The optics of a National minister neutering the power of the country’s first Green mayor and most left-wing council ever could be used against him. At worst, he could be accused of taking revenge against mayor Tory Whānau for the stream of stupid things she said about him before the last election.
But more than anything, a Green-led council fighting in public is hardly a spectacle a centre-right central government should rush to hide. WCC became the darling of left-wing voters when it was the only council that moved left in an election where most councils shifted to the right.
But the disaster they’ve turned into has even members of the Green Party distancing themselves from the Green mayor.
As they say, never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.
Wellingtonians voted for a Labour/Green Council and they got one. It is not the job of the Minister to save us from our own votes!
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
6 comments:
I kind of agree. I'm waiting for the joyous feeling I'll have the day that the green Mayor meets her mayoral demise. The councillors have been gagged and Tory is Barbara's puppet. They will both end in a torturous death spiral. Metaphorically.
MC
go woke go broke never a truer word spoken wrt WCC
While this may be a good tactic we should remember that Wellington is supposed to be our capital city. The way WCC performs doesn't only affect the woke public servants who live there.
No Anon the performance of wellington is without consequence.
When lockdowns happened they worked from home, watching Netflix and walking, nothing was not done, they do close to nothing that can't be fixed in a few years.
A crash test dummy event for all to watch.
Putting in a Commissioner is not necessarily the answer (ask rate payers in Tauranga).
But as a Wellington rate payer I think the CEO of the Council has to go, immediately. Her financial management/oversight ability is non existent ---we could write a book of examples but the latest is, as reported in The Post, budgeting $150,000 for a speed bump in Glenmore St. The CEO and Council officers clearly think "money grows on trees".
Either no one is looking at the figures for some of these projects or the contractors are ripping the Council off or there are backhanders involved.
Yes, Ross, she, like her 'import' counterpart in Lower Hutt, should be gone.
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