DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: OUR PEOPLE OUR PLACE

DAY NINE:
Sunday 29 August 2010
It is 18 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 41 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

It poured down with rain about midday when we were due to meet Andrew Ongley and his wife Iveta at Owairaka Park. Andrew and Iveta are your typical locals, interested in their area watchful of their neighbours and champions of initiatives that enhance their community. Andrew had written to Chris Fletcher about safety concerns at the park. The park is a well used facility with a great skateboard area, half court for basketball and a flying fox. It was originally the site of the Owairaka Boy’s home which was removed back in the 90’s. Oddly enough the park doesn’t have a pedestrian crossing. That’s extraordinary!

Community Board member and C&R Candidate for Puketapapa Tim Woolfield was with us on site and has agreed to bring a site engineer down to the park to investigate moving the drive way a few centimetres so it’s in line with the middle-of-the-road bay and the walk up on the opposite side of the road. At the moment it’s a dog leg to get from one side to the other. Why the planners didn’t put it in a straight line is beyond me. But more importantly why a dedicated crossing wasn’t installed is beyond belief – thankfully no fatalities have occurred but it needs rectifying - it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

That’s why these elections are crucial. The community needs to vote in Local Boards that work for the community. The Board has to be proactive and responsive. When there are issues it’s their responsibility to do the best they can to achieve best results. It takes energy and a willingness to go the extra mile. I’m looking forward to working with the community. As a new member I come with no baggage. I am not bogged down by bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that stifles community progress. My C&R colleagues work on a can-do will-do positive results driven attitude.

While we were at the park Murray Dorreen showed us a site over the Oakley creek where a bridge should be. There is a lovely walkway around the park and creek that runs from Sandringham Road and all the way over to New North Road. But again oddly enough there are no bridges. The creek separates Puketapapa and the Owairaka wards. It would be great if the two Local Boards could come together to finance the bridge.

From Owairaka park the C&R Owairaka team went on to meet shoppers at Countdown Pt Chev. It was pretty quite – the heavy rain keeping a lot of people in doors. But the issue of concern for some of the shop owners is the state of the footpaths. There isn’t an organised Business Association there, to push to have these issues resolved unfortunately. I’m personally campaigning on more business for small businesses and I want to get in behind these shopping centres to create buzzing hubs, where the community congregate, shop and spend time and money. Shopping locally generates wealth back into that community – it’s a win-win situation for all.
From there we travelled to Waterview. I’ve become quite attached to the area. It’s a mix of privately owned homes, State Housing and Transit NZ owned dwellings. It’s the Transit Houses that have been ear marked for removal to make way for SH20.

MODERN DAY CAMPAIGNING SEGWAYS BEAT THE FEET

DAY EIGHT:
Saturday 28 August 2010
It is 20 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 42 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

The day started with a hiss and roar at St Lukes Mall on the border of Mt Albert and Morningside. Moana Knight and the kind Mall Management folk allocated us space a table and a couple of chairs. We were outside GB Games and Pumpkin Patch. If you know the area you’ll also know it’s outside the corridor to the ‘wharepaku’. It reminded me of a time when I was filming at the Maori Sports Awards and certain high profile guests were avoiding being interviewed by our pretty Presenter. So she positioned herself outside the loos, knowing full well that all the targeted talent would have to visit the small-room sooner or later. Sure enough within half an hour of her setting up camera and lights, Gilly had ‘knocked-off’ all her interviews. Of course Gilly’s ploy has nothing to do with our C&R Owairaka team’s campaigning. Not all the mall’s patrons visited this particular loo. It’s just funny how sights and smells trigger totally unrelated memories. The Mall itself has grand plans to extend. According to a NZ Herald Report: ‘Indoor floor space could be expanded to 9.2ha, eclipsing the 7ha Sylvia Park complex in Mt Wellington and Westfield Albany, which is also around 7ha.Westfield owns much of the housing around St Lukes mall where it wants to build out to the north and east. The mall is now 4.5ha with a Foodtown, Kmart, 127 specialty shops, five banks, a 644-seat food court with nine food outlets, a 1640-seat multiplex cinema and 2018 carparks. Westfield's expansion plans could see buildings flow north towards Exeter Rd and east towards Aroha Ave on sites the shopping giant has gradually bought.’ Obviously the development will be done in stages and residents will need a strong Local Council to over see the project to make sure the communities interests are maintained. C&R and myself are champions of business enterprise and this development will contribute to that objective. But it has to be balanced with community interests and also the impact on surrounding shopping centres like Sandringham, Kingsland and Mt Albert.

