A coup is brewing at central Auckland's business association over the board's treatment of its chief executive.
Viv Beck has been locked in an employment dispute after she was temporarily stood down from her role at Heart of the City.
Dozens of businesses have called for a special meeting to ask the board to explain itself and possibly ask members to stand down.
Businessman Greg Moyle was among them.
"The main issue is the way Viv Beck was treated. It just came completely out of the blue that she was suspended, in my view without cause," he told Checkpoint .
He said Beck had been a great advocate for business owners in Auckland CBD.
"We've gone through Covid, we've gone through the City Rail Link, all those businesses up and down Albert Street (where the CRL has been built) have almost had to close up shop ... so the businesses, and I'm one of them, are struggling," he said.
"I can't get my clients to come into town because they find it too difficult, parking's a problem, and now we've got the issue in respect to safety in the city."
Moyle pointed to the recent death on Wellesley Street East , for which a 23 year old had been charged with murder.
"Those of us like myself feel that she's the appropriate person to voice the concerns. Others have also voiced those concerns, but she can actually get some air time and she can end up talking to the central government politicians to address the issue," he said.
"She's been part of getting the police to come into Federal Street and set up a base there, that's fantastic."
Moyle alleged that at least two members of Heart of the City's board were not eligible for the position, as they did not operate a business.
But he said many of the board's members deserved to remain.
"I don't think we need the whole committee gone, there's a number of people who I know on the committee are excellent representatives," he said.
"What's happened is we've ended up with a situation where the chair was able to suspend Viv, and it's all rolled out from that."
He said business owners deserved answers.
"Members of the association need to be able to have a special general meeting where the existing board can explain what's happening, their reasons for suspending Viv, and we can test their eligibility to remain in the board," Moyle said.
"The resolution that's been put forward is basically that each of them stand down and can offer themselves up for re-election, and I hope that a good number of them do so."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the HOTC board said it has voted to bring its membership register into compliance so a "legitimate" special general meeting (SGM) can be held.
The spokesperson said the group's petition calling for a special meeting had "incorrect information about the membership status of board members".
"This highlights the importance of rectifying the register so that it contains the correct information," the spokesperson said.
"Once this matter is resolved, the SGM will be able to take place."
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