Nándor Tánczos

I don’t usually reply to letters to the editor as I have other opportunities to say my piece as mayor. The letters are a chance to hear from the wider community.

I am writing to respond to Keith Melville’s letter in Wednesday’s paper, however, as this is the second time that he has misrepresented my words.

He has a right to his opinion but not to misinform people about mine.

He claimed that I have said that “the Harbour Fund can be used in a general way, to subsidise rates”.

What I have actually said is that the income from the Harbour Fund is all used on ports and harbour operating expenses. Council would either have to put up rates or increase debt if we were to do what he wants and fund dredging for the Whakatāne Yacht Club.

The other misleading comment was in April when he wrote about attending my Mayor’s coffee morning. He claimed that I was unable to answer questions about the Sports Fishing Club building because I had been kept in the dark by staff. As I said clearly at the time, I was unable to say very much because I am legally restricted in what I can say in public due to commercial sensitivity.

Myself and councillors are very well briefed on the subject, and clear about our role and responsibilities as decision-makers.

To be fair he did say that he couldn’t hear much of the discussion. Perhaps next time he could just ask me to repeat what I said.