GUYS. I NEED TO ADDRESS THE 'SHREK 2' SITUATION

Guys. Guys. I never thought I'd have to make this video. deep breath But here we are, and I owe my community the truth.

So. As some of you may have seen, the Tasman library in Stoke ran a fine amnesty last week. A beautiful initiative. I'm so here for libraries doing the work. But the system wiped a few overdue items registered to a card I held in 2011 when I was dog-sitting for a mate in Nelson. One was Shrek 2. The other was the special features disc of Pearl Harbor.

I want to be really clear. I did not lobby for the amnesty. I did not, as commenters on the Bishopdale Community Page have alleged, engineer a write-off of $847 in fines through council back channels. That's not who I am. I'm just a guy. A guy who forgot to return Shrek 2 for fourteen years.

Barry Hoskins, who runs a newsletter out of Bishopdale, said the whole thing reminded him of 1974, "when you could leave a library book on a bus and someone would mail it back with a note". Barry, I hear you. I'm sitting with that.

A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said the Mayor's library card was "technically a Tasman matter" and declined to comment further. Tasman District Council said the amnesty was "working as intended", which is the council version of leaving the read receipts on.

To my community, I am so sorry. I'm taking some time off the socials. I'm donating the fine value to a literacy charity once my team works out what that is. And — links below for my new course on accountability.