Inside the tensions at Heart of the City as CEO stood down
Friday, 1 May 2026
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown sent a letter to Heart of the City expressing concerns about its governance prior to Viv Beck being stood down as the organisation’s chief executive.
The Post can also reveal that Heart of the City has also undertaken a “governance review” in an effort to increase “financial oversight”.
It’s understood that Brown’s letter sent in March, raised concerns over Heart of the City’s financial deficits and whether it was effectively representing its broad base of stakeholders.
Heart of the City is Auckland's largest Business Improvement District (BID), receiving about $5.6m a year from levies on businesses and council rates, and it is understood the letter asked the board to justify how it was delivering on its funding.
In a statement, Heart of the City tells The Post that as part of a “governance review” it has established an audit and finance committee “for the purpose of greater and more detailed financial oversight”.
This included “an urgent update of board and governance processes, including engaging independent external special counsel,” it said.
While Brown had held concerns for some time, his letter is also understood to have been triggered by reporting on a survey, released by Beck last October, regarding poor business sentiment and concerns over anti-social behaviour. The letter raised questions about how the BID would restore public confidence in the light of the survey’s findings.
That survey was among matters that have reportedly caused ructions between Beck and the executive committee in recent times.
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The Post understands the committee was blindsided by the survey, and was concerned about its methodology after media reports about its small sample size and low response rate. There were concerns at whether it had been used to shape the government’s homeless ‘move on’ orders policy, and that it could undermine substantial marketing spend on promoting the city centre as a destination.
Former committee member Matthew Cockram of developers Cooper and Company told The Post he resigned from his position at Heart of the City as a result.
“That so-called survey … I was just unhappy with how that was dealt with and I felt it was time to go.”
He added he had “no idea” the survey had even been conducted.
“The first I knew about it was the [media] reporting.”
Meanwhile, it’s understood that following Brown’s letter, a meeting took place between mayoral staff and Heart of the City executive committee members, but that neither Brown nor Beck attended.
In a statement, Brown’s office said Heart of the City “plays an important role in the city and receives significant funding through a targeted rate paid by businesses”.
It said the mayor and his office was focused on “a positive and productive relationship” with the BID.
“It is entirely up to the [HoTC] board to advise anybody on the employment status of Ms Beck, including if there has been a change to her status,” it said.
“We expect the board to continue to communicate regularly with us and operate in line with the BID policy.”
In a statement to The Post, a spokesperson for the Heart of the City executive committee said at the start of this year it committed to “improvement of governance processes”.
“This has been identified as an urgent priority by both long standing Committee members and those who have joined more recently.”
It said that the council was its “regulator” and it was a “major priority” to “ensure confidence in [its] ability to deliver on the BID contract”.
“Part of this is establishing a constructive relationship with the Mayor’s office,” it said.
“This has meant the Committee’s focus has included relationship management, governance review, providing transparency on specific decisions that have been made and accountability for future plans.“
The Post previously reported that Beck had been “stood down” by Heart of the City, with several key central city figures having noted her absence from events like the signing of the Auckland City Deal.
The news has reportedly shocked central city businesses as well the BID’s own staff who believed Beck had been on leave for some weeks.
In a now deleted statement, Heart of the City responded to claims of Beck’s “apparent departure”, alleging the story contained “unsubstantiated conjecture”. In response, The Post clarified that Beck had not been dismissed from her role as chief executive.
The Post has made several attempts to reach Beck for comment via phone, social media and mail. Her husband Paul Quinn would not comment when approached.
Legal ‘tensions’ and a $671k deficit
Employment lawyer Alastair Espie at Duncan Cotterill said the threshold for being stood down would tend to be “serious misconduct”, but there could be situations where performance concerns reached that threshold if they had “serious consequences”.
He said that in that situation, an employer would be “very constrained” in what it could communicate to staff or the media unless it had the employee’s consent.
“Keep in mind that a decision to suspend an employee doesn't mean it's a decision that an employee has done anything wrong at that point.
“The employer has an obligation to safeguard the privacy, and the reputation of the employee involved.”
Espie said that could create a “real tension” for a publicly accountable organisation that, for example, uses ratepayer funds.
“There will be a public interest in those scenarios, and that's something that those types of employers will always have to balance and manage.”
Meanwhile, it’s understood the mayor hasn’t been the only elected member to express concern regarding the BID’s finances.
Waitematā Local Board chair Alexandra Bonham told The Post she had asked staff to “flag any concerns” on BID financials. The local board has an oversight role of BIDs within their area.
It followed a presentation by Beck on March 10 to the local board, which Bonham described as “very thin on detail”.
“I just want make sure that I'm asking all the right questions and making sure I don't miss things,” Bonham told The Post.
The board would be expecting a briefing from staff in an upcoming confidential workshop, she said.
“I think what we hoped to have is more of a rigorous discussion around what was happening in the city centre.
Heart of the City’s financial statements, seen by The Post, show its expenses surpassed it’s revenue by $671,694 in the year ending June 2025.
Figures show it significantly increased its spend on events, sponsorship and advertising - by about $1.24m.
In 2024, the BID faced criticism for an 18-metre Christmas tree installed at Te Komititanga in Britomart which cost $1.3m.
While the organisation has run two successive deficits, it had also built up substantial reserves during the Covid years.
Differences of opinion
Meanwhile, Rob Eliott of Lemongrass Productions tells The Post his firm decided to conclude its business with Heart of the City over perceived “changes” there.
Lemongrass has run the Heart of the City-owned Restaurant Month promotion for the last 14 years.
“We effectively won the RFP, but it became clear over the next few months that things weren't going to be plain sailing,” Eliott said.
“As time kept ticking on, it became clear that we had some differences of opinion on how, on how things should go forward, so we declined to take up that contract.”
He said there had been “quite a few changes” at Heart of the City.
It is understood Lemongrass were concerned by a staff restructure at HoTC, affecting staff they worked closely with.
“We developed a very strong relationship with the team there, but a lot of that team has departed.”
Eliott said it wasn’t his place to comment on the BID’s “internal matters”.
“We know where we sit and, we decided that it was time for us to basically stick to the direction that we believe is best.”
He added that he would be happy to work with Heart of the City in the future.
“They've been a great agency to work with. They've been a force for good.
“I don’t know what’s going on over there, but I hope it does get sorted out because there’s a lot of business are that are rightly expecting good things to come out of that office.
“So you're hoping whatever is going on simmers down for them.”
There have also been several leadership changes at Heart of the City at the board level in recent times.
It’s understood that between October and February, there were four different chairs of its executive committee.
Experienced sports administrator Martin Snedden stood down after nine years in the job. He was followed by Andrew Stringer, who lasted around two weeks. Brett Sweetman of the Park Hyatt hotel was interim chair for about a month.
The current chair of the executive committee is Malcolm McCracken, a former manager at accountancy giant KPMG who is now a commissioner for Plan Change 120, the process overseeing Auckland’s housing intensification.