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.

There are those amongst us who would ban gambling, drinking and I’m sure a bit of the other if they could preserve the human race without it.

The fact is controlling all so called vices, will always be “walking a fine line” for decision makers.

Making decisions, rules and laws to protect those who are vulnerable in our society in terms of alcohol and gambling, is always going to be challenging. Those who propose a total ban would deprive those who like to, say – have a day out at the races – a few bets – a couple of drinks – a good sociable day out. Of course at the races or anywhere else there is alcohol, there are always those that get sloshed and make a nuisance of themselves but is that enough reason to ban drinking?

Gambling is an even bigger issue for society. At least when someone abuses alcohol it becomes obvious to all but when someone becomes an addicted gambler, it is often not obvious to anyone until great damage is done.

Poker machines are the talking point right now. Again there are those who would say we don’t need them – get rid of them. Those people should speak to members of any sporting or cultural club and ask them where they get a large part of their funding. They should try and imagine what life in their community would be like if there were no sports clubs or pottery clubs or theatre groups.

There is great debate about what number of machines is appropriate for a certain community. In Napier there are those who are alarmed that we have significantly more machines per head of population then do other centres. These people support the Councils “sinking lid” policy and want to see the number of machines dropped to the national average.

Why should we aspire to being average?

We should be sitting down and deciding what number of poker machines is acceptable for Napier and what sites are appropriate for them to be installed in. And if that’s more or less then the national average – so be it.

If we are going to ban or restrict poker machines then we should apply the same rules to Lotto. Why not – it’s just another form of gambling. I would love to know how much funding Lotto has put into the Hawke’s Bay community.

And we are applying to the very gaming trusts whose activities we are trying to restrict, for funding for our own pet projects. Isn’t that hypocritical?

So we need to make sensible and practical decisions around gambling – and poker machines in particular – not silly superficially warm and fuzzy emotional decisions.

It has been calculated – I would prefer to use the word estimated, that in the 18 months to June 2009, one third of the world’s wealth disappeared.

When I say wealth, much of that wealth was really only perceived wealth. I well recall visiting folk in America. They were in their 60’s, had a nice home, a car and what the yanks call a truck and a RV (motor home) parked up their drive. To the casual observer, this was the home of a reasonably well-off couple. Yet chatting to the fellow over a BBQ, he admitted that they had about 25% equity in the lot. Such was, and I emphasise was, the way of life of the average American.

Now in the States, especially in the industrial belt, the place is virtually in ruins. In Detroit, the home of the car industry, it is estimated that there are between 30 and 40 thousand homes that have simply been abandoned. The local authority is bankrupt. It will take decades for some of these industrial cities to recover and most of them will never recover to what they were.

So how did all this come about and I suppose if we boil it all down to its most simple level, there is only one word for it – greed.

Since the late 30’s in America, if you took out a mortgage and couldn’t service it, you could walk away from your home with nothing. The bank would then get what they could for the home but they couldn’t pursue for any shortfall.

Because you had walked away from a mortgage you were regarded as being sub-prime. No one would lend to you – you were committed to a life of renting.

Then the greedy boys said – “We can lend to these sub-prime people and charge them plenty. We can make a fortune.” And to get the punters in, they gave them very low interest rates for the first two years. As soon as the mortgage was written they flogged it off to a merchant bank which subsequently securitised it.

Of course when the true interest rates kicked in, the borrowers could not service their loans and so the sub-prime crisis began to snowball.

We moan and groan about rules and regulations here in New Zealand but I guess it is better than living in the Wild West.

I would like to congratulate Bay FM for taking up the challenge of providing community comment spots for local commentators. Clearly Newstalk ZB believes that Hawke’s Bay radio listeners will be happy with a constant diet of regurgitated guff from Auckland or elsewhere but I have always believed there is a place for local content on our radio waves.

Well done Bay FM.

And a happy New Year to you all. 2010 promises to be a year of slow but steady recovery from the economic ills that have plagued the world for the last couple of years.

When you look around the world, New Zealand has weathered the economic storm better then most. There are still some enormous hurdles to jump but unemployment seems to have peaked, investment markets are certainly improving and business confidence is climbing.

There are still some very clear problems in the economy. The hangover (in more ways than one) of commercial property from the finance company sector meltdown is affecting yields and prices in that market. Partly completed developments are a real problem because banks are reluctant to lend new owners the funds to complete these projects and some may never be completed.

Whilst every area is different, the Auckland domestic property sector is interesting. Top end properties in the $2m plus bracket are simply not moving.

Mid-priced properties are selling because people in that bracket generally have substantial equity. However, lower priced properties are struggling because the banks are now demanding greater deposits and people can simply not save 20% of the value of a property.

I am guessing that Hawke’s Bay is not too different.

Another feature of 2010 is that it is local body election year and if the past is any indication of the future, most people will not be the slightest bit interested. Aspiring local body politicians will pollute the environment with their ugly signs, they’ll troop from poorly attended campaign meeting to poorly attended campaign meeting and eventually, some will be elected by the very few, who bother to vote.

