My Vision for Napier

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I would have loved to run for Napier City Council this election, but I just can’t afford to.

There is a limit put on how much you can spend on a local body election campaign. As an “at large” candidate (what I would have gone for), I would have been able to spend up to $30,000. I don’t have that sort of cash to spare. EVER. That’s a crazy amount of expenditure to me – it’s around ¾ of my annual household income. Heck, with rent, bills and all the rest, I couldn’t even afford the $200 nomination fee!

If I REALLY wanted it, I was told, I would have hustled, borrowed and begged to get the money. But that’s not my style. As I’ve said before, I’m not keen on owing money, especially when it can lead to potential influences on matters further down the road. Politics is riddled with such cases. Idealist, I know, but I’d like to do be in council for the many, not the money.

It’s a shame, really. Not only does the council miss out on my wisdom, ideas and youth (three concepts completely foreign to the current mob), but it also leaves the door open to these silently sycophantic incumbents. A council should be an accurate reflection of its constituents – old and young, white and brown, rich and poor. It’s a shame that just the old, rich and white options have held power over Napier for so long. I think this lack of representation has taken its toll on our city.

Contemplating running for council has given me some good ideas for blog topics and did spark some great debates on Twitter.

A Twitter friends kept asking me for my vision for Napier, so here you go:

If elected would have aimed to:

• At 35 I would have brought a younger viewpoint to Napier City Council, with fresh ideas and solutions to issues facing our city based on a life born and bred in Napier.

• Bring more council focus onto Napier’s youth. Each year hundreds of young, talented people leave Napier for education or work, often never to return. We need to not only retain these youth, but make Napier a more attractive option to other younger generations for living, learning and working in.

• Move the promotion of Napier beyond the Art Deco obsession of the past. Our city has so many wonderful, diverse aspects. Why focus on just one?

• Focus less on tourism and more on Napier residents. Cruise ship passengers visit our city for only a day in summer months, while Napier’s residents are here all year round. Let’s celebrate them and create events and activities for their benefit!

• Make Napier a more attractive location for high value, well-paying businesses to set up operations in. The current agricultural and tourism / hospitality-based employment focus has not helped our economy with its low wages and will not help the region’s moral through the flow-on effects of low incomes. Hawke’s Bay needs to work smarter, not harder.

• Work to ensure a greater transparency in council operations and decision making. Currently too many meetings are held behind closed doors and feature the words “Public Excluded”, keeping those who ultimately pay for the results out of the process.

• Make council decision making and processes more available and open to the general public by web-streaming council and committee meetings, so those who can’t attend can still keep an eye on matters that interest them.

• You can’t have transparency without accountability. Currently, elected councilors are not allowed to publicly criticize, or interact too much with council-employed staff. You can vote out an underperforming, long-standing councilor, but you can’t vote out a similarly entrenched manager. All sections of Napier’s City Council need to be held accountable for their actions (or inactions as the case may be).

For now, all I can do is hope that some fresh blood gets elected into NCC in October and they can institute at least some of the ideas I expressed above.

In related election news, I was disappointed to read that two more too-long-standing councilors are once again seeking re-election:

Hastings Deputy Mayor, Cynthia Bowers is seeking a 7th term, yes, you read correctly, SEVEN TERMS! If successful, she will have been a HDC councilor for 21 years! That’s longer than your average university student has been alive!

In Napier, Councilor Faye White is seeking a fifth term, not quite as bad as councilor Bowers , but can anyone tell me what Faye has achieved in her 12 years on NCC? Because I don’t know! I’m not sure if any of the general voting public does. Four terms in power is a heck of a long time to gift to someone for no major or obvious results.

The downside of such nominations, is once you are nominated you can’t withdraw, except for serious medical reasons. Knowing the poor track-record of local body election voting in Napier (less than 50 percent of registered voters actually voted in the last three elections!) It’s highly likely these councilors will retain their seats.

It’s enough to make me wish I had the money again…

Oh, No! Oh, No! It’s Off to Work I Go!

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“He said ‘Son, I think this is killing me’ as the smile ran away from his face. ‘I’m sure I could be a movie star, if I could get out of this place!’”
“The Piano Man” by Billy Joel.

How many people reading this post LOVE their current job? If you do, you are very lucky.

Over a decade ago, I worked in a bookshop. I loved it. I worked a Friday – Tuesday week, so with shorter weekend hours, I was never going to make much money from it (this was in the days when $10 per hour was a “good” retail wage – unthinkably low today). But my fellow staff and customers were awesome and almost every day I’d get to open a box of newly delivered books – it was like Christmas! There was not a single day I woke up thinking “I have to go to work today.”

How times change. Back then I believed that doing a job just for the money was the worst possible reason to ever have a job. These days, for thousands of people, it’s become a way of life.