Cameron and I left team mate Sarah Turner and Paul Goldsmith at the Mall, as we were keen to get started on door knocking in Pt Chevalier. Cameron lives on Huia Rd the same street as Countdown. We thought that would be as good a place as any to start. Well blow me down when I pulled up outside his whare/house there Cameron was, on a trekkie contraption - a segway! At his youthful age of 29 of course he’s going to look good on this thing and he does. You can do quite a speed between the houses and some people do a double take when they see him. So as a campaign gimmick it’s a pretty cool one and for practical purposes it certainly is that too. Cameron plans to get it all ‘pimped’ out with C&R signage. I think it’ll look very cool, urbane and ‘metro-now’. Cameron’s exactly what the City needs, he’s entrepreneurial – a business owner, young, innovative, smart and clever.
We got a good response in Huia Rd and Cameron’s neighbours appreciated knowing that ‘one of theirs’ was standing for Local Board. There was also overwhelming support for John Banks and C&R. Both are seen as pragmatic but progressive, visionary realists. My C&R Owairaka team are looking forward to and intend to meet as many community people as we can and to hearing their issues and to attending to them when we’re voted in on 09 October.

PEOPLE POWER WIN ON DOMINION ROAD

DAY SEVEN:
Friday 26 August 2010
It is 20 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 43 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

I saw people power in action at Metropolitan Rentals Dominion Rd today. Penny Hickey and the Save Dominion Rd Group presented Mayor John Banks with a 5000 signature petition calling for the city council to abandon plans to remove all street parking along 4.5km of Dominion Rd outside peak hours. In addition the petitioners do not want the road widened for cycle-only lanes, nor the introduction of restrictions against right turns.

What I also saw was a Mayor who listened to the people and to commonsense. Mr Banks has confirmed that he will accept a Save Dominion Rd petition - and that he intends supporting the petitioners.

This was also a good lesson for me as a Local Board Candidate. That the decision made by the council was in conflict with the wishes of the community – but still the council ploughed ahead.

These new Local Boards must pay attention to the community while ensuring great governance processes and procedures are maintained. When the two are in conflict it’s up to the Local Board to ensure a way through the issues so a win-win situation emerges.

So congratulations to both Penny Hickey and Save Dominion Rd, and well done to Mayor John Banks. A win-win situation.

DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: DAY SIX: IT'S ALL CHINESE TO ME!

DAY SIX:
Thursday 25 August 2010
It is 21 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 44 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

Another big day meeting the locals. The Owairaka team: Cameron Morris, Sarah Turner and Councillor Chris Fletcher we all spent over an hour with the folk at the Sandringham Community Centre Markets. We were also joined by some of our colleagues from over the hill Puketapapa, Feleti Key and Ram Rai. Its great having these two men with us they’re both Rangatira within their communities and you can feel the mana they have when we walk amongst their iwi. I met a Ngati Porou whanaunga Rob and Helena Crown sister of good mate Armund. I also met up with Mrs Pryor, I went to Mt Roskill Grammar with her son Jeff – he was a ballroom dancer, he was nice.

From there we went back up to the Mt Albert shopping centre. The freakiest thing happened. One of our Maori tuahine/sister and her pepi/baby were thrown out of a car by the boyfriend. Feleti and Chris picked her up off the rori/road and a member of the public took her for a cuppa tea. I’m mentioning this because it’s not an everyday occurrence - really it’s not and because when we caught up with the Sister again, we offered her a ride, help, money but she declined all. I looked at her and you know what whanau…..I thought….ahh the Sister’s going back there! I looked at her pepi she must be about 3 years old, gave Mama and pepi a cuddle, my phone number and I walked away. I pray I won’t regret not calling the police.

