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

Sometimes, the effects of negative publicity can have a consequence far beyond the weight that the opinion of the person generating that negativity deserves.

Recently, former Councillor Greg Brownless has been the subject of public criticism by Councillor Murray Guy. Greg and I have stayed in touch since he left council at the end of last term and in my opinion Greg was a worthy contributor to civic affairs. Always pragmatic and applying common sense to the multitude of issues of the day, Greg was/is also an enormous benefactor to our community through his Legacy Trust arrangements. From where I sit, one reason Greg didn't seek re-election was the behaviour of some of last term's councillors. There were other reasons, no doubt, but I know the ongoing carping of a handful of councillors was very wearying. Tauranga City Council needed Greg more than Greg needed these people, so Greg moved on leaving the benefits of his Legacy Trust to continue Greg's ongoing contribution to Tauranga. The effect of criticism on benefactors without countering their comments can mean the loss of much-needed help. I'm not saying that this is the case here – in fact Greg will probably be mortified when he reads this – but something needs to be said to alert the vast majority of you out there in ratepayer land of the potential damage that can be done.

Take City Partners as another example of looking a gift horse in the mouth. Formed about nine years ago it's a loose-knit organisation of firms, companies and individuals who do business with council. These people wish to put something back into the community and the good they do is wide, varied and rarely do they receive recognition beyond the effect on the beneficiary of their contribution. A few vocal naysayers have it that these companies get preferential treatment in return from council. This is patent nonsense. Even if council officers were of a mind to do so, the in-built audit and accounting mechanisms would catch them out very quickly. City Partners networking among themselves no doubt provides plenty of business opportunities and there is also the satisfaction of actually putting something worthwhile back into their community. Disparaging comments that rear their ugly heads from time to time probably reflect more on those making the comments and their attitudes to our community. Some people can never get their heads around the fact that there are people who do things for other people with no expectation of return or reward.

This week some elected members from Rotorua, Tauranga and Western Bay had an extensive tour of TECT Park and the activities going on up there. Sited at the top of Pyes Pa Rd (to Rotorua) there is about 1700 ha of consented land for all sorts of noisy, dirty and outdoor activity ranging from walking to 4WD courses to model airplanes. A joint council funded activity – TECT also provided capital – the basic land is leased to the various clubs and organisations for them to develop at their expense. It is another unheralded success and what the clubs have done in the last year is credible. Reports from these organisations are that their memberships are growing quickly. If you have an interest in model aircraft, pistol shooting, rifle range shooting (deerstalkers), clay target shooting, climbing around in trees (Adrenalin Forest), equestrian, mountain biking, motor cross, motor sport, and 4WD then TECT Park is where it's at. TECT is also making ongoing contributions to park infrastructure and club amenities; and we are encouraging Rotorua District Council to come on board and further assist in building up the park.

I attended graduation ceremonies at the University of Waikato this week. (No, no – only as a spectator!) Any doubts anyone has as to the benefits of such an institution to its community would be quickly annulled once you see what really happens. Tauranga's offer to the university, of land in Durham St on favourable terms, will prove to be a significant boost to Tauranga in the years to come. So, the future is looking positive for our city, despite the disproportionate amount of negative comment generated by a few in some media. Yes, we still need media scrutiny – and council's rate-funded activities need to be continuously challenged but if rates are to be contained and controlled we have to be positive and stop looking gift horses in the mouth.

New CEO Garry Poole has started work at City Hall on Monday. We are pinning great hopes that Garry can get the new organisational structure up and running quickly. To the staff's credit, they have managed to keep the organisation functioning despite the insecurity and un-sure nature created by the long drawn-out process. Unfortunately, we have lost some staff we didn't need to lose and that is to be regretted. I suspect that there will need to be some ongoing tweaking but, as noted last week, all staffing and organisational matters are the sole domain of the chief executive with absolutely no input from elected members.

This week's mindbender from Mark Twain – and in line with this week's column – 'Let us so live life that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”