This is an Open Letter to those on Auckland’s City Council – specifically those right wing Councillors who are now ‘gunning’ for Len Brown’s resignation. I refer to Councillors Dick Quax, Cameron Brewer, Christine Fletcher – though others should take note as well.
Are you purer than virgin snow?
Holier than the Pope?
More innocent than a newborn lamb?
I hope so.
Because just in case it may have escaped your attention, politics in this country just got a whole lot dirtier and smellier.
It may have started with the so-called “expose” by the Sultan of Sleaze, Cameron Slater, and aided and abetted by others connected to the Palino mayoral campaign-camp (John Slater, Luigi Wewege, et al) – but certain right-wing Councillors have ramped up the temperature to white-heat by demanding Brown’s resignation.
All because Mayor Len Brown wasn’t found guilty of mis-using Council funds – he was found “guilty” of not declaring free hotel rooms and free hotel room upgrades.
Big whoopty-doos.
Brown is guilty of gross stupidity – especially for accepting freebies from SkyCity – but these are not offences demanding a resignation and a million dollar mayoral by-election.
If Aucklanders want to waste a million bucks on a needless by-election, then they have been spending too much time on their motorways breathing in mind-altering engine fumes.
But back to my point.
Quax, Brewer, et al, need to be 100% that they themselves have led blameless careers whilst in local body politics.
Have they declared everything?
Evidently not.
Cr Brewer – one of Brown’s staunchest critics – seems to have been caught out as well,
.
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If Brown goes – Brewer must resign as well. No ifs or buts. Just p*ss of.
And to the remaining opponants to Len Brown – you are all on notice. Your actions from now on will be under a microscope and every blogger in this country will keenly scrutinising your actions.
If you so much as spit on the footpath, we’ll know.
You better make sure every donation is scrupulously recorded; every allowance legally claimed; every freebie faithfully registered; every action fully justifiable.
Because a million eyes will be watching. And we’ll know.
And not just left wing bloggers either. There are even Right Wing bloggers like David Farrar who take a dim view of liars,
.
.
(Kudos to David Farrar for taking a principled stand on this issue.)
So let’s hope that Brown’s detractors sitting around the Auckland Council table are squeaky clean and, like Caesar’s wife, are above suspicion.
The bar has been raised.
Expectations are now higher.
And precedent has been established.
So, behave yourselves.
We’ll be watching.
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Postscript
A note to Len Brown.
Dear gods, let this be an end to it.
The next time you F**K up, it won’t be Quax, Brewer, Slater, et al, calling for your arse to be chucked out – it will be left wing bloggers. And we will be even more relentless and merciless.
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*
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References
Radio NZ: Mayor’s critic didn’t declare trip
Kiwiblog: Not in a relationship!
Counterpoint View
The Daily Blog: Len Old Friend: This Is Why You Must Stand Down
The Dim Post: Thinking my way through the whole Len Brown thing
Additional
The Standard: Ernst and Young should investigate Cameron Brewer
The Daily Blog: Cough-cough, so doesn’t this kinda make Cameron Brewer a smug hypocrite?
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= fs =
The only credible move left for Cameron Brewer, if he still wants Len Brown to resign, is to pre-emptively resign himself.
So come on Cameron, show us what you’re made of!
“If Brown goes – Brewer must resign as well. No ifs or buts. Just p*ss of. – ”
Fair enough, we can’t have different rules for different people
Although in fairness I have to point out in the case of a left politician
you seem to allow a double strike rule (this is the Mayors a second time of being caught misusing funds)
So are you calling for the Mayor to go now
Ps Time for someone to scrutinise all the council declarations
Raymond, I haven’t accused either Brewer or Brown of “mis using council funds”. There is no suggestion of that.
The problem here is not declaring free gifts in their annual returns.
Read the Earnst Young report here:http://www.nbr.co.nz/sites/default/files/images/Independent_Review_Report_FINAL_131213_1.pdf – especially the Summary of Factual Findings.
And I will say this; Brown’s acceptance of free upgrades from Skycity could be perceived as a worse conflict of interest than Brewer’s acceptance of freebies from MediaWorks. At best it was “unwise”. At worst, it showed an utter lack of understanding of consequences and conflict of interest.
FFS, the man should know better.
Well written Frank.
I have tried to avoid making comments on the Len Brown issue, it is none of my business or anyone else’s other than his family.
I can’t for the life of me understand why so many people especially left leaning folk have given the debacle oxygen.
I sincerely hope Mr Brown can get his act together now and make a fine job as Mayor of Auckland, but that will only happen if the lynch mob mentality disappears.
Thanks, Chris.
