It is becoming quite clear that ratepayers across the Bay are sick and tired of their council representatives retreating behind closed doors to make decisions that affect the people who elected them.
Earlier this month Hawke's Bay Today revealed that the Hastings District Council had, in a public excluded portionof a council meeting last year, decided to award the Bay's largest water exporter, Miracle Water, a $50,000 job incentive grant. To date, the company has received $12,500.
To say that our readers reacted badly to this revelation is an understatement. After readers asked Hawke's Bay Today to take a stand against "secret meetings", I formally asked Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule last Friday to release the minutes of that secret discussion.
What surprised me was that Mr Yule said that in his time as mayor he had not had such a request before and would have to see what he could do. All that did was to make me more determined to keep asking our councils at every opportunity in the future for the minutes of secret meetings. That is if we do not manage to persuade them to stop the practice completely.
To his credit on Monday Mr Yule did release the minutes after all councillors agreed. The most interesting thing in the minutes was how the councillors voted. Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers, who has been accused by her opponents in the fight to represent Hastings on the regional council, was a surprise no vote.
However, when we approached Ms Bowers for comment, she seemed oddly confused and thought she had abstained which she said was as good as voting yes.
Be that as it may, the most important thing to emerge from this process is that when ratepayers stand up for their right to know what councillors are doing on their behalf, things happen.
Hawke's Bay Today will continue to stand up for its readers' right to know.
