The mayor has significant executive powers, their own staff and the ability to appoint the chairpersons of the Council's committees. Some columnists stated in 2010 that the post was the second most powerful public position in New Zealand after the prime minister. However, when the Minister for the Rugby World Cup, Murray McCully, took control of the Rugby World Cup fan area on the Auckland waterfront in 2011 without first notifying mayor Len Brown, columnist John Armstrong declared the myth finished.