Followers of this blog will know my contempt for the Christchurch City Council. Never before have I come across an organisation so rotten and corrupt due to lack of leadership and mismanagement.

But it would be easy to criticise and pass judgement without offering a solution. I care about this city enough that I would like to see the Council fixed so that some time in the future people might actually want to live or open a business in the Central City.

The only chance for any real change won’t come until election time. Hopefully with the way the city is being run, good people with a sense of public duty, will decide to stand for council and the mayoralty. Make sure when this happens that you get out and vote to hold those standing accountable for fixing this mess.

I will again vote for Yani Johnasen and Tim Carter, two of the only sensible voices sitting around that council table.

But for those of you living in Burwood/Pegasus, you have the chance to vote in the by-election. For all of you, I would like to endorse Peter Beck. I talked with him on the weekend and am confident he has what it takes to be another sensible voice at the table.

As a committed atheist, Peter is one of the few people who gives me hope that religion can be about love and compassion. A non-judgemental form of religion is fine by me. I like his politics, I like his values and I like him as a friend. I also like that after the earthquakes, that loony religious newspaper that announced the earthquake was due to our lack of religion branded him the “swearing Dean”.

So make sure if you live in Burwood/Pegasus that you get out and vote. There is no way we can clean up this mess without ensuring really good people are running this city. So please vote for Peter and tell all your friends to do the same.