Velvet leaf panic

I wrote about the "worstest, mostest agressivest weed in the whole world", velvet leaf, Abutilon theophrasti for Get Growing last week. I've been amazed by the reaction to the discovery that velvet leaf is now growing across Southland, having been sown en mass along with fodder beet for winter feed for cows and I suppose sheep. It's not as though there has been an isolated outbreak of velvet leaf from some garden or other, or even a spill from a seed-carrying truck as with the recent black grass in Canterbury. No, this seed was sown on farms all over the region. The Ministry for Primary Industries somehow contrived to source fodder beet through a seed company (hat-tip Ray) from an unusual source and it was "contaminated" with Abutilon theophrasti which grew happily here in Southland and is now setting it's own seeds. Panic has gripped the authorities, along with, I suspect, feelings of guilt and fear at being sued by farmers who stand to lose a great deal of income, should this plant get established here. Hence the huge, sustained and very expensive efforts to seek and destroy the plants. Not much comment in the media about how the situation arose, why the decision was made to import from an infected area and why the seed was not "clean". It's a major botch-up by MPI, I reckon and a very expensive one. Our own regional council is redirecting much of its energies away from its core functions into this search and while we are assured that MPI will pay back what we've had to spend, Environment Southland is losing valuable time in the fight to protect the waters of Southland from those other threats that have long been identified. This is not a good situation to find ourselves in. At all. Here are the PDF versions of my article.

Councillor Cockburn, excited over climate change declaration

A momentous 15 minutes in the chamber today, as previously truculent councillors finally smelled the coffee brewing in the pot that is the over-heating climate. Like old sailors grasping the sheets, previously-in-denial sea dogs like Councillors Cockburn and and Hubber enthusiastically backed Chairman Timms quite freely given offer to sign the declaration that seems to mean something quite different to her than it does to me, but never mind, every good councillor voted yes and the pen twirled daintily. The Southland Times article below represents the tidy version of events, and doesn't include the wrangling from me over what signing will mean for the council, but that can wait. For now, some progress has been made :-)

"Environment Southland Council is signing up to a local government declaration on action on climate change with one councillor saying it needs to be in their minds when granting consents.

The motion was carried by the Council on Wednesday for Chairman Ali Timms to sign the Local Government Leaders' Climate Change declaration on behalf of the council.

The declaration calls on councils to acknowledge the importance and urgent need to address climate change and to support the New Zealand Government in developing and implementing an ambitious transition plan towards a low carbon New Zealand.

Last week Auckland's deputy mayor Penny Hulse launched the declaration on behalf of Local Government New Zealand.

Timms said it was initially proposed by metro councils, but support was now sought from mayors and chairs from throughout the country,

Names of councils would be added up until the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015 where the declaration would be presented by Sir Bob Harvey as the sector's special envoy.

This was something local government should be united on and showing leadership, Timms said

Councillor Robert Guyton said he was very pleased that the council was on board and showing support.

"I'm very much in support of that."

Councillor Nicol Horrell said it was putting more pressure on central government to act, while councillor Jan Riddell said it was her hope that all regional councils would sign up to this.

"I think it's important regional councils take the lead."

The council needed to be keeping the declaration in mind when granting consents, Riddell said.

"There is work to be done."

Councillor Maurice Rodway said in the planning area generally council needed to be looking at opportunities to encourage the community to reduce greenhouse gas contributions.

Councillor Ross Cockburn said he was quite excited because council were actually going to be talking about prevention of disasters.

"It's time we got on to that boat," he said."

- Stuff

An attack on democracy - today's meeting with MPI

Proposed national guidelines for forestry would strip councils of democratic rights, an Environment Southland councillor says.

The Ministry for Primary Industries held a public meeting on Tuesday, to address the proposed introduction of a National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry.

About 30 people attended the meeting at the Invercargill Workingmen's Club.

Environment Southland councillor Robert Guyton was concerned the proposal seemingly slipped in the permitted planting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), without public consultation.

The proposed NES would replace regional and district councils' existing district and regional plan rules for managing plantation forestry, creating a nationally consistent approach.

However, Guyton was concerned it would take away the power from elected councillors.

"The democratically elected representatives will have no say."

