Perth Voice Interactive

LORD mayor Lisa Scaffidi and longtime allies Janet Davidson and Judy McEvoy have been censured by a standards panel over an attack on deputy lord mayor James Limnios.

Cr Davidson had moved a motion of no confidence in Cr Limnios as a matter of urgent business in May last year, claiming he hadn’t gone to enough events in his capacity as deputy lord mayor. Mrs Scaffidi was chairing the ordinary council meeting and allowed the motion to be put despite having being warned twice by staff that it didn’t meet the criteria for urgency. The motion was seconded by Cr McEvoy.

The Local Government Standards Panel determined the trio should be publicly censured for the “improper use of … office to cause detriment to the deputy lord mayor.”

“The vote of no confidence was a ‘public rebuke’, capable of damaging the deputy lord mayor’s reputation or causing others to think less favourably of them,” the standards panel report said.

Five days before the meeting CEO Martin Mileham sent a memo to all councillors regarding media speculation about no confidence motions, saying they had “no binding effect or obligations placed upon the elected member”.

He urged councillors to put any such motions forward through the standard “general business” process.

But Cr Davidson sprung her motion on the night, which Cr Jemma Green described at the time as an “ambush”. He colleague Reece Harley called it “completely unacceptable,” and poked holes in some of the claims it contained. The pair and Cr Lily Chen voted against the motion.

The panel says the warnings from Mr Mileham and the manager of governance “reinforce the proposition that the lord mayor knew she was acting outside the standing orders”.

The trio’s extensive experience in local government also counted against them, as they should have known better.

Cr Limnios, who’d claimed at the time the motion was “payback” for speaking out against the embattled lord mayor, said this week he felt vindicated by the panel’s findings.

“This was an attempt to discredit me. And I feel that my name is now cleared and for those people who know me, they truly understand how hard I work in my role as deputy lord mayor for the City of Perth.”

Mrs Scaffidi emailed the Voice a statement on behalf of all three councillors: “We accept the ruling on this minor matter and the censure in regards to how standing orders were applied, but we do not resile from the views as were expressed and voted on (by five) at the time. The role of the deputy lord mayor is intended to be one of full support and representation to the lord mayor in his/her absence and the delegation records tell the fuller story.”

The panel noted that when it advised the three councillors of the finding against them, none “apologised to the deputy lord mayor or the panel”. In fact, they reiterated their criticism of the deputy lord mayor.

That ensured that they wouldn’t get away with a public apology, as the panel felt it would “not be sincere”. Instead they deserved public censure, with notices placed in the Perth Voice and West Australian newspaper.

Mrs Scaffidi complained during the process that panel member Paul Kelly, a Claremont councillor, had in the past “made disparaging comments about me” and could demonstrate bias, but the panel said he’d not spoken about the minor breach complaint before them and dismissed her concerns.

by DAVID BELL

THE future of Maylands Waterland is hanging in the balance, with Bayswater councillors rejecting a $5.8 million rescue plan put forward by the community.

The quaint water park on Clarkson Road is popular with parents of young children (when its sunny), but is in urgent need of essential maintenance and renovation, so Bayswater council undertook one of the longest and most thorough community consultations in its history.

It spent $50,000 holding workshops with interested locals to figure out the best way forward.

But their ideas were deemed too expensive, coming in at almost double the $3m the council wanted to spend.

Two options were put forward and both included refurbishing the current site ($2.7m), and adding pool heating ($150,000), modern play equipment, a deeper pool and a new cafe.

Budget cap

At January’s meeting, the majority of councillors decided against increasing the budget cap.

Only councillors John Rifici, Michelle Sutherland and Catherine Ehrhardt were happy to stump up $6m and analyse the merits of the community plan, but they were outvoted.

Councillors Stephanie Coates and Dan Bull said they didn’t mind looking at the community plans alongside two other cheaper options that staff would develop, but again didn’t have the numbers.

Elli Petersen-Pik, from the Maylands Ratepayers and Residents Association, is keen to see the park renovated, particularly as he has a young bub who likes a splash around.

Mr Petersen-Pik believes the $5.8m figure was actually bigger than what the community was asking for: they would’ve been happy with a shipping container cafe (used to good effect in the Perth cultural centre) or a venue developed as a public-private enterprise.

He says that would bring it down from the $1.3m staff estimated for a new cafe.

The community was also happy for space to be allocated for a deep pool (estimated to cost $800,000 to $120,000), but not go ahead until funding was available from other tiers of government.

