Mayoral candidate John Tamihere (JT) has today announced that an immediate priority if elected Mayor will be to sack the Auckland Transport Board and replace it with Directors who understand their obligation is to the people of Auckland, rather than to the ideological bullies who have gained control of Auckland’s transport policy under Phil Goff’s weak leadership.
“While I support public transport, Auckland Transport has no mandate to carry out a range of deliberate strategies designed to harass people out of their cars. Goff is determined to turn Auckland into the city ofsnails,” JT said.
“Under Goff’s mayoralty, ideologues within the Council have deliberately set out to narrow roads, reducespeed limits, take away parking spaces, take away free left hand turns, change traffic light patterns tofavour ‘people not the car’, and destroy communities like St Heliers.
“Auckland Transport has been their highly effective tool to carry out this anti-car strategy, and I’m going toput a stop to it. Where were these things promised by Goff during his last mayoral campaign? He’s allowedthis to happen either because he has been too weak to call them to account or he is complicit.
“Now he has announced he wants to “review” the CCO’s within twelve months. Aucklanders can’t waitthat long. He’s had three years and done nothing, and the last thing we need is another ‘review’. Its’ time someone stood up to these ideological bullies, and today I’m doing that.”
Digital billboards displaying JT’s pledge to sack the AT Board went live this evening.
JT referred to a presentation by Auckland’s so-called “Design Champion”, Ludo Campbell-Reid, inSingapore in June 2017, where he said: “the most important thing for me was attacking the car dominanceof the city”, and outlined a strategy of:
- “taking parking spaces
- narrowing roads
- taking free left hand turns.
- changing the lights to favour the people not the car.
- Slowing down the speed limits”
(This video can be viewed on my Facebook page)
JT said it appears Campbell-Reid’s modus operandi is to carry out lots of small changes in order to avoid consultation. “How democratic is that?” JT asks.
“Where was the mandate for that strategy? How has one non-elected official and his team of ‘we know what’s best for you’ bullies been able to implement a deliberate ‘anti-car’ strategy, taking control of billions of dollars of Auckland Ratepayers’ money?
“The answer is a weak mayor; a compliant Planning Chairman (Chris Darby) and an out of control Board.One of Goff’s first actions as mayor was to remove two Councillors (Christine Fletcher and Mike Lee), from the AT Board. Now he says he wasn’t responsible for that decision.
“I’m trying to do something about the first problem; hopefully the people of North Shore will deliver a solution to the second; but as Mayor, I can and will sack the Board of Auckland Transport with the support of Councillors who now realise they have been duped.
“I also call on Goff NOT to make any further appointments to the Board of Auckland Transport this close to an election. It is totally inappropriate a few months out from the election. Goff has already extended the terms of existing board members for a short term and could do the same rather than create uncertainty for any new Board members he intends to appoint.
“If elected, I will be consulting with Councillors to replace the AT Board with Directors who understandthey have a responsibility to the people of Auckland before they meekly adopt an ideological philosophy for which they have no mandate.”
Yep! Time remind them all that they are public servants. Not to hide behind policys that only they, have direct, quick access too, which the public dont and are sometimes given the wrong specific policy(s) to review deliberately.
The arrogance of some in the ‘ivory tower’ is a great example of the “Power Dynamic” in action.
Another great reason to never vote for Tamihare
He obviously has NFI WTF Aucklanders actually want which happens to be better public transport.
He also doesn’t seem to comprehend that we simply can’t can’t afford cars any more due to climate change and the ~200+ premature deaths (excluding accidents) that they cause in Auckland every year and the damned congestion.
“While I support public transport, Auckland Transport has no mandate to carry out a range of deliberate strategies designed to harass people out of their cars. Goff is determined to turn Auckland into the city ofsnails,” JT said.
Absolutely, that man is a mental dinosaur, he wants to appeal to the ones living in West and South Auckland, to some degree also in the north and east of the city, by defending the suburban lifestyle and car driving, mostly done by pumping emissions from fossil fuels into the air.
He is not offering anything sensible for the future, a big NO to that man, I would never vote for such nonsense.
Without any pressure and also needed incentives, hardly anybody will give up car driving.
JT appears to have a limited capacity to see the bigger picture or may just be ignorant.
A political animal indeed.
Decreasing car density and usage in Auckland (or anywhere for that matter) is necessary for obvious reasons ( impending ecological Armageddon perhaps edging out the other reasons by a whisker /sarc).
But to use “all stick” and “no carrot” hurts those least able to afford the alternatives.
Kinda like ‘drain the swamp’.
Good luck John. You have my vote! Sort out that bloody AT.
Are you a petrol head?
Best thing John could do for Auckland would be to bring back the old street lighting. LED street lighting has been confirmed as cancer causing and is part of the 5G system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK3zVjG-koc
I am not sure if you are serious Helena.
Street lighting with LEDs is driven with normal AC but the LEDs them selves use DC. I have had one apart and they are simple cheap devices capable at best of emitting light. No “data” collection by those LEDs is possible.
5G uses radio frequencies over a wide range depending on what frequency bands are being implemented from well below you present cell phone frequency up to a bit above your microwave oven frequency.
The sun’s radiation showers us with much higher frequency and more destructive levels of energy that what humans could ever make available except in a very confined area. Unless of course we use nuclear explosions which is a worry as the USA have shown they are willing to do just that. Ban the bomb would be a worth while campaign rather than get sidetracked and confused with a plethora of quasi mythical fears possibly constructed to divide and occupy active protest.
