Works and improvements within the city have far-reaching effects on the local economy and providing jobs. Your Council has acted positively to address the economic sustainability of the city. Having fixed the city’s ‘plumbing’ we more recently turned our attention to those things that will make Dunedin a better place to live and work: Wall Street, Town Hall, Settlers Museum and Forsyth Barr Stadium. Only Council is large enough or in a position to initiate these projects. They have required judicious and planned spending yet we retain one of the lowest rates in the country for a major city. Every vote I cast at Council is with the future of our city and people in mind.  I recommit myself to working hard on your behalf and to progressing sustainable economic development while reinforcing the city’s distinctive identity, diversity and quality of life. To read more, please go to:  www.richardwallsnz.com

 

Top 5 Issues

1. Taking The Opportunities:
   
   Councils have considerable power to assist or hinder economic growth and development.
   The challenges for Dunedin remain immense.
   Sitting on the edge of the New Zealand and world economies confers both advantages and disadvantages. We are well on the way to being a modern, sustainable city. But, we are not there yet. No-one owes us any favours. We must continue to have a future focussed vision that sees challenges as opportunities and the determination to take them. The positive momentum and innovation of recent years must be maintained - in partnership with the private and public sectors. In ‘new age’ manufacturing, in tourism – which has been the real success of the past two decades – in education and in the industry clusters such as IT, fashion, and the like. We must always be prepared! To read more, just point your browser to: www.richardwallsnz.com.
2. Council Debt:
   
   Borrowing for capital projects is not “bad” providing it is planned for and affordable. Which ours is.
   
   It is not as though anything has really changed from three years ago when it was noted in
   Council’s Annual Plan that: “the wastewater and secondary treatment projects at Tahuna, along with other capital projects, for all practical purposes, take up all available space on the balance sheet. The risks of interest rate increases and cost overruns will need careful management for the remainder of the Plan period.”
   
   I added to that in the Walls Report ’07 delivered to all householders in Hills, that: “This is particularly so for this coming triennium and the peak commitments in 2010/11 and 2011/12.
   
   Then along came the Global Financial Crisis, sparking the worst recession the world economy has had for generations.
   
   Council took stock, looked at its forward programme and determined that it could, with careful and skilled management, maintain its planned capital programme for major infrastructure and facility projects as set out in its Community Plan to the overall benefit of the local economy and the city generally.
   
   As it was indeed urged to do by The Otago Chamber of Commerce.
   
   Said John Christie, Chief Executive of the Otago Chamber of Commerce, speaking to council on 3 December 2008: “Practical solutions (are) needed, including reconsidering rates relief packages, supporting local companies and their products, and bringing forward the council’s budgeted expenditure - for projects big and small - where possible to stimulate the economy. This is not the time to retrench”. (ODT 4,12,08).
   
   Council responded to the challenge by carefully managing its debt and without unnecessarily cutting any of its core services despite continued assertion from some vociferous anti-stadium opponents that it would do so. (Walls Rejects Accusation - ODT 17.12.08).
   
   Now some seeking election to council are loudly talking up a ‘debt crisis’, and the strong action they will take if elected to council.
   
   Strong action on what?
   
   They fail to say.
   
   They ‘conveniently’ ignore that nearly all Council's loan requirements to fund current capital projects was planned three years ago and included in our Community Plan 2009-2019.
   
   That we have provided for the repayments, as we always have in our forward budgets. Just as many of us do with mortgages when buying a house.
   
   A very simple ethic underlies borrowing: You do not borrow what you cannot repay and there is absolutely no basis for the accusation of a buy-now-pay-later philosophy operating at the Dunedin City Council so loftily levelled by the ODT in some of its editorial.
   
   
   Council is very much aware that our level of debt is high by historical standards – for Dunedin anyway.
   
   Our actual borrowings though are on ‘a par’ with our peers and lower than many. (DCC Actual Borrowings Low - ODT)
   
   And, as ratings agency Standard & Poors noted in its last assessment (December 2009), "Council's credit quality is underpinned by its track record of strong management and fiscal discipline".
   
   Not forgetting, our just revised A-1+1 Positive credit rating “with positive implications”.
   
   The critics ignore that spending programmes outlined in the Community Plan are not “locked in” until included in each Annual Plan.
   
   They ignore that this year no new projects were added and some of the peaks in the planned capital project programme set out in the Community Plan adopted in 2009, were smoothed out so that everything did not proceed at the same time.
   
   Again to quote “Standard & Poors: Council has a very good record of not needing to raise as much money as projected for its programmes”.
   
