NEARLY 100 people attended a council election forum at Bayswater bowling club Tuesday night. Every candidate but two—Cr Mike Sabatino, looking after a family member, and central ward running mate Jonathan Jones, who was working—was present. The evening kicked off with a three-minute spruik from each of the candidates: some addresses were personal and reflective,…

A MUSIC ROOM at Mount Lawley Senior High School is to be named after brother and sister musicians Luke and Katy Steele, who attended the school in the 1990s. Luke fronts Empire of the Sun, and was formerly with The Sleepy Jackson, while Katy fronts Little Birdy. “Since making it big, Luke has come back…

PERTH lord mayoral aspirant Reece Harley has riled his Perth city council colleagues with his plan to abolish their clothing allowance if he’s elected. Currently, elected members can claim from ratepayers more than $10,000 a year on “personal presentation” expenses such as clothing, shoes, haircuts and mustache wax. Cr Harley buys his own clothes and…

VINCENT council candidate Mark Rossi has been spotted pulling down a poster of rival candidate Dan Loden late at night. He was spotted by deputy mayor Ros Harley and she says she told him, “that is not the way to win an election, you can’t be pulling election material down. “He did deny doing it,…

IRREPRESSIBLE octogenarian Amrik Pala is not giving up his fight with Stirling council to get a seniors’ discount reinstated. The 81-year-old Inglewood ward candidate was fuming when he discovered the off-peak discount for seniors at the Terry Tyzack Leisure Centre had been cancelled (Voice, September 26, 2015). He’s not impressed with the answers he’s received.…

VINCENT mayor John Carey is backing a move by the WA parliament to knock on the head the planned $150 million marriage equality plebiscite. The WA Legislative Assembly’s motion, moved by Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker and which passed unanimously, calls on the federal parliament to instead give all MPs and Senators a “free vote”…

AFTER two decades at Vincent city council, community services director Rob Boardman has retired. That leaves cheery technical services director Rick Lotznicker as the sole remaining director from the days of former CEO John Giorgi. Mr Boardman was a medical officer and Army captain in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) before migrating to Australia. Described by staff…

CRITICS of Bayswater mayor Sylvan Albert accuse him of stifling democracy by only keeping supportive comments on his Facebook page. Cr Albert is up for re-election in the south ward and has been deleting the occasional post and barring users who continually disagree with him. “Listen, it’s only been one or two people who keep…

VOICE photographer Matthew Dwyer dropped by Hyde Park Tuesday morning, and followed the faint sounds of music to come across saxophonist James O’Meara tooting his instrument near the east lake. O’Meara prefers to rehearse in the park, since his neighbours wouldn’t appreciate his early morning practising, but he says he gets a lot of compliments…

TOILET seats and clown noses have been used to deface around 30 of Bayswater mayor Sylvan Albert’s campaign posters, in a council election he has described as “the dirtiest ever”. Cr Albert is seeking re-election in south ward on October 17, but is being challenged by local markets guru Catherine Ehrhardt. “I have no idea…