Interestingly, it appears that the “lynch mob” may now be looking further afield, and Cr Brewer may be the next unintended ‘victim’…
We all have done things that we wish we hadn’t, that doesn’t give everyone carte blanche to run amok baying for blood.
Mr Brewer should be censured by the council. but that is as far as it should go.
What on earth has made kiwis into such a bunch of mean minded punitive ass wipes.
“What on earth has made kiwis into such a bunch of mean minded punitive ass wipes?”
The chase for political power. Being denied political power.
Political jealousy.
I can’t understand the right wing obsession about the Len Brown case, and have never heard of such a waste of paper in my life (with the exception of the media blitz over Winston’s ‘No’). Len Brown did something wrong, but nothing on the scale of the mayor of Toronto.
Are the Auckland city council that determined to show Aucklanders they are a bunch of power hungry demogogues and moral hypocrites? The way they rant on and on about it you would think Len Brown killed someone’s cat, assaulted his wife, and ran off with a prostitute.
[…] The Daily Blog: An Open Letter to Len Brown’s Council Critics […]
Well said Frank. Agree with your sentiments.
It will be interesting to see if the pitchforks and burning torches come out, going after Cameron Brewer this time for his “misdemeanour”, as was the scenario for Len Brown. If not, then I’d say although mayor Len should have known better and needs to be reprimanded, this whole issue has become an opportunity for a political witch hunt from centre/right councillors to bring down an elected left wing opponent and nothing else!
Considering his blog site is about “exposing the truth”, I’d have thought Cameron Slater would have pounced on Cameron Brewer for his non declaration of his MediaWorks sponsored freebie! But so far, other than a few utterances, selective Slater has been quiet on this one! No guns blazing this time!
There needs to be a neutral body made up of citizens from various sections of society, similar to juries, which scrutinizes the activities of ALL holders of public office, to keep them honest and accountable to the public they represent.
Re David Farrar, although from the right, he seems to come across as generally being reasonably objective in his blogs.
Now we can call it “one all”, I suppose, or shall we say, that Cameron Brewer, possibly even that Dick “Quack-Quack Quax”, shot themselves some huge own goals?!
How hypocritical, how stupid and unprofessional even, can that arrogant, self-righteous Cameron Brewer be, to dare and attack Len Brown during a Council meeting that was open to the public and media? He seems to either have conveniently forgotten his own shortcomings or dishonesty, or he thinks the public and media are so dumb, he would get away with criticising Len Brown for his failures, while getting off scot-free himself.
Indeed, if he expects Len Brown to resign, he should do so himself. And that quacking twit with a former sports career, as far as I know also a kind of Christian, he better watch out himself, as he failed to hand in a return himself.
I suggest they all get scrutinised. Penny Hulse has probably made a sensible decision, to clarify to all Councilors what the rules are early next year, and to have them all start with a clean slate.
We also need a law change, so that more accountability is brought into Auckland Council. It is unacceptable that ordinary workers, like those cleaning the streets, or patroling the streets to maintain some order, get strict codes of behaviour and so enforced as part of their employment contracts, while the mayor and councilors enjoy a different, more liberal set of rules at the top.
In the meantime we can “thank” that Rodney Hideous Hide for having brought all this mess upon us, that allowed this crap to happen. Also must the status of CCOs be reviewed, so they are more accountable to Council and also forced to give consideration to the will of the voting citizens.
Basta to all the crap that has been going on. I also agree, whilst I think it would be better for Len to resign in the coming weeks and let a new election be held, if he should stay and more misconduct or whatever of such sorts comes out, he will be in for a grilling and worse.
Good post Frank Question how involved are the National Party in trying
to oust Len Brown and are they secretly organising a section of the hecklers some who I suspect are young Nats as we know with the Nats
they don’t fight fair its win at all costs we will see loads of this in election year where they will scaremonger the public by painting the left as a bunch of loonies all I know three more years of crooked Key and his bunch of incompetent sidekicks we will be screwed for all time
Well Duh ?
If you can’t be clean and honest be a lawyer and keep away from politics .
brown should have resigned immediately . If his moral compass is so clearly off in that he can snuggle up to his wife after shagging his mistress in a cut rate high end hotel room that any one of the 250 k hungry kiwi kids could only dream of eating then he’s capable of being swayed by all kinds of temptations .
Those bastards are not voted in then paid well to behave like most if us would given half a chance . They’re supposed to be above all that carry on . That’s why we vote for them and pay them so well .
And yes , well done len . you’ve just blown it for all the other crooked central government and local body politicians . They have you to thank mate . Whoever set len up has to be congratulated for their genius .
Len should stay as there is no more suitable people who can handle 1.4m Aucklanders.
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