Mindset change on our money is needed

Though normally upbeat and very much tongue in cheek, I'd like to show you that I do, in fact, have a more serious side and, having peeled back my support garments last week, I'm peeling back yet another layer (unfortunately not a fatty one) this week to show that even I have a civic side.

In a previous column I referred to questions and, more importantly, the importance of asking the RIGHT ones. Only then can you get the answers that matter the most.

As an example let's cast our minds back to the election of Mojo Mathers and her subsequent request for an expensive high-tech translation device, despite there already being an adequate transcript service available in the House.

It then became the subject of much debate, with the new device saving no more than a minute or two on the existing alternative. Many questions were asked and, of course, the dreaded issue of discrimination was raised.

Right or wrong, she got what she asked for. In my mind the only question that should have been asked was: Did Ms Mathers ask all her previous employers to stump up and provide such an expensive piece of kit and if not, why not? Although I am unable to say with absolute certainty, my answer would be NO. Disability or not, what self-respecting employee, especially in the private sector, would place such a huge financial burden on any employer, who themselves are struggling to keep their heads above water?

Sadly though it seems there is this mindset among civil servants and bureaucrats, in which, as the money is not theirs personally, the cost of such things is suddenly no longer an issue.

It is this selfish and reckless disregard for taxpayer pennies that sees us all now drowning in debt on a local and national government level.

One just has to look at the now more frequently disclosed spending habits of those in office to get an "in your face" picture of just how carelessly and nonchalantly they spend "everyone else's money" and why some, successfully or not, try so hard to cling to their seats. The perks alone that they claim are easily worth more than I receive in a year.

With local elections looming and our finances in an utter shambles it is again question time. Here's hoping the right questions will be asked.

So what can we expect in the coming weeks? Promises? I hope not, with the books reading as badly as they do making promises would be a foolish step. Policy? I'm sure we will get an awful lot of that ... and I'm sure much of it will be awful. Propaganda? I'm expecting an abundance of it. There will be the never-ending blame game, the pointing of fingers for all the past wrongs. If only those seeking election or re-election would put as much effort into righting the wrongs, things might actually get done.

Some appear so bitter and twisted that they just can't accept what's done is done ... all the bitching in the world isn't going change a thing. Many are so consumed about it that I truly believe they need to seek professional help, not re-election.

Those in politics would have the rest of us believe that our city is best served by highly educated, politically motivated, well-to-do businesspeople - those who also just happen to be in a position, financially, where paying their rates is hardly a struggle.

Many even hold up their businesses as models of their perceived success; a kind of "look at me, my business is thriving, let me pass on my 'expertise' and I promise to be just as successful as a councillor".

It would make perfect sense if they did in fact treat the taxpayer money as if it were their own. Our debt level suggests, though, that they don't.

If they ran their households and businesses the same way they run the city, the figures would suggest that their homes would all be on the brink of foreclosure and their businesses on a fast track to bankruptcy.

It's time for great change. So many cliches spring to mind: Familiarity breeds contempt; You can't teach an old dog new tricks; and, heaven forbid I quote Dr Phil, but he does make a very valid point when he says: "The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour."

So, regardless of how they may try to woo you with policy and tell you what you want so desperately to hear, particularly on the rates issue, to realistically expect a different result from that we have endured in the past term would be plain foolish.

We certainly need a new mindset - people who will hold firmly on to the city purse strings as if the money was their own; and people who know what it's like to struggle and have a much greater appreciation of the almighty dollar, having had to get by with so little of it.

Being poor doesn't automatically make you stupid. In short, we don't need the experts, the academics and those who think that $10 per head is a good value low-budget meal. We need people who really do know how to budget, people with good old-fashioned common sense - assuming there are any of us left.

If we don't bring in some new blood we will soon earn the name WRONGanui, yet more bad publicity for which, sadly, we are almost infamous.

The Waimarie should be renamed too ... the WHYmarie? If it were the great tourist attraction that many claim it to be it would surely be able to pay its own way and yet again that mindset is, "it's not that much money out of the budget" to bail it out AGAIN.

Past behaviour = Future Behaviour. I rest my case. Let common sense prevail.

Here's hoping that the right people will step up and throw their names into the hat and, even more importantly, that every eligible voter will do the quickstep come voting day, thereby creating a poll dance of a different kind.

I've even toyed with the idea of putting myself forward. Heaven knows I couldn't do a worse job. My campaign slogan: ELECT-A-REJECT.

So, what do you think our city needs? What questions would you like the answers to? Email me: investik8@gmail.com

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback, the good and the bad.