James Cootes was elected unopposed in the Otaki Ward, as were the four Otaki Community Board candidates.

His candidate statement thus isn’t on the KCDC website, but there is this above item on him from the last general election 3 years ago.  He was the highest polling of the 6 candidates at the time.

…for night patrols (see the earlier post on Neighbourhood Watch).  After seeing the adverts for them on the web and on TV, we decided to buy a couple.  They are good.  The beam can be widened and narrowed, has different intensities and can give a slow or fast pulse (strobe) effect.   The ads say that the beam shone in a crim’s eyes will dazzle/disorientate them, and it probably will.

It’s not as if people are doing this all the time.  We agree with Guy Burns: “Too many [council] staff with too little to do creating rules and regulations for no good reason.”

Scattering the ashes of loved ones on beaches, rivers or parks in Kapiti will be actively discouraged by council, if a draft cemeteries bylaw gets the nod.

Kapiti Coast District Council open spaces manager Nico Crous said if the new bylaw was endorsed by council next month, people would be encouraged to contact council first about their human ash scattering intentions.

“And our stance in that case would be explaining how other members of the community would feel about that, explaining where we provide opportunities for that practice, and discouraging somebody from taking them to somewhere like a beach or at the river’s edge.”

Mr Crous said the issue wasn’t about “policing or wielding the rod” but about “providing guidance and education”.

Full Kapiti News article

According to its owners who also own Long Beach Tavern at the beachfront and Salt and Wood in Ngaio Road, “We have too much on our plate so it’s time for our little baby to go.”

“This business has seen rapid growth since its inception, with a turnover above $800k in the last financial year and strong profitability.”

With the new Expressway interchange opening soon only about 500 metres away, this seems a great time to buy the business.

Council candidate for the Paekakariki-Raumati Ward, Guy Burns, is seeking assurances from Kapiti Coast District Council whether the three sources of town supply water are safe.

“Kapiti has been blessed with a good quality water supply, but in light of the Havelock North situation, the public needs to have confidence that our water supply and reticulation are of the highest standards,” Mr Burns said today.

“Our water is both bore and river fed and because we have different systems serving our different communities, we need to be vigilant. Because of the water problems in Havelock North, it’s reasonable to ask whether KCDC needs to introduce extra measures to provide that assurance.

“I have today written to the Chief Executive to ask what extra steps are being taken to make sure our district’s water is kept safe.”

The ‘Lens & Lead’ display is launching at the Kapiti Coast Museum for the Discover Kapiti Heritage month in September. From Paekakariki to Otaki, the nine museums in the Discover Kapiti Heritage Group will showcase the district’s rich and vibrant history with exhibitions, talks and other activities.  Website

The Kapiti Coast Museum in Elizabeth Street, Waikanae, is open Friday 1pm-4pm and Saturday/Sunday 2pm-4pm, free admission.

And you if answer this question on its Facebook page: “Which recently demolished Waikanae building was this stag head previously displayed in?” you go in to the draw to win 2 free coffees from Barista Boys, Waikanae Beach or Barista Boys Kapiti Road.

We think that’s a pretty easy question 🙂

The answer is probably in the previous post.

Reproduced from the KC News website :

Paekakariki-Raumati Ward candidate Guy Burns is disappointed that the Kapiti Coast District Council has not signed up to participate in a new independent system to measure the performance of local authorities, and says he wants to know why the KCDC doesn’t want to have its performance assessed.

“Local Government New Zealand has developed the system which measures leadership, financial performance, service delivery and community engagement,” Mr Burns said today.
“LGNZ will publish the results every three years and councils will be given a rating.

“It’s really disappointing to see that KCDC has chosen not to participate, and I want to know why the current Council is scared of having its performance independently assessed. The new system offers a golden opportunity for the Council to measure the performance of its systems and processes, and I cannot understand why our Council has opted out.

“Ratepayers keep being told that they have a good Council, despite the fact that rates are going up nearly five per cent every year, at a time when incomes for most people are static. There are real questions about how well our Council is doing, and I am strongly supportive of an independent assessment of our Council’s performance. Performance measurement is the first step to improvement, and Councillors shouldn’t be scared of transparency, said Mr Burns.”

For those who haven’t seen the British comedy series from the 1980s Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, we highly recommend buying or hiring the DVDs.

The shows featured an idealistic Cabinet Minister whose attempts to do things for the people who elected him are constantly thwarted by the head of his department (Sir Humphrey Appleby) and media secretary (read ‘spin doctor’) who believe that the public should be taxed to provide massive salaries and perks for the considerable department staff, themselves in particular. The real British PM of the era, Margaret Thatcher, was said to be such a big fan of the show she took tapes of it home to study.

The local equivalent of Sir Humphrey Appleby is KCDC Boss Dougherty under whose tenure, Kapiti rates have risen by a massive extent.  Some of this was due to stupid ideas by the council led by Mayor Rowan, but not all the blame rests with them.

Getting Dougherty under control with rigorous scrutiny and regular reading of the riot act to him will be the biggest challenge that the next council is going to have.