An article I read on LinkedIn today reported a mere 19% of workers in the United States and Canada were “satisfied” with their job. That’s a pretty dire figure!

Dissatisfaction at work can become a bit of a vicious cycle. You are unhappy, so you stop putting your all into your job. You stop backing your own abilities. You stop looking for career possibilities when you get overlooked for advancement. You lose focus on what you REALLY want to do with your working life. But you still need the money, so you keep working till something better comes along. You hope. If it doesn’t, you become even more dissatisfied.

It reminds me of a song from the stage show and movie “The Producers”.

People say “Well, just leave!” But they must know it’s not that easy. There is rent and bills to pay, mouths to feed. Those things won’t happen if you “just leave”. Besides, where would you go?

Stuff reported today that New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 6.4% last month. It might not sound too much, but that works out to over 150,000 (give or take 10,000) New Zealanders out of work. Sure, some of them don’t actually want to work, but large numbers do. The news is full of reports where hundreds of this type of people applied for a single, minimum-wage position. That’s far from encouraging.

Having being burned myself, I’m also dubious about investing too much time and money in further education or training, as it adds even further expense (or student debt) into a venture that may not get you a return on your investment.

Even for those who stick with their job just for the money, the threat of redundancy or restructuring is ever-present. The government went on a state services slaying spree a couple years ago (and then they wondered why “Wellington is dying”) and New Zealand Post appears to be laying off staff faster than they can deliver actual mail. In some of the most heartless corporate cases, even when companies are making record profits, they are still laying off staff.

Is it any wonder growing numbers of people are feeling unhappy and insecure in their jobs?

I dearly wish I had an answer to this problem. But I don’t. Fortunately Ilya Pozin, the author of the first article I cited, has some suggestions on how to improve your outlook:

“Get to the root of the problem.
Simply hating your job isn’t enough of a reason to throw in the towel. What’s really keeping you from feeling positive and engaged at work? Find where the problem (or problems) lie and begin to establish a solution. For example, if you’re feeling underutilized and bored in your position, ask yourself how you would feel more challenged. Set up a meeting with your manager, present the situation, and ask to cross-train or take on some work more closely aligned with your interests.

Leave your misery at work.
One of the simplest ways to encourage a cycle of continued distaste for your job — and ultimately your entire life — is to bring your on-the-job negativity home with you. This can be especially challenging if you have a family. Try to create the mythical element of work-life balance by leaving your work mindset in the office. Consider heading to the gym or a fitness class as soon as you get off work, playing recreational sports, or even making time every night for your hobbies. This will keep your mind focused on other positive aspects of your life and refresh you for the next day.

Block out negativity.
Misery loves company, and this holds especially true when it comes to complaining about hating your job. But it’s best to avoid venting your frustrations to your coworkers because it may leave everyone feeling even worse than before. Instead, try to actively find a way to improve things. If there’s one process taking place in the office that you know is annoying everyone — unnecessarily long meetings, for example — come up with a few different solutions and present them to your team. This will drive engagement through reactivity rather than negativity.

Be better.
When your job sucks, you may start to think you suck, too. Remember: You aren’t your job. Keep from wallowing and look for ways to improve yourself professionally. Begin attending networking events, seminars, and conferences within your industry to gain traction and stay up on the latest trends. You may also consider taking online classes or participating in professional development offered through your company. This will allow you to develop new skills and expand your resume, making you feel more fulfilled. Your boss may even take notice of this and put your new skills to use.

Bond with your co-workers.
Increase your on-the-job engagement by making time to get to know your co-workers better. According to a recent Jobsite survey, 70 percent of respondents said having friends at work is the most crucial element to a happy working life. Your negativity may have been causing you to distance yourself from co-workers without even realizing you were doing so. If you truly come to like those you work with, you can gain a new appreciation for your position and the company as a whole.

Manage your bad days.
Everyone has bad days, but having several in a row can be especially challenging. A bad day often starts out with a number of problems or unlucky happenings, then by lunchtime you’ve classified it as being altogether awful. One small event doesn’t have to setback your entire day.
Break this bad habit by regularly taking a step back to assess situations before you jump to conclusions. If you’ve had a number of setbacks, consider taking a short walk outside or even breaking for lunch earlier. Giving yourself a moment to leave the situation for a short time to realize you might be overreacting.

Know why you’re sticking around.
If leaving isn’t an option, ask yourself why exactly you’ve got to tough it out. This may be in regard to your pay grade or the fact that it’s a necessary step in your career. Keep your reasoning at the forefront of your mind to make working your crappy job just a little easier. Whenever you’re feeling down about your job, remember that it’s paying your bills and filling your resume for the time being.

