I am reluctant to wade into the wards/no wards for Napier, debate again but I’m going to give it one more go to try and make my point.
Of course I am aware that there are those who simply don’t want to listen – those who have closed minds.
Those who are pro-wards tell us that socioeconomic disparity exists in Napier and that we need ward councillors to truly understand and champion the needs of their constituents.
Frankly I find that insulting. We don’t need pages of skewed graphs to tell us economic disparity exists in Napier – of course it does. And to suggest that all councillors are not aware of that and are not championing the needs of the less fortunate, simply displays ignorance.
Equally insulting is the claim that there are three black spots in Napier requiring attention but council doesn’t know it. To suggest that the council is making policy blind is unmitigated crap.
If you take the pro-ward supporters argument to it’s logical conclusion – the argument that you need ward councillors to champion the needs of their constituents – then those councillors representing more affluent areas could argue that those areas pay more in rates so therefore should receive more of the rate–spend.
It’s just nonsense isn’t it?
You don’t live in a town like Napier all your life – like I have – and not know which areas of the city need extra assistance. And I must say that most of those leading the change for wards are imports. An American, a couple of Poms and I think one is even from Hastings!
The situation, in my mind, is simple.
It is a fact that Napier has areas where the residents have been less fortunate in life then residents in other areas. Those areas that are less affluent need to receive more resources from both local and central government.
The Napier City Council has provided those extra resources in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
And frankly splitting up a hard working team into a rabble of factional interests is going to achieve nothing for the city.
Recent Comments