Eleven of the 14 elected representatives on the WDC are seeking re-election. We are astounded by the disconnect between the election promises being made by some candidates and their voting record. Actions speak louder than election waffle, so LETTERBOX has tabulated the way the mayor and councillors have voted on critical decisions.
Cr Ruka’s comments provoked a barrage of hostile comments and threats against Cr Olsen
which LETTERBOX understands has been referred to the police.
What was revealing about the
social media comments was the reference to a “Racist Register” that a network
of Maori activists use to target certain individuals. That network includes “kaimahi” (workers) within the WDC.
Social media comments... see full discussion HERE >>>
A Whangarei District Councillor is now subject to multiple Code of Conduct complaints following an online “racist” rant directed at another councillor.
Cr Phoenix Ruka made the remarks about Cr Marie Olsen on Instagram on the 14th of November. He is one of two councillors representing the council’s Maori ward. He stood under a Maori Party affiliation and gained 889 votes (the least number of votes of any WDC councillor). Cr Olsen represents the general urban ward, gaining 3564 votes.
In the Instagram post Cr Ruka said,
Cr Ruka has accused councillor
Marie Olsen of racism after she questioned the numbers attending the recent
Maori Party organised Hikoi to Wellington, which Cr Ruka attended.
In an Instagram post directed at Cr Olsen, he said, “don’t expect any favours or niceties from me in council any more”.
It’s a question that many are
asking and the answer is relevant to Whangarei.
Barry says, “It's the same reason why one of the country's most revered mayors in recent years, Dame Kerry Prendergast, lost her nine-year grip on the city's mayoralty to another unfathomable choice, Celia Wade-Brown. It's not because both Whanau and Wade-Brown are Greens and it's not because both of them love cycleways, despite vocal ratepayer opposition to the amount of money being spent on Wellington cycleways. It's because of the single transferrable voting system (STV) that saw them winning against all odds. It's the system where you vote for candidates on a preferential system, where once a quota's been reached for a candidate, they drop out and the votes for the second preference kicks in - and so on until a winner is found.”
