Posts Tagged ‘Howick’
Maurice Williamson. ‘Blood on the floor’ … and now maybe in the water?
Nobody’s perfect. Personally, I think Maurice Williamson is a saint with the patience of Job. I’ve seen him sit through two Scholars’ Assemblies at my daughter’s college and not fall asleep or disgrace himself by unfortunate scratching or leering at teenage lasses. When I think about how he’s been the local MP for 27 years, […]
Morning and night
Someone asked me this week why I chose Howick as a place to live. Mainly because we had friends in the area, I explained, and being from Wellington, we needed to be close to the coast. This is the view from my kitchen yesterday morning and last night with the full moon. I find it helps […]
Howick Deputy Chair Adele White speaks up: Tells Chairman Michael Williams his failure to properly address his recent drink-driving conviction and his manipulative bullying is damaging the Howick Local Board’s reputation
Deputy chair of the Howick Local Board Adele White addressed the disgraced chairman Michael Williams at the Board meeting last night [11 March]. Ms White, famously in these parts, stared down an attempt by the chairman to remove her as Deputy on flimsy grounds see: Bunfight at Howick Local Board. With her permission, these are […]
No confidence vote in chairman Michael Williams PASSED but he remains in place.
I attended tonight’s meeting of the Howick Local Board and watched them pass this: (a) That the Howick Local Board expresses no confidence in the chairmanship of Michael Williams as a result of his criminal conviction on 22nd February 2013. But fail to pass this: (b) That Michael Williams be requested to resign from the […]
An update on Michael Williams and the Howick Local Board
For those interested, a move to get the Howick Local Board to even discuss the pending drink-driving and related charges against the Board’s chairman Michael Williams FAILED at last night’s Board meeting. As previewed in the Howick Pakuranga Times (Challenge to chairman to stand aside), board member Lucy Schwaner attempted to raise as Extraordinary Business […]
What I didn’t say at the Howick Local Board last night
I’ve received a number of kind and gratifying comments about my brief presentation at the Howick Local Board public forum last night (see Bunfight at Howick Local Board). Thank you. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Cameron Slater was live-tweeting the event, and these popped up on my phone after I spoke … […]
Bunfight at Howick Local Board
Every now and then I feel the urge to participate in local politics, sadly usually from a sense of disquiet about how some of our elected officials are running the borough. (See: Why do you think we call it a struggle? for some background.) Tonight was a special meeting of the Howick Local Board (costing […]
Time lapse
Sunrise from my kitchen window this morning. Your browser does not support the video tag Video using iLapse app for iPhone. Thanks to Photographer Paul Le Comte @five15design
Howick’s latest NIMBY hysteria
[NIMBY = Not in my back yard.] You may recall my post about the forces of [small-c] conservatism seeking to block an expression of Maori culture in the heart of Howick (where I live) despite support for it and an enlightened, respectful approach being taken by local Maori, their supporters and the local authority. The […]
A fork in the road
Written with different events in mind (i.e. Rick Sanchez’s anti-semitic rant – since apologised for – and Juan Williams being axed from NPR following his revealing ‘When I see muslims on airplanes I get nervous’ gaff) this e-postcard made me chuckle about a local situation. It’s true: no one likes being labelled a racist — […]
Why do you think we call it a struggle?
I referred earlier this week in ‘Words that may not be spoken‘ to what I see as a subversive, long-running and concerted political campaign which aims to suppress Maori culture in Howick, Auckland, where I live. That’s how I see it. I’ll explain why. Along with the rest of New Zealand, we’ve just had local […]
Words that may not be spoken
Last week I wrote to the local Howick & Pakuranga Times about a long-running local issue of importance to me and my family. I was intrigued by some of the deletions and alterations in the resulting published Letter to the editor. See what you think: My family and I fully support the moves to rebuild the […]
Mortality. Leave a legacy.
My family and I attended Malcolm Smith’s funeral in Howick today. Chances are you don’t know who Malcolm was. Don’t worry, he wasn’t famous or a celebrity but boy, was he a good man, and boy, did he contribute to his local community. Malcolm was one of those quietly strong, ethical people who make the […]
