The BFD | Upper Harbour: An Absolutely Biased Guide to Auckland Local Elections

It was a tough decision. So many are terrible.

RATINGS GUIDE:

$ to $$$$$ with $ being a leftist trougher and $$$$$ being small government dynamo

For some, however, a clown is more appropriate. More than one may be awarded.

Upper Harbour Local Board

There are 14 candidates for this 6 seat Local Board. You have up to 6 votes

Anna Atkinson – Living Upper Harbour $$$$

This two-member ticket has been very helpful in ensuring we don’t confuse them with any dead Upper Harbour candidates.

Anna’s profile is pretty bland and featureless. Google tells me virtually nothing.

She has been a chartered accountant for 20 years so will enjoy the boredom of Local Board meetings and she appears to understand what Local Boards can actually do.

Uzra Casuri Balouch $

Uzra is an incumbent board member with decades of business experience. As an incumbent board member, she is well aware of the limits of what a local board can achieve. To say that she will build infrastructure such as a library and a multi-storey car park at Albany Park and Ride is sneaky. Local Boards don’t have capital budgets on that scale and Albany Park n Ride is AT property. She can advocate for capital projects to the council, budgeted out of the ten-year plan as the other 20 local boards do but that’s it. Uzra should know this.

Assisting youth into work is complete horse-feathers. Local Boards don’t do that and councils shouldn’t either. Also wants consultation with “diverse communities in development decisions. Preserve the heritage, character and natural environment of our communities like Bomb Point (sic)”

Duplicitous, with NIMBY painted all over her.

Mary-Anne Benson-Cooper

Mary-Anne is like a problem gambler buying 100 tickets for the Powerball Jackpot. Upper Harbour is one of three Local Boards she is standing for. It is only possible to be elected to one, so if she is elected to more than one, she decides which one to turn down.

She promises lots of advocacy and aid to community groups and volunteers. She opposes any park sales.

Callum Blair – Independent $$$

Blair was a councillor on the North Shore City Council 2007-2010 and elected to the Upper Harbour Local Board following the amalgamation. He has previously been an advocate for the construction of municipal pools. I know it is counted as recreation and therefore a core function but surely is better left to the private sector?

He is concerned at the decline in funding allocations for Upper Harbour and indicates they deserve more.

He has also been a candidate for the Conservative Party.

Jaggar Bootten – Independent $

Bootten looks like a teenager and I don’t want to look like I’m bullying young people. However, I first ran for parliament at 19 and got treated like any other candidate. He will suck it up.

His campaign video is right out of the Jacinda Ardern playbook. Leaning forward, raised eyebrows, rehearsed empathy. If there were an election for kindy teacher, I’d rate him $$$$$ (despite the salary being $). He trots out the line about 42% of people in the area being under 30 with nobody on Local Board being under that age.

Of course, it is identitarian nonsense. Nobody working for the Ministry for Children is an actual child but we don’t claim that is a bad thing.

He supports sustainable rate changes, more affordable housing and will ensure accountability for council spending. I hope if he stands again in 2022, he works out what Local Boards actually do.

John Glover $$

His candidate profile is fluff and womble. He would “invest in people rather than footpaths to nowhere.” Then he complains about an absence of footpaths.

I think he likes footpaths. He wants a diverse mix of people around the local board table but he’s a white male so I don’t know if he’s telling people not to vote for him, is taking the piss or a bleeding heart liberal.

With a building and construction background, I’m going to take a stab in the dark and hope he’s taking the piss.

John Loau – Independent $$

So far, the line-up looks pretty bleak. John wants to keep Bomb Point Park a park and smarter and efficient solutions around public transport and planning. Those are buzz words I like though anyone can use them.

Nicholas Mayne – Living Upper Harbour $$

I’ve met Nicholas on several occasions. We both ran in Upper Harbour in 2014 and East Coast Bays 2017 general elections. He’s a fundamentalist Christian, union delegate and a Green party member. I’m neither but my interactions with him point to him being a decent bloke.

Nicholas is an incumbent and says his achievements include a review of Upper Harbour’s Play Spaces and Path Network, plans for a new playground in Greenhithe, increased community participation in ecological restoration projects and progress on a Pest-Free Strategy. That looks like a lot of looking but very little doing.

He hopes to achieve more in his next term by making “Smart Equitable Decisions.”

Equitable. Hmm.

Jonathan McDonald

Thinks I’m going to tick some boxes. Taking Action to Combat Climate Change (hence why he won’t put up corflute signage or deliver leaflets). He’s wrong.

I suspect he simply has no money and fear he will minimise waste by abolishing voting papers.

John McLean $$$

He has previously been Chairman of the Albany Community Board and is currently on Upper Harbour Local Board. I’m split because his candidate profile looks awesome but most of it isn’t related to Local Board functions. He will be fully aware of this.

“Long history of Community service, Local Government representation, NZ Scouting, Chairman Albany CoCo, former Trustee Albany Senior High School, FFS Charity, Hearing Commissioner for Auckland Council.

Cut out waste. Seek greater efficiency. Rates should be indexed to CPI and a regime focusing on results. Transaction costs should be reduced, innovation is needed and new projects critically tested against ‘needs vs wants.’

John offers strong advocacy tempered by affordability and common sense. Lack of infrastructure is causing traffic congestion and gridlock. Lack of infrastructure is at the heart of Auckland’s growth and Housing affordability is essential to regional growth. Albany anticipates 4600 new homes so continued intensification requires strong mitigation.

The RMA needs overhaul. The Auckland Plan must remain affordable, responsive to a City with burgeoning growth, safe for its families and citizens and new arrivals alike.”

Margaret Miles – Independent $$$

Margaret is an accredited Resource Management Act Commissioner. That would make her competent on Local Board but I’m not sure how.

Has a QSM for community service and is concerned that Upper Harbour rates are disproportionality being spent outside of the area.

Brian Neeson – Independent

Some of you may recall that Neeson got the boot from the National Party to make room for John Key. Neeson has listed nothing that the Board has achieved and a loooooong list of the things he says still need to be done. That includes supporting local business opportunities (not his job).

Think it is time Neeson found something else to do. It’s been time for 17 years.

Glen Stanton – Independent $

I covered him in the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.

Lisa Whyte $$$$$

Lisa Whyte has been in local body politics for fifteen years and as far as I can see, is very effective. Multiple community facilities have been refurbished, a new septic system for Whenuapai Village Hall was funded (while the land owner, Auckland Council, continued to pay for monthly pumping of this dying utility). Smart free-wifi solutions for parks sponsored by private companies (though some were quashed by bloody Auckland Council) are amongst those achievements. It’s a pity she hasn’t put her name forward for council again, after being beaten on the Auckland Future ticket in 2016.

Worth her weight in gold.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS: I’ve had to put a lot of thought into this one. You have up to 6 votes in this FPP contest.