We had really interesting korero/chat with a couple of locals. One local wanted to know if there was a law against full signage in a language other than English. She doesn’t know what the vendors are peddling because she doesn’t understand the signage. Being tangatahwhenua of course I champion any language/reo. I have no issue with people speaking in their mother-tongue in front of me. I have never considered signage-not-in-English a hindrance to me shopping at particular stores. If I want to know what’s in a shop I go in and have a look. If I want to know what a product is I ask. I’ve never prescribed to the adage ‘…when in Rome…’ So when people talk about non-English signage and laws against it…you know where they’re heading. Citizens and Ratepayers is about diversity – unity in diversity. It’s about embracing the multicultural makeup that is this great City of Auckland. It’s this rich tapestry of ethnicity that also gives communities their identity. It’s not to say we forget our heritage and what it is built on. But Maori know more than anyone that time passes and new communities evolve. Futures are built on the new and ever changing landscapes of peoples. Strong local boards must support Business Associations to form healthy robust memberships amongst store owners. The Boards need to get in behind and assist networking initiatives so that owners are aware of the concerns of customers, even assisting with marketing to multi-ethnic clients if required. Most of all Local Boards have a responsibility to stay with the Associations through the tough times and find tangible solutions to weather storms.

The other interesting encounter we had was with a gentleman who didn’t want to engage but what he did say was ‘talk is cheap…I don’t care about what’s written on paper, it’s what you do that counts’. Which of course is all very true. It’s typical on hustings for campaigners to trot out the rhetoric. It sounds all very lofty and nice when you trot out the ‘messages’ but at the end of the day what does it mean for everyday people at home. Citizens and Ratepayers are pragmatic and practical. We are solution and outcomes oriented. We listen to the concerns of the community and act accordingly.

For a first timer like myself, I come to the Local Board with a can do attitude because I do not know what can’t be done. I will look at policy and find the solutions to achieve results because I won’t be bogged down in bureaucratic dogma. I don’t think that’s being idealistic or naïve, it’s just commonsense.

DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: DAY FIVE: SCARED STIFF SHOP KEEPERS

DAY FIVE:
Wednesday 24 August 2010
It is 22 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 45 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

I started the day with Councillors Chris Fletcher, Paul Goldsmith and fellow C&R Colleagues from Eden-Roskill - talking with Committee members of Eden Rugby Club Gribblehirst Park on Sandringham Rd. The Club is an old one opened in 1922. The area had been originally owned by a Mr Gribble and Mr Hirst and was given by them to the local council in the 1920s. During the late 20s the swamp was reclaimed and turned into a sports field and naturally enough named Gribblehirst Park. In 1930 it became the home ground of the Eden Rugby Football Club

Eden Rugby Club like many other community facilities is hamstrung by bureaucracy. They’ve been awaiting Auckland City Council signoff to develop the clubrooms in readiness for next year’s World Cup Rugby. But because Auckland’s been in transition sign off has been delayed. Hopefully Councillor Paul Goldsmith can champion their cause before the old Council is dismantled. It's facilities like this that bind and connect communities – it’s what Citizens and Ratepayers are all about. Eden Rugby have had generations of families through its doors – it has helped define the areas identity, contributed positive role models and it continues to build strong young athletes.

My next stop was at the Mt Albert Shopping Centre. I only had time to Shop knock one side, but it was an eye opener. Two nights ago Grant Gillard was confronted by an intruder in his Chemist at 4am. At 6am 43 year old unemployed Bruce Alan Jones was dead.

