Letters: Councillors proud to make positive contribution

The first Rotorua Lakes Council meeting for the new term. PHOTO/FILE

It was a long lead in to the 2016 local elections but there can be no doubt we have a democratically elected council focused on progressing our district.

It saddens me however, to be reading the same bleating from Reynold Macpherson (Letters, December 21) who seems incapable of accepting that he and his ticket lost the election.

His constant letter-writing campaign suggests he is trying to operate what is effectively an opposition party from outside of council and in my view it is he who will drive any marginalisation of councillors aligned to the RDRR Assn as long as he remains part of it.

The sense I get is that all 10 elected councillors are proud to be around the table and, like myself, look forward to positively contributing to the fortunes of a district that is on the move. To the detractors I would simply say: "Merry Christmas - hopefully next year you will be in a position to leave 2016 behind and make a worthwhile contribution."

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you, your staff and all your readers.

DAVE DONALDSON
Rotorua deputy mayor

New resolution
Michael Staite's letter (Letters, December 23), deserves positive support; particularly during our festive season when the gap between the haves and have-nots has a negative impact on our desire to have a positive festive season and is not going to go away whilst we "drink" and make merry.

One marae's heartfelt action in helping one poor family, for all their good intents and purposes, is not going to affect the plight of those others amongst us, whom for whatever reason, find themselves on our streets with no food, shelter or warmth.

Whilst we assuage our consciences with our festive food parcels gifts to those of us who go hungry this sadly does not fix the reason why the Kiwi dream; to quote Elizabeth Marvelly (Rotorua Daily Post, October 29) "The death of the Kiwi dream" that included a fair wage, a decent education and a home to call one's own; is dead.

We have a swathe of younger, below 55-year-old Kiwis that do not vote and thus are disenfranchised by the political establishment's negative policies which continue to deliver us homelessness, home inaffordability, jails filling up and free trade driving down our wages to Third World standards.

So let's stop the hand-wringing and prepare to implement a positive New Year's resolution with the hope that in our 2017 election year, the +55-year-olds all vote in politicians with positive social and planetary policies that shall deliver the Kiwi dream of a decent living wage, food, shelter, warmth and pension affordability for all, with the flow-on effect of reducing our non-recidivists jail inmates.

JOSEPH GIELEN
Rotorua

Market din
We just made our regular visit to the Thursday night market, it was crowded and full of tourists and many locals; the food was good and the atmosphere brilliant - apart from one thing - and I heard many complaints about this - the noise!

I imagine some would try to describe it as music - I found it just awful, so bad that it kept me away from the far end of the market. Why is it so necessary to have this awful din at these events?

JIM ADAMS
Rotorua