Donald CharlesLeach is a New Zealand rower... (wikipedia)
When you're running a business, the worst thing that can happen is four different people expressing their views, which may make it difficult to consummate the deal.
It would be easy to take the attitude (that) whatever it costs doesn't make a difference. To the taxpaying citizens, it does.
For him it was a life issue. That is a very sad situation when people wind up in those circumstances.
It's always struck me as awkward that we have a two- or three-hour conference session that is less well-attended by the public. Because we've worn ourselves out in the conference session, there's little discussion at the council meeting.