I agree with Bill Faulkner regarding the transparency of the local council. The councillors should remember they are our servants, voted to their positions by the people. We pay them their high salaries to do a job for us, to make decisions on our behalf, to do so with openness. No employer would tolerate staff having closed door meetings, then staff announcing what they have decided to do, as our council does. Closed doors to the public is NOT ON, it's arrogance .. Members of the public should, if they wished, sit in on the inception of ideas and listen them out in silence and follow them through to conclusion.
Few would actually turn out but those that do should not be turned away. This is our right as a democratic country and as their employers. Changes must be made.
Discussion of the salaries and pay rises must be approved by the public, meetings with out of town councillors to discuss matters should be held in the council chambers, not over lunches or dinners paid for by the public, this needs to be addressed. The money we pay is to benefit the city and not for the bellies of a certain few. Not popular ideas but good housekeeping.

A. Taylor, Tauranga.