The proposal would have lasting effects for Southland. Allowing genetically modified plantations, including sterile trees, would limit environmental risk management, pest management and the ability to market New Zealand goods overseas, he said.

It would mean New Zealand would lose its GE Free status and would not be able to reclaim it, creating a "serious economic threat" to Southland, he said.

"Once it's in, it's in."

Under the proposed NES, local council authorities would lose the ability to make decisions on planting genetically modified trees, he said.

While Guyton opposed the use of GMO, Steve Chandler, a Southland/Otago forest manager, said he supported the NES proposal because it would allow the use of some GMOs.

"One of the things that we really like is the ability to implement sterile trees."

However, MPI forestry and land management directionate analyst Stuart Miller said the Environmental Protection Agency was yet to approve any use of genetically modified trees.

"It is an issue that has been raised across New Zealand and we'll be giving some serious thought to the issue of GMOs and GE as a public interest."

Wider public consultation would be considered, he said.

Proposals for the improvement of the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative were also discussed at the meeting. It enables landowners to receive carbon units through the creation of permanent forests.

The initiative, part of New Zealand's climate change response, is under review to increase the area of permanent forests, increase economic benefits for participants and improve administration.

MPI is asking for submissions on the NES and on the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative, both submission periods close in August.

- The Southland Times Brittany Pickett

Estuary Editorial (Friday)

Editorial: Time to save our estuaries

OPINION: The sky isn't falling. But the estuaries are gasping.

An Environment Southland report on the state of our estuaries places them on the verge of an ecological disaster. You could say we've been hearing that for while now. Take any comfort from that sense of familiarity and you're kidding yourself.

The problem has been expanding and accelerating. All Southland's estuaries bar one, Freshwater, has shown signs of rapid degradation and most have exponential increases in those reeking eutrophic areas where algae feed off the nutrients that escape our heavily-farmed land.

It's far from a localised problem and neither local nor national government has been idle. You might recall that in 2011 the Government, ahem, "required" regions to maintain or improve the water quality in their lakes, rivers, wetlands and aquifers.

Then came a proposed national "plan of action" (a title to distinguish this from plans of inaction?) for improving water quality and the way freshwater is managed.

This led to the announcement of a "collaborative planning option for the development of a freshwater plan within a community".

And yep, some extra resourcing resulted. Budget 2014 put another $20 million, over four years, to boost freshwater and environment initiatives, a large part of which was to help councils and communities improve the way they plan and make decisions about managing their local freshwater resources. Down on the farm, ES has already introduced new resource-consent requirements for dairy conversions - a good move, albeit one that hasn't led to a whole heap of refusals.

Cynicism is not required here. There has been, for years now, a genuine and not-insubstantial attempt to front up to the problem after a sustained time of dangerous under-reaction not simply by authorities, but by our wider society.

Breathing estuaries aren't nice-to-have things. More than just an indicator of how we're doing environmentally they're really important ecosystems in themselves. Ask the fishing industry.

We seriously need to turn the figures around. And we haven't. That is scary.

Good idea for Southland

(After the original by Steffan Browning)
Southland should follow the Tasmanian Government's lead and have a moratorium on genetically engineered (GE/GMO) crops and animals to give food and agricultural industries the best market advantage, ES councillor Robert Guyton said today.

Tasmania announced yesterday that it would extend its moratorium on GE indefinitely to give its agricultural industry an advantage in marketing to increasingly food-safety conscious consumers.



There is a huge, premium market for GE-free products that Southland should be targeting
"Tasmania's smart approach has given it access to a high-value market whereas other Australian states have accepted some GE crops such as canola, which has caused contamination, market rejection issues, community discord, and loss of opportunity for non-GE producers.

"A permanent ban on GE would enhance Southland's image. Southland has no GE commercial crops or animal production at present with just two GE field trials and one legal GE equine influenza vaccine. We could go further than Tasmania and ban the GE field trials and release of GE vaccines.

"Tasmanian beef producers exporting to the USA celebrated yesterday's announcement and Southland producers should also be able to profit from the GE-free advantage.

"Resistance to GE food is building in the USA and the market for GE-free food is already well established in Europe. Asian markets are also becoming more and more sensitive to food safety issues. The best value for Southland exporters can be gained by reinstating a GE moratorium," said Mr Guyton.

