Stand down call

Nelson City Councillors Lawrey and Fulton should take note of Hawkes Bay Mayor Lawrence Yule and Denise Lee, Auckland city councillor, being asked to stand down from their councillor roles now they are running for Parliament.

Mayor Yule has done the right thing and has agreed to step down whereas prominent Auckland councillor Lee has caused a furore by not agreeing to step down. Lee has said: ‘‘I’m good at juggling things so I dont need to stand down.’’

What she and others including the two Nelson city councillors seem to fail to appreciate is that ratepayers don’t want to be funding them while they are out campaigning for Parliament.

It’s time some rules were put in place to cover this situation and it’s not rocket science. If a councillor decides to campaign for election to Parliament he/she should either stand down and stop receiving a councillor’s salary or alternatively resign.

After all the political party they may be standing for will very likely not be entirely supported by the ratepayers who voted for them when they both supposedly had no party affiliation. With less than six months before voting in the general election starts it’s time for both councillors to do the obvious and honourable thing. cherry pick scientific studies, ignore other scientific studies and then have the temerity to claim a monopoly on rational scientific argument saying that local people are too emotional to be rational about fluoride. Nothing could be further from the truth. that this letter makes many elderly attend this AGMat 2pm at Stoke School, April 8.