What Information?

It was quite extraordinary watching the Minister for Local Government making a promise on TV to provide information to the public in the future. 

To respond in such a way to a strange journalist that has issues was amazing.

Ministers of the Crown normally have weasel words to extract themselves from any semblance of  a straight answer so it was a puzzle that Watts was so direct in making a promise to make 'information' public.

The question is what information? Whos information? 

Straight away we have a problem .For a start having Minister for Climate Change is questionable. Of course it is fashionable but why do we have one?

The Climate has always changed. Nature is a wonderful thing and those of us that live with nature understand its complexities. Any attempt to try and harness its seasonal moves is silly.

A monster has been created and the 'information' the Minister was alluding to appears to be that around natural events or disasters and the industry that has been created out of understanding nature.

At this moment in time we have had a fair share of events that have shaken some of us out of our warm beds and tried our strengths to the extreme.

Trouble is those that benefit have lost the plot and those that may bear some responsibility have pulled the covers over.

Information, Mr Watts , is wide and varied and we have incredible access to all manner of information through our screens and search engines.

It can be twisted and bent , interpreted and  modified  .It depends on who is the beneficiary.

From the outset there is a problem. The baseball bat of climate change..

Talk of mandatory adaptation planning for Councils is frightening. They will be using information.  What information?

The power of Government and Councils in the future in the name of  climate change doesn't bear thinking about.

It is all based on a lie. That is a fact .

Carbon is not a problem. Climate change is not man made but  decisions made in the halls of power will revolve around the false information , carbon naughty  and man made climate change real.

Decisions will be made with no perspective. No generational knowledge . No logic .No rational thought.

Information on risk and adapting will be made with modelling and speculation.

Unfortunately the people will pay a massive price for the deception.        

     

 Another Story

It's a while since the flood but recently I caught up with a local I hadn't seen to have a chat with.

I had heard rumours about his eventful day so had the opportunity to sit down with him and hear his story.

Eventful it was.

He was preparing to take his wife to hospital for treatment on the day of the flood and when walking out to the car noticed the water flowing in the driveway and thought that's odd. He had never seen water there before.

He managed to get his wife in the car and headed off to town. He had to cross a significant bridge not far from his house and arriving at the crest was stopped by a hi vis creature and told he could not cross. He told the hi vis   he had to get his wife to hospital and would run him over if he tried to stop him.

He had noticed the raging water under the bridge but was determined to get to hospital.

Off he raced and cleared the bridge. It really was a raging torrent  but he had to do it.

later on in the day he tried to get back home and was prevented travelling on several roads and made a round trip to get as close as he could.

He finally realised how bad things were and arranged to stay in town.

When he finally arrived home a few days later the damage was extreme .His home contents were strewn about amongst the silt and water and years of accumulated books and furniture ruined.

His property was in one of the worst hit places and the water would have been as high as the ceiling.

His well had an upstand that had been snapped off and water was flowing freely across his property to the road. He asked council for help to no avail and eventually a company turned up and managed to stop the flow .

He was sent a big bill for the job which typified the approach of some following the flood. Make money out of the disaster. 

I am sure the firm could have easily waived the fee at such a stressful time.

To add to the pain he had many visits from looters who removed property at night and searched through all his house and sheds.

He is still having issues with councils which I will not expand on and has a massive cleanup job to do.

   

At least now there are some people rallying around to help him.

It's been a tough couple of years. 

 

Silly Season is here. 

I was going to refrain from commenting on the coming political three month decorating of corners and hedges and buildings with kiwibuilt structures championing a new round of  faces that hope to change the world.

Been through it all before and have to say it's quite frightening seeing your own moosh smiling at you as you commute around the village.

There's not much in the way of messages now , promises here and there but mainly a mug shot, some small some large, promoting the best angle that may induce a tick in your box.

There is scant material available to enable a  critique of the candidates but from what I have seen there is a thread that is unfortunate but goes with the times where it is hard to get smart people with a political nose to stand for office .

