Goff dumps Hulse

Stuff reports:

New Auckland mayor Phil Goff has dumped Penny Hulse as his deputy.

An official announcement is expected later this week, but sources close to the mayor’s office said Hulse would not be getting the nod.

The sources said Hulse, who was former mayor Len Brown’s deputy, had only got as far as being on Goff’s short list.

This is a good decision for Goff. Not that Hulse was a bad Deputy Mayor. Many people said she was better than Brown and held things together.

But Goff would have looked like Len Brown Mark II if he had kept Hulse on as Deputy Mayor. He needs to break from the past (which has just 15% Council satisfaction) and this is the first step in it.

UPDATE: He has chosen Bill Cashmore.