The desire of Mayor Webber and some Western Bay District councillors to introduce Maori wards was roundly trounced by a district-wide referendum which clearly showed that citizen and ratepayer views were very different from the aspirations of the mayor.
Having lost that round, the sameteam is looking at getting rid of the five democratically elected community boards and substitute them with community committees which will be made up of appointments made solely by the mayor's team.
Should this backdoor choice of representation based on mayor/councillor choice, democracy will be gone and, in my opinion, Mayor Webber will have achieved his personal wish for unelected persons to grace his council table.
Democracy is not easy to navigate but it is far superior to the tyranny of dictatorship.
Ratepayers within existing community board areas could lose their voice if this proposal succeeds.
Maureen J Anderson Pyes Pa
Greerton nightmare
Who – other than the editor of the Bay of Plenty Times - is going to read this?
Whoever is responsible for all this at Greerton should be taken to court for all this mayhem – people's livelihoods are at stake and being affected negatively.
