He wasted $1343 of rates money on a private campaign against Auckland Mayor John Banks. What more can we say. This is completely embarrassing. You can read the Herald article here.
If he has even a shred of decency, he would pay the money back.
Further embarrassments like this are going to embolden the new Minister of Local Government to make some hard choices once the Royal Commission is announced.
If Williams' mission to protect the current North Shore setup has been a complete failure (as we have every reason to suspect it will be), and if Williams is true to form and launches a series of blistering personal attacks and threatens to be obstructionist, the Minister of Local Government will have only one choice:
Section 254, 255 and 256 of the Local Government Act 2002 - the removal of Williams as Mayor and the appointment of a commissioner to run North Shore through the transition. Don't laugh. It's a likely prospect if Williams threatens to hurt the process.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Williams' "provocative"
Understatement of the year by the North Shore Times, but their piece is an accurate reflection of the week's events.
Good to see some sensible, pragmatic commentary from Cr Darby at the end of the article.
Shore mayor Andrew Williams is being heavily criticised for making "unnecessary provocative, patronising and potentially damaging comments" over petrol tax changes.
Newmarket Business Association head Cameron Brewer reportedly used these words to criticise the mayor and said he had damaged Auckland’s relationship with the rest of the country.
On Monday night during a television news item other mayors and residents from around New Zealand criticised his comments.
Mr Williams’ comments follow a government announcement that a 9.5c Auckland fuel tax will be dropped in favour of a national 6c fuel tax.
In what appears to be sarcasm, Mr Williams expressed his "heartfelt thanks to people in the provinces" to helping sort out Auckland’s transport problems.
"I would like to extend my thanks to the people from the likes of Gore, Timaru, Hokitika, Waipukurau, Stratford, Opotiki, and Kerikeri for contributing in the future to Auckland’s transport woes," he says.
"I hope as many people as possible from around New Zealand will visit Auckland in the coming years to take advantage of the improved public transport that they will have paid for."
In a raft of press releases Mr Williams questions the government’s ability to sort out public transport problems.
And so forth. We at "The Mayor is Mad" are not always in alignment with David Thornton of the No More Rates ticket, but we think he's hit the button on his suggestion of a recall for politicians in regard to Williams' appalling behaviour this week.
Good to see some sensible, pragmatic commentary from Cr Darby at the end of the article.
Shore mayor Andrew Williams is being heavily criticised for making "unnecessary provocative, patronising and potentially damaging comments" over petrol tax changes.
Newmarket Business Association head Cameron Brewer reportedly used these words to criticise the mayor and said he had damaged Auckland’s relationship with the rest of the country.
On Monday night during a television news item other mayors and residents from around New Zealand criticised his comments.
Mr Williams’ comments follow a government announcement that a 9.5c Auckland fuel tax will be dropped in favour of a national 6c fuel tax.
In what appears to be sarcasm, Mr Williams expressed his "heartfelt thanks to people in the provinces" to helping sort out Auckland’s transport problems.
"I would like to extend my thanks to the people from the likes of Gore, Timaru, Hokitika, Waipukurau, Stratford, Opotiki, and Kerikeri for contributing in the future to Auckland’s transport woes," he says.
"I hope as many people as possible from around New Zealand will visit Auckland in the coming years to take advantage of the improved public transport that they will have paid for."
In a raft of press releases Mr Williams questions the government’s ability to sort out public transport problems.
And so forth. We at "The Mayor is Mad" are not always in alignment with David Thornton of the No More Rates ticket, but we think he's hit the button on his suggestion of a recall for politicians in regard to Williams' appalling behaviour this week.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
More shame for our shore
The Mad Mayor has had his comeuppance on national television this morning.
On Breakfast TV, Williams was awarded "Egg of the week".
Fast forward through to around 1 minute and 50 seconds to see the clip (you will need to let the advertisement run through first)
The hosts and panellists couldn't conceal their contempt for the idiot in charge of North Shore, calling him "more plonky and prattish every month".
They must live locally.
On Breakfast TV, Williams was awarded "Egg of the week".
Fast forward through to around 1 minute and 50 seconds to see the clip (you will need to let the advertisement run through first)
The hosts and panellists couldn't conceal their contempt for the idiot in charge of North Shore, calling him "more plonky and prattish every month".
They must live locally.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
No more free lunches, but rates are disgraceful
We missed the story about the Mayor and council cutting back on their free lunches.
Big deal.
They should have kept their lunches and cut their spending further instead.
It would seem that both Waitakere and Auckland City can manage to keep rates between 2 and 3%. Why not the shore? Where are the real priorities on spending reductions?
No wonder the Mad Mayor and his little coterie of minions cut back on lunches when they overspend on finger food and drinks!
Big deal.
They should have kept their lunches and cut their spending further instead.
It would seem that both Waitakere and Auckland City can manage to keep rates between 2 and 3%. Why not the shore? Where are the real priorities on spending reductions?
No wonder the Mad Mayor and his little coterie of minions cut back on lunches when they overspend on finger food and drinks!
Another symptom of the problem
We missed this one earlier - how the Mad Mayor decided to unilaterally strip Cr Darby of his urban design champion role, though there was no good reason to.
Williams apparently felt that Darby was "undermining" him, though of course, to any rational watcher of local politics, it's pretty obvious that the Mayor's biggest enemy is in fact his own self.
Should any ugly buildings get built in the next few years, you'll know who to blame. Just send the Mayor a late night email, he'll get the message sure enough.
Williams apparently felt that Darby was "undermining" him, though of course, to any rational watcher of local politics, it's pretty obvious that the Mayor's biggest enemy is in fact his own self.
Should any ugly buildings get built in the next few years, you'll know who to blame. Just send the Mayor a late night email, he'll get the message sure enough.
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