Mayor criticises ‘dirty politics’ from Leggett
Porirua Mayor Mike Tana has defended his family’s living arrangements and accused his predecessor of ‘‘dirty politics’’.
On Tuesday, Tana was criticised by some councillors for failing to keep pre-election promises of moving his wife and six children to Porirua if he won the mayoralty two years ago.
During a radio interview yesterday, he said previous Porirua mayor Nick Leggett had ‘‘spent quite a lot of time criticising and putting these things in the media’’ – which Leggett denied.
‘‘I was asked to comment and I’m prepared to put my name to it, that’s not dirty politics, it’s just politics,’’ Leggett said.
Tana said his wife and children remain in Rotorua to take care of his father, who had had a stroke just after he became mayor two years ago.
The family had moved to Rotorua four years ago after their fifth baby was born because Tana was travelling internationally in his role as Public Service Association president.
During the radio interview, he defended himself against both the criticism and a recent telephone poll that asked Porirua residents if they were concerned by the long-distance travel.
‘‘I do about 50 to 60 hours a week and I see my family prob- ably about once a month.’’
His family would be joining him as soon as possible and he had enrolled his daughter at a Porirua college, he said.
‘‘Probably at the beginning of the year, because that’s the school holidays, my family will be with me.’’
He said the councillors who had criticised him came from Leggett’s council and he had approached Leggett for ‘‘insight’’ five times – something Leggett denied.
‘‘He has never, ever asked to see me, any search of Porirua City Council records will show that.
‘‘Mr Tana is a big boy, he made undertakings to voters he would move and no amount of crocodile tears changes that.’’