Andrew Williams (New Zealand)
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Andrew Williams (born 1959) is a New Zealand politician. In 2007 he was elected as Mayor of North Shore City, New Zealand's fourth largest city. Williams served on a community board during 2004-07, and was a councillor in the term before that in 2001-04.
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[edit] Politics
Williams is an outspoken critic of the proposed 'Super City' amalagamation process for Auckland instigated by national government, considering it unnecessary and undemocratic. He has called the political moves towards forced unification a railroaded process, and a power grab.[1] Personal relations with Auckland City's mayor John Banks have reportedly turned very sour, with Banks calling Williams 'a lunatic' in a text message Banks accidentally sent to Williams himself, after Williams had accused Rodney Hide of misleading the Prime Minister on the amount of consultation with local authorities on the Super City proposal.[2]
Williams has instead called for retention of the local Councils as they exist as of 2009, with a stronger Auckland Regional Council that could be made more accountable by being made up of local authority councillors instead of being elected separately and being forced to 'work in a silo', 'with insufficient funding'.[1]
[edit] Controversies
On the 15th of August 2008, Williams collapsed while attending a Devonport naval base function. While being treated by ambulance workers, Williams is said to have "lashed out" at those helping him. The ambulance staff filed an incident report, but did not recommend further action to be taken.[3] Williams wife Jane claims her husband was suffering from "Chinese lurgy", after an exhausting 10-day trip to Korea and China. She described the incident as an unconscious reaction of Williams as the medics treated him, and expressed regret that the media had been told of it even though it should covered by patient confidentiality.[4]
Andrew Williams has been involved in a number of incidents where his temper apparently flared up - such as during a meeting of a committee of the North Shore City Council, where he was asked to leave the meeting after referring to a councillor, Chris Darby, as a "smart-arse".[5]
Local newspapers were critical of the Mayor's first year in office, with one paper asking the question "Is the mayor mad?" and noting that his behaviour has been described as "overbearing, controlling, heavy-handed". Williams defended himself as not having "a lot of patience for fence-sitters and procrastinators".[6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Andrew Williams: Downsize this Super City madness - The New Zealand Herald, Friday 08 May 2009
- ^ Banks calls Williams a lunatic as Super City debate gets ugly - The New Zealand Herald, Monday 13 April 2009
- ^ Sick mayor and ambulance staff run-in
- ^ Mayoress concerned about patient confidentiality
- ^ Mayor defiant over council name-calling - The New Zealand Herald, Thursday 13 November 2008
- ^ Is the mayor mad? - The Aucklander, 30th October 2008
