You can get involved in the campaign by becoming one of Len’s Friends, click here to join “Len’s Friends” – we need your help delivering leaflets, phone canvassing, at campaign events or by hosting a Len Brown hoarding on your fence.

To get involved – join “Len’s Friends”, email contact@lenbrownformayor.co.nz call 921 6786, or drop into the campaign office at 223 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden anytime. We’re open every day and there is always something to do.

One of the biggest issues I hear from people around the region is whether their local community will retain its local identity in the supercity. People are worried all the money and power will shift to another part of town. We cannot let that happen and if I am elected mayor it won’t.

I have committed to rotating the Council meeting around each of the current council areas. It is important to me that the new Auckland Council stays in touch with local communities around the region.

Unfortunately many Aucklanders are still in the dark about what their local boards will be involved in. I have released this policy to give assurance that under my leadership, local boards will retain the grunt they need to deliver for their communities.

Local boards should be involved in planning and policy related to their communities. They should develop long term community plans and annual plans, as well as contributing to regional policy-making and giving effect to regional plans. They should then develop local policy within the regional framework in areas like, for example, dog control, gambling and gaming machines, licensing of cafes, bars and liquor outlets, brothels, and the development of town centres.

Local boards should be responsible for local decisions on local roads, footpaths, pedestrian zones and bus stops, speed limits for local roads, public transport, crime prevention (where CCTV cameras should be sited, for example), community engagement, beautification schemes, building consents, local economic development, animal control, environmental protection, local parks, recreation and sports facilities, libraries and pools, community houses and advisory services, town centre promotion, galleries and museums, beaches, camping grounds, liquor licensing, and more. I also want local boards to be involved in resource management hearings for their areas.

I will ensure Local boards have adequate support to get on with their business. I don’t want them to waste time arguing with the Council over budgets and plans. I will be sending a very clear message to the CEO and management of the Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and the other CCOs, and councillors that local boards are the heart of democracy in Auckland and should not be fighting for scraps from the Council’s table.

The first Auckland Council will set the values and direction of our region for many years to come. We’ve got to get it right. I want to make sure that local communities are valued and protected in the new structure.

You can read the full local boards and local democracy policy here.

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If you support this policy please consider making a donation of $25, $50, $100, $200 or more to our campaign. Your support will help us spread our message and deliver a better public transport system, public ownership of public assets and a strong voice for local communities. It’s our time to build a better Auckland.

My stance on crime can be found in the following statement, in response to this story in the Herald highlights the drop in murders in Counties Manukau.

Len Brown welcomes drop in murders

Mayor Len Brown has welcomed news that crime rates are reducing in Counties Manukau and praised the work of local police in contributing to the drop.

“People should feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods. I’m pleased with the drop in reported crime,” says Len Brown.

Figures released show that between July 2008 and June 2010, there were 23 murders in Counties-Manukau. This calendar year there have only been three.

“Every violent crime is a tragedy, but I think we can be pleased with this drop. The 225 extra police on the frontline are having a real impact.”

There has also been an 80 per cent drop in bag snatching, 14 per cent drop in home burglaries, 18 per cent drop in other burglaries and a 29 per cent drop in motor vehicle crime.

“The proactive policing approach is having a real effect. On behalf of the citizens of South Auckland I’d like to thank and congratulate Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Mike Bush and his team.

“I’m also pleased that the community and our council have got behind the work of the police with more CCTV provision, extra ambassadors and anti-graffiti programmes also helping to keep our streets safer,” says Len Brown.

This is a column I wrote for Suburban Newspapers. We need to keep public ownership of Auckland’s public assets.

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As I travel around our region one of the biggest concerns I hear from local residents is that the new Auckland supercity council will sell off of our public assets. We cannot let that happen and, if I am elected mayor, it will not happen.

We need to grow Auckland’s economic base – not sell it.

Under my leadership, my council has been committed to keeping public ownership of our public assets. We have fought to keep our airport shares because they provide our council with an ongoing dividend that helps keep our rate increases close to the rate of inflation and that helps fund popular social initiatives like free entry to public pools. Our shareholding also guarantees the community has a say in how the airport is run.

Other councils chose not to retain their airport shares. Recently Auckland City Council, under the leadership of its current mayor, sold half its airport shares, depriving future generations of the income derived from that asset.

