Perth Voice Interactive

AT her first meeting back in the seat as lord mayor an unfazed Lisa Scaffidi swatted aside a barrage of questions, including whether an alternative should step into her seat while the WA local government department continues to investigate the CCC’s findings of “serious misconduct” against her.

Ms Scaffidi has hunkered down and maintained media silence since the election, but city resident Oliver Peterson — a journo with Channel 9 — put the questions in writing for Tuesday’s public question time (unlike other councils, Perth doesn’t permit the proletariat to be actually heard — the CEO reads out the questions).

Ms Scaffidi elected to read and answer the questions herself rather than letting the CEO handle them as usual and didn’t seem to break a sweat in batting them aside.

Many answers relied on “following the procedure” and waiting out the result of the department’s report. Asked if an alternative should take up her spot, she merely said “I am respecting the procedure, this is currently with the department of local government”.

Asked what the council intends to do in the wake of the CCC’s report, Ms Scaffidi said, “I have already acknowledged the error I made” and said she’d been humbled by the support she’d received from residents and the council.

Mr Peterson also asked if she supported all elements of the WA local government act, the piece of legislation that was broken when she did not declare travel contributions from BHP Billiton and Hawaiian. She answered: “Yes.”

by DAVID BELL