Lee Vandervis, Bob Barlin, Christine Garey.
Interesting one. Vandervis is right about a few things, the emails really don't read to me as abusive (they were released on FYI.org.nz) and as per the rumours that I'd heard he does drive a Nissan Leaf (probably the most popular electric car in NZ). But on the other hand he imagines being able to save South Dunedin with Dutch style pumping and other infrastructure, such as dykes or sea walls I guess. He's also very much anti-cycle. He was also a little sexist at one stage, not in pointing out that all three of the main council staff that he deals with are women but in being critical of the number of women in council employment in total. So he's a mixed bag, and as Mayor we would lose our cycle paths. So please don't vote him in as Mayor. As councilor I think that it would be useful to have his focus there because at the very least he would keep some a bit more honest. Some way needs to be thought of to involve him in council productively though. His point about debt is a little concerning (he claims a billion dollars) and I will need to have a closer look at Assets and Liabilities as publicly available over the next week. If Dunedin is paying 4.6% for this debt then it's time to get rid of the current loans as interest rates are much better than that right now.
Christine Garey was in conflict with Lee Vandervis in regards to the Council issues while at the same time acknowledging that she'd been a little rude in publicly shaming council staff in the past (while on Peninsula board). She was pro the 'Sydney Opera House' development on the Harbour including the bridge while at the same time stating that sea level rise (SLR) risk had been accounted for. Sure, if you take the IPCC from 2014 at their word but this did not allow for any Antarctic ice loss and anyway a metre of SLR which is what IPCC basically states will happen by 2100 will be very problematic for this development. If you read Hansen instead of IPCC well then it will be under water before the middle of the century. So for that reason and others I think that Christine Garey is wrong here. She states that the development is important to bring in private investment to that area. That's the key focus here it seems to me. Carmen Houlahan is similar in having a focus on freeing up land for developers but she would likely be more inclined to listen to the evidence regarding climate change impacts. So in my view Christine Garey should not be voted on to council.
Bob Barlin, well where do you start? Currently taxi driving (tourist oriented it seems) he seemed at the beginning to be critical of Council expenditure and had Lee Vandervis nodding in agreement. I was expecting full climate denial, but there was only a little along the lines of 'if right'. But then we had a spiel about strategic assets and their susceptibility to SLR risk. He mentioned the airport and the Hillside engineering workshop, both maybe at a metre or less above sea level. He stated that he was previously in the army up to the level of Major and had been to many hotspots around the world. He's the type of guy you'd put into manage assets and errr people if SLR became an issue. He would be good to have around in such an event, but on council? That could be a little risky for democracy in my view. He also does not seem to know why he's running and considering that he is unsure that there would be any sea level rise it is unlikely he'd consider those impacts if left to himself. I think you can get the gist of why he is running if you just think about it a little. It was quite warm in Dunedin today by the way. Not NZ's hotspot I'm sure but has anyone told the army? Whose army do I hear you say?
Who else has been airlifted in?
The interviews were a little more 'tetchy' than ours were last week and this was expected.
Just for reference, women in my writing are 'adult human females'. I am not a fan of gender politics or the idea that the term 'women' is inclusive of anyone born male.
#dcc #oar.org.nz #mayoralcandidates #leevandervis #christinegarey #bobbarlin