meeting we will be receiving a report from our Chief Executive, Neil Taylor, on progress he and his officers have made in working collaboratively with Ross McLeod and his officers in Hastings.

Delighted because I have been pushing for greater collaboration and co-operation between the two authorities for the last three years, just as Wayne Bradshaw has done at the Hastings District Council. I have to say that my job has been easier than Wayne’s because there is a consensus amongst Napier City Councillors that we should extract every efficiency possible from the administration of the whole district. It appears Wayne has had to do a lot more pushing and prodding in Hastings but real progress is being made.

Now there is real momentum and we are seeing tangible results on the co-operation front. Long may it continue.

It makes me laugh to see Councillors from around the region, Councillors who have been around for a long time, jumping on populist band wagons in this an election year. And they say things like “this matter needs looking into”, “something needs to be done”, “requires some attention”. What they are really saying is that despite them having been an elected member of one Council or another for years they have done nothing to solve some of these problems we face. They know electors want the problems solved so they make wishy washy statements that lead electors to believe they will deal with the issue. They haven’t so far so what’s going to change?

If you can believe the rumours swirling around the town, some of our most successful businessmen are putting substantial resources behind getting their people elected to the local councils, especially the regional council.

That worries me. I admire success – it takes skill and hard work – the very attributes we want in Councillors. If the rumours are true and there is dissatisfaction with the performance of elected members, why don’t these business people have the guts to stand themselves? Why train puppets?

My advice to experienced business people who feel the job could be done better – put your name in the hat.

I for one would welcome the sort of skills many of these people have, being utilised for the good of the region as a whole.

My dear wife bless her cotton socks, has been battling a cold and laryngitis and for a singer, that’s not good. But being the generous soul that she is, she has shared her ailments with me – gosh I’m grateful.

Because tomorrow I’m MC at the opening of what I consider is a very significant addition to the service industries in Napier.

Roger Greaney, the well known proprietor of City Collision Repairs, has long had a dream of building a world class collision repair facility right here in Hawke’s Bay. And he and Linda have done it.

Now I know that the old fashion panel beaters shops are not very sexy. But this new “state of the art” facility has to be seen to be believed.

No more the dark smelly workshop down an alleyway with the air swirling with bog dust, this facility sits proudly right on the street, clean painted floors, modern dust extracting rub down booths, magnificent sealed painting booths – it is a real credit to Roger, Linda and their team.

And yet it’s more than that. It’s a symbol of the economic recovery. So many businesses have gone into their shell, refusing to spread, not employing staff. In a word, they are scared. Scared to invest capital – scared to take a risk.

And that is why I applaud Roger and Linda Greaney so loudly.

At a time when clearly we are still in recession, albeit there are signs of recovery, they have had the guts to invest in the future, to provide the high class collision repair centre Hawke’s Bay has been crying out for.

It is a symbol of confidence and confidence is what we are lacking in business right now.

Roger and Linda and their team deserve every success with this project. I’ve always said that anyone who puts their capital at risk and works hard deserves success and unquestionably Roger and Linda Greaney have put an enormous amount of capital into this project and have been working seven days a week to bring it all together.

Well done Roger, Linda, Chris and the team at City Collision Repairs.

There is absolutely no doubt that the events of the last week have damaged the reputation of politicians and that damage and lack of trust will linger for a long time.

And it took me back 25 years when I was considering a political career. A senior politician was sent to take me to lunch (I clearly remember that I paid for us both) and his pitch was appalling. If he used the term “gravy train” once he used it 10 times, his whole theme was about the perks of the job – service to ones country was not mentioned.

I can remember that luncheon clearly and yet now we have former Ministers of the Crown who can’t remember who they had lunch or dinner with just a few short years ago. It is just rubbish isn’t it?

Much is being made of Shane Jones watching blue movies in his room. Frankly I couldn’t care less if Jones wants to sit in his hotel room watching porn and eating chocolate bars. What concerns me is that this fellow, who has been seen by many including himself as a future leader and therefore perhaps our Prime Minister, is either so dumb that the thinks he could get away with charging the cost to his employers – you and I the humble taxpayers –or so arrogant that, at the time, he didn’t care.

As for Chris Carter – the mind boggles that this fellow may have become our Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Carter will naturally claim that he is being persecuted because of his homosexuality. That, like Shane Jones’ choice of viewing material is largely irrelevant. What is relevant is that Carter headed off around the world with his partner, apparently whenever he felt like it, despite having portfolios with domestic responsibilities and charged it all to you and me.

These guys, and others, have simply taken advantage of their position and for my dough they are no different to the employee in a shop who gets their hand in the till.

When you are being paid from the public purse your judgement needs to be beyond reproach.

A number of our politicians have been found wanting.

These days the media has a huge influence on our lives and yet the media is so full of rubbish, it is difficult to sort the wit from the wisdom.

