Auckland mayoral candidate Viv Beck has squared most of an unpaid bill to an advertising firm she worked with during the early days of her campaign, says the political ticket backing her.
Senior members of Communities and Residents said most of the bill - believed to be more than $100,000- has been paid in the past few weeks.
C&R board member Nick Albrecht said the bill from the advertising company Hello Ltd was being handled through property developer Andrew Krukziener.
Krukziener, who has made a "six figure pledge" to Beck's campaign, is the brother-in-law of Hello managing director James Polhill.
Wayne Brown has shot to second place behind Efeso Collins in the latest Ratepayers' Alliance-Curia poll. Photo / Greg Bowker
Krukziener, Polhill and several members of C&R are also members of The Auckland Society, the incorporated society set up to collect donations on Beck's new "votevivbeck.co.nz" website.
Beck would not comment today on how much of the bill had been paid, saying in a statement "there was a disagreement over this work and resolution is being worked through".
She declined to comment on whether it was appropriate for Polhill to have links to her campaign through The Auckland Society, given the past disagreements over advertising.
Beck has been hit with the messy problem of her campaign finances a little more than six weeks out from polling day on October 8.
The Herald reported earlier that the unpaid bill has seen Beck locked out of her campaign Facebook account and website and having to engage a new advertising figure and social media company.
The Heart of the City chief executive is now using Mike Hutcheson, who worked on Len Brown and Phil Goff's mayoral campaigns to reboot her advertising and The Campaign Team, which worked with Leo Molloy until he pulled out this month, to run her social media.
A source told the Herald there was a breakdown between Beck's campaign team and Hello over the campaign message, which was informed by a number of focus groups done by Beck's team earlier on.
"This breakdown has faults on both sides. The Beck team did not emphasise what the research and campaign message said and the advertising people didn't realise there was a lot of research to inform the direction of the campaign, so they treated Beck as a blank canvas," the source said.
C&R president Kit Parkinson said there is nothing to the advertising bill, saying there was a small issue way back but it is all settled and everyone is happy.
"She is paying all her bills. I have full confidence in Viv," said Parkinson.
Monthly polls carried out by the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance and the Curia polling company show support for Beck has fallen from 20.5 per cent in June to 12.5 per cent this month.
Leo Molloy quit the mayoral race this month, saying he could not win. Photo / Fiona Goodall
The mayoral contest took a big turn when restaurateur Leo Molloy quit at the eleventh hour before nominations closed on August 12 following a poll showing he had slipped to third place and could not win.
The poll had Brown leaping into second place behind the Labour-endorsed candidate Efeso Collins. This was followed by former Auckland City Mayor John Banks calling on Beck to throw in the towel to give Brown a pathway to victory.
Beck rejected the idea of stepping aside and has cranked up her website and social media accounts, saying they have had "strong" engagement.
The spending limit for Auckland mayoral candidates is $680,000, Incumbent mayor Phil Goff, who is stepping down after two terms, spent $410,000 in 2016 and $436,000 in 2019 on his campaigns.
