Posts by SteveH
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Hard News: The Mayor's marginal enemies, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
So, yes, among the PA readership, I may be on the outer in how I think of Len Brown. Nevertheless, even though my views are more Glenfield than Ponsonby, I am still rather surprised that anyone is surprised that LB is disliked. It seems more a case that if you assign to either a red or blue tribe, you have a natural support base, regardless of your efficacy or substance.
I don't think anyone is surprised that he's disliked. But the Herald is reporting as if there was the majority of the electorate were calling for his resignation. In fact it seems most people aren't really bothered and only a tiny group are continuing to try to get rid of him. Even that group seem to be less motivated by genuine concern over the affair than by whatever policy they specifically object to.
Matthew Dentith (@HORansome) noted speakers at today's protest complaining about air traffic noise, rates rises, the unitary plan, and light rail. As he said "it seems to me that these people have beef with Brown and the affair was the thing that got them talking to one another"
These people had their chance to object to his policies: the election. They lost. To now use the affair as an excuse to try to overturn that election result is undemocratic.
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Hard News: The Mayor's marginal enemies, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
However, wasn’t Brown the promoter of family values and Christian ideals? The charge of hypocrisy is best suited to him.
What are you suggesting he should have done, held a press conference to explain why he could no longer campaign as a family man? The hypocrisy charge against Len may be technically true but it is also unreasonable. And if you want to talk hypocrisy, let's not forget to include Whaleoil who seems to have a Banksian memory for his own indiscretions. As David said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
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Hard News: The Mayor's marginal enemies, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Which is particularly sad when you consider that Denise Krum, from Tamaki, is newly-elected in place of the very long-serving Richard Northey. She won, as best I could see (as a resident of the ward), on the back of the most expenditure on billboards and concerted use of her school board connections to leaflet-drop the ward.
She was certainly more visible than Northey. She also ran a campaign of FUD over the Unitary Plan and the AIA modified flight plan trails.
Incidentally, what are the rules around local election billboards? One of hers is still up beside the Ellerslie-Panmure onramp.
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Hard News: The Mayor's marginal enemies, in reply to david kinniburgh,
=== AND got this straight back from Dick Quax
I notice he doesn't actually deny having personal animosity. I think I would have been inclined to tell him "give it up Dick, you lost. Time to move on."
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Hard News: Growing up in public, in reply to Tristan,
The person yelling ‘she is getting away’ and talking about the excitement was Guy Williams. He was doing his usual rabble rousing stuff which is funny but not when the people he is there to take the piss out of (ie the media scrum) take it seriously.
Was he also the one who asked "what was the movie on the plane?" when she stopped taking questions?
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Hard News: Cranks, self-seekers and the mayor, in reply to simon g,
The protestors (and they’re barely plural) are quite useful in one regard. Their banners remind us that the Brown-haters are enraged and outraged by sex, not corruption.
Brown should indeed be challenged on his too close relationship with Sky City, but that will remain in the background as long as the “Band of Brewers” are more interested in his private relationships instead.
I wonder why Cameron Brewer doesn’t want to focus more on politicians being too close to corporates like Sky City …
Brewer was trumpeting the corruption angle quite loudly until his own failure to declare gifts was reported. Now that it's clear he can't continue that line without appearing hypocritical so he's reverted to the sin angle.
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Hard News: Climate, money and risk, in reply to Ross Mason,
Even the insurance companies are factoring that risk into their future assessments.
It's hardly surprising that insurance companies are taking global warming seriously - their business depends on having an accurate assessment of the risks. They can't afford to make decisions based on ideology, their decisions have to be evidence-based. It's a pity their hasn't been more media coverage of the conclusions the insurance industry has reached.
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Hard News: Public Address Word of the…, in reply to FletcherB,
Interesting that of all the different regions and styles available for possible recommendation the three with more than one mention so far (the two above L’s, and Oban) are all from the isle of Islay
Ok then, to add something different: I really enjoy The Balvenie, The Macallan, and Highland Park.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to izogi,
I’d think it were more likely that it were an effort to convince waning Len Brown supporters that there’s a potentially electable leftie candidate who could take over as an alternative, to convince them to pull their support for him.
That was my thought too. But given that Brown hasn't resigned yet it all seems a little shrill.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Gareth Ward,
why did the Hilton give him all personal stays gratis, SkyCity almost half, why he thought disclosure wasn’t necessary
The most likely answer to the first question is that he stayed at the Stamford 57 times in 3 years and the others want that business. Of course only the hotels in question can tell us for sure. Unless he was going to admit to actual corruption all he can say is "I don't know".
The second question should definitely have been asked. I suspect the answer to that is that he just didn't think of it. If I was Mayor I'm not sure I would have thought to declare free upgrades (the free accommodation should clearly have been declared however) . But if that's an offence he should resign for then the rest of the council will have to step down as well as Richard Northey was the only one who declared a gift in 2012 (in fact the only one who appears to have filled in the form seriously at all). One of the councillors made this point during the censure debate: the EY report has opened all of their eyes as to just what they should be putting in that declaration.