I will give Andrew Williams, the Mayor of the North Shore of Auckland this, he does reply to his correspondence and you cant say that about many politicians.
He really needs some anger management though, as you will see at the end of this post.
I initially emailed him on Monday about
a piece I wrote on
Political Animal about his
shenanigans with ratepayer money, principally his use of NZ$1342 to buy wine for his political allies to popularise his opposition to John Banks and his great idea for one Auckland, one mayor.
My initial email:
-----Original Message-----
From: Darren Rickard
Sent: Monday, 23 March 2009 9:05 p.m.
To: mayor@northshorecity.govt.nz
Subject: Article in Political Animal on Andrew Williams
Dear Mr Andrews,
please see the article below that was published on Monday 23 March. I attach
it as a courtesy to you and hope you take it on board...
Regards, Darren Rickard.
The Mayor's reply:
date Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 1:21 AM
subject RE: Article in Political Animal on Andrew Williams
mailed-bynorthshorecity.govt.nz
Hi Darren
Thanks for emailing me this info. Much appreciated. The media love to sensationalise trivia but ignore all the positive work I am doing, and the results of my council.
Regards
Andrew Williams Mayor Andrew Williams
He thought I was supporting him which would have been bizarre because the content of Monday's Political Animal post wasn't exactly complimentary. It is clear that both the emailer(me) and the writer were the same.
I tried once again with a similar reply.
I then emailed this last night to finally get my point across:
-----Original Message-----
From: Darren Rickard
Sent: Tuesday, 24 March 2009 10:43 p.m.
To: Mayor Andrew Williams
Subject: Re: Article in Political Animal on Andrew Williams
Hi Andrew,
I do NOT support you. Your arrogant, money wasting, rude and sometimes
downright nutty antics as Mayor led me to write this.
Regards, Darren Rickard.
To be sure the content of this email might seem a little strong and my article was even stronger but they are facts as I see them and they are shared my a large majority of people who live on the North Shore of Auckland and the Mayor has been, well , nutty.
Here is Andrew's unedited reply,
from Mayor Andrew Williams
to Darren Rickard
date Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 8:51 AM
subject RE: Article in Political Animal on Andrew Williams
mailed-bynorthshorecity.govt.nz
You selfish, selfish, selfish nasty person. How dare you email me in such a mannerwith total ignorance of the facts.
I work long hours day, night and at weekends helping people and groups all over the Shore. Every day people ask me for help with issues and I assist them. And I also have taken leadership with my council to sort out big problems such as PAK n SAVE, Birkenhead Library, TAKAPUNAkiosk, Albany high school, Long Bay Great Park, Whenuapai airport., Chelsea heritage park. And the list goes on.
I have revised budgets and expenditure to reduce rate increases from 8.4% to 5.9%. Efficiencies have been found across council spending.
And yes 15 yr old filthy shabby couches have been replaced. As they should be for important VIP guests to NZ's 4th latgest city. And for 20 years and before that there has been a civic events budget, including wine. This council has had the lowest wine use I am told. We didn't even have wine at our swearing in function.
The bridge at Campbells Bay has been a 10 year community project. To provide safe access across an all too often sizeable tide of water. To provide safe access to the toilets and playground. Council officers have however over engineered it, OSH rules have added cost. We will deliver this community project at lower cost.
So, don't email me with uninformed slaggings. You should be grateful that this Mayor is a hands-on Mayor who gets on with the business, takes a 'can do' attitude, and is leading this city strongly...to get the best outcomes for our city.
What have you ever done for anyone else but yourself?. And what have you done for our city? ANYTHING APART FROM MOAN AND SLAG OFF AT THE MAYOR???
Andrew Wiliams
Mayor
My only conclusion is that Andrew thinks it is OK to waste ratepayers money on expensive bottles of wine for political reasons and that his record rate rise because of his wasteful spending is hunky dory as well.
Interesting the kind of people that we vote to represent ourselves huh?
Related Amazon Reading
c Political Animal 2009
