[Cross-posted] The Fairfax Press has been talking about how Wellingtonians are expected to bail out some loss-makers, such as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. And that the decision to do this has been made behind closed doors. The city’s debt is over $200 million—we were looking at very similar numbers at the time of the 2007 local body elections.
   I’m curious now that it is election year why most of my opponents have not talked about job creation. There has, instead, been some easy talk about pedestrianizing, which might give a short-term boost to contractors. That’s all well and good, but we need bigger change.
   It’s why I’ve talked about free wifi for some time. It’s not a whim. Open it up and creative and tech businesses will come here. There is plenty of evidence to show that if you can create industry clusters, you can find success. And what are Wellington’s most likely clusters that we can build quickly and create jobs with? Creative and tech.
   It doesn’t take a genius to work out that if we attract more new businesses here, we will collect more rates, which means the burden on ratepayers is spread more fairly.
   Clusters can be created easily if there’s a will—and Sir Peter Jackson and his work in the film industry have reminded us this much.
   As to funding our loss-makers, it incenses me that this was all done behind closed doors, in what the Fairfax Press calls secret meetings.
   No more. My term, if you elect me, will be about transparency. Decisions like this will be put, openly, on to a city blog—the prototype of which is Your Wellington. You can’t make a council meeting? No worries: you can comment online and have your say.
   By being transparent about everything, we’ll force the groups that want city aid to put up a heck of a business case, and convince us that they won’t repeat the same mistakes and come cap-in-hand to us again in a few years’ time.
   The 2010 mayoral election is not about the same old élites, but about understanding that Wellington is on the cusp of something great. The best person for the job is someone who represents us and realizes our potential—not someone who will land us in the same old funk again.

PS.: There are some more campaign graphics over at my personal blog which you can download.

creative sector · employment · finance · industry clusters · job creation · mayoralty · rates · technology · transparency · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

Dear readers: the more I think about these ideas on this site and your feedback over the last few months, the more I believe I need to run for mayor in order to deliver them.
   What’s quite sad as I examine the candidates for the mayoral elections on October 9, 2010 is that these issues, which I consider no-brainers, aren’t apparent on their agenda.
   Don’t take this the wrong way. I have met many of these councillors and they are fine men and women. Some, I know first-hand, are honest, decent people. And yes, they listen, as I am prepared to listen.
   But there’s listening, and then there’s leading.
   If the issues that you and I have discussed on this site mattered to them, they would have come up long ago during their terms.
   As for some of the rumoured candidates who are seeking the mayoralty for the first time, let me say to at least one of you that Wellington is not prepared to be divided by the sort of time-wasting party politics that are in the national sphere.
   What we need is a fresh vision from someone who has consistently been ahead of the curve. Wellington is not a city for reactionaries, but visionaries. In fact, many of us who choose to live here have a vision of a multicultural, modern, vibrant city—not one muddied by same-again, reverse-looking, twentieth-century politics.
   I ask those who share the vision of a modern Wellington to put their hands up, either as potential councillors, or as willing voters, on October 9, 2010.
   We have a lot of work to do to make these ideas realities for Wellington. Please let me know your thoughts, whether here, on Twitter, or on my Facebook page. I love this city, and I want to unite us. And I want to build the Wellington you want.

2010 · 2010s · culture · election · Facebook · future · Jack Yan · local body elections · mayoralty · multicultural · Politics · Twitter · vision · Wellington · Wellington City Council · Whanganui-a-Tara · wifi