   The critics ignore the projects that council has – or is delivering. The water and wastewater upgrades (there’s $250 million in therefore a start with another $67 million to come); the Settler’s Museum, Regent Theatre, Town Hall and Dunedin Centre upgrades and, yes, the new stadium?
   
   Ask yourself. Where would Dunedin be now if council had not decided to proceed with these projects?
   
   To read more, just point your browser to: www.richardwallsnz.com.
   
3. How We Spend Your Rates and Affordability:
   
   The important questions that must continually be addressed by Councillors are, in my opinion: Are we getting value for what council spends? Are we getting value for what we pay in rates? Can we cut costs without degrading present service levels? Are there things we could be doing better and more efficiently? Are there activities that Council should no longer be involved in?  And are rates affordable? These are questions I regularly ask of myself as a councillor and as a ratepayer. Interestingly, I find most people look at the matter in much the same way. With around 90% of our total revenue committed to core functions and services, there is little room for manoeuvre. As indeed those who get elected to office on bland promises "to cut the rates" soon find out. One thing I do know, bringing back the old patch ‘n’ pray ways by recklessly promising to cut, or freeze, rates just won’t work. It simply loads on increased costs a year or two out. To read more, just point your browser to: www.richardwallsnz.com.
   
4. Governance Is Governance:
   
   It is important, indeed vital, that councillors better understand and discharge their governance role. There is always a natural tension between governance and management especially so in local government. As there should be. It is difficult at times for elected members to make the distinction given that a council will comprise a mix of people, some of whom have not had any previous governance experience. This can lead to a blurring of responsibilities especially if the natural development of informal working relationships (or to use the buzz word, networking) at various levels of management takes root. Elected members are also, of course, very much aware of how a decision can “play out”. There is always a consciousness of the electorate. All councillors must be actively involved in planning long-term financial strategy - or indeed, any strategy at all. That is fundamental to our governance responsibilities. It is just not good enough, nor is it fair, to leave it to management and staff. To read more, just point your browser to: www.richardwallsnz.com.
   
5. Prudent Financial Management and Taking Hard Decisions:
   
   Prudent financial management in the next few years remains critical and this will require a Council with knowledge, experience, energy and wise heads to perform the task. Committees must regularly review their operations with emphasis on adequately maintaining and improving essential core services while seeking innovative ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Our financial assets and major investments should be subject to regular review to ensure they are returning maximum cost benefit. As noted during consideration of our Community Plan (2009-19) “the balance sheet is full” and restraint on new capital expenditure remains a necessary discipline. All Councillors have a responsibility to ensure that the city’s finances are nurtured and protected for the wellbeing of our ratepayers and city, today and in the future. To read more just point your browser to: www.richardwallsnz.com.

Personal Profile

 

I am a Dunedin lad through and through.  An Andersons Bay one to be exact.  And perhaps testament to the saying, "you can take the boy out of the Bay, but not the Bay out of the boy".  It was a great place to grow up in the days of simple things including the enjoyment of riding  the tram-cars and cablecars.

I got north of Mount Cargill - well, Karitane really where we had a crib - for a few years though.  Kaikoura, where I spent six years in the 50's changed my view of things.  Small village life and its relationships including those with the local iwi, left an impression on me that is vivid to this day.  Not, of course, forgetting the magnificent scenery, the view from The Peninsula over Ingles Bay to the mountains is truly described as one of the most stunning in the world.

Kaikoura was quiet and largely unheard of then.  It was the time before the interisland ferries ran to and from Picton.  There were no whales in those days either, the Perano Brothers had "fished" them all but out.  Now, the whales have returned and everyone knows where Kaikoura is!

It was while I was still at secondary school in Kaikoura that I had my first taste of running a business.   The death of a neighbour left a small rental book club languishing without an owner.   Knowing my love for books and restless energy to "be doing things", my grandmother lent me £100 to buy it.  It only opened for three hours or so a day and my mother helped by opening it in the afternoon until I came in after school.  

Along with that I often ran the local movie theatre at night after serving 'an apprenticeship' of some kind, sweeping up the Jaffas, putting up posters, taking tickets, ushering and running the projectors.   And so started a love affair of sorts with movies as well as the books. 

In the 1970s, we lived in Auckland for a couple of years and it was from there that the unexpected happened.  I was elected to Parliament for a Dunedin seat.  And so, back home we came and we have stayed ever since at our present address.  That is likely to change soon.  The brood have flown and now live far away, and we need to "downsize". 

