Mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II

Like many I was saddened to learn of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Regardless of your opinion of our constitutional arrangements, she has been our Head of State for 70 years and the change will be an unusual one for most of us. In a world where change is the only constant, there is some comfort in having stability and consistency. During her long reign she has seen a lot of change across the world and I know many British Prime Ministers have commented that she provided an unique perspective on matters of state and I have no doubt that she will be missed.

We often feel a strangely personal connection to public figures like the monarchy, despite not having met them. I have a very vivid memory of watching as the Queen arrive in New Zealand for the 1990 Commonwealth Games on television. However, while she was a key public figure for millions, we shouldn’t forget she was also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Her family will no doubt be mourning her loss, they should be given time to grieve privately and no unnecessary pressure put upon them.

The British monarchy have a complicated history with the world, especially indigenous peoples and I appreciate that not everyone will share the same sense of loss. We do need to be aware of this history and consider our future constitutional arrangements, but for now we should allow people time to mourn and adjust to a new Head of State.

Auckland will mark the passing of the Queen in a number of ways, including allowing the public to sign books of condolence - see here for more details.

East Auckland Tourism celebrates successes despite challenging year

Monday night was the AGM and networking event for East Auckland Tourism - one of the local community organisations I volunteer my governance skills and experience.

We were hosted by Turanga Creek who hold weddings and events, an incredible venue in East Auckland that provides the whole package - great food, wine and location. Owner and operator Rochelle gave us a great overview of the venue as well as being an amazing host for the evening.

Annual general meetings can be a dry, formal event but this was really enjoyable. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved over the last year. It’s been a tough few years for businesses, especially those who rely on tourism and hospitality so it was good to reflect on our successes.

We’ve invested heavily in our website and digital promotions, bringing East Auckland to a wider audience, together with practical suggestions for things to do, while our new map is providing visitors with an up to date guide to the region. Despite the challenges we’ve managed to pull off some events, including an activation linked to our growing Art Trail. And we’ve partnered with expert providers to create specialised tours of the area that has brought new people into the region.

We heard from both Jacqui Wilkinson from White Glove Experiences and Ceillhe Sperath from TIME Unlimited Tours who provided some great insights into tourism in East Auckland.

As treasurer, I spoke to our financial performance which was solid and set us up nicely for the new year. I was proud to announce our increased budget for the year, thanks to the gracious support of Auckland Unlimited, Howick Local Board and Franklin Local Board. With this extra funding we can supercharge our efforts to grow tourism and support local businesses in meaningful and practical ways.

It was also great to network with others and see local businesses owners connecting with others. Another big lesson from the pandemic has been the importance of buying local and based on the conversations last night, we can expect to see more local partnerships!

Community asking for more investment in Flat Bush and Ormiston

On Monday the Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust hosted local candidates as part of their regular seniors meeting.

It was a pretty wet and wild outside but the reception inside the Old Flat Bush School Hall was warm and welcoming. We were treated to music, group exercises and a delicious lunch.

Candidates were invited to introduce themselves and their priorities, followed by an opportunity for questions.

There were two big issues that came out of our discussions:

1. Transport and road safety: especially around the Flat Bush / Ormiston area and more specifically at the Intersection of Murphy’s Road and Redoubt Road.

2. Flat Bush Library and Community Centre: despite it’s massive population growth, this area still doesn’t’ have a community centre or library.

Both of these are priorities for me and hopefully the community’s wishes are heard by other candidates (even those who didn’t attend).

Embracing our diversity is good for democracy

Last Friday the Korean Positive Ageing Charitable Trust hosted a local election workshop designed especially to help voters understand elections. Attendees were given an explanation of what local government is responsible for and role of elected members before candidates spoke.

It was great to spend the afternoon talking real practical issues with locals and learning more about our diverse community.

We have a lot more work to do to make our city and democracy more accessible to those less fluent in English. It's challenging enough without extra barriers.

As part my efforts, I'm continuing to try get my website translated into more languages (currently available in English, Te Reo Māori, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese).

Good news is there are translated election related resources available online through Council.

Happy Fathers Day!

Me with my Dad, celebrating his birthday a few years ago

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers and father-figures!

Especially my Dad who helped Mum raise six kids. Despite the challenges, we all turned out pretty good!

He literally built the house we grew up in, adding rooms and changing the layout as our family grew.

He passed on his skills and experience, his determination and love for robust discussion.

Love you heaps Dad - thank you for everything.

