Open the books over leaky homes, says council candidate

News that Auckland City is facing an alleged liability of up to a half a billion dollars over leaky homes demands that the Mayor and his council immediately reveal the true extent of the potential liability facing ratepayers.
"It is simply not good enough that the potential figure is alleged to run into several hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the council is keeping the numbers hidden", said Aaron Bhatnagar, council candidate for Citizens and Ratepayers in Hobson Ward.

"All candidates standing for higher public office deserve to know what they are getting themselves into. Yet no-one knows, except the incumbent Mayor and a couple of councillors. If there is a fiscal crisis over leaky homes, then let's get it out into the open now and allow independent building and legal experts to provide an honest and unbiased opinion on what we face. We can't rely on Mr Hubbard's vibe to tell us the problem isn't as big as alleged but he's still going to ask for government help," said Mr Bhatnagar.

"Far too much of this council's shonky decision making is taking place in secret. The coverup of a potential half billion dollar liability from the ratepayer is unacceptable and politically irresponsible.  That's why we need to bring back openness and transparency at Auckland City Council. The good news is that Aucklanders can vote to change the council in only a few short weeks to ensure they get just that".

Reference: Herald on Sunday article 26/8/07  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/story.cfm?c_id=562&objectid=10459879&pnum=2

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