Posts by Sacha
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The Big Idea add their tribute
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I suspect at the moment there's a lot of heat being generated by assumptions that "all corporate bodies are evil by nature", which I don't think is the case.
I disagree. The arrangements as proposed before today would fall foul of standard corporate good governance too - and are being imposed on Auckland in a way that is distinct from every other local body area. Yet.
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I heard someone on National Radio's 9 to Noon programme some weeks back discussing CCOs and how they can be controlled by detailed Statements of Intent.
Michael, that was probably the interview with Peter McKinley from AUT's school of local government, discussed in another thread here (maybe someone else can find it). Other experts disagreed with his optimism, and I believe even he subsequently changed his mind a bit, but I do not have a concise single reference to point you towards.
It's worth noting that major government agencies like Treasury recommended against putting Transport functions for instance into a CCO. The government ignored that just as they did most of the Royal Commission's careful recommendations - notably about the major structural elements and the checks and balances they embodied.
I haven't read the detail reported back today, but it sounds like little has changed. The proposed arrangements smooth the path for future privatisation of large chunks of operations like water and transport but do nothing much to ensure coordination - which is one of the supposed justifications for this whole expensive exercise in the first place.
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Jim Mora's brief tribute on Radio NZ (streaming, 3 mins)
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Have we become that cheap?
It's probably the flattery of any attention at all rather than the size of it
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I'm feeling upset at the loss of a rare intellectually-generous visionary and warm genuine man who I first met about 20 years ago before the internet loomed so large. It was a privilege re-connecting in person over the past few years after long hearing his voice in conversations about stewarding knowledge, national identity and transformative potential.
I will always treasure that at Kiwi Foo camp earlier this year when I signed up for Twitter from the same spot I first ever switched on a computer, Paul instantly realised the significance from another room and in under a minute had re-tweeted my first message to his followers. He was so good at getting people on their way.
My best wishes to his partner Helen, their family and all the friends and colleagues whose lives this wonderful man has touched.
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Violins for BlueChipBoy from his chums.
Many of the investors at court wanted jail for Bryers, but the corporate community considered a community work sentence severe for such charges.
Court files viewed by the Herald on Sunday show Bryers' employer at Northern Crest Investments Ltd tried to convince the judge to let him off with a fine.
Chairman Marc Wilson wrote to say a scheme planned to repay Blue Chip investors was likely to be cancelled if Bryers was given community work.
He said the company could also end its financial arrangement with Bryers.
Although Bryers did not make a plea for clemency, Wilson said the end of the company had a "profound emotional impact at all levels" on the former finance boss.
He said the company collapse and bankruptcy was "an enormous ordeal" for Bryers. "They have caused him to look closely at himself and to undertake a great deal of soul-searching."
That would explain his smug shit-eating grin in court and stony silence outside.
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ACK!
Muriel's Wedding, then?
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But being incredibly stupid was part of Jason's character wasn't it? They did develop him beyond that, s2's moral struggles and all.