Your job may suck, but you should still be actively attempting to stay engaged and manage your own happiness.”

PS: I promise my next blog will be much more positive, cheerier or contain cute pictures of cats. AF

Can’t See the Resurgence for all the Empty Shops

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You may remember my previous blog post about Taradale looking a bit worse for wear after its recent upgrade. I must have had a point, as someone wrote to the Napier Courier voicing the same opinion. But I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or moan at the Taradale Marketing Association’s response to this letter in last week’s edition:

Napier Courier Letters to the Editor Wednesday 31 June 2013

Let’s look at a couple of points T.M.A. raises:

“Taradale is having a resurgence, the town is abuzz and the sun is out”
To paraphrase Meatloaf: “One out of three IS bad” Yes, the sun is out, but no the town isn’t abuzz, unless you count tumbleweeds and how could anyone let alone Taradale’s own promotions group think it’s “resurgent” when there are a dozen empty shops in their main street?

“Our parking situation is helped by friendly retailers who might just slip you a dollar”
You wanna’ bet? With retailers struggling for survival due to the parking meters scaring shoppers away, how many of them would be willing to GIVE AWAY money?

The rest of the letter descends into the usual terminally optimistic fluff that far too many Hawke’s Bay marketers have fallen back on rather than engaging in fixing the negative issues they face over past decades.

Reading Taradale Marketing Association’s response reminds me of three old sayings:

“The first step on the way to recovery is admitting you have a problem.”

“If you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten.”

“Those who chose to ignore the past are doomed to relive it.”
I think these are adages that too many of Napier’s older; retail precinct focussed “marketers” have been guilty of ignoring for too long. You will all too often read or hear that, according to them, things are just fine and dandy. When in reality a wheel may have already fallen off and others look decidedly shaky.

My EIT Diploma in Marketing may not have turned out to be worth the paper it was printed on, but it at least taught me a few key points on the subject. One of those things was that one of marketing’s cornerstones is “S.W.O.T.” analysis. It stands for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats” and is a core starting point for any project, outlining what they are good at, what they are bad at, what they can do to be better and what can get in the way of them achieving their goals. The “terminal optimism” as I call it expressed in such press releases flies in the face of such sensible practices as “S.W.O.T.”.

I may not be one of the cheeriest people on the planet, but at least my “realist” (some would say “pessimist”) outlook allows me to recognise problems, come up with possible solutions and truly appreciate and celebrate the successes when the problems are fixed and things are better than ever.

I like Taradale shopping centre and wish its retailers all the best as I feel they’ve been given a bit of a raw deal since their town centre upgrade. I just wish the promoters they doubtlessly pay a reasonable fee to would wake up to, or at least acknowledge the fact things aren’t all that great and take serious actions to remedy the problems they face. Otherwise people will not be able to see the Taradale’s “resurgence” for all the empty shops.

Hosting a “Tweetup” 101

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A Tweet Little Gathering!

To many people Twitter and other social media are viewed as quite a sterile, distant, disconnected form of communication. But they don’t have to be!

One of my favourite aspects of Hawke’s Bay’s large and vibrant Twitter community is the reasonably regular “Tweetups” we have.

A Tweetup is a get-together, or meet-up for local twitterers. It’s great getting to meet in person all the people you have been conversing with across the World Wide Web.

I’ve been to maybe half a dozen #HBTweetups, so while the long winter nights were taking their toll last month, I decided to organise one myself. Below is my step-by-step guide to organising / hosting your own Tweetup!

Step One: Find a Location
Most of the Tweetups I’ve been to have been at restaurants or bars. It makes sense really – they’re relaxed social venues with the added benefit of food and drink, but I’ve also heard of fish and chip Tweetups on the beach and others at bigger venues with themed parties, etc.

Newly opened or refurbished establishments and those just entering the social media world are often on the lookout for ways to get their brand out into the Twittersphere, so they can be quite receptive to hosting such events. A venue that has wifi access is a bonus too, as it allows live tweets from the Tweetup.

From what I’ve experienced the venue will often provide finger food and the first drink on the house. But this varies from place to place and can quite often be offset by getting attendees to stay for dinner, or join a loyalty programme the venue may be doing. It works out pretty win-win either way. You or the hosting venue might even decide to offer spot prizes, or something similar to sweeten the deal for guests.

The hardest part I found of negotiating hosting a Tweetup is you can never be too sure of how many people will come. Sometimes you will get positive responses from 30 people and only 12 will turn up to the event. You can also have 20 people respond and end up with 50 on the day, as word gets around. You may find yourself using the words “ballpark figure” quite a bit.

