Roman Travers: Wayne Brown and the Weather

What the weather brought to vast parts of predominantly the North Island over the long weekend will hopefully not be seen again for a very long time.  

Something else I hope not to see for a very long time is the attitude portrayed by our leader, the mayor of Auckland who told us that it wasn’t his job to get out there with a bucket. 

It was an interesting thing to hear Mayor Brown say, when clearly there have been several mayors over the years who’ve done that: rolled up their sleeves and just got stuck in.  

We’ve had a mayor who famously towed his concrete mixer on the back of the mayoral car.  

Why? Because many of our elected leaders have or have had fantastic work ethics, which is one of the fundamental reasons they got voted in.  

Surely it’s important to be seen being an active and integral part of your community, whether that’s a small town or a super city.   

On Saturday, Wayne Brown went on the defence, saying the response to Friday's storm took a lot of concentration, happened quickly and the response was much quicker than people believed. Fair enough. 

He also said he followed the advice of the professionals when deciding whether to declare an emergency. 

But during a visit to a community hall in Māngere on Sunday, Wayne Brown said emergency managers may have made some incorrect decisions. 

I spent all of Sunday morning, clearing the main drain at the end of our road, which neither the Auckland council or the mayor have any interest in getting stuck into. Not just this weekend either. I’ve been doing that and asking the council to get it done for the past six years.  

Some of us are more than happy to roll up our sleeves, pull on our gumboots and get outside with our spades and buckets without having to worry about whether or not public perception matters.  

Some of us just do what needs to be done at the right time.  

Most of us, even super city mayors, are still waterproof.  

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