The new Auckland council will own approximately 22 percent of Auckland International Airport Ltd, it needs to retain a strategic interest in this asset because of its importance to the region.

Also, again unlike Auckland City Council and its current mayor, my council chose to retain ownership of its stock of housing for the elderly, which provides affordable places to live for our senior citizens.

The proposed privatisation of Auckland City Council’s stock, before the government stepped in and bought them, resulted in uncertainty and apprehension for those living in the units. We need a mayor and council committed to retaining and enhancing these amenities.

The Ports of Auckland has also been a hot topic. Recent legislative changes removed the requirement that any proposal to privatise the ports be put to referendum. I have argued against this change because it weakens the safeguards against the privatisation of the ports.

Unfortunately Auckland City Council and its current mayor do not share my concerns about this loss of democratic control.

Water is also an area of concern. People are rightly worried the local community could lose control of water if it is privatised or signed away on a long-term lease. In Manukau, under public ownership, we have the lowest water charges in the region and had a zero percent water rate increase this year. I want to bring this focus to all of Auckland.

If I am elected mayor, I will fight against any moves to privatise water – because of its importance to the community. I will stop any moves to sell our ownership of Auckland International Airport. And I will reject any move to privatise the ports.

My background and position on this issue are unequivocal. This election should be about who you can trust to keep their word and not sell your public assets.

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If you support this policy please consider making a donation of $25, $50, $100, $200 or more to our campaign. Your support will help us spread our message and deliver a better public transport system, public ownership of public assets and a strong voice for local communities. It’s our time to build a better Auckland.

Recently the Weekend Herald ran an extensive profile of me in their paper. It was a great chance to introduce myself, my background and my values to the region. I’ve reprinted part of the article below – you can read the whole thing here (the links on the right of the page):

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‘They were generous days…’

Old-fashioned values form the core of Len Brown’s political outlook – and much of it stems from his upbringing in a community and religiously-minded family.

His early life instilled a belief in the power of communities to solve their own problems and an easy ability to engage with diverse groups.

Brown was born in 1956 and spent his formative years in rural towns during the prosperous late baby-boomer years.

He enjoyed the freedom to roam; everyone was equal. “You were raised in the community in those days – families just opened their doors. They were generous, generous days.”

Life revolved around family, church, school and community. Parents Tom and Ngaire were strong believers in social equity and social justice and were active players in community life.

Both were from European settler families in south Auckland. Ngaire’s father, Charles Ferguson, was a chemist who took his family south to Taumarunui to run a pharmacy.

The 1930s Depression took its toll on the business and he ended up breaking rocks on a river.
That experience shaped Ngaire’s outlook on life.

“She was really penny proud,” says Brown. “She would always carry something in her purse so she could ‘feel the money’. It’s where I get my frugality from.”

Ngaire believed strongly in giving everyone a fair go and the family’s door was always open, he says.

Father Tom, of Irish Catholic stock, was a progressive teacher who became a primary school principal.

Teaching took him to Taumarunui where he met and married Ngaire. She was Presbyterian but later converted to Catholicism.

Leonard, the third of their six children, was born in Taumarunui and named after his paternal grandfather, who was the fire chief in Pukekohe for 46 years and had a street named after him.

Within a year, Tom was promoted to principal of the small Glen Murray School near Pukekawa. A couple of years later, he transferred to Normanby, near Hawera, where Brown’s schooling began in 1961.

Ngaire began to work part-time in the school’s administration.

Brown recalls the whole town would turn out for events such as Peter Snell running through Normanby after the 1960 Olympics, or Don Clarke kicking goals from halfway at Hicks Park, Hawera.

Taranaki’s hold on the Ranfurly Shield and its three All Blacks were a source of local pride.

His father was a rugby nut (he had played club rugby in Taumarunui) and a strong believer in sport: he would coach children in any sport but soccer.

Both parents maintained strong family ties: there were frequent long trips to Auckland to see relatives scattered from Pukekohe to the North Shore. Brown says he can venture into any Auckland suburb and feel a sense of connection.

It was a completely different upbringing from that of his rival John Banks: the product of a career criminal father and an alcoholic mother.

Tom’s chance to return to “the Big Smoke” came in 1964 when he was appointed first principal of Mayfield Primary, in the fledgling suburb of Otara on the edge of the city. Len finished his primary schooling there.