In my case, I tweeted Grant from Napier’s new Viceroy Hotel and Delmonico’s Bistro & Wine Bar and set up a meeting to discuss the possibility of them hosting a Tweetup. Grant was very positive and we set a date. Around three weeks lead-in gives you enough time to get the word out and RSVPs back and get things organised, while still being close enough to attract and keep interest.

Step Two: Get the Word Out
Prepare to Tweet and #Hashtag like you’ve never Tweeted and #Hashtaged before!

The easiest way to get things started is to Tweet about it. Adding a “#” (Hashtag) with the events name (Hawke’s Bay Tweetups usually use the Hashtag “#HBTweetup”) is a good place to start. You can track people’s comments and responses using Twitter’s search function and typing in your event’s Hashtag name.

Another way is setting up the event through a site like Twitvite, where people can RSVP and see the details of the Tweetup, like we did here.

Now spend the next two weeks sending out general or targeted (@ all the local people you’d like to attend) tweets with links to your Twitvite page, hashtaging and generally promoting the living snot out of your Tweetup. Don’t be surprised if you wake up in the middle of the night screaming “Tweetup!” at some stage during this time, it’s perfectly normal.

Step Three: The Big Day – Enjoy!
You would have confirmed final numbers with the host a day or two before the event for catering purposes and organised any extra bits and pieces that may be required, so all you can do now is sit back and relax! (cigar, slippers and satin smoking jacket optional).

A “Tweet-wall” is a neat feature where those at the Tweetup and those who wish they were can have their tweets displayed usually via a data projector onto a screen. Hawke’s Bay digital wizards Mogul have an application called “Strea.ma” that is set up for just such a purpose. Check it out – it’s very cool and interactive!

Most of all enjoy yourself (and don’t forget to invite me)!

Bertie’s Buses Budget Burden Bulges

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For all those who don’t receive or read the Hawke’s Bay Today, this is the original, unabridged version of my letter that appears in today’s (Monday 29 July) “Letters to the Editor”:

“I was shocked and stunned the other day. I saw one of Napier City Council’s controversial Art Deco “Bertie’s Buses” with a passenger on board. Yes, an actual passenger!

Since their arrival they have been a bit of a joke around town. With Marine Parade closed due to the stormwater system upgrade, they were forced to trundle along Hastings Street devoid of passengers time after time. The poor drivers must have been beside themselves, because no-one else was!

A Council spokesman said he expected passenger numbers to increase with the reopening of Marine Parade. Yeah, right. It appears, however, that my shock was caused by fares on the buses being reduced by up to 50 percent for the school holidays.

Finally, Napier’s ratepayers may get some money back on the buses they got no say in purchasing and the subsequent $165,000 repair bill (those were some very expensive loose wires and belts that needed fixing, CEO Taylor) to get them roadworthy, you may say. Alas, no.

A quiet rebranding exercise had taken place at the Council. Gone was any trace of the word, voice or image of “Bertie” in relation to the buses. The website had to be revised, hundreds of tickets had to be redesigned and printed and even the taped commentary that narrates the buses’ journey (the drivers have to stick to the same route and speed to make sure the commentary matches the scenery, even when they are constantly and completely passenger-less) voiced by “Bertie” had to be re-recorded. Everything now strictly refers to the service as the “Deco City Discoverer”. It almost sounds like something out of George Orwell’s “1984”, with the Ministry of Truth revising history, doesn’t it?

The reason for all the revisions and even more expense on the buses? “Bertie” is standing for mayor. It was thought it could be seen as influencing voters if his image was pasted everywhere other than on official election hoardings. Then again, he could just be trying to increase his chances of election by distancing himself from these wheeled albatrosses (‘turkeys’?) around the council’s neck. (This is the part they abridged)

That might be a bit of a tough task for any incumbent Napier City Councilor wishing to stand again in this year’s election. As the publicly available council minutes would indicate all current councilors had a say in their purchase and all the troubles that followed.

Use you votes wisely, Napier. You deserve far better!”

Give HB Youth a Chance!

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It often feels like anyone in Napier under the age of 40 gets ignored. Baby-boomers rule and everyone else can just fend for themselves.

As a result, we annually lose generations of our bright and talented youth to other parts of New Zealand and the world. A few return in later life with their families, most never do. This creates not only a great gulf in the age bracket, earning Hawke’s Bay it’s sunny ‘Retirement village’ image, but also major cultural and economic holes in the region.

Local organisations and authorities do little to help the situation, or empower youth as I wrote in my second Napier in Frame blog post.

When it comes to looking after Napier youth’s needs or allocating them some form of infrastructure, N.C.C.’s solution to date has been “build a skate-park!” Ho-hum! Where are the events, concerts, expos and exhibitions? When was the last time a Mission Concert featured an act that was at the top of the music charts during the lifetime of an average 25 year old?

