Wastes of space

Posted on 15-06-2011 10:54 | By Writerman

Excuses, excuses! Not to mention a load of PC rubbish. Thank you SunLive for finally extracting this information from that useless shower that is laughingly referred to as our regional leadership. They had NO moral authority for this meaningless junket and I think every one of the useless sods should be made to pay the costs back to the ratepayer. Time to sack the lot and bring in a commissioner as awful as that is.

Ya just taking the P*%s out of us

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:03 | By Tony

This is just a joke "A leader in bi cultural back patting is all they are. If they had any Mana at all this wouldnt happen

Take it out of their wages...

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:06 | By wreck1080

This is utter nonsense and I call them out on this b******t. I am offended that my representatives would waste money in this way. Too bad they didn't get hit in the head by falling bricks to knock some sense into them.

talk of hard times

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:08 | By waitandwatch

OMG!!!!! is this where our rates go? if it were not for the earthquake we would never have known this. now we probably need to know some more money wasting antics of the council. how are they going to make up for this???? i could feed my family for 6-7 months. what do they have say. i would like to hear them justify themselves. SPEAK UP!!

Why EBOP foot the bill?

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:21 | By esquire

Shouldnt the cost of welcoming a new CEO be paid for by the people welcoming the person (ECan)? $7200 is a lot of money. And really, is it necessary for EBOP to be doing this? When I start a new job I don't expect my old employer to make a song and dance at my new work... REMEMBER Bill is JUST and employee, not someone worthy of particularly great ceremony.

dregs of society

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:33 | By CC8

These people are the absolute dregs of society, even criminals and drug dealers have a code by which they live, these ******** are just trotters in the trough at every opportunity. Which council sent representatives to BOPRC to welcome Bill Bayfield to his new job there? What a crock of .... There is no need for a layer of government between City/district councils and central government, what do they do? Apart from sitting around wringing their hands wondering how to spend the money we blindly pay them every year.... cunningly disguised within our rates.

@ WAITAND WATCH/ESQUIRE

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:45 | By DRONE

Yeah they all went for a party in CHCH and got caught this time. How many more are there that we don't know about ? Looks like the Whanau benefit match in CHCH, this all has the smell of trying to keep up with the MP's travel fund i.e. TO MANY TROUGH BOTTOM FEEDERS!!!!

money down the drain

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:45 | By The author of this comment has been removed.

this waste just goes on and on,they should be locked up but that would be more waste at the expense of the ratepayer. Heard a great quote on the radio this morning that applies to all these leaches(and there are hundreds here in tauranga) THEY ARE ALL SLEEPWALKING FROM PAYDAY TO PAYDAY.

Waste of money

Posted on 15-06-2011 11:48 | By michael.morris@clear.net.nz

Esquire is spot on. When an employee leaves, staff may, as a mark of respect, shout a special morning tea, and these can sometimes be partly paid for by the employer. But to pay for staff to welcome the ex-staff member to their new job, is totally over the top.

Probably a bit much

Posted on 15-06-2011 12:00 | By The Godfather

To be fair to BOP Regional Council, this is normal practice in government organisations across New Zealand. When senior appointments are made, a Maori powhiri is typical and not entirely out of the question. BUT taking 11 people down for this event was just gross extravagance at its worst. When people are being told to tighten their belts, people losing their jobs, council is flying an army of people to Christchurch for a welcome. Not a good look regional council. Hope this was a one off exception.

Why waste money again.

Posted on 15-06-2011 12:48 | By silverhair

I am sick of this crap that goes down as culture. Get over it and stop wasting money that is not your to waste.If these nut cases want to go for a "welcome" let them pay and just see how many will go because it is culture to do so.

GET REAL

Posted on 15-06-2011 12:53 | By Fonzie

John Cronin has been sucking on the teat of ratepayers so long he figures that this is not only normal its OK as well Every one of those who went down there to someone elses welcome should be made to pay for it This is cultural cringe stuff that in the past has been hidden Good on you SUNLIVE

esquire is right

Posted on 15-06-2011 12:54 | By Mr bay

When we change jobs our old employer doesn't come along and thank my new employer for steeling their employee, and is not time to stop all these Powhiri welcomes, complete waste of time. Next thing they will be having them for trains arriving from china...oh wait they did. PC Bull.

ho hum

Posted on 15-06-2011 13:07 | By gonewest

I was on the plane they returned on(very happy they were too).I went to CHCH for a friends 50th birthday and to attend my God daughters confirmation 4 day weekend cost me $250. OK I had no hotel bill to pay but still $7200!

