STREET LEVELS.
“ Before we leave this meeting I have something to say about an editorial which appeared in the WAIPA POST the other day,” said Mr Teasdale at the meeting of the Town Board on Saturday evening. “ This article says that somebody has succeeded in ‘ faking ’ the street levels to meet his own ends. I take it that those remarks were meant for me, and I now want to make it quite clear that in all my thirty-five years’ membership on local governing bodies I have never yet faked anything to suit my own ends, and I do not intend to start at that game now. ... I have never
asked the engineer to alter the levels at my garage property — [the engineer concurred in this] —and if I have done anything at all it is only to have a few yards of earth tipped on my own property to make an entrance. I am ready and willing to pay for this earth. . . That article was the most malicious and spiteful thing I have ever seen. . . I have not ‘ faked ’ the levels, and if the editor, who sits there now, tells me that he intended that article for me I will see that there is something more heard about it. .
. . lam not afraid to meet the public at any time, and although I know the article was meant for me I would like the editor to confirm my belief.” Mr Mathews: There is just one question I would like to ask. Was that garage building put to the proper level? Mr Teasdale : I am surprised to hear Mr Mathews ask such a silly question. He knows quite well that I got the levels. Why, he assisted to give them. Mr Mathews : But I did not give you the levels. . Oh, no ! I did nothing of the sort. At this' juncture Mr Mathews and Mr Teasdale became engaged in a wordy warfare, at the conclusion of which Mr Teasdale gave it as his opinion that “the builders had made some mistake.” “But,” he continued, addressing the representative of this paper, “I want to know if that article was meant for me? ” Mr Wallace : I can only suppose that if you want this information your best plan will be to call at the newspaper offices. It has nothing at .all to do with this Board. Mr Teasdale : I am surprised at you sir. I do not intend to call at that office, and this matter has a lot to do with this Board, and I will — }
Mr Wallace: Mr Teasdale, you will kindly resume your seat as I do not intend to allow you to introduce irrelevant matter at this meeting, and to speak as you are now doing at this table. I shall take the next business. And Mr Teasdale subsided.
It will come as a surprise to the majority of our readers to note that Mr Teasdale, with all his much - boasted thirty-five years’ experience of the conduct of the affairs of local governing bodies, has evidently not yet learnt to recognise* the purpose for which press representatives attend meetings. His apparent ignorance of journalistic etiquette and evident disregard of the rules for the conduct of meetings of this nature is, at least, surprising. Instead of delaying the business of the Board, Mr Peasdale’s proper course of action would have been to approach us in a proper manner and at the proper place. When he does so he will be given all the information he desires.
The fact remains, as Mr Teasdale himself acknowledges, that the footpath levels have, at his particular property, been raised in a both unsightly and unjustifiable manner. We have not yet accused Mr Teasdale—of anybody else in particular—of being responsible for this. What we did say—and what we will say again, should another obstruction be placed in any public highway is—“who is responsible,” and it will take something more than Mr Teasdale’s blustering tactics to make us desist from voicing reasonable and proper protest. The public has every right toknow who or what is responsible for the authorisation of amended instructions for the carrying out of any public works ; and Mr Teasdale, or any other member, will prove himself unworthy of office if he treats as a personal affront, any and every enquiry that may be made concerning the conduct of the Board’s affairs. Mr Teasdale has not yet offered any explanation to the public, and it is for him (or any member of the Town Board) to give that ex; la
ation to which the public are justly entitled.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAIPO19140310.2.12
Bibliographic details
Waipa Post, Volume VI, Issue 296, 10 March 1914, Page 2
Word Count
764STREET LEVELS. Waipa Post, Volume VI, Issue 296, 10 March 1914, Page 2
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the Waipa Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.