PAPATOETOE AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 253, 26 October 1933, Page 22

PAPATOETOE AFFAIRS.

At the annual meeting of Papatoetoe ratepayers a definite resolution was carried by a 10 to 1 majority of those voting, asking for an investigation into amalgamation with the Manukau county, and other proposals. To my surprise I read that the Town Board has turned such resolution down. As one who attended the meeting, I take it as a direct insult and trust that the matter will not be permitted to stop at this. The chairman, with two other members of the board, were included in the investigation committee, along with four other ratepayers, and the motion was put to the meeting in - the presence of th© whole board, with the exception of one member. Now the board decides not to have anything to do with the matter. Why then have a public meeting of ratepayers? Every local ibody or other public body representative must be prepared to accept criticism, and it i 3 hard lines if an inquiry asked for by the annual meeting of ratepayers can be turned flat because a few members feel "piqued" at the audacity of a majority of voters who attended the public meeting called by the board in asking that a committee be set up to look into the matters. I hope that a public meeting will be called by those who view with alarm that during the last three years the general fund has gone from a credit of over £1000 to a debit of nearly £2000, an average of £1000 per annum, and who have, in effect, been told that they must not inquire into affairs that concern them. CONCERNED.