As I write this letter my blood is boiling because I have just read the front page of the Timaru which tells me that long standing and high polling councilors Terry Kennedy and Jane Coughlan have just been excluded by the Mayor of Timaru from holding any senior roles on the council. Instead she has chosen people who are first timers on the council.
Its all about the Aquatic and Wellness Centre
Her attitude does not surprise me. Several years ago I attended a council meeting and suggested to the T.D.C that they should lease Maori Park to a Hotel Chain to build a conference centre on the land. Mrs Annear said the idea would be discussed at the next community services meeting but it never got put on the agenda because she wanted the land herself on which to build her aquatic and wellness centre. I was insulted by the Mayor one day when she came to my office and told me that I had no credibility in Timaru because I went around town asking people for money for a conference centre. Later on as a ratepayer I made an appointment with her personal assistant to see the Mayor of Timaru in her office and she cancelled my appointment without giving me a reason.
Worst Mayor
I am not the only one that has given Janie Annear the title of “the worse Timaru Mayor” it has come from several people in the course of conversation. More free trips to China and Japan will be high on her agenda shortly. You will notice that all the people that Timaru’s worst Mayor gathers around her are all in favour of building her aquatic centre with a gym a wellness centre and a cafe. Futher more its the business owners who are responsible for all the white elephants around the town. The Council funded Aoraki Development trust controls the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce and they have their members all dancing to her tune by donating funds to help build the Timaru Mayors memorial plaque on Maori Park.
Unofficial Mayor
I have stood for Mayor against Janie Annear twice to try and get her out and have failed. However this article is not about sour grapes it’s about sweet grapes because I have found a new way of preventing the elected Mayor from bankrupting Timaru. I am ignoring the present local authority voting system and going from door to door to the public and asking them to vote for me as their unofficial Mayor of their suburb. I will be working behind the scenes with the council members and the staff of the council to make sure that the decisions that are being made are in the best intersts of the majority of ratepayers. I will also be promoting Timaru’s education sport and recreation facilities on the Timaru Directory website and in my community newsletters. Each person that votes for me as Mayor of their suburb will make a donation to me to cover the cost of my work.
More on this story later as my support membership grows, so watch this space.