Celebrating the diversity in our neighbourhood

East Auckland is home to the serene Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple New Zealand 紐西蘭佛光山. On 3 September, they had a Neighbourhood Day, including guided tours of the facilities and work they do in the community.

Great to learn more about one of my favourite places to visit, always feel so welcome.

New website to make voting in local elections easier

Local government controls your roads, beaches and libraries. They make decisions that impact your daily life so it's important that you vote in the upcoming elections.

Most people who don't vote, say it's because they don't know enough about the candidates or what they stand for. Faces on billboards aren’t enough.

The Spinoff has launched their guide to local elections at policy.nz - if you enter your address it will tell you what you can vote for and who the options are. Candidates were invited to provide responses to some specific questions and some general information on why they’re running.

If you’re not sure who you can vote for or what they’re standing for, highly recommend you check it out!

Volunteers working together to keep their community safe

On Wednesday 31 August, some of the patrollers from Botany Crime Watch spent the morning in Botany Town Centre with other volunteers from the New Zealand Asian Council on Reducing Crime and the Flat Bush Ratepayers and Residents Association. Thanks to the New Zealand Police for their support too!

I volunteer with Botany Crime Watch as a patroller and also as secretary of the committee. Thanks to these amazing people, we focus on crime prevention. It's non-confrontational patrolling and we provide all the training, gear and vehicles to keep you safe.

Thanks to the amazing volunteers who helped make this morning happen.

Always looking for more help to make our community safer so get in touch with Botany Crime Watch Patrol or your local Community Patrols of New Zealand - CPNZ

Howick Sports Awards recognises incredible local talent and service

Last Thursday night was the annual Howick Sports Awards. Unfortunately I was late due to a delayed fight back from Wellington (work Board meeting) so I missed some of the presentations. What I did see was amazing - such incredible local talent that we have in East Auckland. Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre (formerly known as Pakuranga United Rugby Club) did an incredible job of organising and hosting the evening!

I was a judge in the 2021 awards so I have some appreciation of the tough job to narrow down the nominations and choose the winners. Based on what we heard on the night, each was really deserving of the nomination even if they didn’t win.

The Supreme Award went to Lance Revill who has built and led Revill Boxing Gym - he’s a local legend who not only helps people get fit and achieve world class boxing status, he’s also a great mentor and strong supporter of lifelong learning. Congratulations to Lance!

Celebrating with Aaron Martin, President of East Skate Club

It was especially awesome that Aaron Martin received a Service to Sport award. Aaron has been the driving force behind East Skate Club and it’s been fantastic working with him and the rest of the team to get this club off the ground. It’s only been two years but we’ve managed to achieve a lot for local kids, including running learn to skate programmes in schools and at the local skatepark.

Daffodil Day Cancer doesn't stop, so we won't either

It’s Daffodil Day and I spent the day out supporting our amazing volunteers collecting on behalf of the Cancer Society. I’ve volunteered as the Area Coordinator for Botany for the last four years (although the street collections in the last two years have been cancelled due to COVID).

Massive thank you to the generous people who give up their time to support this incredible cause. I’m always impressed by your dedication and passion that helps make this day happen. We literally couldn’t do it without you - thank you.

Also thank you to those who donate - your generosity helps Cancer Society provide cancer care for patients and their whānau, run education and awareness programmes, and fund life-saving cancer research. Whether it's driving someone to their treatment, providing advice to someone who has rung our 0800 number, or sitting with them during their treatment - the Cancer Society is there.

Every day 71 New Zealanders are diagnosed with cancer so unfortunately most of us have been impacted. This month we lost a beloved colleague to cancer so this day has extra meaning this year. The loss is still very raw so it’s good to be able to focus on something practical to help.

We’re out collecting again on Saturday 27 August so look out for our collectors or donate online: www.daffodilday.org.nz

Also if you can, consider volunteering for the Cancer Society - they’re always looking for good people for their support programmes.

August 2022 Newsletter

Auckland needs good leadership and effective governance

High performing organisations need good leadership - Auckland Council needs better governance

I spent last week at a Company Directors Course, run by the NZ Institute of Directors. It was very intensive and covered best practice governance, including strategy, finance, risk and culture. Understanding that high performing organisations require good leadership and that starts with the Board - for council that means the councillors and mayor. These roles are responsible for setting the direction, driving performance of the CEO, building good culture and ensuring the organisation is accountable.

The course built on my commercial and community governance experience - I love being able to offer my governance skills to local groups. Earlier this month I was talking about how we can all do more to help our local community groups. Volunteering is always rewarding, especially locally. Speaking of supporting community - despite a full week, I managed to get back for the Howick Santa Parade Quiz Night and my team came 3rd-equal!

