Viv Beck is not interested in turning her Mayoral race into a cheap personality contest. There are no insults, expletives, brags, jokes or songs coming from her. In a game of egos, she seems rigidly determined to stick to the issues affecting Auckland - of which her stances are remarkably
Auckland Mayoralty: Viv Beck, the candidate desperate for issues to overtake ego on the campaign trail
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"But it is a bit frustrating when you hear comments like 'is she tough enough?' when the reality is, in this environment I think 'tough' is one thing but you actually have to work with people to be able to get things done. So I think it is important that people think about the leadership style that is needed for this role because, in the end, you do need to be a pretty constructive, collaborative person I believe to get things done."
Beck last week also admitted she has muted some of her more vibrant wardrobe choices for the same reason - to not distract from the issues.
"Sadly, people started commenting on my clothes and it became too distracting," she said. "I have toned down for campaigning. I'd like the issues to be the focus and not my wardrobe."
In speaking to Beck, there is a kind of admirable refusal to cultivate any cult of personality at all among her supporters and potential voters. She seems determined not to exploit the minutia of her life history: where she lives in Auckland, where she comes from, and her professional or cultural journey to this point ... her internal aspirations, hopes and dreams.
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But while such humble insistence to focus exclusively on the "issues" blighting Auckland and not her personal traits does seem genuine, is it not also somewhat naive? Unfortunately for her, none of the other leading candidates, either past or present, are playing by these rules. Few experienced politicians do. Efeso Collins has placed his working-class Pasifika heritage and his ties to his South Auckland community as a central narrative of his campaign. He has offered it up as an invitation and challenge to the Auckland electorate to embrace.
Totally contrasting in origin and style but no less distinctive, Wayne Brown has cast himself as a ruthless public sector executive and also a successful businessman, who has made it his mission to whip Auckland Council into a far more efficient machine, sparing no one's feelings in the process.
Former engineer and now self-described "media operator", Craig Lord, constantly reiterates the talking points that he is "someone fresh ... who hasn't stepped their way through the ranks of politics".
And Beck is the antithesis of Leo Molloy in political style - who defined his campaign by a constant barrage of Trump-style headline-grabbing insults, and grand policy ambitions. Ironically, when Molloy abruptly abandoned his run for Mayor on August 12, he says it was largely because Beck had not pulled out before the deadline date to confirm as an official candidate and be on the voting ballots. That morning, Molloy had polled third in the race at 14.5 per cent and Beck fourth at 12.5 per cent. Molloy thought they were both doomed if they continued to split the centre-right small business vote.
This was all before the crisis that has engulfed her campaign over the past few weeks. In late August, Beck's campaign was rocked by claims of an unpaid $353,000 bill from advertising agency Hello Ltd. Beck's campaign team was locked out of their campaign Facebook account and website as a result.
Beck has said little about the bill, apart from the parties are working towards a resolution, but it has thrown up some interesting links between the candidate and her political backers - the de facto arm of the National Party in Auckland local body politics, Communities & Residents. C & R President Kit Parkinson was adamant the bill had been paid several days before the release of an email revealing the $353,000 figure, and now describes the incident as a beat-up.
Late-blooming political ambition
Beck says she never had any inkling of ambition to run for political office her entire life - of now 62 years - until Covid shut down the world, New Zealand and, most significantly to her, the Auckland central city business district. Prior to this Mayoral campaign, Beck's public profile was confined to her role as chief executive of the Auckland central city business association Heart of the City which she took up in 2015. In that role, she had been a vocal and relentless advocate for a string of Auckland CBD small businesses that have had a cursed run of it the past five years. The Covid lockdowns were the nail in the coffin for hospitality and retail businesses in Auckland city centre that had already been starved of public foot traffic by constant road works construction.
"I wouldn't have imagined I was going to stand for Mayor when I came here. Actually when people started asking me about it, which was actually before the last [2019] election funnily enough," Beck says.
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"Periodically people would ask me and it was not remotely on my mind at all. It's carried on and it's carried on and the only reason it's got to this point is the issues I've seen through Covid. That's the only reason it's come to this. I was very happy with what I was doing."
Among these issues has been the City Rail Link construction on Albert Street which has been the basis of an ongoing legal challenge for Government compensation by businesses confronted with massive road works for years on end. Then there has also been huge construction disruptions for infrastructure projects in the years leading up to the 36th America's Cup event which ran from December 2020 to March 2021.
Finally, the alternating Covid lockdown's across 2020 and 2021 shut down the CBD economy entirely. Lingering in their wake was a work from home culture that meant city offices were no longer full of staff to filter into restaurants for lunch or shop on their way home.