Napier City Council’s recent “Big Picture” plan to turn Marine Parade (which they completely ignored for the past 20 years) into a “Kids’ Capital” featured some ideas with merit, like the wave park, but others like the cable-ski facility (cable ski = lots of metal. Lots of metal + salty sea air = big, continuous repair bills) were doomed from conception. Besides, tourist attractions and children’s playgrounds won’t keep our school-leavers in Napier.

This is a problem that has been nagging at me for years. I never left Hawke’s Bay for university, a career or global migration after high school. I stayed here, living and working in what I still consider one of the best places in the world. It has had its advantages, but also some major disadvantages.

Over the past decade the major drawbacks have been few career opportunities within the region and poor pay. Hawke’s Bay’s economy has suffered because of these factors and the poor economy has depressed wages and career opportunities even more. We need to break this cycle.

Paul Dutch and Rod Drury had a good exchange on keeping our school leavers in Hawke’s Bay in the comments section of an item on the wave park development over at the Fruitbowl website.

Paul had some good ideas on keeping Hawke’s Bay youth empowered, employed and engaged in Hawke’s Bay. While I respect Rod and all his achievements with Xero, I feel some of his comments encapsulated what it wrong with a lot of Hawke’s Bay businesses and older people’s attitude to the region’s “Lost Generations” of 20-somethings:

“It’s really hard to keep people in their 20’s in the Bay. Be great if we could, but there are easier places to focus where we swim with the tide.”

“The growth from targeting these segments (parents, high value call centres, food and agriculture and retirees) will create opportunities for those in their 20’s. But personally I think that’s hard and we should focus on attracting our diaspora later in their careers after they’ve had their world wide experiences.”

I don’t consider continuing to put this problem in the “too hard basket” and hoping Hawke’s Bay’s bright and talented young one day return to be an option any longer. Somebody needs to take a stand and do something about it. But who?

Certainly not Tukituki MP and Minister of Commerce Craig Foss, who doesn’t seem to mind that his region has some of the lowest wages, and fewest high value job opportunities in New Zealand, as he seems to think living in Hawke’s Bay makes up for it all. Um, no. Would Mr Foss be so happy with the situation if any of his children chose to stay in the Bay, rather than go to university or travel and end up stuck in a low paying retail or café job? I don’t imagine so.

Rod Drury’s Xero is a successful, global company. But one thing Mr Drury fears (I read this in a special CEO lift-out in the Herald this week) was his company losing its “start-up feel”. Start-ups are often skin-of-the-teeth operations. Someone starts with an idea and builds a business from it. People using their raw talent and skills – often without tertiary qualifications. I really admire people who can do that – I’m not sure I could.

The technology industry is one of the main benefactors and biggest earners of start-up thinking and business. Just look at Facebook. Typically, modern start-ups are often begun by people in their late teens and early twenties, just the segment Hawke’s Bay is missing out on!

We need to target these high-value tech companies and foster such start-ups to set up operations in Hawke’s Bay. Especially with web-based content, where global work can be done from pretty much anywhere in the world, so why not Napier?

With our youth being so tech-savvy (can’t figure out how to use your new phone or computer? Just ask any 10 year old) school-leavers would be ideal employment candidates. Pay them more than the local retail of hospitality industry (it shouldn’t be too hard), provide some on the job training and boom, instant workforce and all-round benefits to Hawke’s Bay’s economy!

This isn’t asking for preferential treatment for Hawke’s Bay’s school leavers and 20-somethings. This is about giving them the opportunity to stay in their home towns if they want to and at the same time creating real, well paying career opportunities and boosting our regions flagging economy. Doing nothing is no longer an option. It’s time we did something about it.

‘For Lease’, But Who the Hell Would Want it?

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Napier’s central city has yet another shame. No, not another pre-earthquake building being demolished. Although in all honesty they may as well bring in the bulldozers and put this place out of its misery. Mid City Plaza has to be the biggest, most vacant, saddest example of inner-city property currently going to waste in Napier.

Running from Emerson Street through to Dickens Street, Mid City Plaza was for years filled with bustle and shoppers. A café, bakery, magazine store, toyshop, hairdressers, beauty salons, clothing stores, computer stores, furniture, rubber and plastic stores all filled the mall. Now it is cavernously empty. Inside, the glass windows and doors of the formerly thriving shops provide a bleak vista of bare, vacant shops. Giant sheets of plywood block the internal walkway between the CBD streets and the view of further emptiness beyond.

An anonymous British investor (rumoured to be an English aristocrat – a member of the ‘landed gentry’) bought the complex in 2008 for $5 million. The investor was introduced to the property by Bayleys Property Services in Auckland and bought a number of other commercial investments in New Zealand.

