{"id":438476,"date":"2026-05-21T14:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/438476\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:44:16","slug":"viv-beck-delighted-with-legal-win-over-heart-of-the-city-amid-a-call-for-entire-board-to-resign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/438476\/","title":{"rendered":"Viv Beck \u2018delighted\u2019 with legal win over Heart of the City amid a call for entire board to resign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHowever, [HOTC] then chose to expand the list of concerns to include other earlier issues. It was not seemingly willing or able to provide sufficient detail as at the time of suspension,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is some strength in these circumstances to the submission on Ms Beck\u2019s behalf that the cart was put before the horse \u2013 the suspension was enacted before it was even decided what the allegations against her were. It is challenging to see suspension as warranted when conducted in such a manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ERA decision quotes a March 27 letter from lawyers acting for the HOTC board alleging a list of 10 \u201chigh-level concerns\u201d about Beck, including \u201chostile behaviour towards committee [board] members\u201d, and \u201cwithholding of information said to be important to the committee\u2019s functions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Beck refused to comment on the allegations against her from the HOTC board, but said her ERA challenge was evidence that she wasn\u2019t happy with the process to stand her down. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, and I\u2019ve questioned that, and that\u2019s the ruling that\u2019s come out. I\u2019m very comfortable with the work I\u2019ve done.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the HOTC executive committee, or board, announced that it had voted proactively to call a special general meeting to deal with several matters, including three casual vacancies on the board.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said that, while casual board vacancies were usually determined at the sole discretion of the existing board, this process has been opened to HOTC members to make board nominations.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the executive committee\u2019s discretion to approve any nomination, the executive committee will ratify any persons who are appointed by the members at the SGM.\u201d <\/p>\n

Steve Bielby, an <\/a>HOTC member and owner of St James Theatre, has been representing a group of CBD landlords, who have been mobilising for months to challenge Malcolm McCracken, HOTC\u2019s fourth chairperson in six months.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bielby attended yesterday\u2019s board meeting and sat in on proceedings. <\/p>\n

He has submitted a member\u2019s notice of motion to the SGM calling for all board positions to be vacated and be up for nomination and re-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it would clear up all the issues. I think [board members] need to re-seek a mandate, and I just think it\u2019s the right thing to do given these questions. Let\u2019s have a nice, clean start,\u201d Bielby told the Herald.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, at the moment, there could be the accusation levelled that you have potentially defective members on the committee voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SteveSteve Bielby, owner of the St James Theatre, outside its rear entrance on Lorne St. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray<\/p>\n

Last week, it emerged that more than 60 HOTC members had signed a petition calling for a special general meeting, including Beilby. <\/p>\n

Many of those HOTC members had been closely tied to Beck, including property developer Andrew Krukziener, who bankrolled Beck\u2019s 2022 Auckland mayoral campaign, and Waitemat\u0101 local board member Greg Moyle. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere seems to me to be a bit of a witch-hunt against Viv \u2026 I don\u2019t like bullies, and she\u2019s been treated totally inappropriately,” Moyle said. <\/p>\n

The HOTC spokesperson said the board was aware of a group of members collecting signatures to instigate an SGM, and acknowledged this is their right as members, but said it was no longer necessary as the SGM had called proactively. <\/p>\n

\u201cHOTC\u2019s external counsel have been engaged to ensure that all matters relating to the SGM \u2013 including membership verification, notification, communication, member submissions to the agenda and the management of elections \u2013 are run in compliance with the Incorporated Societies Act and the HOTC constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck said she was grateful for the support of some members. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I do appreciate support from businesses. We\u2019ve worked very hard for them through a difficult time, and I\u2019m very keen to get on with the job and supporting them in this next era of the city centre.\u201d <\/p>\n

When asked if she thought she had the majority support of the 15,000 businesses HOTC represents in its targeted rate boundary, Beck said, \u201cWell, I certainly have good support.\u201d <\/p>\n

However, she declined to make any comment about the impending SGM. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnything to do with the committee and SGM is really for the businesses to comment on, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she would be back at work at the HOTC offices next week.<\/p>\n

On May 7, the Herald reported that Beck had allegedly attempted to \u201cpersuade\u201d HOTC\u2019s executive committee to elect a specific new chair early this year other than McCracken – who nevertheless was elected as chairman in February.<\/a><\/p>\n

The May 15 ERA ruling stated that HOTC placed the start of a breakdown in the relationship with Beck in October 2025, after publicity about a business survey that the board was not anticipating. Beck, however, disputed this description, \u201cplacing tensions being rather more recent\u201d. <\/p>\n

In a March 18 letter to the HOTC board, Beck also cited as a concern a media article \u201cheadlined by a negative question\u201d, in which McCracken was involved. <\/p>\n

Beck told the Herald today that being unable to comment because of a suppression order as part of the ERA case had been \u201cvery difficult\u201d. That order has now been lifted. <\/p>\n

Yesterday, an HOTC spokesperson was keen to stress that the ERA \u201cdid not issue any final ruling as to whether [Beck\u2019s] suspension was unjustified. The ERA has found only that, at this interim stage, on untested evidence, there may possibly be an arguable case for Ms Beck\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntested evidence means that the authority has not looked into the evidence presented, or questioned the parties concerned beyond the paper materials provided.\u201d <\/p>\n

ERA member Craig said that HOTC\u2019s alleged grounds for Beck\u2019s suspension were largely related to \u201cseveral risks \u2026 namely interference\u201d of her presence on the investigations it had launched.<\/p>\n

But while acknowledging \u201cthe CEO\u2019s role has power\u201d, Craig said \u201cit is arguable that the grounds are too speculative\u201d for Beck\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n

After suspending Beck without notice, the pace of HOTC pursuing its investigation \u201ccould be seen as relatively slow\u201d, Craig judged. It took two weeks to provide details of the concerns, then three weeks before an independent investigator was appointed and another week to send draft terms of reference for comment.<\/p>\n

It is noted in the decision that none of the concerns raised by HOTC in its suspension of Beck \u201cprima facie indicate any financial impropriety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bielby said the ERA decision was \u201ca good win for Viv \u2026 I view Viv as a person of high integrity, and I\u2019m not surprised by that ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n

An HOTC spokesperson said the board was satisfied that McCracken was an HOTC member by virtue of being an occupier or tenant in the targeted rate area and operating a business in such a property.<\/p>\n

HOTC is funded through a targeted rate and levies paid by the CBD\u2019s 15,500 businesses and landlords.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHowever, [HOTC] then chose to expand the list of concerns to include other earlier issues. It was not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,534,3872,682,2372,3043,3937,2199,141443,20209,3938,9881,2082,2862,6712,111,43,139,69,1118,72024,1523,21411,37486,3056,312,18834,223,61,224176,8982,213612,6027,102],"class_list":["post-438476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-amid","tag-beck","tag-being","tag-board","tag-call","tag-chief","tag-city","tag-delighted","tag-entire","tag-executive","tag-facing","tag-for","tag-heart","tag-legal","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-organisations","tag-over","tag-pressure","tag-reinstated","tag-resign","tag-says","tag-suspended","tag-the","tag-to","tag-uniformly","tag-victory","tag-viv","tag-win","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}