Throughout all this, Beck was at the coalface of defending the interests of businesses - who to this day seem very appreciative of her efforts.
"She has been really helpful in so many aspects," Sunny Kaushal - who owns the Shakespeare pub on Albert Street said.
"She has been so proactive, with Nikki Kaye, we ran a few campaigns to the stakeholders of the City Rail Link and the Crown. It was a very tough situation because Phil Goff and Phil Twyford were initially saying no money on the table for these businesses. But thanks to Viv's pressure she was able to put on behalf of Auckland city businesses… we had some successes. We felt very comfortable that Viv would consult and listen to us and best represent that to the authorities".
Beck says there were three main issues that made her lose faith with the Government and Auckland Council in their treatment of the business community: the management of Queen Street's pedestrian "transformation", the ongoing City Rail Link disruption, and the stifling lockdown restrictions on hospitality and retail.
"[Queen Street] was really very badly managed and in the end Auckland Transport put out a plan which basically meant a person with a disability could not get to the Town Hall except by bus, bike or scooter. I mean that is absolutely ridiculous with a civic space like that," Beck said.
"What started to happen was I was getting calls from people across the region saying to me, well actually something similar is happening [in our community]. It may not be a similar project, but just that sense of not an interest [from council] in listening to local community, and I started to think well this isn't good."
The Queen street pedestrianisation project had, from April 2020 to the mid-2021, constituted plastic pylons that were initially set up as makeshift Covid social distancing barriers but visually looked like road works.
Beck controversially signed Heart of the City up to support a High Court application for a judicial review of the Queen Street project by an incorporated society of aggrieved landlords and business owners. It ended with alterations to the permanent pedestrianisation design and the removal of the plastic pylons more promptly than had been planned. The Save Queen Street society behind the challenge claimed it as a victory for business and the public.
Auckland Councillor Chris Darby, who has overseen and led the Queen Street transformation project since its conception, says Beck's endorsement of the High Court appeal did change his lasting opinion of her.
"It sort of gave me a sense that she was working against the city rather than for the city," Darby said.
"It did colour my view of Viv to know that she was going to that extent and she was definitely the driving force even though Mr Krukziener was bankrolling it, she was definitely driving the challenge against council.
"It's a pretty poor [issue] to hang your hat on because it cost Auckland ratepayers a lot of money."
Beck disputes that the Queen St issues damaged her relationship with Auckland Council, and says many there would admit "it was not their finest work. For at least 15 months they took a battering".
Property developer Andrew Krukziener was the driving Queen Street landlord behind the High Court application, and is also a financial backer of Beck's Mayoral campaign.
But other Auckland Councillors have more tempered views of dealing with Beck, and nearly all the Herald spoke to described her as a very pleasant and collaborative person to deal with.
Pippa Coom is the Councillor for the Waitematā Ward which encompasses the Auckland city centre that Beck operated in. Despite having publicly endorsed Collins in the Mayoral race, Coom valued her leadership style on council committees.
"I've had a positive working relationship with Viv because she's been chair of the City Centre Advisory Board and I'm on that board. I thought she was a very effective chair of the advisory board. She brought some good discipline to the board and got us to better prioritise projects.
"She's very professional ... and I respected her in that role. I thought she was very good."
Coom said the last few years with the impact of Covid on Auckland CBD has made it an "incredibly hard time to be in the role" of Heart of the City chief executive.
"I think Viv did really work hard for her members. There's a tension she's had to deal with in terms of championing the interests of business and there's been a lot of social issues, housing, emergency accommodation and she's done a good job trying to navigate all that."
Quiet high-achiever
Beck says her organisational habits and work ethic were instilled from childhood.
She is the youngest of four children born to first generation European immigrants: Ton Beck from Holland and Trudy from Austria. Both immigrated to New Zealand in the 50s and brought up their family in Wellington.
"My parents are both first generation Kiwis and came here without hardly a word of English between them. A couple of young kids and they built a life here. And one of the things I inherited was a hard working gene," she says.
Beck studied a Bachelor of Arts at Victoria University majoring in Economics and a Diploma of Journalism from Wellington Polytechnic. A classmate in her journalism course described her as popular and pleasant, and noticeably more mature than the average university student.
On paper, Beck may be the most impressive and qualified of any of the candidates with high profile positions across both the private and public sector.
One of her first jobs was at NZ Post where she rose to roles of GM of Communications and also GM of stamps. Her father had also achieved the role of interim chief executive at NZ Post years earlier.