I expected the Mt Albert Shops to be in some sort of lock-down. I expected keepers and shoppers alike to be talking about the incident, I thought there would be a buzz on the street, but there wasn’t. Not one shop I entered knew any details other than what they had read in the paper or saw on television. But while they could not give me details of that incident – 90% of them recounted for me problems they have faced personally with theft, intimidation, drunk and disorderly behaviour. The majority of Owners and Managers I met are Chinese, new New Zealanders. When some spoke of their frustration with intimidators it occurred to me that they feel powerless to do anything about their situation. A shop owner named Brian told me he would have on average a burglary a month. He has even been held up at knife point. Inspite of this Police have stopped attending to his call outs. Brian says Police reckon they’ll come if he’s in ‘more serious danger’. Another boutique owner says she regularly has drunks outside her shop door. She says it’s difficult to catch the local Police Constable and in fact come weekends it’s the Avondale Police that come to their aid. This community could do with the assistance of the Maori Wardens. They patrol the streets both night and day. Their mere presence pounding the pavements in slow measured steps has a calming influence on disorderly – the Wardens' age alone commands mana and therefore deference.

From the 20 or so shops I visited only one store-person could tell me about the Mt Albert Business Association. This is a concern to me. Citizen and Ratepayers is about developing small businesses and this is something I am personally campaigning on. I will work hard with the Business Associations to strengthen their networks and connectivity and increase their membership. This camaraderie encourages confidence in members – knowing that they have support and advice when they need it fosters productivity.

I asked a couple of shop owners what their major concerns were. Linda who runs a Health Store, wanted to extend the parking time for customers. Currently it’s 30 minutes for both sides of the street. Linda doesn’t think it’s long enough, given that some of her customers can spend up to 45 minutes in her store. There is a public carpark at the eastern end of the shopping centre but it’s poorly lit even during the day and given the area has issues with drunks and riff raff, it’s not a safe place for single women shoppers to park. I’m campaigning for safer parking, better lighting and cleaner streets. These are the basic requirements of shopping centres. Mt Albert deserves this.

I also took a walk around the back of the shops to the train station. I can see that the place is a haven for undesirables. They weren’t there today – moved further up the track line thanks to the Police presence following the Gillard Chemist incident. But the evidence that the aimless and reckless spend a considerable amount of time there is abundant. Sleeping-rough paraphernalia in corners and the tagging is rife. Whose responsibility is it to clean up the mess is an argument between three organisations. ARTA, Kiwirail and the Council. All three have agreed to clean up the mess but it wasn’t apparent today, in fact a Council hui 28 July to further discuss the issue hasn’t resulted in any tangible results for the community.

We need to push back on off-licences and enforce drinking bans in public places we need to reclaim these streets for honest shoppers and hard working business owners. This coming election we need to make this great city of ours succeed by empowering every community to do well. These are the values I champion. With Citizens and Ratepayers we support small business and connected communities, we value safety of individuals and their property. VOTE C&R for Owairaka-Mt Albert.

DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: TRAGEDY IN THE HOOD

DAY FOUR:
Tuesday 24 August 2010
It is 23 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 46 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

Today was a mix of campaign planning and working day job projects. In the morning I met with my very good school friend Andrew Couper at Dizengoff Ponsonby. He’s one of my political sounding boards, a libertarian, conservative, and pragmatist. He was clever at high school, he hasn’t changed.

I intended to Shop knock at Mt Albert Shopping centre but tragically Gillard’s Chemist was robbed last night with fatal consequences for 43 year old unemployed man Alan Jones. Tragic situation for all involved. The neighbouring shop owners are now feeling vulnerable and intimidated. Local Councils should be there for these hard working business owners at this time, but more importantly Local Councils should be there for the community before tragedy strikes.
I’ll go to the Mt Albert Shops apopo.

DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

DAY THREE:
Monday 23 August 2010
It is 24 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 47 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

For those of us with day jobs, campaigning and making sure you complete that important work that pays the bills is a juggling act. Today was a day off so I could go to Wellington to complete other projects. Having said it was a day off, I managed to write a blog about the National Government's Booze Policy. I'm personally campaigning on Booze ban and Cap on Liquor Outlets so it's great that I'm in sync with central policy.

I'm looking forward to catching up with the Councillors and my C&R team-mates this wee.

DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: DAY TWO

DAY TWO:
Sunday 22 August 2010
It is 25 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 48 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

A really important part of my campaigning strategy took place yesterday which I forgot to mention. My big sister Rosina and a friend of hers dropped off over 500 flyers to mailboxes in the Sandringham district for me. Rosina has been working tirelessly for me over the last few weeks, sourcing printers, caterers, selling fund raising tickets for me. My good friend Donald Hollingsworth has also been a great support, designing my flyers, my invitations giving me moral support. Every campaigner needs a good crew behind them.

I divided the Owairaka Ward up into 4 grids. My flyers get dropped off in 500 batch lots at a time. I’ll then follow up and door knock at those addresses within 72 hours of drop off. Ambitious I think for a first timer. It’s time consuming obviously but I’m keeping on schedule. Rosina dropped off on the eastern side of Sandringham from Mt Albert Rd to Reimers Ave just before Eden Park.

This grid is made up of both privately owned homes, state houses and numerous blocks of flats. We have both older established families who have lived in the area over 40 years to aspirational couples starting off on the property ladder to new immigrant New Zealanders. In fact Statistics New Zealand reckons Albert, Eden Roskill of which Sandringham is a part; is made up of mainly European residents with the Asian population making up 31% of the population. Maori are only 6% while our Pasifika cousins make up 10% of the community. Albert Eden Roskill is also relatively youthful the median age is 33.

I remember when we were little we were the only Maori family in Galbraith Street. Our cousins the Ratapu whanau lived in O’Donnell Ave. The Ratahi and Hunia whanau lived in Potter Ave and my best friend Cheryl Waipouri lived in Sheppard Avenue. But now like then this side of Sandringham - Maori remain the minority.

Rosina found whanau in Lambeth, Calgary and Halesowen as well as Oxton, Mars, Jason and Patterson Streets. I intend to go mihi these whanau, talk to them find out that, they are registered to vote hopefully and convince them to vote for me and my C&R colleagues. These streets are a mix of private dwellings and state housing. The area is in contrast to where we door knocked yesterday but just as important to C&R and to me personally as this is where our whanau whanui are.

Citizen and Ratepayers promote affordable rates for home owners and keeping those rates within the rate of inflation. Affordable housing is for me a central government issue and should be an area that’s paid for with our taxes not rates. A good strong local council will know the difference between local and central government issues.

Sunday I did a solo meet and greet at the Sandringham Shopping Centre. I grew up there. Me and my brother and sisters went to the Mayfair Picture theatre, Uncle Bill was the proprietor. Years later multiplexes forced Uncle Bill to ditch his F – Sound of Music and G – John Wayne rated movies in favour of XXX rated adult only fare. It wasn’t long before he sold out completely. The theatre is now a Church.

At the corner of Sandringham and Kitchener St where Ashley Goodwin’s Ray White Realty is, is the epi-centre of Auckland City, in terms of navigational compass bearing points. It was thought that from that corner a traveller could head out in any direction and it would take exactly the same time to reach the four corners of Auckland.

When I was small, the shops were owned by Pakeha. Now the strip is referred to as the ‘Spicy Mile’ because of the number of Asian restaurants and vendors. I don’t know what the Asians think of this – I must ask them?

I introduced myself to all the store owners open that day, almost 50 in total. Some told me of issues affecting them, mainly around safe parking. Raj from Gate of India Restaurant has been in Sandringham for 8 years. He’s at the Southern end and thinks the crossing should be between Haverstock and Harwood to stop cars speeding around the bend and screeching to a halt at the crossing outside Viola Cafe. I think it makes a lot of sense and I’m wondering why this common sense approach to a potentially fatal issue hasn’t been addressed.

Later in the day I met up with Cameron and Sarah on Summit Drive. We door knocked starting from the Mountain top and down to Mt Albert Road. From the responses we got it was abundantly clear we were in C&R territory. From the responses it was also very clear that the residents appreciated us introducing ourselves. I think it’s really important not to take supporters for granted that they’ll always be there for you. Their continued support deserves our attention and I was pleased to represent C&R. Chris Fletcher joined us in the campaign camper van which lent further credibility to our visit.

