Mayoral candidate John Tamihere announces sacking Auckland Transport board a priority if elected

Thursday, 9 May 2019

On Wednesday, digital billboards went up displaying John Tamihere's pledge to sack Auckland Transport's board and replace it with directors if elected mayor.

If elected mayor of Auckland, John Tamihere will stand by his campaign slogan to 'shake it up' by sacking the board of Auckland Transport and replacing it with directors.

Tamihere said it would be his 'immediate priority' to sack the board, who he described as 'ideological bullies'.

Under Mayor Phil Goff's 'weak leadership', Tamihere said, AT had been able to implement strategies designed to 'harass people out of their cars'.

'Under Goff's mayoralty, ideologues within the council have deliberately set out to narrow roads, reduce speed limits, take away parking spaces, take away free left hand turns, change traffic light patterns to favour 'people not the car', and destroy communities like St Heliers.'

* Phil Goff's first election policy: Review Auckland Council agencies

* Challengers lash Auckland Transport, Mayor Phil Goff over 'excessive' St Heliers traffic changes**

Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere has called for reform to council agencies, with councillors on all their boards.

Tamihere pledged to put a stop to what he described as AT's 'anti-car strategy'.

Tamihere's announcement on Wednesday came just two days after Goff announced his first election policy – an independent review of the agencies responsible for carrying out most of the council's work.

Council-controlled organisations, or CCOs, such as Auckland Transport, Watercare and ATEED would come under the microscope of the review unveiled in Goff's first policy launch.

As part of his announcement, Tamihere called on Goff not to make any more appointments to AT's board six months out from the election.

He said Goff had already extended the terms of existing board members for a short term and could do the same for any new board members he intended to appoint, rather than create uncertainty.

However, the terms of the chair Lester Levy, and director Mark Gilbert, are due to end on October 31, so two will be departing regardless.

'If elected, I will be consulting with councillors to replace the AT board with directors who understand they have a responsibility to the people of Auckland before they meekly adopt an ideological philosophy for which they have no mandate,' Tamihere said.