Postedby Mike Hampton on January 24, 2016

Mike Hampton lives in Knysna, South Africa. He will presentallegations of local government corruption and mal administration to Parliament on February 10 2016.

He says " It's been an almost 5 year battle, at great personal cost, to try gain justice for our pretty town. The DA and ANC have repeatedly shown that they don't care about us. I don't know if Parliament is merely another wall to try climb but i have to hope that there is someone in higher authority who still cares for us, the public. I walk a difficult path. The DA and their cronies are trying to shut me up with a flood of court cases. I need your help not only to survive but to better spread the truth."

We Need

We need local political and municipal leaders who put an emphasis on public service, not self-service.

We need political representation that puts us, the public, first (unclouded by provincial or national interests).

We need Councillors who are willing to sign a commitment form… and be voted out of office if they fail in their duty to do their best to uphold their election goals.

We need elected officials whose agenda and constitution are easy to understand.

We need plain speaking political parties and independents that seek and deliver understanding of how our local government works; the state of our infrastructure, where monies are needed and spent etc.

We need independent politicians or locally based political parties who believe in this and more, public servants who are prepared to make this promise and commitment:

PROMISE

I believe in direct democracy, electorate education, communication and honesty.

I promise to prioritise austerity and public service before salary by:

Donating 10% of my Councillor’s salary towards community service e.g. community liaison assistant, charity, promoting culture integration etc.
Opposing councillor salary increases for the first 3 years of public service. In the event of being unable to stop salary increases during that period, I will donate the value of the latest increase received to community service. I will publicly challenge my fellow Councillors to do the same.
To contribute 5% of my salary to my party for running costs not covered by local government.

[these contributions are based after relevant taxation, reducing my income by approximately 20% for my first 3 years of service to those who elected me]

I promise impartiality, to the best of my knowledge, by:

Refusing to join any political coalition (that could affect my vote).
Voting with conscience, on each matter according to its merits, favouring no party, not even a fellow party member.

I promise transparency by:

Supporting free speech.
Encouraging whistleblowers.
Believing in the public’s right to know.
Contributing to a quarterly newsletter/article addressed to the public.
Making my vote on important Council matters known (and explained) to the public.
Encouraging media access to local government.
Posting the party’s annual accounting online.

I promise necessity by:

Addressing tough topics such as racism, crime, drugs, pollution and budgets. I will not avoid tough issues for the sake of public relations or image (for myself or the town/city).

I promise to sign a Councillor Commitment Form that states that the public (who voted me into office) are my employer and thus, after a one-year settling into office period, have the right to recall me if they believe that I’ve failed to uphold my party’s constitution or do my best to achieve my election promises.