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    • WELLINGTON UNDER ATTACK BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL
      • The city is still sleeping but I'm already at my work station. At last night's Full Council meeting the approval to spend $1 million to contribute to the consent application for a runway extension was rushed through. This was done without a general consultation, shutting out public opinion. Democracies rely on openness and informed debate. What is at stake here is our point of difference. We have a domestic air terminal that fits with our point of difference. We are without doubt, in a world of man's imperfections, a paradise city. Being a connected city does not depend on an international runway. What happened to the climate change concerns and preoccupations of our city mothers and fathers at last night's Council meeting? The vote to spend $1 million on the consent application for the runway extension was opposed by myself and Councillor Helene Ritchie. Shouldn't the public have been given the opportunity to comment on this first $1m? The door is now open on the first of many millions to be spent in an assault on our paradise city. Will we have growth at any price?

    • Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story
      • Remuneration Authority decision - clarification  and details Contrary to the impression that may have been given by yesterday's front-page story in the Dominion Post, Wellington City Councillors are not set to receive a 9% salary increase after the 2013 elections. A summary of the existing and proposed arrangements follows.The total cost to the ratepayers under the new Remuneration Authority proposal (to take effect after the election) will be $1,436,600.This is an increase of $24,664 pa which equates to a 1.7% increase (compared with an overall increase of 8.9% across the country).The current pool of money available in Wellington City is $1,411,936 which includes all salaries paid to the Mayor, Councillors and Community Board Members.   

    • Blissful ignorance at the Council Table? / My reply to Karl du Fres
      • "Blissful ignorance at the Council Table" makes for an amusing read. Malcolm Muggeridge made some interesting observations about the media and one of them was "whatever the media was saying usually the opposite was happening". In the case of your contribution in today's paper there is more thana grain of truth. However those witty comments leave out one of the most serious issues. This year we are well on the way to borrowing $400 million. Over the next 9 years we will have paid $287Min interest on our borrowings. Twenty years ago the Council had no debt, performing assets and money in the bank. There were plenty of jobs and virtually no unemployment in the capital. We now have inter-generational debt and a massively over inflated view of the value of the city's asset base.  Let me quote you from the 2013-14 Draft Annual Plan. Page 23 "Total borrowings are forecast to be $397.7 million atthe end of 2013/14 increasing to."??? "Over the same period ourforecast asset base totals $7.1 billion in 2013/14" Yeah-Right . Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. You know as well as I do that the realisable assets are more like $350million on a good day.Has the media been sleeping also?They certainly don't attend many council meetings, unlike 20 years ago!

    • A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD- DOMPOST ONLINE TODAY
      • DOMPOST ONLINE TODAY Bryan PepperellLess than a minute ago Your comment is awaiting moderation From: Bryan Pepperell Sent: Wednesday, 7 November 2012 8:36 p.m. To: 'Sally Dossor' Subject: Report 4 Amendment S& P 8 November 2012 REPORT 4 Amendment: • Delete 2 – 11 • New 2 and 3 as below 2. Recommend to Council that the activities of the following Council CCO’s are brought in-house: a) Basin Reserve Trust b) Partnership Wellington Trust c) Positively Wellington Venues Limited d) Capacity Infrastructure Services Limited e) Wellington Cable Car Limited f) Wellington Museums Trust g) Wellington Zoo Trust h) Wellington Waterfront Limited 3. Recommend to Council to instruct the Chief Executive to agree a transition process with the Board of each CCO to give effect to recommendation 2 and report back to the Strategy and Policy Committee on the transition plan for agreement by SPC by 31 March 2013. Moved. Cr Pepperell Seconded Justin Lester Voting for were: Stephany Cook, Iona Pannett, Bryan Pepperell, Helene Ritchie Voting against were: Mayor Celia Wade-Brown Councillors Ahipene Mercer, Ngaire Best, Jo Coughlan, Paul Eagle, Leonie Gill, Justin Lester, Ian McKinnon, John Morrison Councillors 'asleep at the wheel'www.stuff.co.nzMore than 150 council jobs axed in Wellington while half the elected councillors oblivious."}" href="https://www.facebook.com/bryan.pepperell1?ref=tn_tnmn#" id=".reactRoot[0]" role="button" title="Like this item">Like · · Promote · Share

    • HOW THE COUNCIL VOTED ON A CRITICAL ISSUE 4 April 2013
      • A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD Those voting to keep City Operations in house were Councillors Cook, Eagle, Gill, Morrison, Pannett, Pepperell, Ritchie. (7) Voting to Outsource Councillors Best, Coughlan, Foster, Lester, McKinnon, Marsh, Mayor Wade-Brown. (7) Mayor Wade-Brown ( Chair has a casting vote) so with her second vote the outsourcing is supported. Now casting vote usually supports status-quo, so what happened there? Absent Councillor Ahipene-Mercer.CityOps is gone with the casting vote of Mayor Celia Wade-Brown.

    • WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL AND FOG
      • This morning our current CEO suggested Wellington City Council has a lazy balance sheet. That caused me to reflect on the state of our books.  Our Closing Gross Borrowing for 2013/14 is $397,513,000.00 Our total liabilities 2013/14 are $539,272,000.00 We have revenue from rates of 2013/14 $233,567,000.00 Other income brings our 2013/14 revenue up to $420,262,000 Our total expense 2013/14 is $388,242,000.00 Wellington City Council has a borrowing target of of 105 percent of operating income. For a household that might work as long as income holds up but if there is a loss of income then it spells disaster. It's called debt based economics. Don't kid yourself Council is in trouble like all economies that are debt based.

    • FAREWELL TO A FRIEND
      • What can I say when a Tui comes to die with me. I was at the back of the house when I looked up and heard her call so I called back, she then fell at my feet. I picked her up and tried to give her current juice but too late. My young friend Anthony held her in his hands and she took her last breath. So very distressing for me but too late.

    • THE LOCAL NEWS IN WELLINGTON 22 NOVEMBER 2012
      • Today (NOVEMBER 21 2012) I attended a Hui in Lower Hutt. It was about proposals to amalgamate councils in the Wellington region. In a power grab Fran Wilde is pushing for a Super Council in Wellington. Other Councils are not convinced it is needed or a good idea. This is a battle to keep local democracy so I ask you to be on standby and ready to defend what is left of local decision making with all its imperfections. Things could be much worse under over paid bureaucrats with a small group of highly paid elected people on a Super Council. It will certainly be more expensive for home owners with less accessibility to decision makers. Those who get elected will certainly come from the monied class.

    • DOUBLE DIPPING AT WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL
      • COUNCIL TODAY It was an astonishing day at the council where a vote was taken to immediately stop paying Councillors director's fees to serve on Boards, Trusts and CCOs. Voting for were: Councillors Justin Lester, Iona Pannett, Bryan Pepperell, Helene Ritchie. Voting against the amendment to stop paying Councillors who serve on Boards, trusts, and CCOs were: Mayor Celia Wade-Brown Councillors R ay Ahipene-Mercer, Councillor Ngaire Best, Stephanie Cook, Jo Coughlan, Andy Foster, Leonie Gill, Ian McKinnon, John Morrison. Most Councillors on Trusts, Boards and CCOs get an extra $15,000 but Ian Mckinnon gets an Extra $46,250 on top of his Council salary as Deputy. Absent were Councillors Paul Eagle and Simon Marsh "}" href="https://www.facebook.com/bryan.pepperell1#" id=".reactRoot[4]" title="Like this item">Like · · Promote · ShareAxel Gerard Gc likes this.Bryan Pepperell Councillors on CCO boards include Andy Foster, Capacity; John Morrison, Basin Reserve Trust; Jo Coughlan, Positively Wellington Tourism; Ngaire Best, and Paul Eagle Positively Wellington Venues; Ray Ahipene- Mercer, Wellington Museums Trust; Justin Lester, Wellington Waterfront Ltd; and Simon Marsh, Wellington Zoo Trust. Ian McKinnon Wellington Airport."}" href="https://www.facebook.com/bryan.pepperell1#" id=".reactRoot[5].[1][2][1]{comment401400039938330_2725149}..[1]..[1]..[1].[0]" title="Like this comment">Like · Reply · about a minute ago · Edited