For some reason, local body politics simply does not create the interest in the community that central politics does and yet, if there is one political level that citizens can have a direct influence over, it is local body politics.

Despite that, most of the people who tend to get involved in the process, apart from the aspiring politicians themselves, are single issue nutters who are not prepared to see the bigger picture.

Sad really but that is the way it is.

This is my last radio piece for the foreseeable future and I am keen to look forward to 2010.
There are clear signs that international economies, including that of New Zealand, are improving. That doesn’t mean to say there won’t be any bumps on the way, it simply means that at this stage at least, we are heading in the right direction.

And the way we can all help, is to put our shoulders to the wheel and work hard. To increase production. To build the economy.

Labour who were in power for 9 of the most prosperous years the world has seen for decades, failed to grow the tax base, and allowed the growth of a whole industry of benefit and welfare abuse.

But our current government can only blame their predecessors for so long. They need to address these matters and do so urgently.

The article in yesterday’s Dominion which suggested that a so called sickness beneficiary – supposedly addicted to marijuana – had received by way of special needs grants from Work and Income, a new set of tyres for his luxury car, and new fencing for his swimming pool, is nothing short of scandalous. The National lead government must put a stop to these bludgers so that we, as a caring society, can look after those who are truly needy.

People who receive benefits or welfare and don’t really need it are not only stealing from you and me the humble taxpayer, but from the genuinely needy as well.

It must stop.

On the local scene it’s great to see that Hastings has settled on a logo that most will be happy with. Mind you, it wouldn’t be hard to beat Hastings the Salt of the Earth! Hastings the Heart of Hawke’s Bay reflects the geographic position of Hastings, the fact that Hastings is part of Hawke’s Bay and also gives recognition to the organ that Hastings District Councillors use to make financial decisions – if their expanding mountain of debt is anything to go by.

So as I sign off for the last time, I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2010.

This is Bill Dalton from Napier – The Head of, or should I say, the Brain of Hawke’s Bay.

I suppose it is inevitable that at this time of the year we tend to look back and assess how the year has treated us.

From an investment perspective, it has certainly been a better year than 2008 but then again almost every year has been better than 2008.

One very pleasing aspect has been, not just the number of new clients we have met this year but the number of clients who had previously dealt with us and had drifted off for whatever reason, that have returned to the fold. It is never pleasant to lose a client but really pleasing when they have the guts to come back to where they belong.

On the negative side, I am sad about the Radio Networks decision to disestablish Ross Holden’s job and also the fact that, that decision brings to an end the community comments that Ross has always organised. I am sure there will be those who will be delighted not to have my voice disturbing their coffee break, but I will miss the opportunity to have my say. In fact I’ve been contributing to this station since Dave Pipe’s day so I will miss it.

Some of you will know that I post my radio notes to my blog and I intend continuing to update that with a weekly comment so if you are interested, my blog address is www.dalton.net.nz.

From the perspective of a Napier City Councillor, it has been a satisfying year. There have been some significant issues to grapple with and make decisions on but the good news is we have a very good council. We certainly have some strong differences of opinion but unlike some previous councils, we all acknowledge each others right to have an opinion. And we are not, as some would suggest, mere puppets of the Iron Lady.

I really would like to thank my fellow councillors for their support in 2009. In 2008 I was very much the new boy and it really does take a while to feel you are able to contribute. In 2009 I feel I have done that.

So it’s been a good year and its only going to get better in 2010.

One of the thoroughly enjoyable aspects of being a City Councillor is that you get to go to a lot of “feel good” functions.

Recently Napier City recognised a small group of people who had made amazing contributions to their community. How some of these people have managed to find the time to serve in such a way just amazes me.

A couple of nights ago the Civil Defence Minister, John Carter, presented awards to some of our long serving civil defence personnel. Again it amazes me that so many people can find the time to serve an organisation such as civil defence on a purely voluntary basis. It really does restore your faith in your fellow man.

And we need to celebrate these people. And we need to learn to say thank you to them – to tell them that these efforts are appreciated.

On Sunday a large group of well known Napier performers put on a concert in the Municipal Theatre in aid of the Christmas Cheer appeal. It was a good little show and hopefully from these modest beginnings, it will grow into an annual charity concert that will be on everyone’s calendar. But again everyone gave their time freely, even those who would normally charge for their professional performances.

And then there are people like Ross Holden here at the Radio Network. Ross has always been incredibly community minded and has given many hours to charitable events. In the interests of community radio, Ross has put in hour after hour over and above his normal work hours to ensure local events were advertised and reported, especially in the sporting field.

At a time when everything is being centred in the main centres, when our local community paper has been sold to a major, Ross Holden has been a great voice for his community. Well done Ross.

I can tell you it makes me feel good to live in such a caring community and to know that, especially at this time of the year, those less fortunate are not forgotten. So well done Napier folk – keep up the good work.