Councillors play grand game, we get to pay for it
There would seem to be some confusion amongst Hamiltonians as to the financial state of their city. This confusion takes many forms. It ranges from everyday indifference to commonplace ignorance, incorporating various stages of denial, misunderstanding and general bewilderment. You see it in the eyes of the homeless.
The other week, as I trotted off down to the casino to watch Joseph Parker’s sparring session against a world champion, I was waylaid mid-stride by one of Victoria St’s more recognisable panhandlers. ‘‘Got 10 cents?’’ she asked, as much out of habit as hope. My response was confined to a gruff, inhumane shrug. After all, it was Easter Sunday and there was pugilism to be enjoyed. Not exactly an appropriate time for Christian charity. I couldn’t help but think afterwards though that the poor unfortunate had but a rudimentary understanding of the new 10 Year Plan. Had she managed to clear her head and invest hard-won earnings in a few hours online the situation could well improve. Hamilton City Council has put the document up for public consideration and consultation. News of a proposed 9.5 per cent rates rise was a few steps away, at an adjacent internet cafe. Knowledge being power, the whole world was potentially at this woman’s fingertips. What was it Dorothy Parker said? You can lead the homeless to culture but you can’t make them read? The line’s better in the original, but you get my drift.
If my friend had somehow grasped the impending rates tsunami about to break upon her reality, it would be reasonable to assume certain consequence. I don’t know much about economics but it stands to reason that if your overheads rise, the charge either has to be absorbed or passed on to the consumer. Frankly, the chances of the former scenario playing out in this case rate alongside the Auckland Blues’ odds of winning a game of rugby. No, the next time you run across that woman in the street there’s every likelihood that she’ll be asking for ‘‘11 cents’’. Given she is sans mobile eftpos, it’s probable the raise will have to be rounded up to a full 15. Inflation is a cruel business. Politicians seldom think these things through, do they?
To be fair, when it comes to our politicians, there has been quite a bit of thinking about rates. The issue affords huge opportunities for point scoring and the putting down of others. In fact, it’s possible that one or more of the key players has been working overtime at obfuscation just to the keep his rivals on their toes. Financial information from the bureaucratic wing hasn’t exactly been crystal clear either. It’s a grand game and we’re a stronger community for it.
Councillor Garry Mallett outdid himself last week in addressing the failings of a colleague. The fact that the object of his ridicule had absented herself from the meeting at which Mallett spoke made his attack all the more courageous and robust. His research left no stone under turned. Or Facebook posting unread. Councillor Angela O’Leary was outed as a financial ignoramus. The proof was online for everyone to read. Or at least everyone whose friend request was accepted by O’Leary.
Mallett hammered home his advantage. He presented himself as the oracle. He, Garry, understood the financial woes of the country’s fourth biggest metropolis and was here to help unravel the mysteries of apparent surpluses versus actual deficits. With as much patience as an exasperated knowit-all can muster, Councillor Mallett explained that everything owned by the city and hitherto thought an asset was actually a liability, sucking the life blood out of the place.
This view was not universally accepted. Councillor Rob Pascoe, in charge of the purse strings during the Hardaker years, when belts were tightened, books were balanced and the city’s financial wellbeing assured for the foreseeable future, spoke up for the merits of ‘‘roads, parks, pipes and footpaths’’. He also admitted that it was all rather confusing. A rare admission from a politician that they don’t really have much idea of what’s going on.
Whilst it’s incongruous for a dyed-inthe wool right-winger to stand with the likes of Joseph Stalin, personally I find Garry Mallett’s commitment to the 10 Year Plan to be rather endearing.
Mind you, if no one can agree on present day reality it’s hard to see how we can find consensus about a future a decade hence.