Pegasus Post: September 18, 2018
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PEGASUS POST Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
Tuesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>18</strong> 20<strong>18</strong> 7<br />
Local<br />
News<br />
Now<br />
Fire rages, homes at risk<br />
lifelong passion for the east<br />
Is that what you believe is the<br />
best thing about local politics?<br />
Yes, I do get a lot of personal<br />
sort of satisfaction of seeing<br />
improvements in my local area. I<br />
have always sort of believed that<br />
if you have a vibrant community<br />
with a lot of facilities, it looks<br />
good, it feels good, people will be<br />
responsive in the way they look<br />
after the community and are<br />
proud of where they live. That’s<br />
the sort of philosophy I have tried<br />
to work with.<br />
Do you think there is a<br />
different sense of community in<br />
the Coastal Ward?<br />
Yes, I have never come across a<br />
community that is so connected<br />
and interested in what happens<br />
around them. The number<br />
of residents’ associations and<br />
community groups in my ward<br />
is phenomenal. Compared<br />
to some other parts of the<br />
city, we would have far more<br />
of these community groups.<br />
You only have to look at the<br />
reaction to some proposals for<br />
the eastern suburbs and the<br />
number of people who have<br />
signed petitions, submissions<br />
and things to council. In fact,<br />
I’d go as far to say in 2015, the<br />
volume of submissions received<br />
from this side of town was quite<br />
instrumental in council, in<br />
changing their mind on aspects<br />
of the Annual Plan that year.<br />
What are some less desirable<br />
aspects of local politics?<br />
I’d say the worst thing is the<br />
time and processes you have to<br />
go through. Council never moves<br />
very fast and while we can all see<br />
the benefits of a particular project,<br />
actually getting there is quite<br />
complex and time-consuming.<br />
People that have got into local<br />
affairs have been burnt-out<br />
because they haven’t been able<br />
to work their way through some<br />
of these processes. I have learnt<br />
my way around council a bit and<br />
have been able to promote things<br />
POWER BROKERS: David East speaking to fellow city councillors Anne Galloway and Jamie<br />
Gough at last week’s council meeting.<br />
and get things on a priority list.<br />
Whereas some people may get<br />
elected to a community board<br />
or council and think they are<br />
going to come in with a big stick<br />
and their ideas and notions will<br />
be acted fairly quickly, when in<br />
fact that is not the case. There is a<br />
process, the process is not great,<br />
but it is what it is and you just<br />
have to work your way through<br />
the system with some of these<br />
projects. As you are well aware<br />
sometimes you have to step out<br />
of the square, like I am doing at<br />
the moment, to progress things<br />
that are of immense concern to<br />
the community and are not being<br />
acted on quickly or fairly.<br />
What are some of the most<br />
challenging things you have<br />
faced in this role?<br />
I have always held the notion<br />
that New Brighton and the<br />
eastern suburbs have been an<br />
under-funded, under-appreciated<br />
asset for the city. It’s taken a long<br />
time to get some projects off the<br />
ground. I am eternally grateful<br />
that we now have a great playground<br />
in New Brighton and<br />
QE II has been rebuilt. Although<br />
we have ongoing work there,<br />
looking at whether the great<br />
facility is going to be big enough<br />
for the needs of this side of<br />
town. We are working very well<br />
through the consenting process<br />
for the hot pools which is a project<br />
first mooted way back in the<br />
<strong>18</strong>80s.<br />
You have not strayed away<br />
from things that may be<br />
controversial like the debate<br />
last year about donating<br />
director’s fees to charity, did you<br />
face much fall-out from that?<br />
I was pretty principle on<br />
that matter. In fact, I followed<br />
council’s directive to the letter<br />
of the law, the ruling was that<br />
anyone who had directorships<br />
that involved Christchurch City<br />
Holdings Ltd, the fees would be<br />
directed to the Mayor’s Welfare<br />
Fund. I was a director of Canterbury<br />
Development Corporation<br />
and my fees went to that fund.<br />
But, at the same time, I was a director<br />
of Transwaste Canterbury<br />
who was not a member CCHL.<br />
I felt I was quite entitled. While<br />
other councillors would argue<br />
no, but in an interpretation of<br />
council’s ruling of the matter, I<br />
kept the fees and I would be quite<br />
happy to publicly say that if you<br />
do that sort of work you should<br />
be remunerated for it. There<br />
are huge responsibilities being<br />
a director and I think that the<br />
position council takes is wrong, I<br />
would take the same stand again.<br />
In the long term, I would hope<br />
that the attitudes to this practice<br />
are better reflected in the future.<br />
Can you tell me something<br />
about the life of a city councillor<br />
that people might not know?<br />
It is quite a demanding sort of<br />
lifestyle and it can be easy as you<br />
want and as complex as you want.<br />
I choose to attend quite a number<br />
of local community events, local<br />
committees and things so<br />
that I hope I am up to the play<br />
with what is happening in my<br />
community. I don’t necessarily<br />
have to do that, I could be just<br />
attending council meetings and<br />
community board meetings and<br />
not a lot more. From a relationship<br />
sort of view I am out at night<br />
sometimes three to five nights<br />
a week, so that has an impact. I<br />
have to say, I exceedingly grateful<br />
that my partner Lynn is very supportive<br />
of what I do, even though<br />
at times it’s not the greatest thing<br />
in a normal relationship.<br />
Is Lynn involved in local<br />
government?<br />
She is involved in a number of<br />
community and social enterprise<br />
activities. She is very supportive<br />
and takes an interest in a number<br />
of community groups.<br />
Can you tell me about your<br />
children?<br />
I have a daughter and two sons.<br />
Well, I had four children. My second<br />
daughter died at eight weeks,<br />
a long time ago. My daughter is<br />
Sarah and sons Jamie and Bid.<br />
Do they want to get into local<br />
politics?<br />
No, not at this stage. They may<br />
do, certainly I am not encouraging<br />
them too, it’s something<br />
they need to assess and get into<br />
themselves, rather than me<br />
leading them towards it. My son<br />
Jamie was club captain at the<br />
surf club for a long time and in<br />
recent months, he has become<br />
the president.<br />
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