Recent comments

- Will the new board be lobbying the Auckland Council and its Transport CCO to start implementing the Public Transport Management Act more forcefully to tackle Fullers' monopoly and its attendant price gouging of islanders? - Will the new board insist on Waiheke and its transport routes to be included in the integrated ticketing system rolling out over the next few years and make sure we pay equivalent mainland fares based on distance travelled and not on public transport mode?  

Hi Jo,

I see you as a pretty brave lady and your last marketplace ad when you said you "wanted to stop wasting money on consutation" (admitedy paraphrased) seems to reinforce my opinion. Can you elaborate on what you see as the type of consultaion that is less than productive and how you would (if atall) canvas the publics opinions on matters, particularly on asset management and agreed levels of service.

Regards,

Tom Ransom

Hi Andy,

Do you think it is going to be likely for the local board to have to make some hard calls in the next few years. If so, can you tell us any areas, even with lots of consultation, where you think leadership might be necessary. Are you comfortable about that type of aproach and how would you handle strong public critisism if it came from a determined sector of the community.

Regards,

Tom Ransom

Because Waiheke has this strange relationship with Auckland it seems to me that a lot of the questions are about that and whether the Local Board will have power to do anything. Be it to take proactive steps or to defend against that vague 'stuff we don't like'. 
However I feel this misses the point rather. All communities develop structures of governance. Throughout history where groups of people are living together they have modes and means to express what might be called their civic society, that collection of mores and opinions about how things should be arranged, how people work and live together, how they protect and develop their living space and environment.   This is true whether the community is a gold rush town with a sherif, a German university town with a mayor and aldermen, or a commune with a council of elders. 
Modern society with all its structures and institutions - contract law, resource management acts, plans, police forces, utility companies, real estate agents might give the impression that this lowest level of civic society is no longer required - that all the human interactions are taken care of.  That is the implication by a structure like the new Auckland City having one representative for 80,000 people.
My belief however is that Civic society is just as important as it ever was, We still need representatives close enough to home to know the people, to know the ground and who can listen, emote and collate views. Who can give leadership, agree, disagree, consolidate, arbitrate, and guide. Who can take on ceremonial functions, who can act as highly connected nodes in complex networks of relationships.
I believe that if Waiheke had not been 'given' a local board. Then the island would have invented one anyway - called a representative forum or a civic network or some other thing - but fulfilling the same function.
So while it will be great if the new Local Board are able to take on more powers, spend more money, and play a role in representing Waiheke to the rest of the City.  Their every day activities will be the same old, small decisions that reflect the character of the island, talking and listening being a hub.
I believe that all the candidates are standing because in some way they understand this whether expressed clearly or not. They have a love for this place where we live.  Whether I might agree with their viewpoint or not those elected with have my respect and support. They will lose it only by acting in ways that are either self serving, or allow the interests of the few take precedence over the interests of the many.
Andrew (Vote Millie) Watkins

PS drupal seems to have forgotton my login id hence the visitor status.

I liked you answer Colin.  Below is some of the reply I made to the group question re the Board and I think it's relevant here.  As you say, real power comes from within from the integrity and honesty of our actions and standing firmly behind our principles based on intelligent and wise insight.

"The Board will need to focus on being a team and how we will function as a team.  We will need to set aside any differences and look to the commom objectives that we share.

We will need to gain a firm understanding of the legislation under which we will be operating in order to understand how we can make the most of the opportunities that this new arrangement offers.

We will need to give some deep consideration to how we will establish the best democratic model to work with the citizens of Waiheke Island, how will we effectively bring in the many areas of expertise of the Waiheke public.

We will need to make sure that we gain as much delegated responsibilities and budgets as is possible and feasibly from the Auckland Council.  We will need to stand firmly behind our intention and insist that local decisions be made locally.

In order to achieve the above we will need to listen deeply and understand where each of us is coming from, we will need to speak honestly and openly and trust that we share the same good intentions for the island's community in the long term.  We will also need to be strong advocates with the council and Mayor's office and recreate a bottom up democracy where council policies and plans are judged by whether or not they meet our needs on the ground and if they do not then they must be changed.  This is our community and community is everything.

The purpose of the board is to support the community, in its aspirations and desire for self determination, it needs to encourage and enhance the community, involve and support the talents and innovation of the community and set an example of leadership and moral behaviour among other things.

Andy Spence

I think that perhaps you did not read one paragraph of my answer to your question.

"There is a very real danger of this becoming a cause célèbre, diverting attention away from other more pressing issues at this time, particularly the need for the new board to work hard to gain as much autonomy and self determination during the new establishment phase of the Super City Council."

However, there are those whom i have a great deal of respect for that assert that the proposal will serve to focus debate on the future of Waiheke and assist us to gain control of our own destiny again and this will then serve to achieve your objective of gaining the Board and the people of Waiheke the power to make decision on the day to day problems instead of being at the mercy of Auckland decision makers.  I also think that it is vital that we have a very thorough public debate about the appropriateness of pursuing the biosphere proposal before the Board considers recommending it to Parliament.

My submissions to the Royal Commission and Select Committees 2 & 3 are available online at www.WaihekeBR.info

I spoke before the Royal Commission in the Aotea Centre ( I was going to be away when they visited Waiheke)  - and even got a round of applause from the audience there.

My submission on the No.2 Bill was circulated for three days and 119 Waihekeans added their names to it.  Bernard Rhodes presented it on behalf of the group.

I spoke before the Select Committee on the 3rd Bill.

I have also made two submission to the Transition Agency - one on behalf of Arts Policy, and the other so that Local Boards can spend money on sustainable development initiatives.  The first was successful - Artworks Theatre got mentioned in the Parliamentary Report - and all arts policy and funding will be going to the Local Board (thanks to the Theatre's efforts).  The second had the backing of Nikki Kaye and we are waiting to hear the outcome.

"Is this something that a local community board should be endorsing or even debating?"

You are a bit behind the times here.  The Community Board has discussed it on several occasions and even held a Forum on the topic which was open to the public.

Seeing as the only way for it to be achieved is through an initial resolution of the Local Board, the answer must be a resounding "Yes".

It is quite incredible to me to think that an opportunity as important as this, with the backing of several MPs and hundreds of islanders, should not be discussed at the Local Board.

Thank you for the questions Dougal.

There is only one thing that the Local Board must concentrate on at the beginning and that is working to ensure they gain the maximum control over local issues as possible, this is then followed by preparing a local plan, which I would hope would be done with local input.

Whoever you elect onto the Local Board, must have the ability, skills, knowledge and drive to work in the local government environment, I have all of those, plus the desire to see Waiheke prosper in this new system of local government

First of all this is not a Community Board, it is a new entity, it is a Local Board and it will have more control over local issues than the Community Board it replaces, this is why it is important to ensure those elected know what they are doing, that is to gain as much of that local control as possible, if all goes well it should be like the County Council we had before the forced amalgamation of 1989. Why does it exist or why should it exist? to ensure that we here on the island have greater control over our future or destiny than we do under the present system.

I support the principal, but it needs a lot of work to make it something that Waiheke can run with and this would be better done by a strong group working outside the Local Board, it is not something that should come from within the Board. I would support a referendum on the subject.

Yes, I am standing for both the Waiheke and the Henderson-Massey Local Boards, I have been an elected member of the Massey Community Board since its inception in 1989 and I believe I owe it to those people who have supported me over the years to offer myself as a candidate for the new entity that will replace the Massey Community Board. I have stood for the Waiheke Community Board several times over the years and although not elected to that board I have been a regular attender at its meetings and I am actively involved in the Waiheke community.