Whitford James Richard Brown was the foundation mayor of Porirua City, a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand, for 21 years from 1962 to 1983. Previously, Porirua was part of what was then called the Makara County Council. In 1961, the Local Government Commission deemed that Porirua should become a borough. The region had its first elections in October 1962, and, Brown was elected mayor.

Porirua, a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide sweeping up both reaches". It almost completely surrounds Porirua Harbour at the southern end of the Kāpiti Coast. As of June 2023, Porirua has a population of 60,900.