Kate Hawkesby: Aucklanders count yourself lucky not to have Wellington's Mayor

For everyone in Auckland who bemoans our Mayor, and actually I’m not sure there are many of them left anymore or maybe they’ve just gone quiet, it could be worse. We could have Wellington’s Mayor. Now Tory Whanau has had her fair share of headlines and bad press since her arrival. There was the infamous “don’t you know who I am” alleged drunken incident at a Wellington restaurant, as well as leaving without paying the bill. She also made headlines back in June when she faced criticism for not attending meetings or events. In other words, claiming to be a busy Mayor but having a very empty diary. Apparently the events she did attend, she only stayed very briefly, or cancelled at the last minute. Then there’s her council. It has had issues with data breaches - two in fact: breaching the privacy of submitters to the Golden Mile proposal, and inadvertently releasing the names of more than 4000 people involved in road crashes. Now this is not a seasoned politician. We are talking about someone who completed a media degree with a thesis on Zombies, then worked in insurance, before becoming Chief of Staff for the Green Party. Golriz Gharamann is one of her besties apparently, and the word is Helen Clark is mentoring her. I have no first-hand knowledge if that’s true, but that’s the word. So yes, she’s learning on the job. But is her fascination with horror playing out in real time for her now as Wellington’s Mayor? She came onto the scene with a bang, as a media luvvie, much like our old mate Jacinda did - and we all know where that particular horror show ended up. But Whanau was quoted saying on arrival “I'm an outsider from the council, never worked in council, I'm going to be a breath of fresh air and make Wellington fun and cool and positive again.” Let me know Wellingtonians if it’s fun, cool and positive again yet? And actually is that what we want from our Mayors, or do we just want someone competent who can run stuff? Anyway, my point here is, another controversy just this week is engulfing her. And this one I have some sympathy for, because no one loves dogs more than me, but she is bringing her dog into work. That’s against the rules. You’re not allowed to bring dogs to work; it’s a breach of the council’s tenancy agreement to have her Staffordshire Bull Terrier Teddy rocking up to the office. Not only does she bring it in, it’s reported she gets staff to regularly walk it. Wellington ratepayers, quick question? Is that a valuable use of your ratepayer dollars? Now as a dog lover, particularly of my own dog, I too would love to bring her into the office. But I know not everyone’s a dog person and it’s not my work’s job to house my dog while I’m there. We had someone who shall remain nameless bring their dog in once, but it did number two’s on the newsroom carpet, so it was outskis and no dogs have been seen in our office since. But none of that’s the point; the point is the Wellington Council premises does not allow animals, and yet Whanau is flouting that for her own precious pooch. So my first question is, is this acceptable? My second question is how many personal controversies surrounding a Mayor are too many? Thirdly, Wellingtonians, are you having fun yet? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.