The unmistakable Klinks Garage campaign truck (the little alligator skull on the roof isn’t from a real alligator.)
On Monday we had lunch with Murray, who lives with his wife on a 10-acre lifestyle block in Reikorangi. His campaign truck is a distinctive silver (given what could be called Mad Max treatment) 1951 Ford F100 pick-up and he tells us he’s not only a classic car enthusiast, but also a train fan; and he likes trees and birds — all of them things your editors like, too. 🙂
It’s obvious that he believes in evidence-based decision making, as opposed to the alternative of populist decision making. One of the two simple slogans on the truck is Good Decisions – if he gets on the council he will gather qualified information on proposals, will form a viewpoint based on cost to the Ratepayers, benefits returned to the community against those costs, risks and mitigations, while ensuring success criteria are well understood within council and, more importantly, to the ratepayers. “If it ticks the boxes I will support it, if not I won’t and will share my view.”
Sometimes, he says, the council actually does the right things, but misses the mark at communicating why those decisions were made.
When it comes to council infrastructure projects, he is critical: the council shows no evidence of project management, no project timelines, no milestones and no communication with the public on what is happening with them and why any delays might be occurring. “I want value for our money and this drives me to ask the questions and set timelines and success criteria.”
He grew up in Pukerua Bay where he was born 55 years ago, which he says was a very tight and friendly community culture. About the time the KCDC was formed in 1989 he moved up the road to Paraparaumu and raised his own family of three children there and for the last 3 years has lived in Reikorangi, not far from the St Andrews Church.
His background has been within the telecommunications industry — for the last 12 years at TelstraClear to Vodafone leading customer service groups supporting large enterprise and Government customers.
His desire for more business in council (and less council in business) comes from a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Management with majors in Business Transformation, Change and Strategic Management.
Murray’s small part-time automotive business was set up in 1995 so when he was offered voluntary redundancy in April this year he took the opportunity to free himself up to pursue other interests. Most of his time is spent in the workshop, but he does a bit of relief truck driving. Being also a musician, he plays in not just one, but two local bands,
His views on key issues —
Housing – I support council removing roadblocks to increasing opportunity for housing growth – BUT I don’t support council being a landlord and owning housing. Being a landlord is challenging today and is getting harder with increased regulations and costs imposed for no financial benefit for property investors. I don’t believe it is council core business, however Council and central Government can definitely make it easier for private landlords and building development using community groups and local trade business.
Climate Change – I believe humans adapt and the earth’s normal climate change cycles will help us prioritise things we need to adapt for. I don’t want to waste ratepayers money on something that might not happen or may possibly happen in 100 years – human adaptation will prevail over time. People tend to exaggerate to gain urgency – I am thinking of Al Gore’s bold predictions.
Economic Development – Kapiti is rich with successful small enterprises – this tells me we are doing well for operational businesses but I still believe we have challenges with red tape that could be removed to support more rapid growth. New housing initiatives can feed our locals and employ our young people. “Trades are the new Black” There is either too much bureaucracy, or we are not good at getting through it within timelines that are acceptable to the community.
Opportunities – I think there are still opportunities that can create our Kapiti brand as an international destination. I am thinking, Trams, Whaling History, Kapiti Island, Southwards [museum], Marine Environment Centre (the old Raumati Pool) tied in with the Kapiti Gateway, but they all need a good return like any business venture to get across this line otherwise rates will need to go up. This is where Council need to get smart to accelerate progress.
Yus, your just about a tick on my list Murray. Just one question though, what is your position on water meters?
Gidday Fred. Not keen to be brutally honest. They cost a lot and while they may have helped in some way to saving water use I think that was putting a bandaid on a symptom and not actually fixing the cause..I.e water availability. I would rather have seen a Dam to protect us from shortages and give us a very long term solution. A dam would have meant capital borrowing but quick maths in my head suggested the returned benefit would have outlasted the loan payments by long shot…only big risk is earthquakes. I also think they were a guise to increase revenue.
Mr. Forsdyke, congratulations on your willingness to run for Council. What are your ideas about debt repayment and stabilising our rates?
Hi Salima. I was just looking at Wayne’s pre election report again yesterday which had a reasonably clear set of financial statements. Although I am keen on dept reduction, if we want to do things that require big chunks of money we have to borrow. As long as it doesn’t go over the standard borrowing level set for councils then I am comfortable we can repay and reduce in a controlled manner. In Wayne’s report it does show a decline in borrowing however I still think we will need to borrow for unforeseen capital improvements or new community desires. With regard to the impact it has on rates, our borrowing level can be a lever we pull to manage rates increases but it’s not the only lever and not the biggest. Like any business the idea is not to become insolvent and broke by borrowing too much like I nearly did when I was a teenager .
Thank you for your answer, and I appreciate that you had a look at Wayne’s pre-election report, but the fact remains, that KCDC are in this financial mess and that they are the 2nd most indebted Council in the country – and the fact that they used our homes as collateral for securing that debt. KCDC is not a business, if it was, they would have shareholders and a board of directors that could fire the CEO. This is local government – irresponsible and refuses to be held accountable.
Hi Salima. I am going to check out that point you made about using our houses as collateral because I am not sure how that can be included in the fixed assets value. They don’t belong to council. I guess I was thinking that the community are the shareholders, the elected council are directors and the CEO is the CEO of an organisation that should not be in a financial mess. The community have the right to complain and vote just like shareholders. What would you like to see done differently?
Mr.Forsdyke, I have attached a weblink of my article that ran both in the Kapiti News and Kapiti Independent News regarding finances. To date, Council have not challenged the fact that our homes are being used as collateral.
http://kapitiindependentnews.net.nz/salima/
Unfortunately, I do not agree with your analogy regarding elected officials being directors, because shareholders can fire directors at any times in a company….we are stuck with our elected officials for 3 years-
Ah yes,, of course you are right,,,our only opportunity to “fire directors” is at the election. I wouldn’t mind catching up with you. PM me if that sounds like a good idea.
Mr. Forsdyke, thank you again for responding.
I wouldn’t mind catching up but don’t have your contact details. However, as I write for the Waikanae Watch from time to time, please feel free to contact the editor for my details.
One last point, corporations make profits which are then paid as dividends to their shareholders. Are you aware of any companies/corporations that run at a 200 million dollar deficit? By definition if you are unable to earn a profit as a company, you don’t exist, its called bankruptcy.