Ratepayer rumblings as council splurges

THREE letters critical of the Dunedin City Council on one day might mean that the ODT has decided to allow three of the disaffected to have their rants in the one issue. Alternatively, it might also indicate a high level of dissatisfaction with the council and the way it has gone about its business during the current term. I am more inclined to the latter view.

It appears that this council has lost sight of the core purpose of the city in having such a body: its effective operation, and consideration of the needs of those whose funds the council seems to splurge in the most cavalier manner on all sorts of whimsical projects, with a view to attracting more visitors.

It would appear that we have a council which is incapable of recognising any scheme which has the makings of a ‘‘winner’’, while taking off continuously on flights of fancy, which do nothing whatsoever to enhance the lot of those who live in our city.

Anyone with superannuation as their sole income must seethe, as I do, as they watch the gap between their incomes and the insatiable demands of the council ever increase; but find they are also the least likely to be able to do anything about the situation.

Let us use the opportunity the next local body election presents, to have a thorough cleanout. Replace them with a body of competent and conscientious individuals focused on what ought to be any council’s core business: making our city an agreeable place in which to live, with a council capable of ensuring a culture of efficiency, transparency and accountability to its stakeholders. Ian Smith

Dunedin [Abridged]