The Shore deserves a Council that advocates for the people's needs

Lyndsay Brock (NST 4/8/2006) offers a perceptive analysis of the appalling self-congratulatory pamphlet which the City's internal PR department distributed to ratepayers last week. Ironic that the pamphlet paid for by rates was used to justify increased rates and indicated a reduction in spending on libraries, parks and beaches. So where is the extra spending going?
I was amazed to see the comparisons on the back page. The first column compared rates to the high petrol prices propelled skywards by wars, atrocities and social upheavel. The next comparison was with the high cost of telephones, something which one company's behaviour has seen them into strife with both shareholders and government. The comparison with power costs after the recent power cuts, artificial spikes in spot prices and criticism of a certain power company's maintenance programme (admittedly a different company than that featuring in the NSC leaflet) does the Council little credit. Or, are we being told that the massive rate increases are due to warfare, shoddy investment or monopolistic action. Social agitation is the result.
The Shore deserves a Council that advocates for the people's needs rather than for the Council's bureaucracy.