Swearing-in attire irks
I noted at the swearing in of our Dunedin city councillors that four of them chose to adorn themselves with keffiyeh: Garey, Laufiso, Walker and Treadwell.
I wonder if they will now seek an agenda item at the next council meeting that, "they send a vote of thanks to President Trump for brokering the Palestinian ceasefire".
Or do they now hold that such matters are not the purview of local body administrations?
I find Mickey Treadwell’s wearing of the keffiyeh scarf, as he wore at his Dunedin City Council declaration of his oath of office completely inappropriate and a gesture of bias regarding the tragedy of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist proxies of Iran.
What would be the DCC’s position if any other councillor were to wear a scarf of the star of David?
Does Mr Treadwell have any knowledge of the contribution of the Jewish immigrants to our city through the likes of Sir Julius Vogel (editor of the ODT and prominent servant of the community), Bendix Hallenstein (Hallenstein Brothers, which at one point employed nearly 300 people) and Mark Cohen, DCC councillor 1888-96 and advocate for free libraries, kindergartens and equal rights for women.
One of Dunedin’s biggest tourist attractions, Olveston and its collections, was gifted in trust to the DCC by Miss Dorothy Theomin daughter of David Theomin, businessman, collector and philanthropist.
Mr Treadwell, you are well entitled to your beliefs but please leave your geopolitical beliefs at home while you serve the ratepayers of Dunedin. It is neither the time nor place.
I watched the inaugural meeting of the new Dunedin City Council last Friday. I expected to see a formal meeting with our new and incumbent councillors being sworn in. Instead I witnessed appalling behaviour and several breaches of the DCC code of conduct for councillors.
Steve Walker pulling faces when Lee Vandervis was talking about unsustainable rates increases came across as absolute contempt for ratepayers, and the four Palestinian/Hamas scarf-wearing councillors were obviously a reflection of local government reps indulging in party politics instead of carrying out their obligations to Dunedin citizens, Palestinian and Jewish, as required by the Local Government Act.
Going back in time to solve rural crimes
Following the recent destructive storm, some opportunistic farm thefts occurred in the region (30.10.25).
The police commented "If you can get a rego, it will help, otherwise, time, date, place and the direction they have gone". A similar comment might have been made if the thefts had happened following a storm back in 1925 instead of 2025.
It seems strange that after all this time and technological change, vehicle identification is still based on displayed numbers on a metal plate.
Perhaps the time has come to consider GPS tracking devices being a compulsory requirement for all New Zealand vehicles, sufficiently protected against removal or switching off.
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