Alexander (Sandy) Milne

I attended the first 10 minutes of the packed Grey Power meeting on September 17, which Beacon reporter Diane McCarthy covered in last Friday's edition under the headline, "There's never enough money".
Councillor Toni Boynton was quoted for her comments at the meeting where Diane reported the "hot topic" was the cruel rates rise of 42 percent over three years, which was signed off last year by most councillors despite continued urging from our Mayor, Victor Luca, to consider the plight of less-wealthy ratepayers.
Ms Boynton's headlined comment continued: "... yet the bills keep on coming".  
For whom?  Certainly not for the people responsible; our councillors.

The bills keep coming for all of us. But the wealthy can easily afford to pay while the poor cannot.
Every resident pays the price for the bad judgement and decisions which councillors and overpaid managers have been inflicting on us for years, but Ms Boynton and some councillors simply hit their default key of … "No worries, just hit ratepayers even harder".  
We must get rid of the big spending councillors who are unfazed about the plight of low-income residents.  
Back to the Grey Power meeting. I left after only 10 minutes, and here's why.  
Chairman Bill Clark welcomed attendees who were candidates for mayor in our election, and Wilson James, Nandor Tanczos, and Andrew Iles sprang to their feet as if on cue. (I did not see if Mark Inman joined them).  
The candidates were not permitted to speak.  However, Mr Clark flourished a large rolled-up scroll above his head and encouraged attendees to sign a petition which Mr Tanczos could deliver to Wellington on behalf of everyone.

But it wasn't Mr Tanczos' petition to claim credit for.
A Grey Power member rose to complain about the disgraceful political move we all witnessed, and there were murmurs of support for him. Mr Clark told him to sit down or he would be removed.

That was a wild and disrespectful way to open a Grey Power meeting, and I promptly left the Knox church.

My advice for Beacon readers, don't waste your time on petitions.  If 35,000 striking nurses cannot move our political leaders, what makes you think that badly organised petitions will?