Jobs for beggars

Wow, what a relief for the beggars, homeless and con men in the shopping centres, I am really happy for you. "Wanted, 14,000 workers" (News, April 7). And this is only the kiwifruit industry.
Here is an opportunity to restore your self-worth, but only of course if you have the motivation. I certainly do not include folk with serious issues.
Roger Mabbett
Tauranga

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SEND A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Green legacy

Who could have guessed that the lasting legacy of the Green Party would be its sense of humour - zero emissions, and now zero road deaths?
Graham Steenson
Whakatane

System matters

I disagree with Peter Dey, who states the election system is biased in favour of Pakeha candidates (Letters, April 9). His rationale is based upon there being no Maori councillors on the Western Bay Council. My differing opinion is based on my experience of local body elections that used the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system rather than First Past the Post (FPP).
I previously voted in an election that returned the country's youngest mayor, the country's youngest and eldest councillors, an approximate 50:50 mix of male and female councillors, three councillors with Maori heritage and two councillors with Pasifika heritage.
It reflected the community which it served. Good-quality candidates from all demographics in the community were prepared to stand and the incumbent councillors voted to use STV. Preceding the election, the local body encouraged candidates from all demographics to stand for election. Unfortunately, the Western Bay District Council recently decided to continue with FPP rather than adopting the STV system, which could have brought about a more representative range of councillors, and decided that the introduction of Maori wards was a better option.
There are many who would disagree with both decisions and, sadly, we may end up at the next election with much of the same. (Abridged)
David Rolfe
Omokoroa

Omokoroa too

City councillor Bill Grainger's wants (News, April 9) could just as easily be applied to Omokoroa. Both areas have a growing population and there are no plans for a college. Students are travelling on the main roads to the colleges. The traffic problems from both areas are similar as is the attitude of the Ministry of Education to much-needed colleges.
The Western Bay Council has been making sure that all utilities required for a larger population are in place but, in my view, central government is not coming to the party and hasn't been for a number of years.
The other factor occurred a couple of years ago when the regional council - which used to be called Environment Bay of Plenty! - started charging for the school buses. This immediately caused additional traffic problems as senior students drove to college and the juniors were driven to school by an adult. School buses previously full are now maybe one-third full. It is very noticeable that during the school holidays the traffic is so much better. It would be very difficult to turn the clock back. Would the senior students stop driving to college?
Peter Turmer
Pyes Pa

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City pride needed

Come on Taurangians with your heads in the sands, heads up. Tauranga is the only large city without a museum. We moronically watch tourists get on buses to Rotorua to spend thousands of dollars there to learn about our history. Here in Tauranga, we have thousands of artefacts which have not seen the light of day for many, many years.
It is high time a building is erected to respectfully display our historical treasures.
Surely we have enough pride in our city to now have a museum and to put our heritage on display.
M Brooks
Avenues