Talking to past tenants (and there are quite a few of them) revealed a major lack of communication between this new owner and tenants. Unrealistic rent rises in hard times and leases not being renewed in favour of planned (but never eventuated) chain stores were major factors in their leaving. Sound familiar? The mall has been almost totally empty like this for years. Where are all these other keen tenants waiting in the wings now?

The Dominion Post reported that the Plaza as producing net rental income of $421,000 in 2008. This was when there were only two vacant, small shops in the mall. Once leased, they would have increased the potential rental income to $444,000. The anonymous Briton also bought two adjoining Emerson St shops, at the time home to Nectar Body Shop and Beattie & Forbes bookshop, for $955,000. Both locally owned and operated businesses and neither of them remained there for long – replaced, yet again, with chain stores.

Unless Mid City Plaza’s owners are charging what few temporary “pop-up-shop” retailers come and go some very serious coinage, there is surely no way any value is been returned from the Brit-with-the-bucks almost $6 million purchase, with over ¾ of their purchase empty, boarded up and decaying.
You have to ask: How is it better to have empty shops with high rents rather than charging less rent, but with loyal tenants filling your shops with people, activity and giving you continual income? To me, it surely isn’t rocket science. But, hey, I can’t afford to buy a shopping mall!

This is not a good look for Napier’s main shopping street. It’s past time some action was taken. But what? A ‘name and shame’ campaign, perhaps? How about putting the heat on landlords who have increased their rents unintelligently. This might be an effective way of outing over-zealous landlords and commission-hungry agents and give the public a factual account of just how much is being asked for rents in the central city. But it won’t get shops filled any faster.

Isn’t it way past time (over 3 years and counting) Napier City Council and / or Napier Inner City Marketing took a big step up? According to its Strategic Plan, NICM is mandated to provide a vibrant inner city environment; support inner city business prosperity and development, marketing Napier inner city as a destination for tourists and locals to enjoy; and, influence political, community and commercial leaders in the interests of stakeholders. How much impact has NICM had on this former mall and current disgrace? What have they done about it?

Surfing the net today I see Mid City Plaza (or at least a part of it) has been allegedly leased out by Colliers NZ. That’s such a shame. I was just about to call the agent and offer them $5 for the whole place.

I do hope this new lease doesn’t merely refer to the fly-by-night carpet rug sale people currently occupying one of the empty shops.

How long will it take for the extensive structural work still needed to make at least half the plaza habitable to be completed? How long until a decent new tenant occupies a major portion of the site and brings customers and other retailers back to the mall? And how long until Mid City Plaza’s owner wakes up to the disgrace their purchase has become?

Inner-city Napier deserves better!

*Portions of this post are once again from a similar blog I wrote for BayBuzz over two years ago.
Why does so little change in our City?

But Not Building a Better Taradale

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Taradale’s shopping centre upgrade may have had a higher cost than the $3.5m price tag with parking meters scaring customers & retailers away.

I went for a walk through the Taradale Shopping Centre a couple of weeks ago and was quite disappointed with what I saw – Twelve empty shops – yup, a whole dozen.

From what I’ve been told, a mixture of parking meters scaring off potential shoppers and, like in Napier’s CBD, landlords jacking up rents and leases to coincide with the redevelopment have scared off a large number of businesses.

Very few people were around at the time I visited. This was, admittedly, on a Monday or Tuesday afternoon, so perhaps not peak-hour, but still far less activity than I would have expected. In fact, the busiest business I saw was the new funeral home, which had faced a great deal of criticism on opening, but given Taradale’s older demographic I thought was a stroke of business genius on the behalf of its owners.

It reminded me of a column I wrote for Baybuzz over two years ago:

“..The range of shops has sadly shrunken dramatically. Like Napier’s CBD in the late 90’s, going cappuccino crazy following the trends of Parnell and Ponsonby, Taradale has now followed after central Napier. There are around twenty cafés, takeaways, restaurants and bars in the town centre.

Quite a staggering number for such a small area. The only place which out-foods Taradale is neighbouring Greenmeadows shopping centre, whose almost total purpose has become servicing the stomachs of surrounding suburbia.

I have often wondered, considering Taradale’s affluent image, if naming one of its coffee houses “Café Rich” wasn’t a bit of a piss-take. It’s not like you see a “Café DPB” in less well-off shopping areas.

Often viewed as a bit of a retirement village hub, this new fastidious focus on food and frappuccinos makes me think Taradale might be trying to regress into teenage-hood.

Women’s clothing stores, beauty and hair salons are not too far behind Taradale’s massive majority of eateries, making it no longer the most guy-friendly of shopping centres. Once you’ve finished your lunch you will never be short of somewhere to get clipped, waxed, coloured, curled, dressed and varnished. Yes, Taradale is becoming a teenaged girl!

