Chamber Of Commerce Mayoral Survey for 2007 Wellington City Council Election

F Y I
Bryan Pepperell's response to the Chamber of Commerce is in red.

Only four out of 11 candidates for the Wellington mayoralty have an acceptable outlook for business, Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny says.

Mr Pepperell Responds - Mr Finny should not have published this survey before we had a chance to speak to them as candidates at their forum on Wednesday the 12th of September. Mr Finny has been selective in his response and ducked for cover on the crucial issues of Climate Change and Peak Oil.

Responses to a survey by the Chamber of Wellington's mayoral hopefuls on their views on the business community and business policy for council were encouraging but sorted the pack, Mr Finny said. "There seem to be two groups."
He said four of the nine respondents to the survey had views in line with the Chamber of Commerce - councillors Ray Ahipene-Mercer and Rob Goulden, incumbent mayor Kerry Prendergast, and restaurateur John McGrath.

Pepperell responds - Mr Finny has divided Mayoral candidates into two camps, those for and those against. It would have been better to allow the Chamber to make up its own mind from the results of the survey and the candidates' speeches.

The rest had a variety of views with regard to business, but the business community would have a "tough ride" under their suggested policies, Mr Finny said.
"They seem to be operating under a different paradigm (from the business community)."
Three candidates - Jack Ruben, Paul Bailey and Carl Gifford - did not reply to the survey.
Most respondents were united in their view of strengthening the city infrastructure, including roading, public transport and broadband access.
The issue of the rating differential policy, whereby businesses pay more rates than residents - was a key one, and views were divided.
Businesses pay 4.2 times more in rates than home owners, and the council has been decreasing it incrementally every year.
Councillors Bryan Pepperell and Helen Ritchie said the differential should stay because businesses could afford to pay and rates were tax-deductible.
"Wellington City is a wealthy city and it does not have the look of a city with businesses struggling," Ms Ritchie said.
Nick Kelly - the socialist candidate picked by Mr Finny as the least business-friendly of the respondents - was more blunt, saying business rates should stay the same, and "working people" should pay no rates at all.

Pepperell responds - Mr Finny selectively quotes from the survey with his own spin. Viable businesses pass on their rates and deduct them. Rates for business are a lot lower than they were in 1996 when I was first elected to Council. At that time I said that rate increases were driven by spending and the sale of Council owned assets such as Capital Power. The Chamber supported the sale of Council owned assets and in doing this it has supported the cost of running the city by rates alone.

Some of Mr Kelly's responses were contradictory, calling for the overthrow of the "capitalist class" while also saying that infrastructure improvements to schools, hospitals, roading and public housing needed to "be paid for by the capitalist class".
He also said he would accept only the "average workers' wage" if elected mayor, which would amount to a pay cut of about a $100,000.
Mr Finny said all but one respondent appreciated that a vibrant business community was needed in Wellington, but most of them were not particularly focused on helping that happen.
Rather than describe specific initiatives to ensure a business- friendly environment, Mr Pepperell simply said he wanted a "people-friendly" environment.

Pepperell responds. Mr Finny has a very narrow view of the social and economic landscape of Wellington. He has failed to understand the economic value of a people friendly city. Might I remind Mr Finny that the World Bank ranked New Zealand as the most business friendly country in the world. It is time for us to become the most people friendly country in the world.

Mr Finny said it was disappointing more business people had not decided to step into the mayoral race, but said the fact Ms Prendergast was standing again had probably put some people off.
Ms Prendergast's replies were mostly in line with current council policy and she emphasised the need to support the newly formed Wellington Regional Strategy.
Mr Finny said it was of concern that three candidates did not have the time or inclination to respond to the survey, especially since they were asking to be voted into a job that required a great deal of commitment in time and energy.
"If you are going to be mayor you have to throw everything at it."
The survey outlined some positive options for mayor, but the weighting toward candidates who were not business-focused meant it was crucial for business owners to get out and vote, Mr Finny said.
Voting turnout in recent years had been low and that needed to change.

Pepperell sums up. Mr Finny has put business on a collision course with democracy. He has failed to understand the basic principles of democracy. I will tell him what they are. Majority rule, minority protection, sharing the benefits.
I ran a small business for many years and am certainly not anti-business. My concern is to achieve overall fairness between business and residents.

Cheers
Bryan Pepperell