Interviewing people with something to say

What an elegant title from the Southland Times 'letters' editor today; pithy and amusing too.
He was referring to my letter of response to councillor Miller's earlier, in-my-opinion lame, effort.

Marion Miller rises (November 1) in defence of the "old guard" on the council of Environment Southland.

 In doing her duty she takes a swipe at The Southland Times' report and criticises the reporter for not interviewing those 'old guards', talking instead to the councillors who expressed a lively opinion during the meeting. 

 You can hardly blame the reporter for looking for something other than platitudes to offer readers.

ROBERT GUYTON

Rowly Currie too, had a letter published this morning (it's a good day for democracy, eh, Stuart!).

Rowly exposed an aspect of 'council business' that most people won't have known about; the continued influence of ex-chairman Stuart Collie. Rowly wrote (under the title, Democratic process):

In response to Stuart Collie (November 2) all Environment Southland councillors understand and accept the democratic process.

 The majority view will always triumph. 

 Sometimes, some may not favour an outcome, and will say so, which is a democratic right.
 It would appear that Stuart Collie`s remarks relate to the fact that he is the proud mentor of Ali Timms.

ROWLY CURRIE

Beautiful!

Go Gareth!

You've got my vote, mate! This latest post from you on water and who's doing what with it, is gold. Look at this:

"Secondly, much can be done at the level of local government. Local governments are responsible for implementing resource management laws and have powers (and the legal obligation) to set their own environmental targets. However there is no escaping the conflict between polluters and the public at the local level and if the overall message coming out of Parliament is soft on polluting, it can make it hard for local bodies to find the courage to set tough standards"

This is just what we are battling on our council and somehow, Mr Morgan has it sussed. Here's more:

"Eventually Parliament may reconnect with the public will on fresh water – and the 2014 election may be the catalyst for that – but in the meantime it is pretty clear that those who can make a difference should get on regardless. What is needed then is a joining of the dots across local government and community groups to make the efforts of both more effective. Community groups and local councils could collaborate on a much greater scale than they do at present both within each community and across communities. The onus for taking this step towards greater collaboration and connection sits with councils who have both the resources to engage with other councils and communities and a legislated responsibility to protect the environment."

This is excellent stuff from Gareth Morgan. I'm liking his style - not at all afraid to call it how it is. Read his entire article here and think, if you are so inclined, about what he's proposing.

Timms: Ruby a 'stupid' act

The Southland Express story by Allison Rudd paints a less than flattering picture of chairwoman Timms, opening with, "Environment Southland chairman Ali Timms now leads a divided council after surviving a meeting where five of her councillors made it plain they wanted her gone."

Harsh, but true.

The story continues:

"The 7-5 vote of confidence in her leadership came at the conclusion of a sombre one-hour meeting last Thursday.
  Ms Timms earned the unanimous disapproval of her colleagues last month when she telephoned Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt on a regional television talk-back show and posed as Ruby, a mother of two whose husband had been made redundant from the Tiwai Point smelter.
  At the meeting, the councillors who wanted her gone spoke of her lack of remorse, saying she had breached the council's Code of Conduct and destroyed her credibility. They said her actions had impacted on the public's perceptions of the organisation as a whole, and that if she stayed she would be trying to lead a divided council.

Cr Brian mason said councillors had asked Ms Timms to resign at an extraordinary meeting on December 12, but she had refused. At that meeting, a majority of councillors had granted her request for six week's leave on full pay, a decision he said cost ratepayers "at least $7000".
  Other councillors said while they didn't condone her actions, one mistake had to be balanced against the good work she had done in her two years as chairwoman.
  Acing chairman Nicol Horrell said all councillors would be judged at October's local body elections.
  "Let the people decide then whether Ali or any of us should stay or go. I am comfortable with that."
  Ms Timms, who spoke last, apologised, saying she regretted her "stupid" and "dumb" actions and could assure people there would be no repeat.
  However, she said she had no intention of resigning.
  "I'm not a quitter. I'm not going anywhere, " she said.