Otara was a planned suburb of state houses, catering for families pouring into rapidly industrialising south Auckland from rural areas, the inner city and the Pacific Islands.

The population was multicultural. Churches were still being built and community facilities were missing so schools became the focus of community life. Tom Brown launched a PTA and organised cultural events to bring communities together.

“Dad was the right guy to build the community – my community spirit comes from him, while Mum drummed into me my sense of fairness and loyalty,” says Brown.

Although he has always been identified as a son of Otara, Brown’s family lived there for only a couple of years before his parents cashed-up the family benefit to buy a home across the motorway in Allenby Rd, Papatoetoe. It would be the family seat for 39 years.

Papatoetoe was then known as “the Remuera of the south”. Residents were houseproud and kept fine gardens. Children roamed the neighbourhood after school and on weekends, playing games on the wide street verges.

Tom Brown planted his vegie garden and grew fruit in the huge backyard.

Bottling days would draw chain-gangs of children to Allenby Rd to help preserve peaches, apples, plums and pears. Such experiences instilled in Brown a sense of “pride of place and pride in what you can achieve together.

That was part of the reason I went into local government – I was interested in contributing to that sense of pride.”

His father became active in the Holy Cross Church and older sisters Sue and Jill joined the church youth group, taking part in fundraising or helping the elderly. Len joined in.

“My life was bottle drives and school fairs and Dad was always in the middle of it.

“I grew up in community meetings watching Dad. His style was quite collaborative which had a significant impact on the way I lead.”

Tom Brown, now a sprightly 84-year-old, lives in Flat Bush and remains a powerful influence on his son. He keeps him grounded with reminders that, for all his achievements, he has yet to have a street named after him.

At Papatoetoe Intermediate – a nursery for Labour politicians including David Lange, Phil Goff, Mark Gosche and David Shearer – Brown’s social conscience began to take root.

He remembers a social studies teacher, Wayne Reeves, who “encouraged us to think outside our own little world of Papatoetoe”. It was 1968, the year Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. The events “really opened my eyes to what was happening in the world”.

Brown’s community involvement was to flourish at De La Salle College from 1970-74. He found inspiring mentors in liberal principal Brother Colin Griffith and prominent educationalist Brother Pat Lynch, now chief executive of the Catholic Education Office in Wellington.

“Len was always able to offer a well-thought-out opinion,” Lynch recalls. “Even as a 15 or 16-year-old he could wow a crowd.

“He had a great ability to use language and there were some really high-level discussions in class.”

He was active in the school’s Christian clubs and respectful of Catholic traditions but wasn’t afraid to ask questions, says Lynch. “If he didn’t agree he would question it but in a most engaging way.”

“You could see leadership written all over him. I often said to him ‘when are you going to enter Parliament?’.
“He showed his political side quite strongly, but he was always people-oriented.”

Academically, he didn’t shine, says old schoolfriend Peter Raos, but he was confident and vocal. Brown says he “had the smarts – but I wasn’t one of God’s great academics. I was all about sport and doing anything but study.”

A halfback, he made the first XV and later played senior club rugby for Papatoetoe, Papakura and Counties Marist. Although short, he played basketball and virtually lived in the school gymnasium.

Brown and friends were compulsive organisers – school athletics days, swimming sports, engaging live bands for fundraising concerts in the school gym or church hall.

There was one brush with the law. Driving home from the airport one night where he and his mates had been watching planes, Brown overtook a fire engine.

“It didn’t have it’s lights on and wasn’t going fast,” Brown says. A couple of nights later came a knock at the door and he was charged with dangerous driving. He lost his licence for nine months. “Len wasn’t a hoon or anything,” says Raos. “He was a bit of a choirboy in some ways.”

Brown passed three school certificate subjects – English, History and Geography, failing Maths and Science.
“I was interested, I just wasn’t concentrating. It must have frustrated the hell out of my Dad. I was just interested in life.” But he went on to gain University Entrance and pass Higher School Certificate.

“I needed a reason to apply myself. Unless I’m really into it I can just be part of a crowd and just get along.

“I didn’t achieve anything like I could have.”

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You can read the rest of the articles here (links on the right of the page).

