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IT’S NEARLY LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION TIME

I NEED YOUR VOTE

Yes, it’s that time again. Voting papers will be out from 16th September,

with final postal voting day being 8th October.

 

DEMOCRACY IS AT RISK IN THIS COUNTRY

AND I NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO ENSURE THAT WE RETAIN

 

“ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE”

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2022 Councillor Profile – Andrew von Dadelszen      “ACTION not WORDS”

 

A Tauranga resident for 34 years, Justice of the Peace, and 4th term Regional Councillor, I need your vote. My hard-work makes a real difference on behalf of ratepayers.

 

Please vote for sensible Councillors, who believe in SCIENCE-BASED decision making - not fluffy rhetoric. The Regional Council needs councillors who understand what efficiency and effectiveness really means. With our strong balance sheet, our Regional Council has the opportunity to make a real difference for our communities.

 

Stop the PC nonsense, and get on with environmental sustainability. We need Councillors that  believe in ACTION not WORDS.

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I am the current Chair of our Regional Council's Public Transport Committee. I was instrumental in establishing a "Joint Tauranga City Public Transport Committee", comprising of just two Regional Councillors (myself and Paula Thompson), as well as two TCC Commissioners - Anne Tolley and Stephen Selwood. Our biggest problem wa the non-alignment between our two councils (at a staff level), and this has been a huge roadblock to making effective change. I am pleased to say that we seem to have finally made huge progress on this issue.

 

I am passionate about reversing the degradation of Tauranga harbour, and I chair the Rotary Centennial Trust for the restoration of the Kopurererua Valley.

 

A qualified Resource Hearings Commissioner (Chair certified), I am a past Director of Crown Research Institute, Plant & Food. Before that I was a Director of the Environmental Protection Authority.

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I have also spent many years on two of NZ Lotteries biggest distribution Boards, distributing up to $47m per year.

 

Qualified with an MBA, my strengths include strong governance.

 

When you vote for me, you vote for a track record of excellence in governance.

 

VOTE VOND

 

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If Councils stick to “core business” and we can afford our amenities

 14th August 2015 - Weekend Sun Editorial

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Our Regional, District & City Councils all seem to think that they are responsible for the social wellbeing of our communities. This is a “nice to do” but is not a requirement, and is costing ratepayers hugely. It is time for our Councils to get back to their “core business”, and the 2010 Amendments to the Local Government Act 2002 lay this out clearly. The 2010 Amendment “encourages councils to focus on core services by requiring councils to have particular regard to the contribution to their communities of:

• network infrastructure;

• public transport services;

• solid waste collection and disposal;

• the avoidance and mitigation of natural hazards; and

• libraries, museums, reserves, recreational facilities, and other community infrastructure.”

 

The 2002 Act (section 14) requires all councils to take a consistent approach to their activities, including:

• Conducting their business in a clear, transparent and democratically accountable way.

• Operating in an efficient and effective manner.

• Making themselves aware of and having regard to the views of all their communities.

• Taking a sustainable development approach (thinking about the social, economic and cultural interests of people and communities, the need to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment, and the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations).

 

Issues like social housing are not part of council’s core business (this is a Central Government issue), but improving our public amenities is. If our current councillors stuck to their mandate, then Tauranga City would have been able to afford its libraries, museums, reserves, recreational facilities, and other community infrastructure (as stated in the Act). I am one who believes that we have to build a substantive sports stadium close to downtown Tauranga. How do we afford it? That’s easy - we prioritise and don’t waste money on things outside Council’s mandate. Just as importantly, Council operates in an efficient and effective manner. Come on Tauranga - canvas your elected representatives to operate within their mandate, so that we can get the amenities that we so deserve.

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Why have we stopped mechanical mangrove removal?

23rd October 2015   Weekend Sun Editorial  

 

Regional Councillor Jane Nees, in her 11th October editorial, noted that many people ARE CONCERNED about the rapid spread of mangroves around Tauranga – and yet seven years after the Regional Council made an exciting start by mechanically removing just over 100 hectares of mangroves, no further mature mangroves have been removed. This is a scandal, and it is sad that this programme has been hijacked by passionate, but illogical, greenies. Bill Bayfield (the Regional Council CEO) had the guts to start this mechanical removal, and seven years on the benefits are obvious, and that decision has been justified. For goodness sake Regional Councillors, stop procrastinating and get the job finished.

 

We were never asking for every last mangrove to be removed from our harbour, but we were entitled to expect at least 400 hectares cleared. You receive $40m a year as a Port dividend, and we expect you to made a serious attempt at remediating the sedimentation and nutrient buildup. You are doing catchment improvements for the rivers that enter our harbour, but unless you get out of your ivory tower and re-start the mangrove removal, then you might as well kiss your past good work goodbye. We were told in 2009 that the Regional Plan will allow reasonable mangrove removal from our harbour – what has changed? I urge you to stand up against a few vocal activists who worry about a few snails, and look after this wonderful jewel that makes the Western Bay what it is. As Nike say – just do it….
 

 

 

Being elected to Regional Council comes with obligations

11th September 2015       Weekend Sun Editorial

 

I am pretty disappointed with the current performance of our Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Elected members don’t seem to be fully engaged. The number of meetings for Councillors has nearly halved compared with five years ago and this, in itself, is not a bad thing. Councillors are elected (and paid) for their governance skills, and this should not include getting into the engine room of management. However they are meant to insist that management (and the CEO in particular) are accountable to ensure the organisation is run effectively and efficiently.

 

My beef is that this just isn’t happening, and staff are cruising within a bloated bureaucracy. What is worse is that some Councillors don’t seem to think that they are obligated to attend the few meetings that they are appointed to attend. I went through the minutes of their meetings over the past two years, and noted that while most Councillors had an acceptable record of attendance, one Councillor from our patch was absent from 8 out of the last 15 Full Council meetings; 5 out of 10 Regional Direction & Delivery meetings; and also missed 3 out of the last 6 Public Transport meetings that he was appointed to attend. This isn’t a good look, considering that ratepayers are paying him approximately $60,000 to attend these meetings.  Chairman Doug Leeder needs to use his authority to insist on better attendance, as this situation puts all of his elected members in a poor light, and this gentleman, while the worst, is not alone with a poor attendance record.

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