No we are not talking about Andrew Williams. Len Brown doesn’t want the public to know who is recommended for CCO Board appointments according to the NZ Herald:

Auckland Mayor Len Brown has ordered an investigation into a councillor suspected of leaking the names of council-controlled organisation (CCO) board appointments.

A source close to Mr Brown said the mayor had “lost faith in a member of the committee and is asking the chief executive to conduct a full investigation into the leak of information”.

This followed online reports at the weekend that two people with close links to Mr Brown – former Manukau City Council chief executive Leigh Auton and former Manukau deputy mayor Gary Troup – would be appointed to CCO boards on Thursday.

That is the same Leigh Auton who refused the Ombudsman’s request for information before the election.

The mayoral source refused to name the member of the CCO strategy and appointments subcommittee suspected of leaking the information.

Asked if it was Jami-Lee Ross, the Citizens & Ratepayers co-leader who issued a press release at the weekend criticising CCO appointments based on “long-standing friendships and political campaign connections”, the source said “no comment”.

Yesterday, Mr Ross categorically denied leaking information to the Sunday Star-Times reporter who named Mr Auton and Mr Troup.

Mr Ross said he had been clear that he could not comment on who was being proposed for the CCO appointments but felt the item should not be conducted behind closed doors.

Jami-Lee’s sin was to propose that the appointments be done in public session.

Tags: Auckland Council, Jami-Lee Ross, Leigh Auton, Len Brown

Bernard Orsman at the Herald reports:

Super City mayor-elect Len Brown will face angry protesters today at an invitation-only opening of a park honouring Leigh Auton, his outgoing chief executive at the Manukau City Council.

The naming of Leigh Auton Reserve on a historic coastal farming block between Beachlands and Maraetai has upset some locals, a local community website and local community board member Lance Gedge, who is boycotting the event.

Bevan Craig, one of six locals who spent $20,000 of his own money going to court to secure the reserve, said “Mr Auton and his henchmen” had walked all over the community for years.

“It is an insult to the many that fought hard against the council and developer to secure that reserve to find it now being named after the person they had to fight” said Mr Craig.

If Mr Craig is correct in his assertion that the Council was a hindrance, not a help, in securing the reserve then it does seem very insensitive to name it after the Council CEO.

Last night, a council spokeswoman said Mr Brown and Deputy Mayor Gary Troup initiated the naming of the park in recognition of Mr Auton’s 32 years’ contribution to the city.

She said residents of Clevedon and Maraetai were not consulted about the name because it was not required in the parks naming process.

Consultation with the public not legally required, so we won’t do it.

Asked why the local community was not consulted on the name of the park, a spokesman for Mr Brown said last night: “The community board is the community.”

I can think of a lot of people who would disagree with that.

Tags: Leigh Auton, Len Brown, Manukau City Council

Stuff reports:

Secret details of an $810 dinner Manukau mayor Len Brown charged to his council credit card are unlikely to be revealed before this weekend’s local body election, the Ombudsman says.

Why not you ask? Do they not have to obey the law?

In what was possibly the most memorable part of this year’s local body election campaign, Brown gave an emotional and passionate address to his council colleagues about the dinner. He punched his head and chest and said he would “never” reveal who attended.

“Will I give you the names? Never. I want to tell you that, I feel so intensely strong about this.”

So Len’s position is clear – he will never ever voluntarily reveal the names, despite ratepayers paying for the dinner. But Manukau City Council knows and they can be ordered to do so under the Official Information Act.

The Ombudsman received a number of complaints about Brown’s refusal to name those who he took to Volare.

It was hoped a decision would be made by the end of this week, but that is now unlikely.

“We are pushing this as fast as we can,” an Ombudsman spokswoman said today.

“There has been huge controversy around this. We understand people wanted to know about this before they voted.”

However the Ombudsman was required, by law, to consult with the Privacy Commissioner before reaching a decision.

This week commissioner Marie Shroff asked a set of questions of Manukau City Council about the dinner.

She wanted to know “whether the attendees knew they were accompanying Brown in his capacity as mayor” and “did they know the dinner was being charged to his mayoral credit card”.

Reasonable questions to ask. And very easy to answer.

But the council’s chief executive Leigh Auton told the Ombudsman there would not be enough time to answer the questions before the election.

Outraegous. My God – this involves around 30 minutes of phone calls, and they have 500 or so staff. One has to suspect this is a deliberate obstruction. Why are they so desperate to not name those who had dinner shouted?Is it because their identities would be in conflict with the reason giving for paying?

Auton was first notified of the complaint against his council in August.

It is understood an urgent telephone conference was being held this afternoon between the Ombudsman and Auton.

Sadly, even if it comes out tomorrow, it will be too late. But the Ombudsman should not reward the Council for stonewalling, and order the names released this week.

Tags: Leigh Auton, Manukau City Council, OIA, Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner

The Herald reports:

Manukau City chief executive Leigh Auton has charged ratepayers $244 for two combined birthday celebrations with Mayor Len Brown and Deputy Mayor Gary Troup.

The council’s senior leadership have birthdays on consecutive days between October 1 and October 3 and use their birthdays to get together and take stock of what is happening in the community, Mr Auton says.

Oh I see. A birthday party becomes a Council expense when you use it to talk about the community.

Mr Auton, who was given a $35,313 pay rise last year, despite restrictions on other council staff and the pressures of the recession, said the lunches were a “legitimate business expense” and he would not repay ratepayers out of his $412,079 salary.

Mr Brown, who is paid $157,096 as mayor, refused to comment on the ratepayer-funded birthday celebrations. His Super City mayoral campaign spokesman, David Lewis, pointed the Herald to Mr Auton’s “clear explanation of the work lunches”.

What really grates with people is that two men on a combined salary of $600,000 would try and find a way to justify the ratepayer paying for their birthday muffins, rather than one of them just shouting.

It is what people refer to as nickel and diming.

Whether or not one was “entitled” to do so is only part of the issue.

It’s like when Phil Heatley had his expenses problems. What many talked about what a Minister of the Crown on $250,000 bothering to charge a $7 burger at Burger King to the taxpayer. It didn’t matter so much that it was a legitimate expense.

Tags: Leigh Auton, Len Brown, Manukau City Council