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When the world cares more than your council

This is a follow-up from yesterday's column with some interesting observations.

It would seem that thousands of people across the face of the globe seem to care more about a small rural district in New Zealand than its own council does.

Just hours ago I posted a video outlining the stoush that has erupted between myself and the local council here in the South Waikato.

As of the time I write this column (3am on the 26th of Feb), that video has already had 5,000 views and has prompted over 250 people to leave a comment.

Virtually without exception, the comments condemn the actions of our council and support the actions I'm taking.

I guess that's to be expected, since most of those viewing the video have already seen previous videos over many years where our council has shown itself to be dysfunctional and intent on persuing an agenda against me.

What the Mayor and his council will likely not be happy about is the level of support I've received for taking the SWDC to court over this matter.

Some folk have already started sending money to fund legal action (even though I've not actually asked anyone to do so yet) and many others have said they are ready and waiting to contribute when called on to do so.

I find it tragic that we have a small bunch of people (our council) who feel it's okay to pick a fight with a community that spans the globe and is prepared to put their money where there mouth is to protect the rights of our own little district.

The very fact that so many people from around the world feel an attachment to this district, primarily through my decades of videos filmed here, shows just what an opportunity our council is thumbing their nose at and how arrogant they are.

Any sensible council would not be indulging a rogue mayor in his petulance and risking an expensive legal battle, crowdfunded by people across the globe. Instead they'd be accepting my offer to sit down around a table and come up with a plan for working cooperatively with me to ensure the best outcomes for this district.

I am aware that there are a small handful of councilors who see the lunacy of this situation but they are greatly outnumbered by those who seem to have sworn blind alegiance to the Mayor and CE. Such a tragedy for democracy.

One overwhelming observation, when reading the comments on my latest video, is that this isn't just a South Waikato thing. All over the country and indeed, all over the world, people have had a guts-full of arrogant, self-indulgent politicians who seem to forget who they're working for and who they're paid to serve.

Sadly, despite the fact that there may be a good public turnout this morning to support myself and remind local councilors of their obligations to the community, I suspect nothing will stop the Mayor from further dragging the reputation of his council through the mud. Maybe he realises that in the wake of his previous behaviour, that reputation is already so badly damaged that more stupidity won't change anything.

Yesterday I dropped into the local police station to let them know what was likely to happen today and bring them up to speed on my motives and objectives so they can be better informed if called to remove me from today's meeting.

If the council trespasses me and police arrive to enforce that trespass notice I will leave as requested. It is not the job of police to validate the legitimacy of such a trespass notice, nor should they be expected to litigate the fairness or legality of the council's actions so I won't make life hard for them.

However, footage of the police escorting me, a member of the public, from a public meeting of a council that is voting to thumb its nose at the recommendations by the Ombudsman that council workshops be open to the public will have an effect far beyond this day.

If this council chooses to shoot itself in the foot, I won't stand in their way.

Here is the video I posted to YouTube yesterday:

Carpe Diem folks!

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