Collection of data is happening now. Are you on facebook. Instagram or twitter or have a smart meter, use a credit card or carry a cell phone.
Perhaps you use a computer.
Massive amounts of data have to be handled, stored and analysed to be of any saleable value to advertisers of more sinister agencies such as GCSB and NSA.
There is a cap on how much can be stored and handled. It cannot be and infinite system.
Very serious. My comment didn’t make the cut. Sorry
All good fun Helena.
I don’t have a problem with trying to reduce car use BUT you need to have an alternative to cars in place before you do it! Not some pathetic public transport that is expected to be delivered in the never never future, (but you have to get out of your car and teleport (sarcasm) years before it is delivered or take 5 times longer on buses) and even then the city link public transport is designed to only work around selected parts of Auckland, not the entire city!
AT needs major overhaul, their entire culture is flawed and the COO model needs to be removed. A starting point is to go back to the previous control reporting to Auckland council. Auckland council needs to be 100% accountable and transparent to their ratepayers which is NOT happening.
Also the fat cat CEO and board structures need to be removed so that the COO CEO’s and other members never get more than the democratically elected major and councillor salaries, not fat cat salaries at every turn for the COO’s.
Council employees, mayors and staff should not be allowed ‘free trips’ and goodies from industry, let alone political connections, that they now seem to more interested in supporting as an industry and China ‘vison’ than their rate payers.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/southland-mayor-china-100k-donor
https://www.todayonline.com/world/campaign-contribution-raises-concerns-about-chinas-meddling-new-zealand
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112603847/mps-gifted-all-blacks-tickets-by-chinese-telecommunications-giant-huawei
When 50% of everyones rates goes to AT which is dysfunctional, something is very wrong! Also apparently 50% of all the rates just goes on salaries to Auckland council and their COO’s, not services! They then hire more expensive morons to stratergies how to remove more public services ‘to save money’ like mowing lawns and collecting rubbish which they also strategise to put user charges on, all while pushing millions of ratepayer money into America’s cup, bailing our Visy and Eden park.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12219730
Better the old days when water charges were included in rates, now everyone is paying again and again for the same services like water and transport and rubbish, that are more expensive. Again the never never time line for pollution control, while increasing the amount of people and McMansion housing estates into Auckland as much as possible before they did the infrastructure work!
POA is a joke as well, stealing the harbour! And the ‘funny money’ of fake dividends to pretend they know what they are doing.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12217464&fbclid=IwAR1C0BUYB5cF9MsBvRyNVURBfJy7m8BtSvYoCy3pyBvcXwSLs1IsUa1tf4I
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12224650&fbclid=IwAR0s0tpRXzpu3GJZNajrkLUQGrH1lfeDsh9oj3GbYnQ3MRl4XQ6AsOASot0
cruise ship emissions are huge!
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/pollution-cruise-ships-po-oceana-higher-piccadilly-circus-channel-4-dispatches-a7821911.html
Tamihere is on the right track about corruption and dysfunction around AT and Auckland council but I think concentrating on one small aspect aka car use is not the answer, he needs to look at the entire picture and have a plan of delivery about the above links, if he is to topple Goff.
People want efficient public transport in Auckland, the issue is that the ratepayers don’t like and have little faith it can be achieved, how AT and the other COO’s are doing it!
Also there is zero planning around climate change and in fact Goff spent 1 million of ratepayer money pouring into underwater stadiums ‘consultants and tried to hide it from his own councillors and the ratepayers! We’re screwed!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/104110234/auckland-mayor-phil-goff-under-investigation-over-hoarding-of-stadium-report
You get my vote John. The AT strategy is all wrong. Why are car users discriminated against?
We have to sit in lines of traffic while near empty deisel buses roar along in bus lanes. Open those bus lanes to cars and you can halve the traffic congestion. It has to be asked what makes a bus passenger so special that they need to get anywhere faster than a car driver or car passenger? Its pure arbitrary discrimination.
The idea that Aucklanders are going to take to bikes is plainly ludicrous. Why? 1. Slow. 2.Cars get across town in minutes instead of hours on a bike. 3.Can’t tranport your kids. 3.Can’t tranport your granny. 4.Can’t transport your groceries. 5. Can’t tranport your work materials. 5. Can’t tranport your tools. 6.Uses up your human energy. 7. No one bike commutes in the rain. 8. You’re not going to bike commute in the wind. 9.Its a poverty mode of transport like China in the 1980s or NZ in the 1930s.
Prediction, Aucklanders will continue to use the great, timely and convenient roading infrastructure we already have in place. Over time we will change out petrol cars for Teslas and Rivians
JT is correct I am also not keen on a Trolley Service to Auckland Airport, Underwater Stadiums and a Wharf Extension halfway to Devonport ?
The Waitemata Local Board agenda for April 2019 contains documents from AT explaining that “on the suggestion of Cllr Chris Darby” they will be taking all the 15 min parking out of Queen Street and replacing the car parking with scooter and bike parking! Did they ask Queen Street businesses about this?
Is it even needed?
On the “suggestion” where is the consultation with the people who will be negatively impacted by this?
As usual from AT its dogma.
Cllr Chris Darby, clearly very influential with the decision makers and the powers that be in AT, leads the charge. This just demonstrates that the misguided agenda, which cannot be delivered because AT is unable to, and, to my mind, not capable of, delivering an integrated transport system for Auckland. Sadly this culture and agenda is widespread across Council departments and many elected representatives.
Comments are closed.