Thursday is Timmsday

We meet on Thursday in the boardroom at ES (the public are welcome - please join us for what will be a fascinating look into how local politicians operate. Or you could find some wet paint and watch that dry :-) to thrash out the Timms affair. Already behind the scenes, there's been plenty of thrashing. Most of the action has been around the manner in which this meeting has been "shaped" by Acting Chairman Nicol Horrell and his supporters. Concern around the choice of "confidence" as the motion to be put has already been expressed in the media. Legal opinion said that the use of a motion of confidence is unprecedented in local body politics - they could find no previous case to base their opinion on. Votes of "no confidence" were the usual practice. Acting chairman Horrell said he chose a confidence motion because "it would be improper" for him to move a vote of no confidence in Ali Timms. I'm unsure how that could be, given that it's normal practice in other councils.
The agenda for the meeting provided another surprising aspect to the affair. It paints a rosy picture of our chairman and her attainments, but doesn't mention her fall from grace, described as "unacceptable" and given the council's stamp of "extreme disapproval", at all. In it, we read that Ms Timms has "been a hardworking and effective chairman" and that the meeting  "gives the council the opportunity to consider Ali's performance as chair since the last election", which all sounds very positive, doesn't it.
Latest in this series of "developments" is the news that Ms Timms will vote on the motion of "confidence"...in herself. At first hearing, this sounds ludicrous. Bias is something councillors are constantly challenged to avoid having and it's impossible to see how Ms Timms cannot be 100% biased when it comes to a vote to establish confidence in herself. Were she not intending to vote for herself, she'd have stood down by now, saving the council a good deal of money and time. It may be usual practice for someone in this position to vote I don't know, but it sure smells funny to me. I suspect there will be many Southland people, those interested in this democratic process anyway, who find that more than just a little curious. We'll see if there is any reaction following the drama of the day.
The individual councillors will each be presenting their view of Ms Timms "performance" and I'm certain there will be strong opinions expressed. It all comes down though, to the numbers. If Ms Timms can marshal 6 votes in her favour, then add her own, the motion of confidence will be passed.
I'm certain she will have been wearing out the leather on the bottom of her stylish shoes in the pursuit of support from many of the councillors, but I've not had her knocking at my door.
Perhaps she's taking my support for granted :-)
*Update - yes, legal opinion is that a person can indeed vote on a motion of confidence, even if it's in them selves, a matter of natural justice I've learned and I'm a supporter of that, that's for sure!
*Update on the update - not so, after looking more closely at the reply. The right to hear and be heard is covered by natural justice, but not the right to vote. That's the arguable aspect of this whole affair. You might think that it is unseemly to vote for yourself, if that vote was a deciding one. There are people watching this unfold with great interest.

Timms on agenda

Southland Times journalist Evan Harding rang me yesterday for comment about where the council was with their 'chairman' issue. I was happy to bring him up to speed with developments, believing that it's important that the public 'gets a look in' at what councillors are doing, and knowing that many of my fellow councillors are very reluctant to speak with 'the media'. In response, he wrote the following article for today's ST front page.

The fate of beleaguered Environment Southland chairwoman Ali Timms could be decided at an extraordinary meeting of the council on January 24.

Ms Timms was last month outed for making a hoax phone call to a Cue television talkback show.

Pretending to be a struggling mother of two called Ruby whose partner had been laid off at Tiwai, she repeatedly grilled Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt during the live television show about the city council's funding of the Auckland-to-Bluff yacht race.

When confronted about the hoax call, she told The Southland Times it was a practical joke.

Her actions were widely condemned by Environment Southland and Invercargill city councillors. Ms Timms subsequently took six weeks' paid leave until her future as chairwoman was decided.

Acting Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell yesterday said the January 24 meeting was to discuss the Environment Southland leadership.

He intended to move a motion of confidence in Ms Timms to enable councillors to express their views and take a vote.

If the majority of councillors voted for the motion, Ms Timms would remain as chairwoman; but if they voted against it another meeting would have to be held in 14 days' time and the vote would be put again, he said.

When asked why a motion of confidence in Ms Timms would be put and not one of no confidence, Mr Horrell said it would be improper for him as acting chairman to move a vote of no confidence.

A vote of confidence would have the same effect, he said.

Environment Southland councillor Robert Guyton said yesterday a vote of confidence was an inappropriate vehicle for the council to express its disapproval of Ms Timms' actions.

Legal advice suggested a vote of confidence had never been used in local body politics in New Zealand and the usual process was to move a vote of no confidence, he said.

