Elected reps need to understand that they make the decisions and must balance staff’s advice with their personal contacts and experience... It has always been an issue for me that too many people get elected to office and they just take the advice they are receiving from staff as gospel. It is … [Read more...]
Garry Writes 9 August 2023
One of the roles of elected reps is to monitor the Council financially and, shall we call it, the “spirit” of the organisation. It is important to look for signs, like why is the staff annual survey not improving. Christchurch Council Staff Vent Anger On Leadership | Newsroom Or why is the … [Read more...]
Garry Writes 9 May 2023
I’ve been reading a book called “lessons” by Ian McEwan. It has some of the finest descriptions of everyday life I have ever read. Many of the sentences are so descriptive they are poetic. I recommend it as a serious description of the life of a family. One paragraph which struck me, was when … [Read more...]
Garry’s thoughts 28 March 2023
I loved recently reading a comment under an article which said: a quote from a Rudyard Kipling poem "I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew; their names are What and Why and When, and How and Where and Who". This sentence summarises for me how we should address public … [Read more...]
Garry writes on changes at CCC
There was the inevitable clean out when Dawn Baxendale arrived from the UK to become CEO. That happens when a governing board, in this case the City Council, selects a change manager to turn around an organisation. CCC had become a bit like a cruise liner drifting in the high seas without power … [Read more...]
Garry writes 21 February 2023
Kim Hill said it accurately when she started her programme on Saturday morning saying that she felt helpless when she viewed the disaster which had hit this country. She had a house which was dry. Her roof didn’t leak, and she just sat and thought what could she do? Who couldn’t relate to that in … [Read more...]
It’s time for those of us who have disagreed with the 3 Waters reform to stand up and say what should be installed in its place
Background: I wrote a heap of lines on what I thought the background to the reforms were, but when I got deeper and deeper into it, I lost the will to live and deleted the lot. Everything about the design of 3 Waters is faulty. The numbers on which the structure is based are questionable at … [Read more...]
Garry writes 7 February 2023
Most disasters are unprecedented. That is why we invest and plan! As a City which has had its fair share of disasters we have been looking at Auckland, Northland and Coromandel with compassion. How could we help has been top of our minds. If ever there was a lesson that stormwater is not just … [Read more...]
Garry reflects on the help he got as a young Councillor….
It’s the time of the year when we pause and reflect on what has happened to us here in Christchurch New Zealand and the world. We have had an election which has produced a new mayor and councillors and regional councillors. I remember what it was like when I was first elected. CCC was a high … [Read more...]
Garry Writes 29 November on inequality
This week we have Eugenie Sage, Green MP, to speak to us about the 3 Waters legislation. Eugenie was on the Select Committee which considered the Bill. Like most people concerned about the 3 Waters legislation I will be interested in Eugenie’s observations about the process and where she sees the … [Read more...]
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