CHALLENGE TO MAYOR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 39, 8 October 1931, Page 3

CHALLENGE TO MAYOR

MR GALBRAITH'S OFFER: it. WILLING TO ALLOW PEOPLE t TO DECIDE MERITS OF CASE " CONTEST BY-ELECTION As a reply to the Iatest statement by the Mayor (Mr. T. Jack- *. son) published in yesterday's T "Post", Mr. W. Galbraith has now issued a challenge to the Mayor to suhmit the positipn * to the verdict of the ratepayers through the medium of the byelection which has been made % necessary as a result of Mr. Gal- • braith's resignation fropot . the council. ' •* Mr. Galbraith, in a statement •*. to the "Post," has now intimated that he is prepared to test the ^ feelings of the ratepayers by of- *'■ fering himself for re-election, and has further offered to pay ■ the' expenses of the by-election if -V he is defeated, provided that the >. Mayor is willing to pay the cost in the event of his election. "The Mayor has seen fit to chal-^ lenge my statements," stated Mr.":, Galbraith. "I am quite prepared to accept his challenge and place myself;« in the hands of the ratepayers so > that they may have an opportunity-. to express their opinion of the at-A titude which Mr. Jackson has adopt-v>' ed. To that end I will offer myself for re-election provided that if I>L am elected, and the ratepayers thusL express their satisfaction with myt? protest, Mr. Jackson pays the eostfof the election. If I am defeated, I,*'l in my turn, will discharge all the by-ti> election costs." fjf After making this offer, Mr. GalC braith proceeded to deal with some ofi?!; the points raised by the Mayor iri^. his second statement. "A Mussolini"* "The Mayor's recent reply is of a somewhat vindictive type, and I am~ beginning to think that there is some- v thing in the assertion, already made-^ by some persons, that he is a 'Mus--* solini'." Mr. Galbraith continues. " "Mr. Jackson alleges that my.» rtatements are misleading and also'.H states that he has no desire to waste!„' further time on discussing the posi-£ tion. His attitude is that he has only ^ troubled to reply in the protection jj of councillors and the public general-*'1' ly. Is Mr. Jackson only trying to'"' make himself a good fellow, or is he»* sincere in this attitude? Perhaps it * does not suit him to reply in too'-« careful detail to what I have said. ,1. Queen Carnival Funds X "Mr Jackson contends that I have been inaccurate in stating that the I* work being done at Whaka will he a« charge on supervision or maintenance'.," The Mayor himself states that ihi§?" work is being done out of Queen «" Carnival funds but he does not in- / form the ratepayers what amount is still left in those funds. Since Mr.;: ! Jackson has omitted to do so, I will;*; j supply the information. There was;~! | £90 in the fund when the work"? | started and the estimated cost of the work of which Mr. Jackson speaks>"£ is some hundreds of pounds. The ■- ratepayers, on these facts, should be" able to judge for themselves who is * making misleading statements. If would be interesting to know where ^ the balance of this money is, coming--from, remembering the extent, qf the fj. carnival funds of which the Mayof * makes so much. ; Z . -• v New Road Maintenance , E V P& T •£* "The Mayor further states thatr the Works Committee is not being deprived of street maintenance' |r through the beautification activities/ 1 He admits, however, that the com-| £ mittee reduced its maintenance estU mates from £2000 to £1500, bufc't claims that this reduction was made * on account of the fact that the bitu-2-men roads which had been laid, wouldi t cost less to maintain. The Mayor t makes a point of this, but he makes' * no ref erence to the lengths of new*. * roads which have been formed and', 5 ! which the Works Committee will have' £■• 1 to maintain. The reason the Works! 7, J Committee reduced the maintenance' j estimates, as I have already stated/ j was to save raising a loan for unem-* ** i ployment. The Mayor now describes* ^ the work authorised by the councilpunder unemployment relief, as bemg>of a minor nature while in the pre-r,« vious statement he gave to the Press/; t he said that it was not permanent'J work. If ratepayers will refer 'to my.' |- last published statement and consult the list of works given there, they may judge for themselves the reliancd** which may be placed upon the May*-—* or's statement of the position. Voting In Council "The Mayor speaks of the work in - Rangiuru Street and on the Lake front reclamation as being permanent. What will happen in the event of the council getting half way through these works, and then the Government stepping in and cutting out the No. 5 Scheme? Also the Mayor does not explain where the money is coming from to complete these works. The Government has already reduced the allowances made to local bodies and has announced that they are to be further reduced. "The Mayor, in conclusion, draws attention to my 'almost inexcusab'le inaccuracy' in describing the voting in the council. He also points out that I have not yet learned that the Mayor is a councillor by virtue of his office. I simply drew the attention of ratepayers to the fact that councillors were evenly divided on the voting. "I take it that the last clause in the Mayor's reply, in which he refers to the accusation made against him of being an indifferent tutor, is aimed at Councillor Smith. I take this opportunity of stating that I am fully in accord with the sentiments expressed by Councillor Smith."