Mr Guyton said he would listen to the views of the councillors around the table before deciding which way to vote, "but at this stage I feel there needs to be a change".

He believes Ms Timms should have taken the opportunity to stand down when she was "encouraged to do the honourable thing" by councillors at a meeting last month to discuss her actions.

She refused to stand down, Mr Guyton said, and it was her idea to take six weeks' leave.

"I don't think her position is tenable following her public dishonesty and I think she has jeopardised the relationship between the council and other [Southland] councils, particularly the Invercargill City Council."



Her dishonesty had also jeopardised the relationship between Environment Southland and the public, he said.

Mr Guyton said he would not be going for the chairmanship if Ms Timms was sacked, but he believed several councillors could fill the role very well, including Jan Riddell, "who enjoys excellent relationships with all of the agencies around Southland and is entirely trustworthy".

It was too early to say whether Ms Timms had the numbers to retain her position, Mr Guyton said.

Environment Southland councillor Ross Cockburn, who said last month that Ms Timms remained an excellent chairwoman, yesterday declined to say which way he would vote at the meeting.

The Southland Times ran an informal online poll last month asking readers whether Ms Timms should remain chairwoman of Environment Southland, with 59 voting yes and 237 voting no.

Ms Timms could not be contacted yesterday.

evan.harding@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

Confidence or no-confidence

Following Ms Timms unacceptable-to-the-council behaviour on Cue TV, where she impersonated a struggling young mum named 'Ruby' and denied the obvious deception when pressed by Invercargill mayor, Tim Shadbolt, the council has resolved to meet in January to deal with the question of her suitability as chairman of the council. It seemed obvious to me that any vote taken at that meeting would be one of no-confidence in the chairman, as a result of her behaviour, providing an opportunity for those who feel she should go to vote that way, and those who want her to stay to vote against the motion, but no, it turns out that the Acting Chairman, Nichol Horrell has proposed a vote of confidence in Ms Timms! I've always thought such a vote was taken when a council was looking to praise and reward its chair or mayor, for a job especially well done, a kind of official 'pat on the back'. Clearly that's not what should be happening here, if I am right in my interpretation. Still, we shall see. Legal advice has been sought and that should clarify the correctness or otherwise of Mr Horrell's move.

*Up-date:
The legal advice was returned this afternoon and they made this point:

" We have never come across a vote of confidence in the context of local government previously, so cannot comment on what it typically means in local government."

That tells me the proposal for a 'vote of confidence' is unprecedented, unusual and untested in local government. Why on earth would we use it then?

Cave and Murrell - quotes of the day

Mervyn Cave and Jack Murrell are stalwart letter-writers who contribute often to the Southland Times' YOUR VIEW column.
Today, each has a repeatable quote; Jack's on Judith Collins, Mervyn's on "Ruby" Timms.

Jack doesn't pussy-foot around:

"Judith Collin's ministerial dignity has vanished and in my eyes she is now a quaking, querulous cow."

Mervyn torments chairman Timms with a letter to "Ruby":

"I extend my sympathies to you over the trauma you would have suffered from having your identity stolen for nefarious political purposes."

Mervyn's taken to mocking the ES chairman for her lamentable behaviour and he's not the only one. I hear it everywhere I go.

Ciaran Keogh's presentation at the "Growing Green" conference, Auckland

Here you are, Anon's-all and anyone else interested to hear and see what our ex-CEO is saying about farming and Councils, now that there's some distance between himself and us.

Drilling the island

They're drilling for gas on Stewart Island. Rather, Greymouth Petroleum has set up it's rig in anticipation of getting consent to drill for gas. It seems astonishing that they would go to all the effort of shipping gear to Rakiura, assemble it and advertise their intentions through The Southland Times, before getting their consents sorted. Still, there they are.

Meanwhile, we're playing an oil drilling board game on the dining room table, no consent required.

Federated Farmers call to double Councillors' pay

It was a very interesting submission from the federation's Doug Fraser in the ES boardroom yesterday. As always, we greatly value submissions but I found Doug's especially encouraging where he called for a doubling of Councillor's remuneration! I'd decline a pay rise of that magnitude of course, but felt flattered that the Federated Farmers valued my work, and that of my fellow Councillors so highly as to support such a generous increase.
You just never quite know what the Feds are thinking!
Shaun Yeo, Southland Times embedded cartoonist, made a lovely job of summing up Doug's other main point; that the Council should be reduced to a team of 6. From the gleam in Doug's eye, I could tell that I was a shoe-in :-)

Shadders wades in

And so do I.

