The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is slamming Auckland Transport boss Dean Kimpton for his failure to front and answer questions about the Meola Road omnishambles, despite being paid considerably more than the Prime Minister and AT spending $5million a year on communications.

Responding to this morning’s reporting in the NZ Herald, Ratepayers’ Alliance spokesman, Jordan Williams, said:

“While Mayor is trying to defend the Auckland fuel tax to fund Auckland Transport, yet again AT officials are letting him down.”

“Under Dean Kimton, AT continues to show contempt for the public, and public money. AT spends $18 million a year on marketing, and another $5 million on communications. Yet they still won't front to answer questions from the City's major newspaper.”

"It seems that rather than ‘communications’, Auckland Transport is spending millions to hide its CEO from the media."

“Mayor Brown is right in his comments last week that the management at AT ‘have lost the plot’. There needs to be a wholesale clear out of personnel and culture.”

Notes to editors:

• According to the most recent Annual Report published by Auckland Transport last year, the highest paid employee at Auckland Transport was paid between $600,000 and $639,999 (refer to page 152).
• Information about AT's spending on marketing and communications is taken from responses to official information requests published in a December 2022 report published by the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance and available online here.

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