The organisation has had four chairs since October last year, when former Black Cap Martin Snedden stood down at the AGM after nine years in the role. <\/p>\n
Waitemat\u0101 local board chairwoman Alexandra Bonham also told the Herald that Beck tried to convince her to elect a specific liaison person appointed by the local board to oversee funding decisions for HOTC\u2019s $5.6 million annual budget. <\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it\u2019s our job as the local board to be part of the compliance layer\u2026 oversee things and make sure that quite significant quantities of ratepayer money are being handled prudently,\u201d Bonham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly not the place of the business association to choose who oversees it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the October 2025 local body elections, the new Waitemat\u0101 local board independently nominated board member Peter Elliott from City Vision to be the HOTC liaison person to sit in on HOTC executive meetings. <\/p>\n
In the previous term, it had been Greg Moyle, who is still on the local board but among only two members of the right-leaning Communities & Residents ticket. <\/p>\n
The remaining five elected members of the board are all from the left-leaning City Vision ticket. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of a concern to me that she only wanted Greg [Moyle], who was one particular ticket, and [Beck] didn\u2019t want to think about any of the others,\u201d Bonham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like Greg, and Greg has a lot to contribute, but he has quite different personal feelings about the city centre and priorities that are not always shared by the rest of the board, and I think that makes it very difficult if you\u2019re in that position to be the liaison.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonham claimed that in the previous local government term, when she was not chairwoman, she couldn\u2019t \u201cremember many occasions when [Moyle] did report back to the board about concerns being raised by HOTC. Not to me, he might have done to the chair\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was very little brought to the board about HOTC,\u201d Bonham said, adding she rarely dealt with Beck directly. <\/p>\n
Moyle told the Herald he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d not to be re-elected as the local board liaison person for HOTC given he was a business owner in the CBD. <\/p>\n
However, Moyle said he had spoken to Beck recently and he was \u201cvery supportive\u201d of her and the \u201cfantastic job\u201d HOTC did.<\/p>\n
Moyle said he didn\u2019t know exactly what had happened to trigger Beck\u2019s suspension, but understood there were \u201csome issues\u201d between Beck and the newly appointed chairman. Moyle believed it was \u201call political\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping they resolve it soon because there are lots of things HOTC needs to address\u2026 Viv has her critics but she\u2019s first and foremost for the businesses in the city centre.\u201d <\/p>\n
Beck did not respond to requests for comment on whether she lobbied the Waitemat\u0101 local board to keep Moyle as HOTC liaison person. <\/p>\n
But in March, Beck would not say she supported McCracken as the HOTC chair when asked by the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chair is appointed by vote at the AGM or by the executive committee and the chief executive must work with the person appointed as chair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When elected, McCracken was a manager of KPMG\u2019s infrastructure advisory but has since left that position to take on a role as a Commissioner on the Independent Hearings Panel for Auckland Council Plan Change 120. The shake-up of the city\u2019s planning rules will allow for greater density and high-rise apartments.<\/p>\n
Viv Beck with Heart of the City safety officers. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
On Friday, a HOTC executive committee spokesperson told the Herald the board was \u201cunited on the need for stronger governance\u201d, which had been identified as an \u201curgent priority\u201d.<\/p>\n
HOTC is funded through a targeted rate and levies paid by the CBD\u2019s 15,500 businesses and landlords. It has contractual obligations as an approved Business Improvement District (BID) and annual accountability reporting to Auckland Council.<\/p>\n
HOTC received just over $5m from the BID targeted rate grant in the 2024\/25 financial year \u2013 far more than the next largest, Newmarket Business Association, which received $2.07m.<\/p>\n
HOTC also received another $550,000 from a City Centre Targeted Rate, which delivers marketing campaigns to promote the CBD.<\/p>\n
The HOTC spokesperson said a \u201cmajor priority\u201d was to ensure confidence in its ability to deliver on its BID funding contract and establish \u201ca constructive relationship with the mayor\u2019s office\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has meant the committee\u2019s focus has included relationship management, governance review, providing transparency on specific decisions that have been made and accountability for future plans,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
The executive committee has also set up an Audit and Finance Committee to provide \u201cgreater and more detailed financial oversight\u201d.<\/p>\n
It has also undertaken an urgent update of board and governance processes, including engaging \u201cindependent external special counsel\u201d to ensure board meeting processes, agendas, decisions and minutes were compliant \u201cfor the sake of transparency\u201d. HOTC\u2019s executive committee also agreed to an independent governance review<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are initiatives that the whole board has been involved with, and they have required significant energy and time commitment,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Bonham also confirmed to the Herald she has checked with Auckland Council staff over the state of HOTC\u2019s finances, because the level of detail it presented to the local board during its annual report presentation was \u201crelatively sparse\u201d compared with other business associations.<\/p>\n HOTC\u2019s presentation to the local board also cited a budget deficit of $671,694.<\/p>\n \u201cI followed up [with Auckland Council] to say, \u2018Give me a heads up if there are any concerns\u2019, because in the end the local board plays a role in signing off on the account. I was just trying to make sure that I was doing my job as a chair,\u201d Bonham said.<\/p>\n The HOTC presentation stood out because it was \u201cmore pictorial\u201d with fewer financial figures, Bonham said.<\/p>\n Bonham said she invited HOTC to two meetings, both with the entire Waitemat\u0101 local board and one involving Auckland Transport staff. But no one from HOTC responded or turned up to either meeting.<\/p>\n It\u2019s understood Mayor Brown\u2019s March letter to HOTC raised concerns about the high turnover of board chairs, whether there were appropriate governance measures for oversight of the organisation\u2019s management, and whether the agency was delivering for the 15,500 businesses it was contractually responsible for.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s letter said there was a trust and confidence issue, and credibility concerns.<\/p>\n