Feds president showed courage

I was in the room when Federated Farmers members booed their president and then walked out when he said he supported Environment Southland's new dairy rule.

  They were wrong to do that, in my opinion.

  Mr Gardyne began his presentation by saying he was surprised that dairy farmers were at the meeting to oppose a new policy that would "secure their future, and improve the community perception of their industry."

  I don't think jeering and leaving the room before Mr Gardyne had a chance to have his say was a good way to give the federation the "moral authority" it had been hoping to gain from the meeting.

  I found his presentation to be balanced and reasonable and admired his courage.

ROBERT GUYTON

Riverton

Not Bill English

Ali Timms, Environment Southland chairman, has not addressed her admonishments (in today's Southland Times) to this man, Conor English, Federated Farmers CEO, but to his brother, Bill English, Deputy Prime Minister. English went into bat for the federation following the grumpy walkout by federation members, who couldn't bear to hear the contrary opinion of their chairman, Hugh Gardyne speaking in the ES boardroom last week. English makes claims on behalf of the Federated Farmers, despite not being their CEO, claims that Timms quite rightly disputes. Perhaps English's claims to the Times were in fact, English's and the otherwise attentive Mr Tulett mixed the Christian names inadvertently, who can say? "Could the real Mr English come forward", I can almost here people say, "we're feeling a little bamboozled!"

*  Prior to this appointment Mr English was Commercial Director and second-in-charge of The Property Group, a consultancy with 80 staff. He is the former chief executive officer of the New Zealand Property Institute and has had roles in other lobby groups and in the Beehive.

"Disgraceful!"

That was my comment as the Farmers of the Federation turned their backs on their president, walked out as he began his address and booed when he said he supported the new rule.
Read the story here.

Timms on the Greens

Southland Regional Council chairman, Ali Timms recently flew to Auckland to attend the Bluegreen forum. The Bluegreens are a splinter of the National Party log, that would, if it could, attract some 'green' vote from the New Zealand public. They failed, at the last election, to do so, according to Ms Timms' report  published in the agenda for the up-coming Ordinary Meeting of Council. In the report, our chairman states that "there was widespread acknowledgement that the Green Party has captured most of NZ's green vote." This is no great surprise to a Green like myself and the reasons for National's failure to appeal to the green thinker are obvious - pimping mining, drilling and fracking, the strangulation on the Department of Conservation, the opening up of our marine areas for aquaculture etc, etc are not behaviors that appeal to the environmentally-aware New Zealander, looking to use their vote to protect our country's natural beauty.
I wish I'd been at the conference myself - I'd happily have put them straight on where they are going wrong.
Ms Timms closed her report with a rather odd statement, saying,
"Quote of the day, was about someone "who  has voted for the Greens even though their social manifesto was rubbish".
I wonder why she wrote that?
I'll ask at Wednesday's meeting.

The respectable Gonzales Brother.

Here's Ross Gonzales, my brother in sport. Ross did the family proud today, pumping up a win for all Mexico on his bicycle, flashing through the finish-line tape with the pep he's so famous for. Asked about his state-of-the-art lycra leggings, Ross quipped, "They're my second skin - and like a cheetah's sleek pelt, add nano-seconds to my time." Councillor Marion Miller, in the crowd to witness Ross's triumphant victory for all that is good said, "I couldn't take my eyes off them. I was mesmerized."
It's that hypnotic advantage that served Ross well as he powered home after double-lapping the challenging Waihopai circuit. I knew the baton change (I was Ross's support-runner, tasked with finishing the duathalon by scampering around the track - a formality really, Ross's ride had assured us of victory.) would be dicey, as I'm maladroit, but despite one sharp crack to the head with the heavy baton (that was an accident, Ross?) and a staggering, weaving start to my run, I was off. Caught and redirected by a race official, I set out again around the track. Despite my wobbly gait and distractability, I made it round and fell, completely deflated, across the tape. We'd won, thanks to the powerhouse that is Ross.
Kia kaha, Ross, or as they say in your native land, ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!