Tom Mills, who passed away August 12, served eight terms, that's 24 years, on Tauranga City/District Council.

Tom was the clear thinking achiever for ratepayers who pioneered the catch cry, ‘what about the ratepayers'? He was voted onto Tauranga City Council, after a madcap scheme by Mount Maunganui Borough Council to discharge primary treated sewerage/wastewater into upper Rangataua Bay at Welcome Bay. The theory was that it would be flushed out the entrance on the outgoing tide. Basic hydrodynamics showed that said effluent barely made the Matapihi Railbridge.
So Tom, and two others, got elected in 1974 to the council and the project didn't proceed.

Weeding out waste
Tom was the ‘hard man' of the finance committee. Weeding out waste and excess was one of his expertises; there was plenty of fat back then, and he fought many a battle on ratepayers' behalf. This was not always easy with some elected members in the ‘noddy' mode; you know, those who nod and go aye when told to do so. Tom made it onto the inaugural regional council in 1989, but after one term government was influenced to pass a special law banning city councillors from being regional councillors. The old boy network didn't want the likes of Tom upsetting their cosy little applecart. After Tom was pushed out, the regional council behaviour reverted to the cosy days of their existence as a drainage board. Tom was at the forefront in moving the city council out of the dark ages to a somewhat commercially oriented organisation. He is held in high regard by land and building developers in the city for his foresight in partnering with private enterprise and was a pioneer in initiating ‘development contributions' – funds contributing to infrastructure caused by the city's growth.

Rock in a sea of jelly
A long list of city achievements were noted at his funeral and one that stood out was the airport. With Winston Peters help in Wellington, Tom drove council's buyout of the Crown interest in the Airport. He initiated the lengthening of the runway which was turned into a media circus/political football at election time. International airport by Christmas, Jets over Matua and the like, screamed the headlines in a relentless campaign together with Tom's name featuring prominently along with his photo. Most of it nonsense, of course, but the political mudslinging worked and in a two seat ward, Tom lost his place in council. Forgive the voters Tom – they know not what they did. Tom took legal action against the daily paper and two years later the matter was settled out of court. But the media had already won the war and Tom was gone. Ratepayers, without his support, paid the price. The required acknowledgement of Tom's success in the matter was printed between Christmas and New Year in the middle pages – unlike the prominence given to the campaign against him.
So, to Tom: thank you from the ratepayers for being a rock in a sea of jelly, for your outstanding financial abilities and hard work, for your consistency and reliability. You left our city a much better place for your efforts. There aren't many who can claim that. But the city grinds on.

Slow list of actions
Elected members had another meeting with police, staff and operators of Strand bars and restaurants over what to do to curb the after 11pm activities of some patrons. I hesitate to use the term ‘talkfests' but if action isn't taken the problem won't go away (I've heard that before, somewhere). The Strand reclamation carpark will be closed after 10pm or so on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights soon. That is designed to remove a meeting place for those who booze up at home and then hit the town after 11pm. Some of these people create problems for licensees.
Next on the slow list of actions being considered, is to create a pathway alongside the road. This would stop people from moving amongst patrons of restaurants and causing trouble. Bouncers could deal with them within fenced off areas. Making patrons remain seated. It was argued that people standing up can be a cause of trouble in the wee small hours. As one of the only elected members remaining from the original move to allow ‘alfresco dining' on the Strand, I have to say that late night boozing was never on the radar. It was always intended that people would go down there for a civilised meal with alcohol available and there was a right royal scrap from the self righteous moral high ground, but common sense won the day and we got our way. But human nature being what it is pushed the boundaries and now there is a situation never intended. That's not to say it's for or against the present situation – times change – but that's the history.

Ash keeps coming
Have you noticed the black ash at your place during the easterly winds? I wrote about it January last year, and in August last year the regional council's environmental monitoring department put up collector phials. Nothing has been heard since, even though the ash keeps coming. I would have thought one year would be plenty to source the problem which we're breathing. People at the Mount contacted me at the time to say they were getting it. Down at Sulphur Point it's quite prevalent too.
City Hall is getting back to having ‘in-house' legal advice. Tom Mills would be aghast as I am. It's not the staff I oppose but the principle. When council receives outside legal services it comes with accountability if it goes wrong. In the 1980's there was an ‘in-house' legal botch-up that cost ratepayers heaps. If you don't learn from history you're bound to relive it. Another lawyer position is presently being advertised so if you're a high flying legal eagle, your city wants you.
Tauranga City Venues Ltd that runs Baypark Stadium has at long last settled outstanding matters with Speedway promoter Willie Kay. Mr Kay held exclusive rights over the entire site at Baypark for 20 speedway nights during the year. Some elected members had concerns this might impact on the operation of the proposed new Indoor Sport and Exhibition Centre to be built adjacent to the stadium. So negotiations were set in train some time ago to limit Mr Kay's exclusive rights to the speedway only. This agreement should now clear the way for tenders to be called for construction of the centre.