Bill Dalton

Art Deco Weekend has come and gone and what an absolute cracker it was. We have had the worst summer weather wise that I can remember and we saved our best two days for Art Deco Weekend. How clever is that?

It is obvious that the Art Deco Trust has put its recent problems behind it and from my perspective at least, the weekend appeared to be very well run. Over the years the Trust has developed a formula for the weekend which clearly works. Having a formula is generally considered to be a good policy for an event like Art Deco Weekend because it means that the individual components of the weekend are ones that are tried and true. The danger of working to a formula is that the weekend could in time lose its vibrancy. And that’s going to be the challenge for the Art Deco Trust in the future. How do they continue to provide the events that people have come to expect and thoroughly enjoy, whilst at the same time adding freshness to the weekend that keeps people coming back year after year.

One thing I would like to see is a revamp of the street parade. I drove one of the early cars in the parade this year and the crowd were clearly pleased to see us. In previous years I have been much further back in the parade and frankly, many in the crowd looked bored. Perhaps we need more bands, clowns, street performers, marching girls – those sorts of things to break up the procession of vintage vehicles.

I also think we need to do more for the vintage car owners and families. This years Gatsby Picnic on the Sunday was great and the ability to picnic beside your vintage car was a great touch. These are the sort of new ideas I applaud and that will continue to encourage support for the weekend.

As a keen vintage vehicle owner, I would like to see the vehicles driving around town more. Sure they look good parked up and on display but in my view they look twice as good driving around the town.

And we need to involve Ahuriri much more. I know it is not our Art Deco quarter, but it is increasingly becoming our entertainment quarter and we need to include Ahuriri in our celebrations.

So congratulations to all those who worked so hard to make Art Deco Weekend 2010 such a success.

The event was a credit to you.

It is now abundantly clear that the election year silly season is upon us.

In Hastings, Lawrence Yule has decided that 2010 is the year to very publicly call for a ban on dangerous dogs and dear old Henare O’Keefe has taken the opportunity to tell us in the press, how much he loves his wife.

In Napier, Mayor Barbara has had her picture taken with a bike stand and a statue or two and a couple of her councillors have had their picture taken with the new roadside welcome signs.

The Napier City Council Corporate Business committee made the first stupid decision I have seen made since I’ve been a councillor when it voted against the Remuneration Authority’s recommendation to increase Councillor’s wages. I’ve argued for and against things and lost, but this was plain silly. To go against the very strong recommendation of the Authority suggests election year political posturing and a lack of understanding of the Authority’s role. The Remuneration Authority said they were concerned that remuneration would become a matter of political contention at election time. And guess what – it has.

And the nutters are re-surfacing too. One emailed me with the number of times I had posted to my blog and the number of responses my postings had evoked. What this poor demented soul doesn’t realise, is that it is the number of hits that is important to me – not responses. He should realise by now that none of his vitriolic rubbish gets through the system and on to my blog. To have a blog such as mine costs money, requires something intelligent to say and needs a reasonable understanding of the English language with which to convey the message.

All of these attributes would be foreign to my correspondent.

There is no way I’m going to spend my money and energy to provide a forum for the fruit loops of our society.

So the media will not be short of material and invitations to events in 2010. It is sad but true, that often it is those who know how to play the “game” of politics that poll better, than very capable people who don’t.

All I hope is that people get involved in this election. It has always disappointed me that there is such a lack of interest in local body politics.

It is your town folks and your money we are spending so get involved. You might just find it interesting and enjoyable.

The Green MP Keith Locke is one of those people that make me think that all prospective members of parliament should have to sit an IQ test – and yes, perhaps that should extend to local body representatives as well.

Locke has raved on, to anyone silly enough to listen to his opinion let alone respect it, about the introduction of Tasers to the New Zealand Police Force. Frankly his argument is illogical and lacks that important ingredient, common sense. Take the recent incident using a Taser as an example. A deranged individual was coming at Police with a knife. Simply put, if they hadn’t had access to a Taser, the Police would have shot this person with a gun, probably killing him. Is that what Mr Locke would prefer to have happened?

The sooner the New Zealand Police have a Taser in every car the better. Who knows it might just encourage some of the low-life in our society to have some respect for the Police. I know the New Zealand Police will have strict protocols around the use of the Taser and in any case, you can absolutely guarantee that if you are going about your lawful business in a decent and respectful manner, you will never be Tasered.

Objection to the Taser is just another example of a society that is going soft on discipline. On Sunday morning the head of the Primary School Headmasters group said, and I quote: “The days of wagging your finger and telling the kids to sit down and be quiet are history.” Doesn’t that just say it all? A senior headmaster in our primary school service, telling us that you can not, as a teacher, demand that the kids in your care sit down and shut up. I can tell you they would if I was their teacher.
Again it is a case of taking the easy way out – of not going to the trouble of instilling discipline in these kids at a young age and frankly our society is worse for it. And its’ only going to get worse. These kids who are not learning discipline, and respect for those in authority, are going to grow up and breed, and what chance have their kids got of growing up to be decent productive citizens.

The one word that seems to be missing from any discussion on discipline and respect is consequence. It seems if kids don’t do as they are told at school today they don’t suffer any consequences. It seems that fools like Keith Locke would prefer that violent lawbreakers do not suffer a painful consequence. And of course the fact that they may be shot dead instead doesn’t seem to enter his little head.

Bring on IQ tests.

Surely I’m not alone in thinking that playing Super 14 rugby in January is bloody stupid. Sure the weather we have been having lately might suggest that the rugby season is here, but January is a nonsense.

It is my view that those in charge of the game both here in New Zealand and internationally are doing the game a great disservice. They are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Last season finished in November – we’ve started again in January – how stupid is that?

Well I remember as a kid, looking forward to the start of the rugby season. And later, I travelled to every test I could get to and those I couldn’t get to, I would be glued to the TV to watch. Now, if I’m home I certainly watch rugby on TV but if I happen to be out that night and miss the Test, then too bad. There will be another one next week.

My old man played every test, bar 2, when he was injured for the All Blacks from 1935 until the Second World War. He got 9 caps. In those days there were just 15 players selected for a test. No emergencies and certainly no substitutions. Now we select 22 players which is about the same as the number of officials who are involved with the team. How stupid is it having a head coach, two assistant coaches, a scrum coach, a kicking coach, a lineout coach, the list goes on.

Over the years the sport has been hijacked. People who used to assist voluntarily have over the years created cushy little paid numbers for themselves.

Mind you, it is not only in rugby we see that sort of thing happening. The days of volunteerism are rapidly fading and that’s sad. Everybody seems to have their hand out these days.

Rugby is now suffering from total over-exposure. My wife who is a real rugby fan refuses to watch rugby at this time. She says the summer sports need their time to shine and I agree with her. Mind you I have to agree with her or I’m in real trouble!

The fact is that the New Zealand rugby supporters are suffering from rugby overload. That view is supported by the spectator figures in places like Canterbury last year. Despite the best players and team in the country, they had to drop ticket prices and give a lot away to get a decent crowd.

Surely that message is not lost on the powers that be in our National Sport.