Experience wanted, and a low rates percentage
Two thoughts on council elections.
First, it should be a requirement that people standing for the position of mayor should have served at least one term as a councillor. That gives us an idea of how they might perform.
Second, frequent rates increases above the rate of inflation are a major issue for those on fixed incomes. Link any rates rises above inflation to the salaries of middle managers and above employed by Dunedin City Council; thus, an increase of 5% above inflation leads to a 5% reduction in their salaries. That should concentrate their minds on things that matter.
Restoring democracy
Local body election time is approaching. Candidates tell us their policies and what they will do if elected. Truth is, they are so constrained by legislation that they can do very little.
The CEO is their only employee, and the CEO hires the DCC staff who then provide councillors with the information on which to base their decisions on what to do with the rates money and how much more they can extract without the peasants arriving mob-handed bearing pitchforks.
The information is, of course, complete, and neutral, and lacking any ideological slant or other bias.
Now the two top contenders for the last mayoralty election, the mayor and Cr Vandervis, are chafing at the restrictions. Cr Vandervis said he was concerned the project [Albany St] was going ahead without a chance for elected officials to comment on it: "To find that it is now, with all haste, going to contract and to be done, I find that unusual, and it makes me uncomfortable."
The headline was "Mayor criticised for undermining staff".
I am glad to see it. Representatives hobbled and gagged are hardly worth the trouble of voting. The rules need revising to restore democracy in place of de facto rule by employees of the people we elect to positions of powerlessness.
Save the books
What can be done to stop the National Library destroying tens of thousands of books? They have sold them before, used Rotary book sales, tenders etc but have now decided to destroy them because it is supposedly cheaper.
This is an extremely improper thing to do. Some of those books will be extremely rare and most certainly have value. A contract to destroy them will have a cost.
I understand Hard to Find bookshop in Dunedin has offered to cancel stamp, pack and take possession. Please readers do all you can to stop this distruction, email the Minister of Internal Affairs, Brooke van Velden and your local MPs.
Go into your library and ask if you could have a bundle and if you don't like them hand them on or put into local book sales.
I find this decision by the National Library absolutely disgusting.
I appreciate the article today (17.6.26) regarding second-hand books. Books are a beautiful treasure and one would hope that they are stored both in a digital age online, as well as in hard copy which shall enable knowledge to be valued for a long time to come.
Some of these many books will be of good value to academic institutions, less developed nations, prisons, museums and libraries. Uploading and selling these books for free and selling them online is another excellent idea. It is a shame that the price of moving the books is expensive, but I hope a good outcome shall come that is of benefit to many people.
Pea’d off after a trip to the local supermarket
Thank you for your recent timely and considered editorial (ODT 9.6.25).
If Nicola Willis believes she will tame the grocery cartel, she really should choose another career path.
The Commerce Commission should be severely reprimanded for engineering the grocery trade to be concentrated in the hands of Foodstuffs and Woolworths (formerly Progressive) in the first place.
You are fulsome in praise for the grocery commissioner Pierre van Heerden and his achievements to date, since he was appointed by ComCom in July 2023, to deal with the supermarket cartel.
Nothing has happened to help consumers. His appointment as the former head of the Grocers’ Council is akin to asking an aged chook to oversee a skulk of foxes. He should have the good grace to resign.
I went to New World to purchase chickpeas, from the bulk bin section. They were priced at $15.90 per kg. When I queried the high price I was told prices in that section reflect the "maintenance and servicing" inputs required.
I subsequently purchased my chickpeas in South Dunedin for $5.50 per kg from the bulk bins at my local independent grocer.
And the latest rort cooked up by Fonterra (Mainland) and the supermarkets is to charge near to $9 for 250g of Mainland butter.
A 500g block of butter is priced up to $10. Therefore Mainland butter sold as 250g blocks works out to cost consumers $36 per kg.
I am sure the above examples underscore the reason as to why so many consumers are incensed by the continuing price gouging by the duopolistic cartel.
A gap between bat, ball and baton on DRS
In response to Adrian Seconi’s article, "Is DRS available?" (ODT 18.6.25. Is DRS available?
Because after reviewing the replay — slow motion, ball tracking, snicko and hotspot — your take on the Otago 4x100m relay team winning Team of the Year has missed the pitch, the stumps, and possibly the sport.
No one’s denying the Sparks were superb. That Shield final was an all-time classic.
Eden Carson’s innings? Heroic. Battling a chest infection while guiding her team to a last-ball win? Incredible.
But — and I say this with the utmost respect — this isn’t the Chest Infection of the Year Award. It’s Team of the Year.
And on that front, the baton boys delivered. Fast. Clinical. Relentless.
They won the national title. Set an Otago record. Beat Australian state teams.
And did it all with smooth baton changes and terrifying leg speed — no drama, no headlines, just results.
You asked, "Can anyone name someone from the team?" Sure: Hayato Yoneto, Jackson Rogers, Felix McDonald, John Gerber.
But that’s not the point. This isn’t a pub quiz. Since when did Team of the Year require a name-recognition test?
The All Whites won the Halberg in 2010 and no-one could name more than three of them — and let’s be honest, that probably was a howler.
This award wasn’t about hype. It was about who turned up, performed, and outpaced the rest.
The Sparks were brilliant — no argument. But the 4x100 team crossed the finish line first. And this time, the stopwatch beat the storyline.
So let’s pop off the eyepatch, give the binoculars a wipe, and appreciate what we saw: four Otago athletes delivering on the national and international stage.
No drama. Just results.
[Paul Allison is a former New Zealand marathon representative.]
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