One of the more controversial aspects of Taradale’s redevelopment has been the introduction of parking meters. This is the first time you have ever had to pay for parking in Taradale, but it is one aspect I don’t mind – as the people who shop and park in Taradale the most will be the ones helping pay for the redevelopment. Where the new meters aren’t ruling the roadside roost, a parking warden has been tasked to the town centre to ticket those who out stay their hour-long parking limits. I’m not sure how effective this will be, though. As unless you’re having an extra-long lunch or marathon makeover, its compact size makes spending more than an hour doing what you need to do in Taradale quite hard to do. Or that could just be a guy thing.

With all the additions and changes that have been made to Taradale, one important, legal, part is missing: There are no longer any marked pedestrian crossings over Gloucester Street in the town centre, only raised ‘courtesy crossings’.

My mother-in-law, who regularly shops there, rang up the Napier City Council to query the crossing secession and was told that having the combination of (official) pedestrian and (unofficial) ‘courtesy’ crossings, as Taradale’s former layout did, was too confusing and dangerous for drivers and pedestrians alike (can you say ‘Road Code’?) The raised ‘courtesy’ crossings made cars slow down anyway, so the official ‘zebra lines’ and orange light that legally translate to: “Oi! You in the big, wheeled, powered, metal thing – let the soft, easily squished biped go first” were abolished in the town centre. I emailed the council on this matter, hoping they’d reply and refute or confirm these details, but like a Napier pedestrian attempting to cross an official (or otherwise) pedestrian crossing, I’m still waiting.

Considering the large proportion of families with small children and elderly people who daily shop in Taradale and have to cross the road that bisects the shopping precinct, this has become a major safety concern for many. The Taradale retailers I have spoken to are bearing the brunt of some incensed questioning over this issue.

Despite the fact Taradale’s two ward councillors were re-elected without a single vote in their favour (or candidate standing against them), perhaps this is a matter they should put their locality-based positions to good use for, take notice of their constituents and do something before these crossings end up being accompanied by a cross of a different nature.”

It’s truly amazing how little things have changed in two years. Do you think the council and its representatives have done enough for their ward? Taking a stroll through the heart of their domain, I wouldn’t think so.

Building a Better Napier

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Napier’s pre-1931 earthquake Commercial Hotel, Now no more than a hole in the ground 🙁

We all know the architectural style that has made Napier famous. But it seems to have fostered more than just a little ‘architectural elitism’.

I have a confession to make: I don’t actually mind Napier’s Art Deco architecture. In a way I can’t help but. I’ve lived here all my life, so I have grown up surrounded by it (well, not entirely – until the mid-late 1980’s it was almost all covered up). The thing I detest about it is the imperialism with which the Deco theme, mind-set and all its proponents have smothered practically everything else about the city over the past two decades. I feel Napier’s image, promotion and the central city’s momentum have gone backwards as a result.

Our departing mayor had her heart set on getting “World Heritage Status” for the Art Deco buildings in Napier’s CBD. She was unsuccessful. Had she got it, there would have much back-slapping and bathing in the glory of such an accolade in the Napier City Council chambers. But if the English “Listed Building” system is anything to go by, NCC’s short-sighted success would have seen anyone owning or occupying one of these buildings facing a massive financial and legal struggle if they wanted to do anything more than change a light bulb in said structure.

As it stands, with current earthquake strength guidelines and insurance premiums, many of Napier’s iconic Art Deco buildings face either major renovations to strengthen them or even, heaven forbid, demolition. Many businesses either have relocated or are facing relocation while improvements are made to their current sites and I can’t see their rents / leases going down as a result. This will not help keeping tenants in our CBD, something it has struggled with over recent years.

Now we can’t blame the council solely for this situation. As it’s the building owners and landlords who have been milking their cash-cows for all they’re worth. Major lease and rent increases intended to catch up on the elapsed property boom and cover the recent massive increases in insuring properties have been badly timed to coincide with a major drop in sales and spending, forcing many businesses out of the CBD, or out of business altogether.

Napier has lost a lot of its unique locally-owned and family-run stores as a result of these increased costs. All too often their place gets taken by yet another Australasian chain store, giving people the impression that Emerson Street has become an open-air Westfield’s mall.

While it’s a case of “all hands to the pumps” when it comes to buildings erected immediately after the 1931 earthquake, like the effort put into saving the Art Deco frontages of the buildings that were osmosed into the modern glass and concrete behemoth that is Napier’s new Farmers department store (I do think this made the building look a bit “hodgepodge”, though), pre-1931 buildings like the Commercial Hotel (to be replaced by a modern Art Deco-esque, single storey block of shops) and the 1913 Williams Buildings (which is apparently to be demolished and also turned into a single storey shopping block, but with a carpark on top ffs!) have either fallen to, or are set for the wrecking ball without so much as the blink of an eye, or an “Aww” from our local authority. Oh dear, too expensive, never mind.

