Viv Beck breaks silence on ‘the story’ as Heart of the City exec faces questions
Thursday, 21 May 2026
After eight weeks off the job, Viv Beck returns to Heart of the City next week after the Employment Relations Authority ordered her interim reinstatement as chief executive.
The executive committee (its board) has continually maintained that Beck remained employed as CEO, but a recently released ERA ruling has lifted the lid on her suspension.
Beck broke her silence, exclusively telling The Post that she was “very happy” with the outcome. In fact, after initially applying for a non-publication order, she asked the authority for it to be withdrawn.
“I felt it was important that the story was told,” she said. “And, I’m delighted that the ERA has ruled that I return to my job supporting city centre businesses, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the job.”
In a statement to The Post, the executive committee said it 'aims to act as a good employer, considering employment matters carefully, and as a whole' and it 'acted with the benefit of advice'. It emphasised the ERA's findings were 'interim' on 'untested evidence'.
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The release of the ruling, meanwhile, coincided with a meeting of Heart of the City’s executive committee, which now faces questions from businesses over recent events.
A petition from businesses demanding it hold a Special General Meeting is understood to have been gaining traction.
A spokesperson told The Post that the committee has decided to proactively hold a meeting rather than wait for its membership to trigger one under its constitution.
Business member Steve Bielby of the Auckland Notable Properties Trust said he hoped it wouldn’t be a “sanitised” meeting designed to “protect the committee”.
“I will say that I think there’s a lot of legal resource going into protecting board members,” he told The Post.
“I think the right thing to do now is for all positions to be up for election at a special general meeting.”
But, a spokesperson for the executive committee said it the purpose of the meeting would be to fill three “casual vacancies”.
The committee typically consists of 11 members, but presently there are eight.
The spokesperson said that while casual vacancies were usually determined at the sole discretion of the executive, “in the interest of governance” it would allow members to make nominations and take a vote at the SGM.
“The board is aware of some efforts by a group of members collecting signatures to instigate an SGM, and acknowledges that this is their right as members,” they said.
“However, as the decision has been made by the board to hold an SGM, it is no longer necessary for such a petition to be the method by which to achieve this outcome.”
But, reacting to the ERA ruling, Bielby said it raised “very serious questions”.
“I view Viv as a high integrity person … I think this brings into question some of their [the committee’s] decision making.”
However, the ERA ruling records that an investigation into concerns about Beck’s conduct and performance continues.
An independent investigator plans to call at least 15 witnesses, with the process likely taking at least a further month, it said.
The issues raised in Beck’s suspension letter outlined broad concerns about her conduct, including “withholding of information” and “hostile behaviour toward committee members”, the ERA ruling said.
According to the ERA ruling, Heart of the City had argued for Beck’s continued suspension to prevent “possible interference” with the investigation.
But the Authority ruled on a “balance of convenience” that Beck should be allowed to return because she had “an arguable case that Heart of the City unjustifiably suspended her”.
The ruling revealed that in March, Beck had written to the committee expressing concerns about the constitutional eligibility and conflicts of interest of its new chair Malcolm McCracken.
The Authority received an affidavit from executive committee member Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka referring to “informal efforts” to respond to Beck’s concerns.
The Authority said this was “to smooth the waters presumably”, but said it was hard in the interim context to get a firm picture of those efforts.
But Beck again wrote to the committee “asserting the chair was not in fact a member of Heart of the City, and that trust and confidence in the committee had been lost due to lack of timely and appropriate response”.
Two days later, she was sent a letter notifying her of her suspension.
“It took the brief period of six weeks from when the new chair was appointed to the time Ms Beck was suspended,” the ERA wrote.
“Timing wise, the trigger for Heart of the City’s actions appears to have been more generally Ms Beck’s raising of the constitutional issues.”
It said the committee was “not seemingly willing or able to provide sufficient detail” about why Beck had been suspended, which the ERA said strengthened Beck’s argument that it had “put the cart before the horse”.
The executive committee has meanwhile maintained that McCracken has been constitutionally appointed. It characterised “the situation as an escalating dispute about who should be in charge, rather than a neutral raising of concerns on technical arrangements”.
Yet The Post understands that Heart of the City has continued to receive requests from business members for clarification about the executive’s eligibility.
A spokesperson for the executive claimed the requests had come from “a special interest group seeking to destabilise the current board”.
Beck, meanwhile, told The Post she was “obviously pleased to see the support [from businesses].”
As she returns to the job, Beck and the Heart of the City executive will be participating in mediation ordered by the Authority, “to assist with rebuilding the relationship”.
Beck told The Post that it would be “a turnaround year for the city central”.
“We've had a long period of disruption and it's really critical that Heart of the City focuses on the things that are going to support regeneration and the economic benefit of businesses,” she said.
“And I'm really excited about getting back on that job.”