Perth Voice Interactive

We weren’t friends at school
DEBBIE SAUNDERS’ letter (Voice Mail, September 5, 2015) is false and cannot go unanswered.
Firstly, Ms Saunders claims my previous letter (Voice Mail, August 22, 2015) did not answer her earlier question (Voice Mail, August 8, 2015). That is not true.
Ms Saunders may not agree with my answer nor with the council’s choice of consultant to conduct the CEO’s performance review, but the assessment and reasons for doing so are publicly available for all to see.
Ms Saunders is entitled to her view — but that does not mean I didn’t answer her question nor does it mean the council’s decision was wrong.
Ms Saunders claims that when I became mayor I “organised the coup to oust” the former CEO. That is false.
Ms Saunders has conveniently ignored the fact the former CEO’s contract was up for renewal and the council made the decision to exercise its right to not renew the CEO’s contract — in any language that is not a coup. This decision was not made lightly by the council and was undertaken in accordance with the WA local government act.
Ms Saunders saved her most vexatious and fictitious comment for last — in criticising me for not disclosing that the new CEO and I were allegedly “high school mates”. This is complete nonsense.
The CEO and I did attend the same high school, but weren’t in the same year group, and never even met, spoke to, or knew of each other until his interview for the job.
The interview panel for the CEO position comprised myself and two other council members, plus the council’s appointed professional recruitment consultant. The interview panel made a recommendation to the council and the council made the decision to appoint the new CEO. They are the facts.
I can only presume Ms Saunders has manufactured this story to discredit me, the council, the new CEO and to cast doubt over the integrity of the CEO’s recruitment and performance review process. This is disappointing and undeserved.
John Carey
Mayor, City of Vincent

Highly qualified
I WOULD like to clarify that in my letter (Voice Mail, September 5, 2015) I was in no way casting any speculation over the qualifications of the CEO Len Kosova.
I believe Len to be a highly qualified and competent CEO, who has been greatly beneficial to the City of Vincent and his appointment to have been based solely on these merits.
Debbie Saunders
Oxford St, Leederville
The Ed says: This letter has been edited for length.

Dad oh dear!
I HAVE just finished reading the latest copy of the Voice and I am wondering if my local paper has turned into Mamamia or some other sort of dad-hating mummy blog.
On the front page, Vincent councillor Julia Wilcox tells us she is stepping down from her coveted position because council meetings are too early and her husband can’t be expected to deal with his own children in her absence.
As a father myself, I have tackled the “battle stations” as Wilcox dramatically describes dinner, bath and bedtime, countless times in the absence of my wife, and our family continues to chug along just fine.
While the article makes inferences to equality by way of the number of women represented in local councils, perhaps an issue needs to be made of women who claim men cannot look after their children simply due to their gender.
Only a few pages later we are greeted with a photo of West Perth resident Anthony Fisk who will potentially replace Cr Wilcox on council. He has a male partner and they have a child — according to the backwards logic of supermums like Wilcox, that baby probably gets hosed down in the backyard of a nighttime and sleeps in a drawer.
Vincent, and the whole Australian political climate, deserves enlightened elected representatives.
Happy father’s day indeed.
Matthew Hogan
Crawford Rd, Inglewood

Not pals then
I HAVE already communicated with Debbie Saunders regarding the statement made in her letter (Voice Mail, September 5, 2015) that the mayor and I were “high school mates”.
This is simply not true. The mayor and I did attend the same high school more than 20 years ago in different year groups but only met for the first time at my job interview.
The Mayor and I were not “high school mates”, there was no past friendship for either of us to disclose to the council, and I have every belief that the council’s decision to appoint me to the role had nothing to do with my time spent at one of the two high schools I once attended.
Len Kosova
CEO, City of Vincent

Exclusive
THE subject of appropriate times for holding local city council meetings contrasts with country shire councils where starting times of 3pm, 3.30pm and 4pm starts are common.
These shire meetings, one is gazetted 3.30—5pm, effectively excludes a lot of  the community from considering standing for election let alone attending because of time constraints to a greater extent than here. You may find questions are not taken, either.
I don’t think meeting times are purposely designed to be exclusive but they seem to be in some cases.
Gordon Westwood
Coode St, Maylands