Yesterday the government released its decision on what Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) will be set up. You can read Rodney Hide’s release here.

Recently I released my policy on CCOs. You can read that here.

After the government’s announcement I put out a statement saying the CCOs will need to be made to work in the interests of local communities.

Many people I meet around Auckland are still very wary about CCOs because they could remove the ability of local people to influence their decisions. We cannot let this happen.

Because the government has now established its CCO model we need to make them work in the interest of local communities.

My policy is to make CCOs more open and accountable to Aucklanders by:

- rigorous statements of intent that include key performance indicators

- regular monthly meetings with the mayor

- open lines of communication

- the publication of board agendas prior to meetings

- the requirement for boards to hold open meetings and publish draft board minutes as soon as practically possible after the meeting (unless absolutely necessary)

You can read my full policy here.

I have argued against the establishment of the Transport CCO, because I’m not confident it’s the best strcture to run out the mayor and council’s vision for transport, and I’ve pledged to review of the statutory Transport CCO after two years if I am not satisfied it is working well, with the option of promoting legislation to amend or repeal it.

I am comfortable with the establishment of CCOs where there is a demonstrative need for corporate governance. I will, however, keep a watching brief on the operations of a number of the proposed CCOs, such as waterfront development and economic development, where their activities are closely related to the activity of the council.

I don’t want to see any double-ups in activity between the CCOs and the council. And I do not want to see CCOs taking on too many policy or governance functions These should be left to the democratically elected members.

I disagreed with Rodney Hide appointing the initial directors of the CCO. This should be left up to the new council. I intend to make sure the directors are appointed on merit and are committed to working in the interest of local communities.

In the end it will be up to us to make this new strcture work for all of Auckland. I hope you’ll help me to do that.

If you support this policy please consider making a donation of $25, $50, $100, $200 or more to our campaign. Your support will help us spread our message and deliver a better public transport system, public ownership of public assets and a strong voice for local communities. It’s our time to build a better Auckland.

Yesterday I called on the Auckland Transition Authority to put much more effort into informing and educating Aucklanders about the upcoming super-city elections.

It’s less than 80 days from voters getting their ballot papers, but there is poor understanding of the new Auckland structure.

As I travel around the region it is obvious there is general awareness of the amalgamation but little understanding beyond that. I hope the ATA to do something more comprehensive and much more innovative than we have ever seen before.

This is important because, given the significance of the changes in Auckland and the challenges facing us, an education campaign needs to reach all our communities – this will mean use of mainstream media as well as radio, public meetings and so forth. It means reaching out in languages other than English and sending material to workplaces and homes.

The ATA have access to the budgets all Councils had for this purpose. Central government should also go beyond its usual effort to encourage voter registration and match the ATA’s spending on an Auckland-specific awareness raising effort.

An education drive will help to overcome this while also serve as a reminder to people to make sure they’re on the electoral roll.

If people want to have a say on the future of their communities – their swimming pools, libraries, and public assets like the airport shares and the port – then they need to be informed and they need to vote.

Also yesterday the Electoral Enrolment Centre launched its campaign to sign up the almost 100,000 Aucklanders who are not enrolled to vote in this year’s election – half of those who have to sign up are aged between 18 and 24.

We’ve got to make sure young people are involved in the process this year. The decisions that are made today around delivering better public transport, economic development, how we create an exciting city and how we protect the environment, will affect them for years to come.

I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure people are enrolled to vote this year and understand the issues facing our region.

You can check your enrolment by calling 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56), or free texting your name and address to 3676, from any PostShop or by visiting www.elections.org.nz

Suburban Newspapers recently carried this opinion piece I put out on tackling crime in Auckland.

Everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes, their neighbourhood and their city.

The sad truth is that a lot of Aucklanders don’t feel safe, especially after dark: the national Quality of Life survey shows that while more than 95% of us feel safe in our homes during the day, almost 60% of us don’t feel safe in our city centres after dark.

The new Auckland Council will have a lot of work to do to help create a safe environment – the most recent police crime statistics show that reported crime increased in all three Auckland police districts in 2009. With P labs emerging in Remuera, no area is immune.

Sometimes the most effective response to crime is swift, uncompromising action; sometimes it’s a long-term focus on building community involvement and creating opportunities that lead at-risk youth away from a life of crime. A single, simplistic approach will not serve anyone well.

