https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/complaint-laid-against-vandervis

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/vandervis-complaint-second-attempt-censure

Letters to the Editor printed yesterday…

Vandervis complaint ‘pick on Lee time’

Here we go again, it’s pick on Cr Lee Vandervis time.

As someone who grew up bilingual and coming from a heritage where

there are three official languages I can claim to have some

understanding of the situation. What is happening now is not a

recognition and respect for Māori language but a confusing, mixed-up

version that is neither fish nor fowl.

Whether we like it or not the reality is that for the majority of

people living in New Zealand English is their first language and one

of the major languages of the world we live in. We should have

everything in both languages with English first, then repeated in

Māori, not (to use Lee’s words), a Māorified version of the whole

thing.

It sounds as though Cr Marie Laufiso is on a power trip. No-one should

be forced to actively participate in something they do not fully

understand the language of and may include elements they do not

believe in. All that should be required of councillors is respectful

attendance and to be forced to sing a waiata is totally unacceptable.

Sorry Cr Laufiso, but you are way out of line and totally exaggerating

your self-importance. We elect councillors to manage our city in this,

the 21st century, and while councillors have an obligation to have a

respect for the past, expecting them to spend a lot of time and energy

on matters of ceremony rather than the necessities is misguided.

S Hanson

Wakari

Faux offence

Another day, another character assassination attempt upon Lee

Vandervis promulgated by the ODT. But hey, the injury of

mispronouncing the word Māori must be severe, and refusing to face a

sham quasi-tribal inquisition, Te Pae Māori, which is another

senseless entity of imposing bureaucrats to bludgeon the rest of us,

is surely tantamount to heresy.

Having direct takata-whenua links with Otākou, Karitane and Maranuku,

I find the whole charade of ethnic tokenism acted out by local

government to be needless, if not cringeworthy. Yet Marie Laufiso, who

is not takata-whenua, spends her time screaming at the sky, pretending

to be offended on the behalf of Māori, instead of allowing others and

herself to get on the job they were elected to do in the first place.

Irian Scott

Port Chalmers

Waste of money

It is extraordinary that Dunedin ratepayers money is being wasted on

such matters. It is reminiscent of school days, where someone said

something you didn’t like, you might have replied “I’m going to tell

on you”, knowing the complainant would be believed and the alleged

offender told to improve his/her behaviour, regardless of the rights

or wrongs involved.

I trust ratepayers are taking note of the councillors who initiate

such undoubtedly expensive and certainly divisive complaints. Dunedin

does not need them as councillors.

The worst aspect is that the complaint will undoubtedly be upheld, and

after spending thousands of dollars on the matter the independent

investigator will be considerably wealthier, their client the DCC will

be pleased, and the ratepayers will be considerably worse off.

I knew Cr Vandervis over 30 years ago and liked him for being not only

forthright but also having an excellent business brain. I doubt that

has changed in the intervening years. What will have changed is the

DCC codes will have been honed to ensure that being forthright,

businesslike, or objective is totally unacceptable.

How could the mispronunciation of a word , or failure to sing at a

business meeting, be unacceptable behaviour?

I would suggest that if the investigator rules in favour of the

complainant as expected, that the DCC immediately resolve to decide on

a better method of resolving councillor disputes, that does not cost

the ratepayers a fortune to satisfy bruised egos, which is

businesslike, objective, and cost effective

K Lawson

Oamaru

[Abridged — length]

More Letters…

https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/letters-editor-convenience-compliance-and-consent

Sing a song — or not
I have never been able to sing. I remember well the groans of my
teachers and classmates when I tried. But I would hate to be called a
racist, therefore I have some sympathy for Cr Vandervis and wish him
well in his endeavours.

Fay Lambert
Wānaka

Glad tidings
Roll on 2024 I say. My faith in mankind and commonsense is being
gradually restored after reading today’s front page of the ODT
(8.1.24). Having answered my query from a previous Letter to the
Editor printed last year where I questioned the cost relating to the
University of Otago’s sculpture that was unveiled (amidst all the doom
and gloom being reported of their failing financial position and
demise of courses along with academic personnel), I was heartened to
read today the ODT had its own questions relating to the same and went
a step further under the Official Information Act — bravo. Further in
the paper there were three letters to the editor backing Cr Lee
Vandervis — commonsense does prevail. I applaud the writers and their
reasoning and agree wholeheartedly. A great start to my day.

Joyce Yee-Murdoch
Cromwell

22/01/24
A nonsense
Duane Donavan (ODT, 11.1.24) correctly calls Cr Laufiso’s personal campaign against CR Vandervis “vexatious and a waste of council time.” or, as an earlier correspondent put it, “spending her time screaming at the sky, pretending to be offended on behalf of Māori.”

There are bigger things for the councillor to be concerned about. The continual loss of parking in the central city is just one example. George St, the one-time “golden mile” is no longer golden. Fed-up shoppers are going elsewhere, leaving struggling businesses in their wake; some even closing up.

Then there are ever-increasing rates, a real worry for those on fixed incomes. They won’t be impressed at their dollars being splashed out on an investigator following up Cr Laufiso’s complaint. A nonsense if ever there was.

G R MacDonald
Dunedin