Cr Bill Faulkner Faulkners Corner www.sunlive.co.nz

In the lead-up to Christmas elected members are having a real potpourri of tasks before tackling the annual plan/budget for next financial year.

The variables to be considered are huge and will have a direct effect on your rates into the future. And next year is also election year and few contenders will be looking for out-of-line rates increases. In defence of this and the previous council I have to say that the trends of yesteryear's council spend-up patterns on nice-to-haves has largely gone. I've just paid the house insurance bill and that has nearly doubled, as will yours, adding another unwelcome increase to the cost of living, so keeping rates increases down is even more of a priority.

It was a poignant reminder of those 'good times spend-ups” when an email was sent out by staff to elected members over those so-called ‘waka sails' down on the Strand. That's the fancy name for those stainless steel edifices atop two tall poles that recently blew down. There was supposed to be five of them! But thankfully only two were built. They are valued at a staggering $200,000 each (yes, you read that right), so the email says. Local Maori say they attach no cultural sentiment, quite rightly, because there is none. This certainly reflects on a bygone PC era of previous councils where money (yours!) was sometimes no object. They will not be reinstated and it has been suggested staff have discussions with the manufacturer around ‘fit for purpose', as well as a call to the insurance company.

The process of appointment of a new CEO has commenced. There is a wide range of applicants from overseas as well as NZ. As the CEO is the only employee of the elected council it is this person's management abilities that are all-important for the cost containment and provision of services as determined by the council of the day. At the same time the interim CEO has commenced a review of council's organisational structures to ascertain if the organisation set up is relevant to these changed times. If there is change then the new CEO will have to pick up the new organisation and make it work. Elected members have no part in any reorganisation, as the Local Government Act determines that implementation of the council's policies and annual is the sole domain of the CEO, who is accountable to the council through its monitoring role. In other words, we can't interfere with how things get done – we can only be involved after the event. That's why the CEO appointment is so critical to effective governance.

At the other end of the equation we also get to decide such things as 'commercial activities on reserve land” policy. Part of this is how mobile vendors are regulated on the likes of Blake Park. You would think this would be simple, but it took an hour or so. The reserves act is specific about what can and cannot happen, so we have to get it right. Mostly we agreed it's not broken so doesn't need fixing. Staff rightly pointed out that with increased use of public reserves for weddings and other functions a booking system for reserves is a good idea to avoid clashes of time and dates. But we stayed away from licensing and fees. In our collective view a public reserve should be freely available to the public. In high-use reserves there will be a tender process to avoid a 'free for all” amongst mobile vendors if the draft proposal is approved. It will be going out for your consultation.

On other fronts I see the government dipping its toe into the murky waters of so-called affordable housing. Home ownership and affordability shouldn't be used in the same sentence for many home owners. The government statement is long on rhetoric but short on detail. It sounds good but unless there's massive reorganisation of the Reserve Management Act, and demands for the standards of infrastructure are reduced, then it's all just talk.

My parents' first family home was a small two-bedroom weatherboard cottage with a water tank off the roof (painted with lead-based paint), a sometimes functioning septic tank, a wood stove (Shacklock Orion) a kerosene fridge on the porch, a copper and a hand wringer (watch out for kids' arms). A lot of readers will probably not have heard of some of this. Imagine no designer kitchen, no tiled bathroom, no 50-inch flat-screen TV, no garage, and no fences. But these were the post-war years (WWII for those of you wondering!) and my parents were very happy to have a roof over their heads with a good-sized section but best of all, their lives and freedom.

Affordable housing today might be something like this. Three bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, one toilet, one bathroom, no garage, no fences, one clothesline, about 110sq m on an unserviced section of around 600sq m. The section could be leasehold after the government bought a bit of land surrounding the city and subdivided it. I can hear the howls of outrage now. And few queuing up. With no services, schools, shops in close proximity, who would go there? A ghetto even? Well, that's how the main road into the Mount was with all the 'Beazley Boxes”. But they were homes and housed the inhabitants admirably. The powers that be need to get over what is desirable and the 'we know best” syndrome and face reality of what is affordable or leave it alone altogether. And quit blaming everyone else! Including a favourite whipping boy – local government.

Tauranga City has recently had a delegation from its sister city in Japan – Hitachi – to mark a 25-year association. Yentai in China will visit next week. These arrangements are now placing a lot of emphasis on trade and commerce and are dovetailed with NZ Trade and Enterprise. It's a long process developing new business associations, particularly with different culture and language but we are getting there as friendship and trust develop. In my view it's a worthwhile ratepayer investment – currently in the order of $26,000.

The long-awaited review of Council Controlled Organisations (CCO) is coming to council next week. It was originally due on December 7 last year. The report about the future organisation of Baypark, TECT Arena and the aquatic network through Tauranga City Venues Ltd (TCVL) and Tauranga City Aquatics (TCAL) will be made public once a decision is made. It will be all about tailoring the operations to the financial environment we are in and minimising ratepayer subsidies.

On another long overdue matter, after nearly three years the traffic light cycles of the Chapel Street/Briscoes intersection are being attended to. I first raised the issue after a number of complaints that traffic turning into the shopping centre got priority, whilst the main flow along Chapel Street was constantly stopped. But it isn't possible, so I'm told, to align the signals with the next intersection under the over-bridge because as a State Highway it gets priority for traffic entering and leaving. Very little that goes on at City Hall is easy or quick.

This week's mindbender from anonymous – There will always be death and taxes, however death doesn't get worse every year.