Posts by Ian Dalziel
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Crisis? What Crisis?
Is National creating Supertramps perhaps?But seriously I think they’re well past “the time a difficult or important decision must be made" and well into the phase where "an important change takes place, indicating either recovery or death" a "time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger"
- all textbook crisis definitions. -
Further to the CCC and Government changing the game with 'Social Hosuing' in Chchch - a new Press Release from KOA (Keep Our Assets):
Christchurch City Council Is Flying Blind On The Impact Of Its Changes To Council Housing
The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the second biggest landlord in NZ (after the State). So, any changes with the city’s publicly-owned housing portfolio are a big deal.
Just such a major change is about to take effect from July, when the Council becomes a Community Housing Provider (transferring its social housing to a Trust of which the CCC is a 49% shareholder).
And the Council is flying blind into it without having any idea as to the impact.
Keep Our Assets Canterbury (KOA) asked the Council, under the Official Information Act, for: “any analysis, working papers and reports addressing the impact, of the establishment of Otautahi Community Housing Trust, on;
a) Council’s Social Housing Strategy and related Council polices and obligations
and
b) Staff currently employed in the City Housing unit at CCC.
Council declined the request because it “would require a considerable amount of collation and research to complete”.
So, it seems glaringly obvious that the Council has done no such impact assessment.
It is utterly outrageous that Council has pursued the establishment of the Community Housing Trust without even a cursory glance at what that may mean for Council’s ongoing rights and obligations (to the community (let alone its’ own staff).
An “impact assessment” is management 101, particularly on a matter as fundamental as surrendering control of an asset as important as our publicly-owned housing and which affects so many people. Yet we are assured that it has not been done.
This is the managerial equivalent of demolishing your house without having given any thought as to where you’re going to live.
Not only is the Council flying blind into this, it is doing so deliberately.
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Murray Horton
Convenor -
the free stooges…
His bung hip starts to trouble him soon enough. He has an old man’s body.
‘oo knew Iggy would be getting into ’hip op’ at this late stage?
He never said…
;- )He’s a Smart man that James Newell Osterberg jr, I never realised how much Iggy was a role – this John Peel Lecture gives you a sense of the man
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living in fare...
Taxi driving was once pretty rank...
...and file sharing now makes it easier
through rein-in hail
and flag-fall fail
Uber allies
uber alles!! -
Life is wet, just dry it!
I can't believe Labour is squandering the possibilities of this, their centenary year.
Few political parties get to turn 100, especially ones that have a history of doing the best for their nation's most vulnerable with the support of those able to help.
Labour is turning their back on a proud heritage - sure they may be going to have a wee celebration mid year and have issued a very relevant commemorative tea towel (from the year of my birth no less!), but they need to be pointing to all the times they have been this nation's saving grace and not hiding their light under a bushel.
To borrow the metaphor du jour from National, it's time for them to 'capitalise' on their past 'social investments' - and step up with solutions that address the causes and not the symptoms of the malaise - if not full blown illness - that grips our country.This is a call to arms, not alms....
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Tubers or not tubers...
I can't believe that they are thinking of building subdivisions on Pukekohe soils, as intimated on TV1 news last night.
That would be the height of stupidity and blinkered short-term thinking.
There must be poorer soils that can be built on near to National's upgraded Highways of National Significance, or dare I even suggest a rail link... -
Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Russell Brown,
we're from the Govt, we're here to help...
John Key held out this exact same emergency provision as an example of how much the government was doing to help its citizens.
No one gets ahead in a 'Company town' - next he'll be sending in the Pinkertons!
I suspect John Key somehow read the Andrew Carnegie 'How to make friends and influence people' rather than the Dale Carnegie version...
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Vicki Anderson has a revealing, but depressing, piece on visiting a WINZ office in Chchch.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/77578966/joining-the-queue-at-work-and-income-where-no-one-seems-happyA Work and Income employee gestures to a woman to come forward. Here, in front of the rest of the queue and anyone in the waiting room, her anguish must be laid bare. Pain is the main currency on display. Leave your dignity at the guarded door.
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Later, when the woman is outside crying beside her car, I ask her if I can do anything to help her.
"Thanks, but it's OK," she says. "I just hate going in there, it's so demeaning. I don't want to be in this position, I never imagined I would be. I have no choice but to ask them for help since my partner died. I'm bringing up our children on my own. It is what it is." -
Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Howard Edwards,
I wonder if Messrs Hosking, Williams, Henry and Smith have invested in a new business venture?
Plumbing new depths?
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Press Release from KOA - re Social housing changes in Chchch
Christchurch Council Housing Changes Not All We Were Led To Believe.
Did Government Change Terms Or Was Council Wilfully Blind?The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the second biggest landlord in NZ (after the State). So, any changes with the city’s publicly-owned housing portfolio are a big deal.
Just such a major change is about to take effect from July. And it is not as benevolent as we have been led to believe.
The decision to become a Community Housing Provider (i.e. transfer the City Council’s social housing to a Trust of which CCC is a 49% shareholder) was sold to the public as a method to increase income and assist tenants in attracting higher subsidies.
“Under this new structure, the Council would lease its social housing to the new entity. For each social housing tenant who qualifies for the IRRS, the new company would receive from the Government the difference between the actual market rent and the rent paid by the tenant.
This would be substantial revenue and would be enough to enable us to continue, rebuild and repair our social housing without any charge on rates. It also provides a great base to keep building on the provision of housing for those in need. And at the moment that's a lot.”
Deputy Mayor Vicki Buck, May 30, 2014
The actuality is somewhat different: only new tenants will attract the IRRS (Income Related Rent Subsidy) and only if they have been referred by the Ministry of Social Development to the new trust.
“The Government confirmed to Council that only new tenants referred to the proposed Community Housing Provider by the Ministry of Social Development will be eligible for an Income Related Rent Subsidy (IRRS).”
Christchurch Housing Accord Monitoring Report, December 2014
In political terms, such a major unpalatable change is called “swallowing a dead rat”.
But this particular dead rat was sold to the people of Christchurch (the owners of this extensive public housing portfolio, built up over generations) as if the Government subsidy would apply to all Council tenants, not just new ones.
As it stands, this is going to bring in a lot less by way of Government subsidies than what the public (and media) have been led to believe.
And, in the process, the City Council is losing 51% ownership of its own housing.
How’s that for a “win win” deal!So, did the Government – ideologically committed to privatisation, including of State housing – change the terms of the deal or was the Council wilfully blind?
Probably a combination of both. But the Council can’t pretend it didn’t know.
That same December 2014 Christchurch Housing Accord Monitoring Report says, under “Priority Actions”:
“Council to consider how best to proceed with establishing the CHP given current Council tenants will not be eligible for IRRS”
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Services/Social-Housing/Christchurch-Housing-Accord-Monitoring-Report-Dec-2014.pdf
So the Council, willingly or otherwise, has swallowed a dead rat. And the people of Christchurch have been sold a pig in a poke.
This does not augur well for any other pending privatisations, such as City Care.Murray Horton
Convenor
--------------Another case of the Government's use of Tom Waits maxim:
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away"...much like Key's ability to offer debt repayment and tax cuts using the same money - Vernon Small has a good piece on this in today's Press titled 'Key's silky skills; cake today and tomorrow' - can't find it on line yet.