As mayor of my city, I regularly meet Counties-Manukau police chief Mike Bush and back a tough approach on the scourge of drugs – especially P – within our community. Since our Mayoral Taskforce on Drugs last year, we have taken action on drug houses, advocated for restricted sales of precursor drugs and continued to back community initiatives to beat this problem.

We recently made strong submissions to the Law Commission’s report on the availability of alcohol about the need to give local communities more say in the number of off-licences in their areas.

Waikato University research has shown the link between the level of alcohol-related harm and the number of liquor outlets. We now know that careful placement of liquor outlets is crucial for tackling crime rates.

Where necessary, my council has been uncompromising: we have contracted a private investigation firm to track down repeat graffiti offenders and provide police with information they can act on. But we have also initiated school-based programmes that educate young people about the problems of graffiti and tagging, and even give them experience in painting out graffiti.

In Waitakere, concerted efforts by the council, Waitakere Tag Out Trust and the community have led to a 70% decline in tagging. If elected mayor I will standardise the anti-graffiti contracts across the city to remove tagging in rail corridors within 24 hours.

Other councils also have innovative and effective strategies that help to create a safe environment. The youth jobs initiative in Otorohanga not only gives young people employment chances, but it has also reduced the number of youths arrested by 75%. That’s the sort of result we want to see.

And within the Auckland region several programmes are having a real impact, particularly targeting minor offences before the perpetrators graduate to more serious offending.

Councils can also help the Police by providing closed circuit TV in town centres, and through community patrols, two programmes that I intend to expand in the new Super City.

When Auckland unites, we need to take the best initiatives from around the region, and all over the country, to get crime rates down.

To make Auckland a safe place for all, we need to be committed to doing what works. We need to say no to criminal behaviour, to drugs, to gangs – which are such a drain on our economy, our emotions and our families.

And we need to support our police, who are on the front line of crime every day, in ways that truly ensure safety in our neighbourhoods.

I have launched a key policy that will strengthen the accountability and openness of Auckland Council’s council controlled organisations (CCOs).

I know that there is still considerable community concern over the establishment of CCOs. I have pledged that if I am elected mayor I will make sure they work in the interest of local communities through:

• rigorous statements of intent that include key performance indicators;

• regular monthly meetings with the mayor;

• open lines of communication, and;

• the publication of board agendas prior to meetings and, unless absolutely necessary, the requirement for boards to hold open meetings and publish draft board minutes as soon as practically possible after the meeting.

I disagree strongly with the establishment of the Transport CCO because I’m not confident it’s the best structure to run my council’s vision for transport.

I will, therefore, call for a review of the statutory Transport CCO after two years if I am not satisfied it is working well, with the option of promoting legislation to amend or repeal it.

My experience of CCOs in Manukau has been positive because we have paid a great deal of attention to putting good governance mechanisms in place. The community is right to demand high standards of performance and ultimately we, the Council and principle shareholder, will be held accountable to the public.

The Auckland Council has the power to appoint the directors, the chair and the deputy chair of each CCO. I intend to make sure these people are appointed on merit and are committed to working in the interest of local communities.

I disagreed with the government appointing initial directors, but I don’t believe the best way for the Auckland Council to get off on the right foot is to start firing directors. However, it is important that the people who are appointed retain the confidence of the full council.

I will make sure the Auckland Council and/or Local Boards have the final say on CCO bylaws and activities that will have a significant impact on local communities and I’ll ensure all CCOs give effect to the Spatial Plan and other Auckland Council plans and policies.

In the end we need leadership to make sure the supercity changes work for local communities. It’s up to Auckland now.

You can read more detailed information about my CCO governance accountability and transparency policy here.

If you support this policy please consider making a donation of $25, $50, $100, $200 or more to our campaign. Your support will help us spread our message and deliver a better public transport system, public ownership of public assets and a strong voice for local communities. It’s our time to build a better Auckland.

Today we launched the next part of our campaign for Auckland. You can see the advertisement here.

If you support this vision for our region – please make an online donation to the campaign.

We’ll use your contribution to help spread our message and deliver a better public transport system, public ownership of public assets, a strong Auckland economy, a healthy environment and a strong voice for local communities.

It’s our time to build a better Auckland.