I have enjoyed every minute of my public life, any disappointments have been fleeting.  It is indeed, a great privilege to serve.

But, if you asked me for the highlights, three would stand out.  Building our own tugs at the Otago Harbour Board after the government said 'NO' we could not import them' and were inflicting on us a price we could not afford.  Raising the funds to buy The Regent Theatre and convert it to our major live theatre when the then council initially said "NO" and finally raising nearly $2million across Otago and Southland when the government said "NO" to our hospital having a CAT scanner!  Hard to believe now!  All had extraordinary and enthusiastic community support, and it was a real privilege to lead the hundreds of committed volunteers who actively worked on the two appeals and ensured their success. 

Then there was the parade around Andy Bay back in 1948 when we collected 240 pennies for CORSO.  But that's another story! 

 

I married June (nee Thompson) in 1961 and we have an adult family of three, Tania (h. James Pattullo) who live on Te Atatu Peninsula in West Auckland, Philip (w. Ruth Thomas-Walls) who live at Wadalba, NSW Central Coast, Australia) and Tracey (h. Anthony Hunter) who live in Henderson, near Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.  We are blessed with four delightful granchildren.

 

I am currently an elected member of the Dunedin City Council; Chair, Finance and Strategy Committee; Deputy Chair, Hearings Committee and Chairman of Dunedin International Airport Limited; a Fellow of The Institute of Directors of New Zealand (F.Inst.D) and of the New Zealand Institute of Management (FNZIM); Justice of the Peace, a Marriage Celebrant; a trustee of The Aramoana Relief Trust (Chairman) and The Otago Cricket Trust; and Vice Patron of The Otago Art Society.

As Chair of Finance and Strategy over the triennium just ending,  my particular focus has been on re-integrating councillors into active involvement in the planning of long-term financial strategy - or indeed, any strategy at all. Something that, sadly, diminished over much of the past decade.  Working closely with my deputy and good friend Chris Staynes and with the support of senior council management, we early on refined financial reporting to the committee so that it is more timely and relevant.  Then as the first step to bringing councillors back into planning financial strategy, we initiated a series of workshops to dissect the process and to see how it might work better. We then sat down with management to shape the Draft Annual Plan (including the budget) for the 2010-11 financial year.   The draft Annual Plan when it emerged reflected our joint work.  Gone was the so-called "Christmas Pack', a massive set of documents and reports that largely represented the views of management and departments who were beavering away with really no clear idea of what councillors as a group were thinking, or wanting.  In its place, a cohesive set of reports and related documents that reflected our joint work throughout the preceding months. The marathon ‘3-day auction’ that we have been subjected to in January over recent years was replaced with a much more objective and focussed meeting with a high-level of debate that, I believe, better informed the public on what we proposed to do in the year ahead.  The surprises and confusion often reflected in ‘sensational newspaper headlines’ were gone.  The formal public consultation that followed was much more meaningful.  The process is following the same lines right now and I look forward to the new council building on what we have started. 

Over the past three terms, my commitment as a certificated Hearings Commissioner has been extensive in time and rewarding in the process.  Our Hearings Committee is led by an outstanding and hardworking chair in Colin Weatherall, knowledgeable, diligent and fair.  He is highly regarded in planning circles and it is testament to his abilities and  leadership that only a handful of decisions made by the Committee have been successfully appealed in the Environment Court over nine years.    It has been a privilege to support him as his Deputy and to work with him in making the RMA Hearings process one that is understood by applicants and submitters alike.

Along with my involvement in public life, my business career has encompassed sales, marketing and retailing with a dash of parliamentary service for one term in the mid-70s.  If you are inclined to know more, you can read about it in Books, Peanuts and Politics simply by pointing your browser to my website at: www.richardwallsnz.com.

 

Throughout my public life, I have always subscribed to the philosophy enunciated by Edmund Burke, a major philosopher in modern British political thought.  “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinions”.

Burke’s lament “But the age of chivalry is gone.  That of sophisters, economists and calculators has succeeded” was quite prescience.  It is one that is as relevant today as it was when Burke addressed ‘The Electors of Bristol’ in 1774.

Every vote at that I cast at Council has been made in the knowledge that I am exercising my best judgement on your behalf, made with the welfare of citizens and the future of our city in mind.    There are no "pet projects" on my agenda.   This is why I am again offering myself for re-election to council and inviting your support.  

If re-elected, I recommit myself to working hard on your behalf and to progressing sustainable economic development while reinforcing the city’s distinctive identity, diversity and quality of life.

 

To read more, please go to:  www.richardwallsnz.com