Perth Voice Interactive

LONG-serving Bayswater councillor Sally Palmer is off council after Saturday’s election.

The empty north ward seat she would’ve stepped into with the second-highest vote on the weekend was blocked off by a last-minute resignation from mayor Filomena Piffaretti that will instead spark a by-election (“Shock resignation,” Voice, October 21, 2023).

As the Voice predicted, Cr Michelle Sutherland won first spot with 1,973 primary votes. Ms Palmer got 1,257 primary votes, and new candidate Paul Shanahan, also endorsed by Ms Piffaretti, got 804.

Ms Palmer’s loss means one less voice on council apt to speak up against the mayor.

We tried to get answers from Ms Piffaretti about her resignation motives last week through her private communication channels, and tried again this week via the council communications team now that she’s mayor again. But we were told she wasn’t officially in the job til after our deadline.

Newcomer

Elsewhere in Bayswater, south ward incumbent and mayoral ally Catherine Ehrhardt lost her seat to newcomer Nat Latter in a four-way race also featuring Keith Archer and Ben Bullock.

It didn’t even need to go to a preference count. Cr Latter, who runs Rabble Books & Games on the Eight Ave Strip, had a huge result winning 51 per cent of the vote outright, coming in first against Ms Ehrhardt’s 32 per cent.

Incumbent councillor Dan Bull was soundly endorsed in west ward with 74 per cent over his only competitor Sean Hocking.

In central ward, returning councillor Steven Ostaszewskyj saw off the need for a runoff with 55.34 per cent of the vote, beating Rhiannon Italiano and Nirmal Singh.

by DAVID BELL