Good luck Dunedin

Do you just like paying higher rates?

If you’re a Dunedin City ratepayer standby to get angry about your rates – again.

No matter who becomes Mayor next month, the cost of owning property in the city will rise beyond the rate of inflation.

The Otago Daily Times has canvassed the views of Mayoral candidates about the Taxpayers Union (TU) “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.” The TU emailed every candidate for local body election around the country asking them to pledge three promises:

1.Keep rates raises below inflation and population growth.

2.Support full council transparency on spending.

3.Oppose unelected appointments to council committees with spending or regulatory powers.

(Disclaimer: One of the TU emails was from me.)

The brilliance of the Ratepayer Pledge is its simplicity.

If you’re serious about running a local authority at a reasonable price how can anyone standing for Mayor anywhere not pledge to keep rates rises at inflation or below, especially considering the huge rises already sucked from ratepayers in the last five years?

How can you not support transparency in council spending?

How can you not oppose infiltration of the democratic system by allowing appointed people to make decisions on spending ratepayers money?

Incredibly Dunedin is stacked with candidates who will not sign the pledge. What’s worse is the arrogance from some of those hoping for the top job who care more about politics than serving their community.

Marie Laufiso is a current councillor standing for Mayor. She told the ODT “the pledge is misinformed and simplistic dog-whistling designed by the powerful and wealthy to appeal to the not-so-wealthy Maori-hating-and-blaming element in our adolescent settler society.”

Phew.

Nowhere does the TU pledge mention Maori. All it’s asking from candidates is that the only people making decisions to spend ratepayers money are those whom the ratepayers have elected. That’s called democracy. It’s nothing less than the people of Dunedin should expect from their elected representatives.

First time candidate Andrew Simms says there’re “unsubstantiated claims that the majority of voters are in support.” Mr Simms is wrong. The claims are substantiated. TU polling shows a clear majority in support of local body rates capping.

The car dealership millionaire says the TU approach of sending emails to candidates falls somewhere between “badgering and bullying.” Is a man with such a thin skin fit for public office? And how about this: “the pledge is illogical, unworkable and divisive and will achieve nothing.”

He’s not signing.

Don’t vote for him.

Regular Mayoral candidate and sitting councillor Lee Vandervis at least said he supported parts of the pledge but “a rates cap without a debt cap is moronic.”

The logic of that is difficult to understand. Surely one follows the other. If your income is x then your expenditure, including debt servicing and repayment, should be less than x. That’s how business – and households – operate. Only spend what you have and prioritise what you need to spend it on.

But Vandervis says he won’t be signing either.

Then there’s another current councillor Sophie Barker who just says it’s “unrealistic to commit to the pledge.”

She doesn’t expand. Perhaps she just likes spending other people’s money.

Five other candidates, including the incumbent Mayor Jules Radich, did not provide responses to the ODT.

Of the sixteen candidates to be Mayor of Dunedin only two, Pamela Taylor and Benedict Ong support the pledge. Another one, David Milne said he signed but with amendments because he claims councils are required to provide avenues for Maori participation “which I abide by.”

The “avenue” for what Mr Milne refers to is pretty simple – stand for office and let the public decide.

So based on what the ODT tells us, there are only two candidates for Mayor of Dunedin who will vote to control council spending, be fully transparent about where the money is going and uphold democracy.

As lower profile candidates in a large field, Ms Taylor and Mr Ong are likely to finish among the also rans.

Dunedin voters deserve no sympathy. They’re currently paying rates which are 15 percent higher than last year. The Long Term Plan suggests the rates rise will be 4.5 percent next year. While it looks better, that’s still double the rate of inflation.

According to some AI sources Dunedin’s population has decreased by about 400 in the last five years. It’s not a thriving city and all its MPs represent Labour or the Greens. Maybe people there just like paying higher taxes and more rates.

You almost feel sorry for them - but they make their own choices.