From the picture

Posted on 15-06-2011 14:08 | By Openknee8ted

It looks like there was only about 11 people there!

Posted on 15-06-2011 14:23 | By methinks

I'm just absolutely gob smacked! There is 1 thing TCC is good at - flushing rate payer money down the toilet again and again and again! $650 each, how cultural would these 11 have found it if if they had to fork that out of their own pockets?

waste

Posted on 15-06-2011 14:28 | By earlybird

Yes, I too am offended that the council thought it was ok to spend this money. This "John Cronin says the powhiri was an important event that symbolised the mana Bill has with Bay of Plenty iwi and was a sign of respect to the officials and staff who were receiving him." really is a load of nonsense and a total waste of money. I am very offended by this and I hope that Mr Cronin reads these comments and is shamed into dipping into his pocket to reimburse council coffers. This sort of junket is really not on in these hard economic times. wakey wakey.

Very disappointing behaviour

Posted on 15-06-2011 15:27 | By al pillocksworth

Leaves me questioning if this is just the tip of the spend-up iceberg at the regional council. Might be an idea for Sunlive to get the travel claims, airfare and hotel bills for councillors and senior staff. To think that many in this community are scrimping and saving, while well paid Cr Cronin and others are flying to Christchurch on what I believe is nothing but a junket. This will be remembered at the next election. I wonder if they got the cheapest air fares or paid more for the ones that also get them airpoints???

Disgusted

Posted on 15-06-2011 16:06 | By Jitter

What a load of absolute crap and waste of ratepayers money. A great free jolly for those that went. Would they still have gone if the ex CEOs new job happened to be in Australia or the UK ? This is not anything to do with understanding culture but just a massive rort for those involved. John Cronin and cohorts take note, this wasting of money with meaningless bull has got to stop.

And how much was the koha?

Posted on 15-06-2011 17:44 | By lois bartie

Has anyone asked the question of how much "koha" was also paid to the non council "advisers" in the group and to the receiving iwi - I think you would be surprised if you knew??? Council staff?

suckers!

Posted on 15-06-2011 18:16 | By claypole

Does the $7200 include salaries as well or did they do it in their own time. What a bunch of parasites and whoever agreed for the trip, resignation please (along with the freeloaders)!

Who Pays?

Posted on 15-06-2011 18:52 | By carpedeum

Is this a classic case when the Treaty payout money could have been be used to pay for a culturally appropriate event rather than Tauranga Regional ratepayers ?

SOMEONE LEFT !

Posted on 15-06-2011 18:58 | By WOFTAM

There was a time when ... "THEY" the person leaving shouted morning tea for everyone else becasue they were please to leave before them, it was like "thanks I escaped first". Now they drag everyone in party mode in a NZ wide rolling maul of a party all at ratepayers expense. PS did they remember to take the Councillor drinkee tanker (a fridge just is not big enough anymore) ?

Money could have fenced a lot of riverbank

Posted on 15-06-2011 19:05 | By The author of this comment has been removed.

Seven grand on an arrogant ratepayer ripoff. The sad part is, these people genuinely think they're entitled to squander our money. That money could have provided 10 per cent of the mangrove mulching budget. Or helped subsidise the fencing and planting of a whole riverbank, to stop silting and degradation of the harbour (something the same council is about to launch into an expensive talkfest about.) Or it could have been spent on any number of seriously needed community initiatives that have been thwarted because of lack of cash. This is disgusting and I'd like to know what other trips have been splashed out for. Roll on election time, we need a change from the top down.

Ditto ad nauseum

Posted on 15-06-2011 19:17 | By IanM

The problem with controlling and earning large amounts of money, is that those who do so lose sight of baseline realities. To give an employee a send off and thank you is perfectly reasonable and appropriate. To provide her/him with workplace whanau support at the new destination is plain ridiculous. Can I suggest that the building cleaner is given the same quality and quantity of attention when they move on. They at least don't leave a mess behind for others to clean up. Wouldn't it be nice if we were celebrating clean and healthy estuaries as Bill's parting gift to the BoP. The reality is that the failure of environmental management in the BoP can and should be attributed more to the Regional Council than anybody else.

My opinion.

