Wayne Brown celebrates his victory with a glass of champagne. Photo / Jed Bradley
The chair of Auckland Transport has resigned immediately in response to calls from new mayor Wayne Brown for the whole board to step down.
“It is clear that the Mayor designate wants a clear runway,” said Adrienne Young-Cooper in a statement. “I willingly exit the role.”
Young-Cooper said she governed Auckland Transport in accordance with the statement of intent agreed with Auckland Council, and “navigated the organisation through the extraordinary challenges of Covid-19 and its aftermath”.
“There are many talented and dedicated people serving the people of Auckland at AT. They deserve respect.”
Young-Cooper said she wished the new council and AT all the best, and would be making no further comment.
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown called on the board of Auckland Transport to resign a day into his new job as leader of the country’s biggest city.
In an exclusive letter to Aucklanders written for the Herald on Sunday, Brown also promised “no sudden shocks” to family budgets in the form of rates increases.
Brown had a stinging message for Auckland Transport, saying there is no council agency which is so important to Aucklanders about which they are angrier.
“I think the board of directors should heed the message from the election and offer to resign,” he put in writing to the nine-member board chaired by Young-Cooper.
Brown has blasted AT during a six-month election campaign, blaming middle managers for the Queen St shambles hurting businesses, making congestion worse and endless orange cones.
At his victory speech in Ponsonby, Brown said AT had owned up this week to massive and unexpected disruption to the rail and wider transport network for at least two years.
Brown had an emphatic win over his nearest rival, the Labour-endorsed candidate Efeso Collins, winning by nearly 55,000 votes.
In a speech to his family, campaign team and supporters, he had nothing but high praise for Collins, saying he had come to regard him as a friend and would like to work with him over the next three years.
Collins said he will quit local politics after falling short in the race.
“That’s it for me. I’ll stay involved behind the scenes, we’ve got a movement and I want to help build it, but I won’t be standing for public office,” said Collins, adding he was not thinking about standing for Parliament.
Brown, a 76-year-old businessman and former Labour Party member wasn’t so kind to the Government, saying Wellington’s job is to listen to what Aucklanders say are the priorities and to fund them.
“[The Government] should not impose ideological schemes, like the $30 billion airport tram, untrammelled housing intensification and Three Waters on a city that doesn’t want them,” he said.
“Auckland voters have sent the clearest possible message to Auckland Council, and central government in Wellington, and I promise you that you’ve been heard.
“There is a mandate for change and my job as mayor is to lead it.
“It is now up to me, the new governing body and the local boards to act on our mandate, fix what is broken and deliver the change you demand,” Brown said.
Brown’s campaign director Tom Hurdle said the campaign was not fought along blue and red political lines, but in the context of 70 per cent of Aucklanders wanting change and 30 per cent the status quo.
“Our research was very clear that there was a very strong proportion of the city who were looking for the kind of messages Wayne was promoting, they were looking for a change and felt the status quo was not what they were looking for,” he said.
The mood for change was reflected in the results for the 20 ward seats around the council table, with a swing away from the status quo.
The progress results show Brown has a majority of councillors he can work with, but there remains a core group of at least seven councillors representing the status quo.
Not surprisingly, former National minister Maurice Williamson ousted Paul Young for one of the two Howick seats and former councillor Mike Lee was returned to council in the Waitematā and Gulf ward by beating Pippa Coom, who he lost to in 2019.
In a big surprise, Waitākere councillor Linda Cooper lost her seat to Waitākere Ranges Local Board member Ken Turner by 538 votes. City Vision’s Julie Fairey lost in Albert-Eden-Puketapapa to C&R’s Will McKenzie by 286 votes and Labour’s Kerrin Leoni narrowly lost to C&R and sitting councillor Tracy Mulholland by 150 votes.
These three unsuccessful candidates could still win when Saturday’s votes and special votes are counted. The progress results include all votes up until the end of Friday.
