HOW MANY POLITICIANS ARE ENOUGH

On Nat Rad's panel yesterday Chris Trotter was concerned about how many local politicians are enough for a population of 1,300,000. He made comparisons with UK and some European cities and some of those of equivalent size. They ranged from memory from 1 to a couple of thousand to 1 to seven thousand plus. Paris for example was 1 - 7500

He took one Government's council number of 20 members and came to one politician to 65,000 which is clearly too high.

But if you take the two tier system of council and 22 wards I am proposing the total number of politicians excluding the mayor is 176 which gives a ratio of one politician to 7386 citizens which is less than Trotter's gives for Paris and about half that of Glasgow which is one to 16,400.

GET A GRIP PEOPLE

John Key endorsed John Banks for Super City Mayor and deeply wounded the usual suspects. Get over yourself people - Key just made a cute introduction to Banks who was at a meeting Key was about to address. Just the usual pollie flattering another pollie by calling him a Super Mayor

The Mayors of the North Shore and Rodney, Andrew Williams and Penny Webster, would be far better off giving their citizens  some idea of alternative structures that would work. The Big City IS coming. Put a bit of energy into getting it right, fair and democratic.

This meaningless whining is exactly why Auckland the way it is now doesn't work and never will.

CONGRATULATIONS DAME JENNY GIBBS

An honour richly deserved  and apallingly overdue