Auckland Council could do with better governance, starting with our councillors. We need change and I firmly believe that my skills in business improvement, combined with my governance experience and passion for my community is what is needed to move our city forward.

I'll do my best to keep you up to date through my monthly newsletters. In between, stay up to date via my website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. As always, if there's something you want to hear about or know more, let me know.

Warm regards,

Damian Light

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Auckland's outdated election system hurts our democracy - we must modernise it!

I've been a candidate in Auckland Council elections three times now and I'm always appalled by how complicated we've made it. Bizarre rules, paper forms and limited times to hand them in make it more challenging that it needs to be in 2022. But it's not just the candidate process that's outdated - our election system is in desperate need of modernising.

We've known since before the super city that voting in local elections has been declining. We've know for over a decade that postal voting is becoming less practical. We've known for long enough that most Aucklanders don't understand council or why their vote matters.

But our councillors and mayor have sat on their hands, done nothing. Democracy isn't just voting in elections, but turnout is good indication of public's faith in the system. Will modernising our voting fix everything? No, but it would be sign to the public that their views matter.

Read more here.

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Billboards have gone up!

First set of billboards have gone up - huge thank you to the many generous locals who've allowed me to use their fence.

If you or someone you know would like to host one of these on your fence, please let me know. There are big and small versions to fit all types of fences!

Remembering our past as we move forward

While looking for something in the Auckland Libraries Archives, I stumbled across this invitation to a ball in 1847 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fencibles landing in Howick - this year we're celebrating 175 years.

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections Footprints 05778

Much has changed in the 125 years since the celebrations in 1847 and it's been awesome to see that this year's celebrations have acknowledged and celebrated how our communities are more diverse.

Check out Howick175.co.nz

Another fantastic Howick Santa Parade quiz night fundraiser

The Howick Santa Parade is a local community event that is largely funded through donations and fundraising in our community. Auckland Council (through the Howick Local Board) provides a small grant, but the bulk of the funding comes from other sources.

One of the semi-annual events is the Quiz Night at Bosuns Bar (unfortunately cancelled last year due to lockdown) which was held on 18th August.

The night saw 104 local quiz fans completing to go to take out the 1st prize, which went to the undefeated champions East FM. I was pretty pleased with my teams placement of Third-equal (down to forth after a tough tie breaker). But even better we raised around $4k to help support the parade which is awesome!

The Howick Santa Parade is run by the Howick Children’s Charitable Trust and is planned for Sunday 11 December.

Check out www.howicksantaparade.co.nz for more details, including how to support and volunteer or even enter a float!

Upskilling my governance with Company Directors Course

Certificate for the Course

I’ve spent the last week on a professional training course for Company Directors. Run by the NZ Institute of Directors, the course covered best practice corporate governance, including strategy, finance, risk and culture. We participated in board simulation exercises where we put what we’d learned into practice.

Led by some of New Zealand’s most experienced directors, we learned from the best. With so much to cover in a week, we only had two spare evenings and even then we had homework to do (and one of those evenings was the fundraising quiz for the Howick Santa Parade). It’s always challenging being away from work and home for a week, but really glad I took the time out to upskill.

It was also good spending time with other professionals who are involved or interested in good governance. We had a really diverse mix of people which added to the experience, learning from each other’s skills and experience.

I highly recommend the Company Directors Course for anyone who is interested in increasing their skills in governance. Also joining the New Zealand Institute of Directors (NZ IoD) who act as the professional body for directors, providing best practice, training and networking opportunities, I joined the Institute of Directors few years ago and really appreciated the support. While Directors have historically been largely unseen by the organisations, their role has changed to be more active role in leadership especially around strategy and culture. NZ IoD defines the four pillars of good governance as determining purpose, driving culture, executive performance and ensuring compliance.

I’ve been involved in company director roles for many years as Board Secretary to a commercial board (AsureQuality) for four years and chairperson of our two Australian subsidiaries the last 18 months. This in addition to my numerous volunteer roles on the boards of not-for-profits (Botany Crime Watch Patrol, East Skate Club and East Auckland Tourism). I was also on the Board of UnitedFuture for eight years including as chair for three. I’ve learned a great deal from these positions but membership in the Institute of Directors and this course have helped lift my understanding of best practice.

Next step is moving down the Chartered Membership pathway.

Election billboards have gone up

First lot of signs have gone up this morning!

Huge thank you to the amazing local residents who've let me borrow their fence for a few weeks.

