Auckland City Mayor John Banks has defended letters he has sent to 80,000 homes criticising the spending record of his rival for the super-city mayoralty.
The mailout, which is costing about $50,000, says he has limited rate rises to about 2% in his past two years as Auckland City Mayor.
He compares that to a rate rise of 8.3% in Manukau City, despite that being more than a decade ago when Mayor Len Brown was only a councillor.
Mr Banks told Morning Report the letters were factual.
He also pointed to Mr Brown's use of his council credit card and said his rival cannot differentiate between personal and council spending.