Once again, the deterioration of these buildings is the fault of their owners, not the council, but when they put so much money, effort and promotion into saving Art Deco buildings, it seems utter madness, arrogance or ignorance not to try their best to protect or save central Napier buildings, erected before 1931, that actually survived the earthquake!

If you look at the likes of central Wellington or Auckland, you will see an eclectic mix of old and new buildings. Century-old masonry sits happily alongside modern glass and aluminium. Georgian and Gothic low-rise frontages seamlessly mould into modern glass and metal multi-storey office blocks. If the Auckland and Wellington City Councils and the owners of those buildings can preserve the old and integrate it with the new on such major scales, why can’t the Napier City Council and local building owners do the same on a smaller scale?

Why must Napier lose 100 year old heritage buildings, only for poor modern-day interpretations (with roof-top car parks – what a ghastly thought) of an overpowering architectural style 20 years its junior to take their place? It doesn’t seem fair.

Napier City Council must try harder.

Educating Isn’t Working

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I’ve written about this before elsewhere, but the topic just won’t seem to go away and because “Concrete11” called it “An accurate and because of that rare article” here I go again:

Mark Twain once said, “I never let my education get in the way of my learning.” Some of the world’s richest and most successful business men (Bill Gates and Sir Richard Branson to name two) dropped out of tertiary study and earned their millions through practical experience. So why are New Zealand’s youth, after up to 13 years of institutional education, still encouraged (or railroaded?) into pursuing tertiary education and burdening themselves with often crippling levels of debt?

For the record I have never been to university. I don’t have a degree, or a student loan. My highest qualification is a Diploma in Marketing (one year’s full time study) from the Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier, from which I have not gained a single ‘marketable’ job from in the 15 years since I achieved it (I have, however, managed to pay off the student loan I took out to take the course). Whether this makes my opinions more or less valid (or biased) I don’t know, but here goes.

When I finished high school in 1995, the only thing I wanted to do was become a radio announcer, and I was, part-time and on-the-job-trained, for all of six months. But I was in the minority. Virtually every other member of my seventh form year went off to university; it was just what you did (and what you still do?), primary, intermediate, high school, university, work. But I didn’t know what I would do at university. The one thing I did know was that I didn’t want to spend three years studying something I wasn’t committed to and be burdened with a $30,000+ debt, to find at the end of those three years I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, or the job I had worked towards wasn’t there.

New Zealand’s media industry is a great example of where those being trained for a specific profession are being failed by the system. Every year hundreds of young people with dreams of becoming the next Jay Jay, Mike, or Dom go to broadcasting schools around the country. With such a small employment base, as simulcast national radio networks employ a minimum number of announcers for a maximum amount of profit, very few can achieve their dream. That’s a hell of a waste of talent, not to mention a waste of thousands of dollars in student loans all for nought.

There have been dozens of news items over the last year showing little has changed in 18 years. Hundreds of tertiary graduates leave New Zealand each year because the jobs they trained for just aren’t there. One focus was on teaching, where far more students were studying the ‘glamour subjects’ of Physical Education or English (who had to go overseas to find work) and too few were studying to teach Maths and Physics.
How much influence do universities, polytechnics and institutes of technology like EIT have on the courses they provide versus the jobs that are currently, or foreseeably available in the near future (most big businesses plan finances and projects 3-5 years in the future, so it can’t be too hard). Currently it appears they could be a lot more responsible in identifying workforce needs and setting subjects and class sizes accordingly. But I don’t see them being too willing to turn down the $30,000+ cash(cow) injection per student.

And where does the on-going qualification versus experience debate currently stand? When I was job-hunting many years ago, qualifications far outweighed experience. More recently, practical experience has become far more attractive in potential employees, but you can’t get experience without a job, and all too often you can’t get that job without a qualification.

I don’t like debt. If I owe anyone anything, from money to favours, I like to pay it back as soon as possible. So I’m inclined to draw a link between the readiness with which our young people have come to continue their education supported by student loans and a reliance on credit cards, overdrafts and other forms of debt later in life often jeopardising their ability to save money, or affecting their ability to purchase their own home. High levels of personal debt have become endemic in our economy (and world’s) and it puts us in the current economic state we face.

I would like to see a major increase in the number of schools, tertiary institutions and businesses offering apprentice-style, on-the-job training. Regions like Hawke’s Bay shouldn’t have to lose all their talented young people each year to the bigger centres (and overseas) for training and / or work. Our younger generations deserve a chance to stay in their hometowns where a good, skilled, well paying job, unlike the current low-paying retail and hospitality options, would be a real possibility.