‘Damned with faint praise' is one of those sayings I recall. It could apply particularly to a couple of letters, which have appeared in The Weekend Sun's October 10 edition: ‘Council role cannot be a part-time one' and ‘Plumb job keepers'.

They seem to be a part of an attempt to show Tauranga's new MP Clayton Mitchell in a poor light, apparently from the fact that he said he would resign from the Tauranga City Council if he became an MP.

Well, he is now in fact an MP. Maybe he's already put his resignation in. Time will tell.

Give him a chance; look at it from all angles. Give him the credit for his part, as I do know, that he was instrumental in having John Key's Government agree to shoulder $64 million of this council's debt for Route K.

As a former MP, I would think that would be the most constructive issue any MP could do for the ratepayers of Tauranga.

Edwin Perry,
NZ First Tauranga Electorate chairman.