Brown confirms he acted as a referee for his mistress

The Herald reports:

Auckland mayor Len Brown has confirmed he provided a reference for his ex-mistress to help her get a job at the council-run art gallery.

Bevan Chuang – with whom Mr Brown admitted to a two-year affair – received a reference from him when she successfully applied for a job at the gallery in August last year.

This was a year after she and Mr Brown started their affair.

This confirmation adds a new dimension. It is bad judgement to agree to be a referee to anyone you’re in a covert relationship with. But to agree to it, when they are applying for a job at an art gallery that is part of the Council you are the Mayor of is shockingly bad judgement.

Nick Smith resigned for providing a personal letter of support for Bronwyn Pullar, as that had a conflict of interest.  Nick’s letter wasn’t even advocating that she get compensation or a job – just stating how successful she was before her accident.

The mayor’s office is still considering questions from the Herald about how Mr Brown dealt with the issue in terms of the council’s code of conduct and conflict of interest policy.

Badly, I’d say.

I’d say it is inevitable that someone will file a complaint that Mayor Brown has not complied with the Council’s code of conduct and conflict of interest policy.

Providing a reference for your mistress for a job at an organisation that is part of the Auckland Council is incredibly dumb. He should have just said no.