We are told that our roads are much safer now and it is all because of the continuous flow of rules and regulations imposed on drivers – rules and regulations that are making driving a chore rather than a pleasure. The fact that the automotive industry has introduced safety glass, crumple zones, collapsible steering columns, seat belts, air-bags and other safety features seems to be completely overlooked. And now we are told that reducing the tolerance for motorists exceeding the speed limit, has reduced the Queen’s Birthday weekend road toll. I would have thought that the rotten weather that kept everyone at home would have had a far greater influence. You don’t have to be very clever to work out that it is not simply speed that is the problem on our roads, it is speed related to where the car is positioned on the road. A car doing 120 clicks on the Takapau Plains is far safer than a car doing 80 clicks around a bend that should be taken at no more than 50.

If you can come up behind a car doing say 95 kilometres per hour and you pass them because you want to do 100 kilometres an hour which is the safest manoeuvre. Pulling out into the opposing lane, accelerating to 120k’s to get past quickly and return to your own side of the road as soon as possible or, sitting on the wrong side of the road for what seems an age as you crawl past the slow vehicle? I know what I prefer to do!

And talking about rubbish in the media, I wonder if you saw list MP, Stuart Nash’s comments in the HB Today last night. Talk about the old Michael Law’s trick of associating yourself with an event or events that have got nothing to do with you.

The article was real “politician speak”. It was full of, – “I would need to see” and “I would need to be”, type statements. Nash is quoted as saying that the decision to embark on an offshore drilling programme needed to be based on solid evidence surrounding the rationale for such a project.

Nowhere did he say he was for or against the project, nowhere did he say he had or hadn’t seen the things he wanted to see.

In fact, the press release was just a lame excuse for a politician to get his name and photo in the paper.

As I said earlier – the media is often full of rubbish.

We hear a great deal about the huge damage caused to society by gambling. And it’s a fact that some gamble to excess – that they deprive their families of essential funding. It’s a fact that some are driven to theft or fraud to cover their gambling debts and it’s a fact that often, these poor tortured souls are driven to suicide.

Many justify gambling, in particular pokie machines, by pointing out that the gaming trusts provide millions of dollars to sporting and cultural groups throughout the country. And they do, but in many ways that too is a problem we have to cope with in society.

It seems that these days cultural, sporting and dare I say it, local authorities seem hell bent on building edifices and empires and their plans usually depend on some funding from gaming trusts.

When I was a kid, I used to love going to working bees with my father. He was always involved in some community project and most of these were funded by bottle drives, cake stalls, bring and buy days – all good community stuff.

As I grew up I joined Rotaract – a sort of junior Rotary and then Jaycees and was involved in all sorts of projects for the benefit of our community. The fact that neither of these groups even exist now tells us something.

Now sporting and cultural groups seem to meet and decide what projects they can undertake depending on the availability of funds from Lotto or the gaming trusts. If sufficient funding comes through they pay someone to undertake tasks that previously, they would have done themselves voluntarily as a group.

In sport we have an army of people driving around in a fleet of cars, encouraging kids to play sport.

We have a local body building a fifty million dollar edifice in the middle of nowhere, supposedly to encourage kids to play sport although how kids from poor families are meant to get there I don’t know.

Imagine if those fifty million dollars was put into a fund. It would earn a real return of say two to three million dollars per year and that money could be put into sports facilities and equipment in the communities where it is so badly needed.

But today it’s all about empires and edifices funded to a very real extent from gambling and sadly the days of true volunteerism are gone.

In my view we are certainly no better off for that fact.

On the local scene, we are seeing yet another restructure of Venture Hawke’s Bay. This organisation has spent more time reorganising itself then it has in providing successful outcomes for Hawke’s Bay. It has constantly changed its name – Vision 20-20 – Hawke’s Bay Inc – Venture Hawke’s Bay and has had a regular turn-over of staff. Under its different brands, Venture Hawke’s Bay has, over the years, produced countless plans and strategies to boost visitor numbers to Hawke’s Bay but frankly the problem is a practical one not a theoretical one.

Venture Hawke’s Bays success can be partly measured in visitor numbers and we are one of the worst performing districts in the country in terms of visitor nights.

I just hope this latest restructure is not yet another re-positioning of the deckchairs on the Titanic and that at long last we might get the outcomes from Venture Hawke’s Bay that their budget demands.

I attended Doug Black’s funeral on Monday. It was a huge funeral and, despite being the longest funeral I have ever been to, it was a fitting send-off for a good sound citizen.

Doug served his community in a way that most people would never bother to do and he was a man I admired tremendously. However his time had come and in the end his death was a happy release.

As someone who served in the Pacific in the second world war, Doug was accorded a RSA tribute as part of his service and I have to say I was shocked by the small number of ex-servicemen who were there to pay their respects – and quite a few of them were ex the Malayan and Vietnam wars. It brought home to me how we are very quickly losing a valuable link to an incredibly important chapter in our history.

It is now 65 years since VJ day and inevitably the number of living veterans of the 39-45 conflict is declining. Even a young recruit of 20 in 1945 is now 85 years of age.

I suppose what it brought home to me more than anything was the fact that I’m getting old. I grew up surrounded by people I regarded as heroes – those who went to war and fought for my future. Now sadly, most of them are no longer with us.