Despicable Them

Marie from Waikanae

On Thursday 25 August, during level four lockdown. KCDC intends to hold a council meeting. At this meeting they are voting to do away with the Waikanae Community board and the Waikanae Ward and combine Paraparaumu and Waikanae into one big ward. Its Gerrymandering at its best, and guess what folks, they 're doing it all by zoom.
Parliament is not sitting during level four, but of course KCDC is so special they can hold a meeting. So they are going to vote on doing away with the local government services for a town where over half the people are aged over 60 and it is estimated that a large proportion of these residents either don't have zoom or don't know how to use it Still others may not be comfortable using zoom in a formal meeting setting. This is about as inequitable as it gets.
If they had an ounce of integrity they would cancel this meeting. They are well aware of the inequity. As the Chief Executive sneered during the June 24 meeting regarding a councilor joining the meeting via zoom: "if he hasn't got the technology, he cant participate".
Holding the meeting via zoom seriously restricts the ability of Waikanae residents to participate in important decisions about their local government representation. I urge everyone to email their ward and district wide Councillors and express your disapproval of this action. Email the Mayor too. I really think they have gone too far this time.
I suspect this will lead to yet another complaint to the ombudsman about this council and this time we will consider a request for a full review of council activities. This council is not fit to govern.