Wayne Brown's acceptance speech as the new mayor of Auckland. Video / NZ Herald
Auckland's new mayor has doubled down on calls for the board of the council's property development arm to resign and confirmed he plans to put his feet up during his first official weekend in the job.
Wayne Brown yesterday vowed to bring unity to the council and end hostility as he assumes control of Auckland's top political role.
He confirmed he will work "off-site" today and take most of the weekend off to "recharge and reflect" after a six-month campaign, and a week of meetings with councillors.
It comes after Brown was earlier cagey about the specific hours he will commit to his role leading the Super City, telling the Herald it was "nobody's business" and that he would not necessarily work weekends.
He told his new colleagues he wanted to ensure they had "meaningful and challenging roles, with real decision-making powers and associated accountabilities".
Brown said he was impressed with the calibre, insights and professionalism of his councillors and members of the Independent Māori Statutory Board.
His new job as mayor was to build a united council. He also wanted to end "mistrust" and hostile feelings amongst councillors, which had been raised in those meetings throughout the week.
Brown would set out his priorities for several council-controlled organisations (CCOs) next week. This would be in line with his campaign promises, the feedback received on the campaign trail, and the views of Brown's new council.
"I stand by what I said throughout the campaign: that [the board of Eke Panuku Development] should all resign and that I am yet to be convinced [it] should exist at all," he said.
"There is nothing new in what I said and obviously they can't all resign on the same day."
He was responding to the refusal by the chairman of Eke Panuku Development, Paul Majurey, not to heed his call on Monday to resign.
Auckland's new mayor Wayne Brown has called for head of Eke Panuku Development, Paul Majurey, to resign, along with the rest of its board. Photo / NZME
When it became known at Eke Panuku that Brown wanted all the board members gone, the CCO hit back with a statement saying the "board composition is the preserve of our shareholder, Auckland Council".
Already, Auckland Transport chair Adrienne Young-Cooper has stepped down after she learned that Brown wanted the board to resign, only hours after he won the mayoralty on Saturday.
Majurey has stressed he is happy to meet with Brown and discuss the performance of the CCO, but this did not impress the mayor, who wants not just Majurey to go, but the entire board.
Brown yesterday listed new and returning councillors and members of the Independent Māori Statutory Board with whom he had met during his first week after the local body elections.
"My job as the new leader of the governing body is to end the mistrust and enmity among councillors that has been raised during this week's meetings and to form the unified team that our great city and wider region deserves."
Wayne Brown said his new job as mayor was to build a united council. He said he wants to end "mistrust" and hostile feelings amongst councillors. Photo / Michael Craig
Meanwhile, prominent political commentator Matthew Hooton has been appointed as head of policy and communications for Brown.
Hooton is one of three political operatives behind Brown's emphatic win for the Auckland mayoralty named yesterday as interim senior staff in the mayoral office.
It is understood this team could be in place until Christmas.
Brown's campaign director Tim Hurdle has been appointed chief of staff and his wife, Jacinda Lean, has been appointed deputy chief of staff.
Hurdle, a polling analyst who was campaign manager for National at the 2020 election, is credited with masterminding Brown's almost 60,000 vote majority over the Labour-endorsed candidate Efeso Collins.
Lean, a former strategy and governance director at Tauranga City Council, brings invaluable public sector expertise to the table, as well as policy and analytical skills.
Former Beehive staffer Ben Thomas, who joined Brown's team midway through the campaign, has gone back to his job in Wellington with the political PR Agency Capital.
In the interim, a council communications officer, Isabel Gailer, will be the interim media contact in the mayor's office until a permanent team is recruited.