Still based in Wellington in the 90s and 2000s, Beck was also chief executive of print and design company Communication Arts and had her own consulting company V. Beck and Associates in which she was, among other things, chair of Wellington Museums Trust. She was also a director of economic development agency Grow Wellington.
During this time, she also co-wrote a leadership book aimed at young women starting out in their careers called "Julia Makes Her Move" that was published by Random House in 2007. Her final years in Wellington from 2010 - 12 were spent as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Director of Communications.
"So as well as commercial experience I had experience working with two mayors, and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the central Government side. NZ Post was also a state owned enterprise. So I had experience in both the public and private sector. I've been involved in big companies," Beck says.
Beck moved to Auckland in 2012 to become deputy and acting director of Auckland Art Gallery, and then onto Heart of the City.
She is married to former National MP Paul Quinn, who served one term from 2008-11. Quinn has a history as a Wellington businessman, but rose to public prominence as a player for Wellington Rugby Football Union in the 70s and 80s. He also captained the Maori All Blacks.
But Beck insists Quinn's political history had no influence on her decision to enter this Mayoral race.
"Obviously I've got his support, but they're not linked," Beck says of Quinn's political career.
"Because neither of us were striving for a political career. He stood up because he felt strongly about something and that's what I've done."
Beck is also a "proud mum" and currently lives in an apartment in Auckland central city. When asked what her interests outside work are, she immediately declares her love for travel and laments the fact she hasn't been able to venture anywhere for years.
One big issue, around forever
So with Beck's all consuming interest in the issues, what is the one big policy she would like to define her campaign around?
Unsurprisingly, given her frustration with how council transport projects have negatively impacted city businesses, it is a desire to scrap the Government's light rail project and sort out congestion on our roads.
"Transport and congestion continues to be the biggest issue. It was last election and the election before," she says.
"I would halt the Light Rail project and I would spend a lot less money, faster, and unlock transport for people across the region."
To Beck, this means large-scale bus projects.
On her website, Beck's transport ambitions include a $200 million Congestion Reduction Unit, a trial for congestion pricing and a $2.5 billion rapid bus transit between the City Centre and Westgate and $2 billion Airport to Botany rapid bus transit.
"We can get this done within a decade," Beck told the Herald.
"It would be a fraction of the cost to open up sensible practical public transport. Because where it works it works. If you think of the success of the Northern Busway, what I'd do is emulate the success of that in places where it works."
A focus on improving congestion by "sensible solutions" such as getting traffic lights better aligned and use of dynamic lanes would also be a focus.
Beck also says that based on the thousands of people she's spoken to on this campaign it is a "fair comment" that Auckland Transport is unduly preoccupied with cycling and vehicle emissions targets.
She cites AT's proposed parking strategy to remove kerbside parking spaces across the city for cycleways and bus lanes, and charging at park and ride stations, in a bid to unlock choked roads and reduce congestion as an example of this preoccupation.
"It has quite rightly infuriated people. That's not how decisions should be made," Beck says.
And what of the substantial campaign debt that has unfortunately been the overwhelming reason she has been in the news the last few weeks?
Many have told the Herald that there are serious tensions behind the scenes between the de facto arm of the National Party in Auckland which has endorsed her: Communities and Residents.
C&R, as it is better known, endorsed Beck for the mayoralty on July 13 after months of considering the matter. The party is standing 58 candidates for Auckland Council, Local Boards and licensing trusts in October's elections.
Beck told the Herald this week she did not regret aligning her campaign with C&R, despite reports her campaign team and C&R leadership are at odds behind the scenes
"At the end of the day I am standing centre-right and I think there is an alignment if you look at what C&R stands for and what I stand for. I think to be honest there is a mood for change out there.
"I'm not going to make any comment on the invoice, other than to say it's not my debt. I'm happy to say that. This is a complex situation and I've maintained a professional approach to say it's being worked through."
But Beck qualified that "I've had some terrific support from people in C&R, so I don't want to give the impression that I haven't. There's some great candidates out there. We've positively worked together."
You can sense the frustration in Beck's voice in how this incident has consumed her campaign recently - especially since it is at such odds with her core principles.
She says she believes there is a widespread resentment towards Auckland Council from members of the business community.
"I get a lot of stories of waste from people, and it's not just in a few areas. I even further strengthened my resolve, because they give specific examples of waste [in council initiatives]. This thing had to come out because there was uproar, or this thing was twice as expensive as it should have been.
"There's a lot of concern out there around waste, red tape and lack of responsiveness. There needs to be a major cultural change."