If you’ve got a fence (or knows someone who does), please let me know.

Auckland's outdated election system hurts our democracy

The chief executive of Auckland Council will be sleeping easier after being relieved of one item on his contractual list of “must-dos”.

Jim Stabback no longer holds the responsibility of lifting voter turnout in the October 8 elections by more than 3%, from a dire record-low of 35.2% in 2019.

Councillors struck-off that requirement from a list of performance yardsticks that Stabback must meet over the coming year, though avoided stating the obvious – that maybe they should carry that burden.

- Who shoulders the burden of lifting Aucklanders' voting habits? Stuff 2 August 2022

Leaving oversight of elections to those the current, flawed system put into power is significant conflict of interest. Out sourcing the operations to commercial businesses is hardly better.

Local government elections for councils should be managed by very capable and independent Electoral Commission. They run the central government elections for parliament extremely well and could easily take over council elections. They’ve proven that they’re capable of moving with the times, unlike Auckland Council.

Instead of modernising our voting to the more democratic STV (Single Transferable Vote) system that ensures that your views are considered, Auckland's elected representatives continue to support the archaic FPP (First Past the Post) system that the public stopped Parliament from using in the 90s. Why have councillors kept the same, out dated system? Because it works for them.

We've known since before the super city that voting in local elections has been declining. We've know for over a decade that postal voting is becoming less practical. We've known for long enough that most Aucklanders don't understand council or why their vote matters.

But our councillors and mayor have sat on their hands, done nothing. Democracy isn't just voting in elections, but turnout is good indication of public's faith in the system. Will modernising our voting fix everything? No, but it would be sign to the public that their views matter.

STV isn't radical, it's used by councils across NZ. Dunedin, Hamilton, Wellington, New Plymouth, Nelson and Gisborne to name a few. Auckland's outdated voting system is bad for democracy.

It has to change.

If elected I will do everything to ensure it does so your voice is heard.

We can all do more to support our local not-for-profit

“Civil society sits at the heart of our daily activities. We rely heavily upon the vital and often invisible work of the not-for-profit (NFP) sector.

"New Zealand has the highest number of charities per capita in the OECD – over 28,000. This is undoubtedly too many, however their contribution is colossal and not always properly valued.

If we are talking dollar value, in 2018 the charity sector was worth over $12b per annum to our GDP."

Pru Etcheverry, ONZM, Stuff

From sports clubs to environmental groups, residents associations to animal rescue, support groups to community patrols - the list goes on. Not-for-profits do incredible work across New Zealand, delivering an enormous range of services that are critical to our communities.

Some are fortunate to have enough financial support that they have paid employees, but most rely heavily on volunteers. I’ve had the pleasure of serving on a number of Boards for not-for-profits and I’m always impressed with the dedication and passion of the people involved.

For good reasons there is a lot of transparency and accountability reporting that these groups must undertake. On top of the constant hunt for funding, the administration burden is significant. I’d like to see local and central government support this sector more by reducing the bureaucratic demands and focusing more on enabling these groups to thrive.

I’d also encourage anyone who is looking to do something rewarding to seriously consider helping out one of their local groups. Find one that connects with a passion you share, or that might need your skills. Even sports clubs need accountants, you don’t have to be an athlete.

Check out https://seekvolunteer.co.nz/ for groups looking for volunteers or for governance roles head to the NZ Institute of Directors vacancies page.

July Newsletter

It's been a busy month as the election campaign kicks off. I attended both the Cockle Bay Residents and Ratepayers Association AGM and Howick Residents and Ratepayers AGM. I helped pull trolleys out of the Botany Creek and supported East Auckland Tourism's focus on art for Elemental AKL.

People often ask why I'd spend so much time, money and effort running for council - I love Auckland but poor leadership is holding back our city. Selling our parks to cover poor financial management has meant Sunnyhills will probably loose Fortyfoot Park and while it was good that our councillors changed their minds, it was too late. Meanwhile poor oversight of significant assets like the Ports of Auckland and Auckland Airport keep costing us more. Record debt, rising rates and service cuts are leaving us with less while costing us more.

We need change and I firmly believe that my skills in business improvement, combined with my governance experience and passion for my community is what is needed to move our city forward.

I'll do my best to keep you up to date through my monthly newsletters. In between, stay up to date via my website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. As always, if there's something you want to hear about or know more, let me know.

Warm regards,

Damian Light

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Burswood diversion worst outcome for everyone

You might've seen the article on the front page of the Times - I'm furious about Auckland Transport's decision to proceed with the Eastern Busway diversion through Burswood. 

