who voted for the sale of Capital Power.

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This pole is only a couple of years old and already is warping under the stress.
Telecom's trench runs underneath it. 
The street is subject to very high winds which causes constant damage. When I mentioned to a Saturn technician that I had counted them visiting the pole at least 12 times to fix the booster hanging on the wire he told me they have to fix it after every major Southerly storm.

This page is dedicated to all those Wellington City Councillors and their advisors who promoted and voted for the sale of Capital Power.

Some advised and voted on the basis of sheer greed. History has its way of revealing that. Greed contains within it the seeds of self-destruction and the wider community tends to suffer too. This pole reflects how greed has warped and stressed our city.

As mentioned elsewhere, the night of the decision in 1994 to sell 49% of Capital Power and confer dominant rights to TransAlta was reputedly one in which Councillors were put under excessive duress. The Mayor, Fran Wilde, and other ardent proponents of the sale placed opponents in a very hostile and secretive environment. Ignorance, the ever-present companion of greed, prevailed and some relatively well-meaning and democratic Councillors would have voted for the sale with little knowledge of how their action was destroying much of vital electrical potential of Wellington , New Zealand ’s capital city.

The near impossible strains they experienced can be seen in this pole. This said, other Councillors remained firm in defending the city’s electrical potential and democracy. Their sustaining role can be seen in the fact that the pole still remains upright at all.

It is also important to note that Councillors in other New Zealand cities were placed under the same extreme pressures from our media, consultants and merchant interests and were not twisted and swayed by the ignorant advice tendered.

At point of publishing Wellington City Council is still attempting to discover the lists of how Councillors voted. My latest communication, received today, 4^th October 2007, is:  

Hello Dave,
Thank you for your request for information about how Councillors voted on the sale of Capital Power.

I have reviewed the Archive files and have attached copies of the minutes of:

• The Council meeting 6 July 1994 which agreed to the sale of up to 49% of Capital Power, and
• The Additional Ordinary Council Meeting 13 May 1996 that agreed to the disposal of part or all of the rest of Capital Power

As you will see from the attached documents, the names of the Councillors who voted for/against the recommendation in 1994 were not recorded. I have not been able to find that information anywhere else in the files and so am unable to provide it to you.

If you disagree with this decision, you can apply in writing to the Ombudsman to have the decision investigated and reviewed under section 27 (3) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know. I am happy to forward a "hard copy" of the information if you would like.

Yours sincerely

(Signed)

Issues Resolution Office
Wellington City Council

101 Wakefield Street
PO Box 2199
Wellington

DD +64 4 803 8368
Reception +64 4 499 4444
Fax +64 4 801 3048

The documents suggest the 1996 vote was:

Councillors voting for the sale of Capital Power

Baber Armstrong Nicholls (husband of current Mayor Prendergast) Piper Foster Siers Johnston Rainbow Prendergast  Gilberthorpe and Mayor Blumsky

Councillors voting against the sale of Capital Power

Gotlieb Clark Nef Kedgley Cook Wade-Brown

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