Listening to a candidate interviewed on local radio was indeed a concern as they were a current elected councillor and spoke with confidence but the substance was infused with all the common politician speak that  bureaucrats have managed to craftily vaccinate unsuspecting nodders with when sitting in carefully constructed meetings.

Once you pass through the chamber doors you are captured and like Hotel California you can go home whenever you like but the agendas will never leave.

It takes a special person to bridge the expanse between the guy paying and the monster gorging itself on easily extracted largesse.You have to keep your head and subject yourself to the pub test and the wife test to enable a rational  seat at the table.

That is only half the story.

I note a number of candidates known to me flashing their credentials like a roll of honour thinking that a doctorate or list of  outrageous achievements is the solution to successful political decision making. 

It's not.

Local Body politics has transformed in to a party influenced machine and the independent thinking that is required to achieve a logical approach to rate expenditure , has been expunged and replaced with social and race based approaches to the detriment of hard working ratepayers.

That is why the well meaning standing to make a difference wont.

Bridging the expanse calls for both life experience and a canny ability to sniff out the political wind that is guiding the call . It has become a very tricky track to walk , to weigh up who is fooling who and who is in the game for what.

That brings me to the key part of the jigsaw puzzle that  is possibly intentionally hidden so that the council machine can continue to grow , expand and spend.

Legislation.

Local Government is a creature of legislation. Many Acts to refer to to enable Houdini escapes from any situation .

Councillors need to have an understanding of the law so they can decipher the complicated papers crafted and presented to them meeting after meeting to convince them to vote for items that have been deliberated on in office huddles away from pesky politicians.

So budding politicians and even befuddled incumbents should show some acumen when it comes to law and political agendas.

It is not easy.        

       

The Rates Game

Glorious ratepayers have received the windowed envelope in the last few weeks.

The one that is such a joy to open. The one that makes one jump with excitement and smile uncontrollably.

Nervous fingers  rip the firmly stuck flap and expose the coloured sheet of details to behold.

Where does one start? 

It's a trick actually. They (you know, them that think up these puzzles) , they make sure there is a range of print size, a list ,explanations , highlighted passages  and a box here and there.

It always seems easy to find the penalty .If you don't pay on time you get slogged with another 10%.

Many befuddled ratepayers don't know that the legislation says a council can charge 'up to 10% penalty' but I have never seen one that chose a lesser figure. Even when interest rates dropped to levels where us slaves were able to breathe and put something extra in the shopping trundler , the bureaucrats would never draw the option to the attention of the compliant decision makers. It stayed at 10%.

However back to the sheet of delight.

Over the years government have allowed councils to have add ons. In other words more ways of extracting  cents from ill informed drones who never read the finer details and write the cheque with a 'whatever' .

The worst option given to Local Authorities was the ability to impose a Uniform Annual Charge.

What an opportunity to slip in a raft of options to raise more funds to spend unwisely.

Back to the rates. 

The recent storm , or Gabrielle, stirred up more than the mud and water. More than the problem of silt and where to put it.

The Council wallahs must have been doing overtime thinking how can we give the affected ratepayers all the help available but sneakily recuperate any expenditure when they are not looking.

The help of course was tremendous from some Councils that understood the gravity of the situation and remitted  rates for two years. It was of huge assistance but now the plan has been revealed.

Ha, ha. We have unlimited power . What we gave we will retrieve. 

The ratepayers that have clawed their way back to some sort of normality have now been slipped a charge for Gabrielle. Have they  charged everyone , every ratepayer with this levy? I hope so.

Spread the load. Especially when some of those affected were sacrificed to take the brunt of the event because of the historical planning for the Flood Control scheme.. In that case then they should not have to have the added burden of a levy at this time.  

The other aspect to this rates imposition is the question of valuations. The valuations used for the latest rates are the same as pre Gabrielle. My bank showed me a valuation recently that had reduced since the event.

It looks as though there is a desire to retain the value so they can extract as much rates as possible from the damaged area rather than go through an exercise that would adjust for the tragedy. 

The Councils therefore, have smiled and waved at us and then when we were heads down resurrecting  our mansions and swimming pools they pulled the rug.

I actually questioned the local MP about the valuations but no response .No understanding . No worry.