I had previously posted my opinion on The Standard editorial that attacked the council CEO but recent events illustrate why our CEO got fed up with this council and resigned. Working with 16 “bosses” is a difficult enough task for anyone. Working with 16 employers when a very small number of them are continually critical, not of the work you do but of who you are, is a situation I hope to never find myself in.

This last month has seen me shaking my head in disbelief as I read the local newspapers. There has been so much misinformation that I really doubt the wisdom of any of us thinking we are getting “news” or factual information when we read the paper these days. A pattern seems to be emerging whereby one local newspaper makes front page “news” with sensationalised stories that have little bearing on fact, then a few days later “corrects” the story with a small update. This appears to be making some councillors and councillor wannabes very excited and its clear that the election campaign, for many, is already well under way. I’m already getting sick of the electioneering - and we have the best part of nine months to go!

This, from a council press release. I suspect the Standard will not publish this (I can’t recall any instance of them ever publishing a correction).

The City Council has never questioned the decision by Horizons to allow Fonterra effluent to be discharged into the Manawatu River or taken a position over it.

Water and Waste Services Manager, Chris Pepper, is concerned at a Manawatu Standard report that suggests the Council has taken a stance over Horizon’s decision to grant a resource consent to Fonterra.

Last Monday night, I attended a meeting of the Environmental and Planning Well-Being Committee. Among the items debated was editorial amendments to Council bylaws. In 2004, Council undertook an extensive review of the bylaws and after many meetings, briefings and much debate, the current bylaws were eventually passed.

Now, as happens once in a while, some typographical errors were found. Things like references to the wrong clause are easily missed when people are focusing on the substance. When this happens, minor changes to correct errors are dealt with by bringing the matter forward at a publicly notified meeting.

In today’s local newspaper the issue of the Notice of Motion over the Linklater Block completely misrepresents the position taken by Cr’s Gordon Cruden, Alison Wall, Anne Podd, and myself.

There is no issue around the fact that councillors will not be able to attend next week’s council meeting. As long as there is a quorum council properly conducts its business - end of story! To beat the newspaper article up into some kind of sour grapes that we will be away at conference is misleading the public.

The paper says, “Crs Podd, Wall, Cruden and Pope will be in Auckland next week at a planning and resource management conference in Auckland and they say the meeting will be unrepresentative of the council’s view.” What rubbish! The only effect our absence will have at the meeting is that we will not be present to vote against council taking an illegal action.

The issue is actually simple - the Linklater Block is included in the Draft Annual Plan. Submissions on the DAP are open until 20th May. Council is constrained by law to go into consultation and the resultant debates with an open mind. We cannot legally circumvent the consultation process by making a decision on any aspect of the DAP until after submissions close and are taken fully into account during our debate on the plan.