Posted on 15-06-2011 22:00 | By morepork

Some really excellent posts here that sum up the feelings of ratepayers very well. (I am a ratepayer). 1. If someone is being "welcomed" somewhere, it is up to the people doing the "welcoming" to pay for it. 2. If culture demands a powhiri and we need "cultural advisors" to tell us that, then surely, the onus is on the "welcoming" iwi to provide it? This looks to me like bad "cultural advice". 3. If any of the people concerned had ANY kind of moral fibre they would insist on paying their own bills. (What person with any shred of dignity, Maori OR Pakeha, would want to be seen to be a "hanger-on" cadging the scraps from the table in the name of "culture"?) Why are we allowing a Coucil that is obviously morally bankrupt (not to mention fiscally almost bankrupt) to spend our money on boondoggles like this? SOMEBODY has to be responsible for it. (Ultimately, it is the Mayor...but surely, below his level there are people who have an eye on the purse strings?) We need to have this money returned to the public coffers and the people who went for this little jaunt should fund it from either their own or anyone they can get to sponsor them's bank accounts. It is becoming sadly apparent that there IS graft and corruption (or, at the very least, some serious insensitivity...) in the current local civic regime. We've seen it with the Hot Pools, where a proper process has not been followed for repairs and the person "responsible" takes a holiday in the middle of the problem, and now with this, where it is painfully apparent that no checks and balances are in place to prevent the wastage of Ratepayer funds. Who is responsible? Why isn't Mayor Crosby making statements on both the Hot pools and this fiasco? It's about time there was some responsibility and leadership instead of a chorus of oinks from the trough. This kind of nonsense undermines Kiwi values and is an affront to all of us. I'll be very careful about who I vote for at the next Council elections, and I would urge everyone else to be the same. Unless some action is forthcoming on this, we should be seriously looking to change the current administration.

Sad people

Posted on 16-06-2011 06:21 | By marama

The Sun certainly attracts the village thinker, racist set. Poor people, nothing much going on in their lives. Roll on the next 25 years when we Maori will become the majority!

Dont be a Turkey

Posted on 16-06-2011 08:26 | By Tony

Marama this has nothing what so ever to do with Race

Well Said Writerman

Posted on 16-06-2011 08:38 | By The Tomahawk Kid

What a load of BOLLOCKS! this is! I don't have a problem with Maori protocol requiring representatives to attend a powhiri. What I have a problem with is that council STEAL money by FORCE - ie we have NO CHOICE OR OPTION - from ratepayers to pay for them to attend. If we were not FORCED to pay for this BOLLOCKS, then this article, and all these comments would not EXIST! This is where the problem lies - in the immorral use of force and collectivism. - The sad part about it is that you are all getting what you give your PERMISSION to - and then moaning about it! If you continue to follow this system - this is the kind of BOLLOCKS you will continue to get

They are taking the P•∞s because you give them your permission to!

Posted on 16-06-2011 08:49 | By The Tomahawk Kid

patsyannes comment is a PERFECT example of the immorality of this system. Patsyanne wants to use the stolen money on one thing - somebody else want to use other peoples stolen money on another thing. You all have great ideas about how to better the community, but you all want to use STOLEN MONEY - other peoples money. You think[sic] that it is Moral - OK - acceptable - to take peoples money and spend it on things YOU think are in the best interests of the community. Ask yourself THIS question: What is community? It is a group of INDIVIDUALS. Why not let those individuals decide what they wish to spend their money on? Then Nobody gets robbed, nobody has their rights destroyed, and everybody is happy, and nobody has to worry about what other people spend their own money on - apart from the busybodies who know what is best of course.

How do I join this club?

Posted on 16-06-2011 09:09 | By LatifahDedah

My arts and latte appreciation group would love to have accompanied John Cronin on this culturally appropriate excursion to Christchurch. We will soon be asking the regional council to fund our sonnet reading room and it would have been an ideal opportunity to lobby, in between the cucumber sandwiches and liquid refreshments.

Newsroom Alert -Well done now finish the job

Posted on 16-06-2011 09:15 | By Hebegeebies

Scandalous and outrageous are two words that spring to mind. $7200 equates to around $700 a person.Group made up of around 7 Maori reps and ratepayers can draw their own conclusions about that.What we need is a full breakdown of costs.It seems they could be made up of 1 nights(how many nights did they stay) accommodation, airfares and pigging out/feasting.Well done Sunlive for exposing this little dozzie.Warning pay it back personally or take the consequences

Reply To Marama

Posted on 16-06-2011 14:27 | By Jitter

Marama states "Roll on next 25 years when we Maori become the majority". Without being nasty I would point out what he/she overlooks is the fact that as time goes by, the percentage of Maori blood in individual Maori becomes less and less by continued intermarriage with other races. In time the "Maori" race as such will disappear. "Maori" will become like their fellow European citizens and will be made up of many races and will all become "New Zealanders". There will no longer be a "Maori" race as such even though many will try to cling to their Maori heritage and ignore the fact that they have become a multinational race with important and documented history with lineage from all over the world which goes back much further than word of mouth and fabled Maori history. So be proud of all of your other ancestry whether it be European, Scandinavian, Asian etc. It is just as important and as valuable as your Maori background.