Following the Summit Rd door knock we cruised the streets in the campaign van doing the mega-phone ‘preaching-the-message’ thing. Feleti Key from the Puketapapa ward drove us round the Pt Chevalier streets and into Waterview.

Waterview is an interesting area. It’s been under the spotlight lately with residents complaining about SH20. The motorway is a mix of surface and tunnel and plans to use this area to link the North Western with the Southern motorway has been on the drawing board since 1977. The actual configuration however was a recent decision.

In pre-colonial times this area was used by Ngati Whatua and referred to as Te Whau and the creek Auaunga. Ngati Whatua Chief Apihai Te Kauwau apparently gave Govenor Hobson 11,000 acres of this area.

Today Waterview is like a forgotten town. There’s a high density state housing pocket, around Saxon, Waterbank, Daventry and Herdman. A block of shops on Waterbank is closed down except for a laundromat. Their nearest township is Pt Chevalier.

As a small business owner I want to find a way to get businesses back into those closed down blocks. They would need to be sustainable businesses and not volatile ventures prone to risk during harsh economic times. They could be retail stores or commercial businesses. Businesses of any type would generate buzz and activity and this area is in desperate need.

We’re going back to Waterview next Sunday to hold a mobile clinic there. We’ll encourage the locals to come out and korero with us.

As for cruising the streets ‘preaching-the-message’, via mega-phone in a camper van malarkey? Sarah, Cameron Chris and I all took turns. Interestingly as soon as I got a hold of the mega-phone I started yelling. Like they couldn’t hear me out side of the van. On a couple of occasions Chris Fletcher had to prize the mega-phone out of my hands, ooh!

Diary of a Campaigner. Bedtime stories for my children.

A bit heavy-reading I know but later in life they may want to know why their Mummy suddenly had less time for them physically and even less ‘head and thinking’ time for them when she was around. They’ll understand later, in fact they understand now what an historical occasion this is - the election of leaders for a new, united Auckland. They can feel how excited I am and of course when they see the hoardings with me on them they’re as proud as punch.

Saturday 21 August 2010
It is 26 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 49 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

It’s very early and Nadine my Wife is in Wellington at the NZ Softball Coaching Conference. So I’m in charge of driving the boys to their respective Rugby games and depositing them and their little sister with good friends and whanau to look after for the rest of the day while I go door knocking. Nadine and I have always had supportive whanau and friends and I’ve never appreciated them more now that I’m out on the hustings. Actually I’ve always wanted to use that word hustings. The word and the deed aren’t too foreign or arduous a notion to get my head around. As a journalist I followed countless politicians out on their trails. Now that I’m out there, I’m ok about it. I also make a mental note to cook the sitters a thank you dinner…sometime, later!

Our first ‘outing’ as the Owairaka team is at Pak ‘n Save Mt Albert. When I was little it used to be Spalding Softball Park and then Coke Park, its opposite Hendon Ave on New North Road and is one of the busiest outlets in Auckland truly it is. Paul Goldsmith one of our two Councillors – the other being Chris Fletcher, came with us baring his wise words of advice on how to engage with our voters.

Cameron Morris who incidentally is NZ’s fastest texter, he and I were one end of the complex while Paul buddied up with Sarah Turner down wind. I’ve been trained to door-stop people - politely. Move right into their path so they can’t side step you, stare them straight in the eye, to lock them into place and start speaking in short sharp sentences. I enjoyed meeting these complete strangers. Without exception they were extremely polite. Many were very interested in the elections, some even confident enough to tell us they were voting ‘the other way’.

It never ceases to amaze me the diversity of our City. Although I intellectually understand we have over 100 different ethnicities in Auckland, when you come kanohi-ki-te-kanohi: face-to-face with about 10% of those cultures, for me was invigorating. Exciting because it highlights our position on the world stage. At a local level that diversity can bring challenges, language issues, settlement concerns but those ‘glass and a half-full’ communities who see diversity not adversity as both economic and social advantages will benefit.