    • HOW THEY VOTED ON COUNCIL CONTROLLED ORGANISATIONS
      • REPORT 4 Strategy and Policy 8 /11/2012 by Bryan Pepperell on Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 5:23pm ·My e-mail to the Mayor and council From: Bryan Pepperell [mailto:Bryan.Pepperell@wcc.govt.nz] Sent: Tuesday, 6 November 2012 8:37 p.m. To: Celia Wade-Brown (celia.wade-brown@wcc.govt.nz) ; GRP: Councillors Subject: REVIEW OF COUNCIL CONTROLLED ORGANISATIONS Hi, due to my medical dental needs today, I had to leave early, but I wish to return to the issues that I raised, and some new ones.  L We did not get what we wanted with the review.  Last week a member of the public stopped me and asked if we were governing the system or was the system governing us? We wanted a review of the CCOs’ and that included whether they were fit for purpose.  What we got was a justification for purpose. We wanted to have a say in who did the review.  L We wanted to have a workshop. I’m sure many councillors will be concerned about making savings and finding less costly ways to deliver services. If the economy goes belly up as a consequence of an energy crash we will be looking at how to survive it.  A further deepening of the recession will force a rethink.  We will still have the debt when 20 percent of the workforce are out of work.  The economy will tank with further oil price increases. We will have to look at ways to cope. When people  lose their income rates will become a big issue.  So far all we have is status quo.  That is not the answer when the world is changing. Large unemployment will cause further focus on higher salaries. The deputy mayor was right to raise the issue.  Things will get ugly and we will need to show we understand by our actions. One of the CCO CEO’s  I’m told got a $40,000 bonus on top of $250,000. Sal.  I’m  told the job in house was worth $160,000. We were told In - house there were possible net savings of $790k.  That being the case we need that as the less costly way to deliver services.  As I have not seen the breakdown I’m thinking there may be more savings to be made by bringing services in-house. J Cheers From: Bryan Pepperell Sent: Wednesday, 7 November 2012 8:36 p.m. To: 'Sally Dossor' Subject: Report 4 Amendment S& P 8 November 2012 REPORT 4 Amendment: •             Delete 2 – 11 •             New 2 and 3 as below 2.            Recommend to Council that the activities of the following Council CCO’s are brought in-house: a)            Basin Reserve Trust b)            Partnership Wellington Trust c)            Positively Wellington Venues Limited d)            Capacity Infrastructure Services Limited e)            Wellington Cable Car Limited f)             Wellington Museums Trust g)            Wellington Zoo Trust h)            Wellington Waterfront Limited 3.            Recommend to Council to instruct the Chief Executive to agree a transition process with the Board of each CCO to give effect to recommendation 2 and report back to the Strategy and Policy Committee on the transition plan for agreement by SPC by 31 March 2013. Moved. Cr Pepperell Seconded Justin Lester Voting for were: Stephany Cook, Iona Pannett, Bryan Pepperell, Helene Ritchie Voting against were: Mayor Celia Wade-Brown Councillors Ahipene Mercer, Ngaire Best, Jo Coughlan, Paul Eagle, Leonie Gill, Justin Lester, Ian McKinnon, John Morrison Simon Marsh was absent.

    • LOSING LOCAL DEMOCRACY
      • Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill As reported from the Local Government and Environment Committee. A very dark cloud is hanging over our country. Local democracy as we have known it is about to be removed. Is that what you want ? New Zealand First summed it up well in the last paragraph of its submission: "This bill poses a direct threat to the important second tier of democracy in our country and could mean that the local council ends up being run exclusively by those that support the Government of the day--not controlled by those elected by the voting public. It is fundamental that communities have the democratic right to determine the local governance of their city and district. Any proposed amalgamations of local authorities should be as a result of local community acceptance and approval, not imposed on them by central Government intervention as occurred in Auckland."

    • THE RISING DEBT $$$ ON YOUR RATES BILL
      • SOCIALIZING THE LOSSES  THE RISING DEBT $$$$ ON YOUR RATES BILL Voting against the temporary venue on the waterfront were: Councillors Cook, Lester, Pannett, Pepperell, Ritchie.   HOW YOUR RATES AND RENT GO UP Privatizing  the profits Voting for the Temporary Venue were: Councillors Ahipene-Mercer, Coughlan, Eagle, Foster, Gill, Mckinnon, Marsh, Morrison and Mayor Wade-Brown.

      • 2013 BORROWING LEVELS OF EXISTING COUNCILS NET DEBT WELLINGTON $354m Hutt City $63m Upper Hutt $18m Porirua $49m Kapiti $131m Sth Wai $8m Carterton $7m Masterton $46m Total $677m Net debt 2012-22 $883m

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