Too many parties, too much wine?

Sorry for the delay in posting friends, but we've been busy with other matters. Still, the hot summer has been a boon to us all, bar those who get heatstroke and behave in odd ways.

For the North Shore council though, they've been well hydrated over the last two years with the news released in the latest Aucklander that there has been $70,000 spent on parties, functions and ceremonies.

A local businessman, Mr David Martin, emailed the odd and abusive Mayor, only to get short shrift.

One resident who's aghast at the seemingly
endless rounds of tea and biscuits is David
Martin.

The Takapuna resident has become
increasingly concerned at the attitude of Mayor
Andrew Williams.

Mr Martin is an accredited business mentor
who attended a function with the mayor late last
year at which mentors were praised.

However, Mr Martin was surprised to discover
how much money is going into city knees-ups.

The 59-year-old emailed Mr Williams with his
concerns last week, saying he supported reviewing
expenditure and cutting costs but did not like
some of the personal politics the mayor was
engaging in.

Mr Martin was admonished in a response
from the mayor.

``This has been a huge exercise to reduce wast
age of spending across the bureaucracy, get more
accountability into the systems, prioritise the
needs vs the nice-to-haves, and basically run it as
you would run your own business,' Mr Williams
wrote.

Mr Martin says: ``The lips are moving but the
feet aren't lining up with the mouth.'

Figures obtained by The Aucklander show the
council's Civic Functions and Ceremonies
budget for the 2008/09 financial year is $56,441.

The actual spend in that budget for the period
July 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009 is $72,255.

It's no surprise to hear the Mad Mayor is opposed to cracking down on the council grog. We think he seems to do such a good job of showing he enjoys it.