I feel for the residents of Burswood, who have been forced to fight to keep their homes, and lost. Having this bombshell dropped on them at the end of lockdown last year, they've rallied together. Unfortunately their courageous efforts have been ignored.

There are cheaper options that will deliver better long term benefits. There are alternatives that won't destroy homes and community. We need the Eastern Busway we were promised and this isn’t it.

Read the full piece in the Times here.

Billboards coming to a fence near you!

We're fast approaching the period where billboards are allowed up. If you or someone you know would like to host one of these on your fence, please let me know. There are big and small versions to fit all types of fences!

Pay increase for drivers a good start

Auckland Council is announcing an immediate wage increase for the city's bus drivers on Thursday to try and boost its staff numbers.

The average increase will be 8%, bringing the average wage up from $23.71 to $25.62 per hour.

It comes after continued bus service cancellations across the city amid staffing shortages and winter sickness.

Essential workers throughout this pandemic (and before), our bus drivers deserve better pay and conditions. Great to see this being recognised with Auckland Council announcing today that drivers will receive an increase of 8%, effective this Thursday.

Public transport is our greatest opportunity to improve congestion, emissions and road safety. For too long local governments have focused on the costs, trying to make it as cheap as possible while central government has placed complex rules on how its run leading to perverse outcomes. This means less focus on service quality and more pressure to keep wages down.

We need to invest more into public transport, taking into the account the significant social, economic and environmental benefits that it provides. And not just for those that use public transport - more reliable, accessible and frequent buses and trains is good for everyone.

Howick Councillors change of heart on park sales too late to save Fortyfoot

While it’s good to see our councillors accept they had previously made the wrong decision and try to save Fortyfoot Park it has been too late. I welcome their recent efforts but today's outcome is the unfortunate but inevitable result of poor decisions they made two years ago.

On Tuesday 26 July 2022, a motion before council to prevent the sale of the public reserve at 9R Fortyfoot Lane in Sunnyhills failed to get sufficient support, losing 8-13.

The park was put up for sale as a result of the Asset Recycling programme initiated under the 2020/2021 Emergency budget which both Howick-ward Councillors Paul Young and Sharon Stewart voted for. The target for asset sales was set at a record $224 million and the list of initial target properties in the Howick ward included 34 Moore Street, 16 Fencible Drive and 28R Simon Owen Place. On the potential target list were 14 properties in Howick, including 9R Fortyfoot Lane, 76R Aberfeldy Avenue and 111R Golflands Drive. After intense public pressure the Golflands reserve has been withdrawn from the list, but both Aberfeldy and Fortyfoot remain as targets for sale.

I was there in the council chambers in July 2020 as our councillors both voted in full support of the Emergency Budget. I was stunned to see both of our elected representatives vote to sell hundreds of millions in community assets, knowing full well that beloved local parks were in the firing line.

The community feedback was clearly against selling these parks and the Howick Local Board were strongly opposed to the sales. My own submission on the budget criticised the asset sales, noting that the timing was extremely poor and Eke Panuku Development Auckland (the Auckland Council CCO responsible for the Asset Recycling programme) had a bad record of community engagement.

Asset recycling is a dreadful euphemism used to disguise what this really is - a firesale of community assets to cover poor financial management. Decades of poor governance, haphazard prioritisation and no financial discipline have left Auckland with record debt, endless rates rises and reduced services. To make matters worse, local parks are being sold to cover the shortfall.

I’ve been a vocal critic of the programme to sell parks and reserves since it was proposed in 2020.

“While I'm not ideologically opposed to asset sales, selling our reserves and greenspaces is something else entirely. As our city continues to grow and housing is intensified, these spaces become more important. Once gone, we'll never get them back. It's short sighted and fails to address the issues of waste and misspending.”

- Damian Light, February 2021 after attending a community meeting in Aberfeldy Park where both Howick-ward councillors failed to show up.

Sometimes it makes sense to sell some unused land to fund something better and more useful for the community. 2R Ti Rakau Drive is a good example of a small parcel of land that served little community use.

However when council does sell community assets, all revenue generated must be reinvested into the communities whose assets were sold. Putting the revenue into the general revenue pool is dishonest and robbing communities a second time.

Today's outcome is a sobering reminder that decisions made by council have serious, long term impacts on communities. I feel for the locals who have been forced to fight for their community park and been let down. I'm also fearful for the other parks whose fate we don't yet know, such as Aberfeldy.

East Auckland deserves better - we need councillors who will listen and act in the best interests of their community at all times, not just during an election year.