About Allan
Candidate Statement
If you're anything like me, you'll be horrified at the financial mess that our city is in. We're paying ever increasing rates demands along with skyrocketing debt, and getting traffic humps and in-lane bus stops in return. Council is supposed to exist to make decisions for the benefit of the people of this city, not to inflict financial suffering on them, while simultaneously making it a more unpleasant place to live. We must concentrate on the essentials such as roading, rubbish and waters, plus the things that people need such as libraries, pools and playgrounds. Our infrastructure is creaking at the seams and it needs fixing now, but we can't do that while wasting money on nice-to-haves. While I remain an Independent council candidate, I support Tim Macindoe's common sense, centre-right vision for the city as Mayor. We can't afford to do anything else. Cut waste, not services.
Candidate Profile Questions
1. What would be your top three priorities for Council the next three years?
My top 3 priorities for the next 3 years are, in this order,
1. find out where all the council money is being spent. Currently, Council brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in income yet we're still going deeper and deeper into debt. We need money to address the city's problems, but with so much of it disappearing, just having more cash won't solve any problems.
2. reticulation. This means water in all its forms. Currently, our overcommitted water infrastructure is hindering growth, development, and pushing up costs.
3. roading. This is a major expenditure for Council and includes things like crossings and in-lane bus stops, which I oppose in principle. Our roads must be fit for purpose for all road users, but remember that we are a large area, low rise, low density city that favours cars.
2. What is your aspiration for Hamilton Kirikiriroa?
My aspiration for our city is that it continues to grow into a place where people can live, work, study, play and grow old, and be proud of the place that they call home. But it has to remain a place that does not cost so much to live in that only the very wealthy can afford to live here. Keeping rates under control by way of spending intelligently is the way to do that. We have a lot of very positive things going for the city such as our zoo, the gardens, the inland port, the new medical school, and some world beating companies. Provided we can keep costs down, we can attract more of these things, both from central government and industry, along with an ever increasing population base, and take our place as a world class city.
3. How do you think Council could best use opportunities to meet the key challenges we are facing?
Different opportunities arise at different times, such as the recently announced Waikato Medical School, and the All Blacks vs France game. Both of these serve to highlight our city in a very positive light. More things will come our way in the future, and our city leadership must make it known to industry (both local and international) and central government that our city is open for business, and is ready, willing and able to stage whatever event or facility that anyone is looking to run. But we must also remember the lessons of the V8s and not expose ourselves to enormous debt in doing so. These opportunities, done right, will bring wealth to our city, and this will go a long way to fixing our problems
4. If there was one thing you could change about Hamilton Kirikiriroa immediately, what would it be?
The one thing that I would change about the city right now, in a perfect world, would be to remove all the pointless traffic lumps on the roads. These lumps infuriate drivers, damage cars, cause congestion, and increase fuel consumption and pollution. This does not mean that I would remove the raised crossings where they benefit the disabled, school children or the elderly. The problem is though, we don’t live in a perfect world, and due to the debt that we’re in, I don’t think we should go out and remove them at all, since that would cost us money that we don’t have. The pointless ones should only be removed during routine road maintenance, and not replaced.
5. What qualities would you bring to Council that will help our city thrive?
I am at my core a pragmatist. I have no time for forcing ideology into any situation in the hope that it can accidentally work. So, this means experience counts for a lot. I have seen many management fads come and go, both in the military and the private sector, and very often, it is the coal face workers, the experts that work in their individual field every day that know what is best. Yet they are never consulted or listened to. So I bring the ability to listen, the ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to know when there is more going on than we’re being told. My skillset and history are somewhat unique, allowing me to bridge multiple disciplines and process information with an open mind, all to solve problems as efficiently as possible.
6. Where can voters go to learn more about you?
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575226485580