Media release

Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer

Monday, 16 December 2013

Public needs to see Councillors are serious over Brown

Responding to the Mayor’s press release about today, Auckland Councillor for Orakei Cameron Brewer says Councillors have privately met and worked well together on a number of resolutions ahead of Thursday’s meeting as part of an extraordinary item on the EY Review and the on-going Len Brown issues.

“I don’t want to talk about what was agreed, other than to say it’s all a step in the right direction. However I have genuine concerns around whether the proposed sanctions from Councillors will meet the public’s very high expectations.

“While there was a big push by some Councillors for political consensus today, there was not overall consensus on the best path forward for Auckland and the organisation.

“I really worry that there’ll be a lot of tough talk but in the end nothing will actually be taken off this man who’s clearly not about to change.

“As an organisation Auckland Council is clearly suffering from some serious blood loss and any perceived band-aid attempt won’t be nearly enough in the public’s minds. All Councillors are aware of this.

“In today’s meeting I told the Mayor and Councillors that I strongly believe this issue will drag on for as long as Len Brown is Mayor, causing unrelenting reputational damage to the organisation and region.

“Despite the public sentiment, it’s clear that the majority of Councillors believe the best thing for Auckland is for Len Brown to remain on as Mayor. Only a few of us disagree with that proposition.

“I have made it clear to my colleagues that it’s critical for the public to now see him lose some power and control, and not just be slapped over the wrist with a wet bus ticket.

“If he’s not going to step down, one suggestion I made was that he be asked to give up the all-powerful chairmanship of the Budget Committee as well as reimburse all of the identified costs in the EY Review ratepayers’ wrongly incurred and personally also pay for all legal and communications consultancy advice he has commissioned while dealing with a matter he described as private.

“I support those who believe the Auditor-General should be now be brought in – particularly to rule on the issues around free hotel rooms and upgrades, especially SkyCity, that the EY Review identified in its investigation.

“Along with a few others, I also argued for Councillors to instruct the Mayor to fully and finally disclose anything else of a related nature that may bring the council into further disrepute down the track. However this request was not agreed,” says Cameron Brewer.

Ends

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