A Response to Peter Gates

I am sick of Tony Veitch.  I am sure most of us are.  In a perfect world he would just disappear, never to again grace our screens.  Let him take his punishment quietly, continue with the counselling, and find a new line of work outside the media spotlight.  It’s not that his crime is unique or unforgivable, it is just that certain anti-social and reprehensible actions should preclude the perpetrators from public life.  Particularly when they were at great pains to cover up those actions in the first place.

The career rehabilitation of Clint Brown would suggest otherwise.  If his drunken escapades in Taupo a few years back can be conveniently overlooked perhaps anything can.  While Brown is clearly an inferior sports broadcaster to Veitch - his only known piece of commentary was to the utter the phrase “who-ha!” on the eve of each and every boxing match - at least he was the victim of violence and not the one dishing it out to prone women.  Hurling racial epithets in public and kicking taxis sometimes has consequences.

In a very small way I can identify with Mr Veitch’s pain.  In the last fortnight I too have felt the glare of unwanted publicity.  After voicing an opinion or two in my “Waikato Times” column about the proposed establishment of the Hamilton Central Business Association the HCBA spokesperson Peter Gates wrote me an open letter which has been distributed around town and via email.

To give credit where credit is due the HCBA have certainly delivered on their promise to promote inner city businesses.  My name and weathered features assumed a prominence in the propaganda disproportionate to the issues, as though somehow personalising the debate would increase awareness and understanding.  It is flattering to think that a tiny, struggling art house DVD store and an owner-operator charged with “passive naivety” could achieve such importance.

One positive to come out of this storm in a teacup has been my exposure to proponents both for and against the HCBA.  Civilised, constructive conversation has been enjoyed with those for whom Mr Gates will assuredly usher in a new era of CBD prosperity, perhaps even on the level of his beloved New Market.  If he can guarantee a Rialto cinema as good as that which graces his former stomping ground he can have my cheque for $250 right away.

The opponents of the HCBA speak with equal vigour.  Whatever pains Mr Gates and his colleagues have gone to to stress the autonomy of the HCBA the perception that it is nothing more than an adjunct of the Hamilton City Council persists, largely because the HCC will be in charge of imposing and collecting HCBA’s mandatory fees.

One prominent central land owner assured me that he had obtained a legal opinion that suggested the extra rates demand could be challenged in court.  A somewhat earthier publican, angry at already paying a multitude of charges over and above the usual rates for such things as putting tables and chairs on the footpath, told me exactly where the Council could stick any new bills.

The issue that all seem to agree needs to be addressed is one of central city parking.   Council’s priorities in this area were starkly highlighted on the Friday night of the V-8s when the new angled parking in the centre of Victoria street was exploited as a cash cow, with metre-maids and their male equivalents poised like vultures to dish out tickets to unsuspecting motorists.  It was a fantastic advertisement for the metropolis, impressing locals and visitors alike. 

If the HCBA does get off the ground I think one of its biggest challenges will be to speak with a united voice.  The degree of animosity toward Council over the Hood St development and the perceived favouritism given the south end of town has not won them many friends up north.  The aforementioned publican was angered, for example, at the fact that free buses were provided to Hood St from the V-8s, disadvantaging his tavern yet again.

Perhaps what we really need is a business association exclusively for folk north of the Claudelands bridge.  I am sure none of us would mind a little extra more on the rates.  The equivalent of a cup of coffee a day should do it.