Following on from Pak ‘n Save the Owairaka Team moved up the road and the mountain to Allendale Road. It was another inaugural adventure – the door knock. Again my journalism background pays off – door knocking, stepping up confidently makes you appear in control, a message to deliver, some one to take note of. The house holds here are a mix of second or third generation and young families with children. It’s the type of neighbour you will champion as a Local Board member. You want to ensure the streets are safe, you are compelled to protect their property, you want to insist rates remain affordable.
All up our team spent about 4 hours out and about. If I learnt anything from that first outing it was, don’t over dress because you’ll get too hot and make sure you eat. My sugar level fell through the pavement. I’ll have a good breakfast or lunch next time and I’ll take some lollies and a water bottle.

BOOZE BAN

The National Government rolled out a pragmatic policy on alcohol this week. It may not be as harsh as some hardliners want, but it does go some way to addressing the appalling problems our country has developed around booze drinking. What excites me is the responsibility and power handed to the Local Councils to tackle the issue in their respective communities. I’m personally campaigning on ‘ban-on-booze’ and ‘cap-on-liquor outlets’ policies. I expect to take the law to the line with off-licences. The Government has put in ‘default’ trading hours from 7am to 11pm. I intend to enforce trading hours from 10am to 2pm and then 6pm to 11pm for all off-licences within a one kilometre radius of schools.

Local Councils will also have the power of veto of licence renewals for dairies and grocery stores. I champion small businesses but for those that say it’ll send the shop keeper to the wall are delusional. Small business owners are innovators and entrepreneurial. They’ll no doubt be able to replace alcohol with other items and if they can’t or won’t then; were they really a dairy or grocery in the first place; the answer is probably no.

The CBD also has a ban on illicit drinking in public spaces and places that’s the type of ban that should be in our area of Mt Albert. For those that say it’ll just force the riff-raff into another suburb – it won’t if all communities enforce the same law. It’s not rocket science!


The other major issue which needs to be looked at is the excessive advertising of alcohol. This needs to be pegged back as well. The National Government’s policy didn’t address this concern but Local Councils can. If there is to be any public display of advertising it should be restricted to window fronts only and not large over sized hoardings and sandwich boards.

In the Mt Albert electorate there’s an off licence right beside a Plunket Rooms and Primary School – that’s not on. It needs to go. Further down the road there’s an off- licence right next door to a small children’s play ground where riff raff can congregate to drink – that’s not on. That off-licence needs to go.

These aren’t hard line measures I’m championing. These are practical measures that support a pragmatic Central Government Policy. I’m not a rah-rah for tyrannical dictatorship social-whipping. I’m advocating safe streets, connected communities traditional values of respecting people and property.

With the local body elections coming up, now’s the time for the communities and locals to take control of their neighbourhoods. Now is the time to vote for common sense and visionary leadership. This City needs Citizens and Ratepayers. Let’s make this great City of ours succeed. Together we can do this.

LAUNCH

Tonight was the launch of the Albert Eden Roskill Citizen and Ratepayers team. Our Councillors are Chris Fletcher and Paul Goldsmith. And as you already know I'm running for the local board in Owairaka.

The launch was at the beautiful Rannoch House - the home of Arts Parton James Wallace. It's a beautiful home full of great Art work my favourite piece was a self portrait of Ralph Hotere. It was stunning - done when Ralph was younger,fitter, healthier.

We're a mixed bunch of aspirants, we have Pakeha, new Immigrant Asians and Pasifika. The makeup is reflective of the population we represent which is significant; 154,900.

We are undeniably centre-right, we support John Banks as our Mayor and the National Party as Government.

Now is the time for us all to take control of our City.

Let's put honest hard working people first ahead of intimidators and outright criminals. Let's prioritise real community needs ahead of politically-correct hyperbol. Let's make Auckland an affordable place to live whether we're in Ponsonby or Pukekohe, where safety of self extends to property. Let's work towards a better transport system that links and connects us all together in a City that nurtures great urban design while emphasizing protection of the environment.

We can do this together. Vote Citizens and Ratepayers - Let's make the Auckland region succeed.