Courage to Ask for Help – Things I look for in a leader

Written by Ben Ross - Talking Auckland

Would you like me to help?

Or

Would you like to have a sook to the media (well try)?

 

I was going through the Auckland Council Shape Auckland website (that holds the Unitary Plan and e-maps) to get to the e-maps for another post when I saw these two tweets:

Bob Dey’s commentary at his own blog hits the nail on the head in regard to Palino crying foul over the Unitary Plan. You can see Bob’s commentary here. 

As for the Parking/Sleeping Tweet if I was to have a guess looking at it, it seem that particular person is either a Palino Sympathiser or an Anti Unitary Plan  person (usually a NIMBY). So best ignore whoever that person is.

As for Palino going: “When can I see the Unitary Plan?” this is where the difference between asking for help or having a sook to the media applies.

You see I was always taught “there is no such thing as a dumb question – as your dumb question is usually the same one everyone else is thinking but to chicken to ask.” And in life (and still do) I have asked some dumb questions. The thing is though is someone is lost I will always be compassionate and lend assistance (if they choose to accept it).

Even leaders like Mayors will ask the odd dumb question from time to time. And to that I am willing to lend assistance if they accept it. We are all equal in this and it shows me to that the leader actually has humility in them. Because and I also admit it does take a bit of squashing the pride down and plucking up the courage to ask that dumb question – at the risk of humiliating yourself in front of your peers (who should be themselves ashamed for not having the courage to ask in the first place too).

 

So humility is what I look for in leaders (civic, political, sports, business and military). Having a sook in the media over that “dumb” question will put me off you straight away. And Palino (although already having done so earlier in the piece) has put me (even further) off him with that article (sook).

Look if Palino had asked me nicely I would have done one of the following options (and I’ll also do so in reasonable request to others as I have done already):
1) Emailed a copy of the Unitary Plan Amended Clean Version
2) Linked to my blog site of the voting records on changes to two of the most pressing issues of the Unitary Plan – Density and the Rural Urban Boundary
3) Linked or asked Auckland Council nicely to the rest of the voting records with the changes – Auckland Plan Committee Agendas and Minutes (thanks to Auckland Transport Blog for reminding me there on that one)
4) Given him my Twitter handle where I have around 450 Tweets of “live” Unitary Plan happenings from the 5 days of APC proceedings

 

If I had the time available I could have even gone through the current version of the Unitary Plan with you. And I bet there will be something in there that will get me stumped resulting in me asking the planners what it means. Simple stuff folks.

I don’t want to delve into Palino’s sook too much more but Bob Dey did say this in his blog piece which is 110% correct:

The alternative to notifying the draft now for public submissions would have been to send it to a review by the second-term council, possibly resulting in different recommendations. Whatever the recommendations, post-notification the public has the formal opportunity to review the contents, and there will be many people, especially those with vested interests, who will do just that.

Meaning whatever new changes a new Council might throw in there might get equally rejected thus not show up in the operative Unitary Plan any how. Thus a waste of time and ratepayers money if Council tried to pull that (review) option. Oh and also the screaming hypocrisy to boot against the Conservatives who would try that stunt – after harping on about being financially prudent…

Formal submission time is YOUR time to submit YOUR requests on changes to the Unitary Plan. Not a second term Council going willy nilly on the false premise of a review – or Cup of Tea as Councillor Brewer said.

Oh and one other thing that I have to keep reminding people of and so put in this Tweet:

J. P. L. @yakmoose about 4 hours ago: next time you see a council candidate going on about the rushed unitary plan. remember, if they don’t get it through, government will decide

If that were to happen – pretty much all is lost for Auckland.

 

All in all though no one has been denied to the Unitary Plan. The version that will be used in the formal notification stage is still being compiled and assembled. It will be available (all going good) on September 30 for our consumption and reference point for our formal submissions. Those more keen on a bit of mouse clicking can read amendments that either did or did not go through here.

While the clean amended version before the amendments can be found here (warning there are adverts): http://www.filefactory.com/f/c610f210fe21fea0

 

So no one is being or should be denied access to the Unitary Plan. It is all there and the notified version will be with us at the end of the month. And no those trying to pull back the Unitary Plan for a “Cup of tea” are wasting effort and our money as we can put our changes through regardless in the notification stage.