I guess I was as sad as everybody else when it was announced that Andrew Turner, Deputy Mayor, had decided to flag away politics. Andrew has been a power of strength as Deputy Mayor and an impressive chairman of committees. His advocacy for Banks Peninsula is second to none and Christchurch City … [Read more...]
Garrys thoughts to start 2022
Over the holidays I travelled through Whanganui. It made me think me about that amazing nun Mother Suzanne Aubert, who started the sisters of Compassion, and worked with Māori families up the Whanganui river. Aubert was an incredible woman. She worked alongside Māori from the time she arrived as a … [Read more...]
Newly elected Councillor Celeste Donovan in the East sends a message:
Congratulations to the newly elected Councillor Celeste Donovan. It was an interesting election, notable that Phil Mauger convinced a mate to stand and then changed his mind and supported another. Neither of them were elected. Sadly again a very low voter turnout as is common in local elections … [Read more...]
Garry writes 22 June 2021
For a minute just sit and ask yourself the question” when Central Government took over Christchurch post-earthquakes, did they ever listen to us as a community, or was it command and control?” I am worried about how Central Government has “restructuring” Local Government as a goal. Why is Local … [Read more...]
This Week – CCC speakers
This week we have two CCC topics... The first is explaining to us the proposed changes to the electoral boundaries for Local Government in Christchurch. I promised that we would consider this recently and now is our chance to hear what is being discussed at the Council table which we are able to … [Read more...]
Local representation review
Every few years Local Government is required to undertake a review of the number of people around the Council table. This is required by law. One Councillor, has advocated halving the number of Councillors. This demonstrated a complete lack of understanding about how Councillor fees are set. The … [Read more...]
Democracy and STV – why it is important
Nathaniel Herz-Edinger is part of a group in Christchurch who are getting signatures on a petition to get Christchurch City Council to hold a poll to consider changing our voting for CCC to STV. He explains his motivation here... Scroll down to how you can be involved A Story... Once upon … [Read more...]
A few links for you…
Review of last year’s Local Body election: There is a Parliamentary enquiry into the last Local Body election. We encourage people to read this document and to make a submission before the end of February - even a short submission is good. Very few people know about … [Read more...]
Are we witnessing the fact that the next Mayoral campaign is on:
I guess, because I participated in Mayoral debates for too many years, my political nose twitches very quickly. In the Press “Letters to the Editor” yesterday there was this letter. Under the headline “Explanation needed” it said: “Congratulations to John Minto for the work he has done … [Read more...]
We can do better: Inspiring, engaging and encouraging local voting
An Open Letter calling for an Electoral Forum To: Dawn Baxendale, CEO Christchurch City Council Bill Bayfield, CEO Environment Canterbury David Meates, CEO Canterbury District Health Board We can do better: Inspiring, engaging and encouraging local voting I am writing with … [Read more...]