Better uses of funds......

Posted on 16-06-2011 17:06 | By heather

In light of the trouble in Christchurch could not the various Iwi have been represented symbolically (by sending a small token/symbol representing each group) and the money saved donated TO the people of Christchurch for humanitarian needs. $7000, would have purchased a lot of: groceries, warm blankets, etc etc

HAIR HERE HEATHER

Posted on 16-06-2011 18:42 | By DRONE

Agreed, but of course the need to swing into party mode was somewhat more attractive (number three party for the same thing of course)

skip the middle man

Posted on 16-06-2011 19:45 | By The Tomahawk Kid

@Heather: How about the council dont take your money at all! Think of how much you would have in your pocket to donate to people in ChCh then! Look at all the money donated to Chch VOLUNTARILLY ins pite of each and every ratepayer being robbed. Charity does not have to be funded by council or government - they do not have the monopoly on charity. We do it from our natural voluntary benevolence. Skip the middle man (council/govt) and do it yourself

@ TOMMY HACK

Posted on 16-06-2011 23:32 | By YABBA DABBA DO

Actually better to give $7200 to the CHC needy genuinely needy people that squonder it on a freebee party for the boys and hangers on. On top of that Anything Council does costrs way to much anyway, so with any luck of more giving and less doing there would be less of them to boot!

YABBA DABBA DO ....

Posted on 16-06-2011 23:33 | By YABBA DABBA DO

ITS A PARTY FOR ALL ....

I dunno about you...

Posted on 17-06-2011 13:19 | By morepork

...but I'm getting heartily sick of this nonsense. No leadership, no responsibility, no sensitivity even. No statement of any kind from our elected representatives. Just same old, same old. They don't respond because they don't HAVE to. They can continue the ride on the pig's back because once they are elected, there is nothing we can do. This particular boondoggle is outrageous and the sentiments expressed here show that many people are affronted by it. But what action will be taken? Can we be assured that the money wasted will be replaced? Can we be assured that this kind of lunacy will not be repeated in future? Can we even expect that there will be some kind of sensitivity to the electorate when planning jaunts like this? No. Roll on Local Elections.

@ MARAMA

Posted on 17-06-2011 19:52 | By Vomit

I don't care about the colour of your skin now or whenever, I care about you, you're bro's and mates spending my money for a party in CHCH, if you wanted to go then pay your own way. What on earth has all this got to with BOP area.

IF THE CAP FITS WEAR IT

Posted on 18-06-2011 09:11 | By Hebegeebies

Marama ; nothing racist in this it is all about some sections of our community ripping the rest of us off.It seems 7 of the 11 had some degree of Maori ancestry and the public can draw their own inevitable conclusions about the participation of these people in the escapade.In simple terms the message to all those involved is pay the money spent back immediately.Turning to your assertion that the majority of NZ population will be maori in 25 years sorry to say you are way wide of the mark.Reason 1/16th bloodlines of say 8m people won't eclipse the balance of 15/16th and by 2035 it will be even more diluted than that.Enjoy !

Away with the fairies

Posted on 18-06-2011 13:09 | By ROCKY

Yeah I can only count 11 present too. What were BRC Bozos and hangers on there for - to make up the numbers at a cost of $7200 to BOP ratepayers.Who on earth dreamed up this bull**** it wasn't spontaneous so lets have a name please.

.

Posted on 19-06-2011 02:20 | By CC8

But did you see how quick they moved when the big 6 hit? Probably more life than any of them have seen for years. Perhaps a greater power telling them that junkets will not be tolerated!!

Make the 11 pay up

Posted on 19-06-2011 13:33 | By KAMIKAZE

Common interests including water allocation discussed and culturally appropriate to take the well wishers with them to the bunfight.That sounds like arrant nonsense and butt covering to most of us.Do us a favour resign and refund the cost Mr Cronin.Only the Earthquake flushed them out and yes they sure moved like greased lightning when it struck. Probably thought the Almighty was on their case. WAFT

A WEEK HOLIDAY IN CHRISTCHURCH

Posted on 23-06-2011 12:43 | By PLONKER

That is what I heard, but that was cut short by the earthquake footage (being exposed and some). Need add to the bill the wages etc that were also being paid to seven of the ten likely about a $5,000 a day cost also, or did they take holiday pay as well for this little ratepayer fund juant to the see side!