Perth Voice Interactive

A STOUSH has broken out after a residents’ group only invited three candidates for this month’s extraordinary Perth council election to a meet and greet session last Thursday.

Former deputy mayor Sandy Anghie, who’s backing Dave Lee and Jason Bo, said a flyer emailed to residents in a number of apartment buildings in Adelaide Terrace and Terrace Road could have duped residents into thinking there were only three candidates running.

“The flyer stated that the ‘hosts’ of the event (held at The Westralian apartment building) was the Terrace Road and Adelaide Terrace Community Support Group – a group purporting to be a community group but in fact operating as a closed shop, organising events and canvassing for only three of the five council candidates,” Ms Anghie said.

“The event flyer proceeded to provide the bios for just three council candidates – Steve Wellard, Shirley Vine and Adam Pacan.”

Mr Lee said being purposely left off the invitation list was a “corruption of democracy… this is not gaslighting me, it’s gaslighting City of Perth voters.

“Elections cannot be controlled by community groups, property owners, building managers or strata company owners, for their own purposes; not this year and not in future elections, local council or state,” Mr Lee said.

But Mr Wellard, one of the three to attend the meeting, says he can’t understand what the fuss is.

“I’m sure they’ve attended meetings where not all the candidates have been in attendance,” Mr Wellard said.

Well known

“The group is well known to anyone who runs for council or is at the council meetings.”

He said he didn’t know why Mr Lee and Mr Bo didn’t get an invitation, but the meeting was held after ballots had been issued by the electoral commission, so everyone at the meeting would have been aware of the five candidates.

Mr Wellard said there was nothing sneaky about the group organising the event.

“They are residents on that row of apartment building and want to build a community.

“They are not developers or representatives from any particular lobby group, and if Sandy Anghie wants to get candidates invited, I suggest that she go and talk to them – they are well known to her,” he said.

by STEVE GRANT