I was invited by the Whakat\u0101ne District Council to record a video and submit a profile statement for the Local Body Election.<\/p>\n
I was pretty careful how I wrote the Profile Statement but I chose to do the video 'off the cuff' and not prepare for it and just answer the questions direct from my heart rather than my head.<\/p>\n
I thought by doing that I would be able to give really honest answers to what were probably going to be really difficult questions.<\/p>\n
I think that's what voters want – honesty.<\/p>\n
This is me being honest.<\/p>\n\n
Profile Statement:<\/strong><\/p>\n Everything about politics is about choices and I want to offer Whakat\u0101ne voters a clear choice.<\/p>\n While some push for supporting Wellington over Whakat\u0101ne, I think Government has too much to say in local politics and I offer a choice to push back on that.<\/p>\n Why should ratepayers wear the bill for central government’s decrees and projects?<\/p>\n There are alternatives to selling the municipal assets that ratepayers own so that someone can operate them on a ‘for-profit’ agenda.<\/p>\n Decades of neglect is staring us in the face. Let’s have courage. Vision. Long-term thinking. A mayor and councillors who are eager to work together for all of us – motivated not just by managing the now, but by building a strong foundation for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was invited by the Whakat\u0101ne District Council to record a video and submit a profile statement for the Local Body Election.<\/p>\n I was pretty careful how I wrote the Profile Statement but I chose to do the video 'off the cuff' and not prepare for it and just answer the questions direct from my . . . → Read More: Whakat\u0101ne District Council Profile Statement & Video: Make Whakat\u0101ne A Happy Place<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7410,"featured_media":1136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Whakat\u0101ne District Council Profile Statement & Video","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[120,152],"tags":[143,139,147,136],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-25","category-video","tag-council-reform","tag-rates-increases","tag-whakatane-election-2025","tag-whakatane-v-wellington","odd"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/exposures.co.nz\/?feed=podcast&podcast_series=exposures-the-blog","embedCode":"
\nThat’s not acceptable to any of us.
\nThere are alternatives, and they require a different approach.<\/p>\nWhakat\u0101ne District Council Profile Statement & Video: Make Whakat\u0101ne A Happy Place<\/a><\/blockquote>