Mr Petersen-Pik says the deep pool could have been used for income-generating swimming lessons.

He says the aim of the community plan “was to create a facility to serve the city’s growing population for the next several decades.

“Participants were aware of the significant cost of the proposed changes, so there was consensus that construction could be implemented in stages.”

Mr Petersen-Pik says the pools are freezing when it’s not a scorching summer’s day and warming them would make them more attractive for more of the year, while there could be opportunities to target seniors or other groups to use the venue.

“It was a very disappointing decision, sidelining the thorough council-approved community consultation process which cost $50,000 and wasting the time of its participants, who had taken part in good faith,” Mr Petersen-Pik said.

It’s now back to the drawing board with councillors asking city staff to come up with two further options that are under $3 million.

by DAVID BELL

THE Maylands Easy Retro Ride took a step back in time with a tour of historical places last Sunday. Part of Bike Week, Local Arts and Community Events teamed up with the Maylands Historical and Peninsula Association to provide vintage bikes for the ride around town that wound up at the Maylands foreshore.

Even though the treadlies were sans speedometers, hydraulic brakes, hub gears, carbon-fibre frames, gel-injected seats, or secret motors stashed in the forks, plenty of adults couldn’t resist a nostalgic ride on the bikes they enjoyed as children.

ANGRY Mt Hawthorn residents have pleaded with the Supreme Court to reinstate a bus route they say is “vital” for disabled and elderly residents.

Transperth’s route 15 runs from the Perth CBD to Glendalough, but was amended mid-2015 to miss out stops in and around Tasman Street.

It prompted Tad Krysiak to form the Senior and Disabled Bus Action Group as his mother was one of the people affected.

He says the changes mean disabled and elderly residents have to walk further and cross major roads to catch the bus.

Mr Krysiak was questioned for around two hours over the route change at a Supreme Court hearing last week.

He argues that the PTA misled the Equal Opportunity Commission and the State Administrative Tribunal when defending an action lodged by a Cannington resident over a route change in 2006. The decisions from that action have been used as a precedent to dismiss Sandbag’s claim.

Discrimination

Mr Kyrisak originally took his complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission, but it was thrown out.

“The PTA is almost a force unto its own,” he says

“They don’t like their decisions being questioned.”

Whilst the PTA does have a consultation period, Mr Krysiak said it’s flawed because it includes people who may not use the particular bus route.

“We were given their classic response: we wouldn’t make changes to the route if it wasn’t in the best interest of the community,” he said.

Scrutiny

Mr Krysiak wants more transparency and scrutiny on decisions made by the PTA and EOC.

“A lot of disabled people who may have mental illnesses and elderly people are not able to have their voices heard,” he said.

SC presiding judge Justice Pritchard reserved her decision on the bus route and is expected to make a ruling in the coming weeks.

SANDBAG has also lodged a complaint with the Human Right’s Commission over sections of the route being cancelled.

by CHARLIE SMITH

PEOPLE with disabilities are being continually denied access to Acrod parking bays by selfish able-bodied drivers.

North Perth resident Mark Fletcher, who has multiple sclerosis, says he’s sick and tired of turning up to do his shopping only to find the allocated bays taken up by a tradie or time-poor clod hoping their quick trip will fly under the radar.

Mr Fletcher wants the state government to take over the enforcement of all Acrod parking bays, saying local parking inspectors seem to be blind to perpetrators, while the variety of signage in public and shopping centre car parks doesn’t give average Joe the impression that authorities really care.

“Some show a $500 fine, while others just $60, which is such a piddling amount that it’s not a deterrent at all,” Mr Fletcher said.

Shaming

The former Perth Voice journalist and political staffer has taken to shaming bay-jumpers on his Facebook site, but says he has another weapon up his sleeve; two of the side-effects of his illness are an occasionally short fuse and the ability to talk for hours.

Three years ago the Barnett government doubled the maximum fine for illegally parking in an Acrod bay to $2000, and gave rangers the power to issue $300 on-the-spot fines, but the National Disability Service agrees with Mr Fletcher that there needs to be more monitoring and enforcement.

Illegal

NDS state director Julie Waylen said illegal parking in Acrod bays is “really appalling”.

“From our point of view, people without Acrod permits misusing these bays is selfish and just not good enough,” she says.

“I think some people think, ‘I’ll just stop here for five minutes,’ but they don’t realise that those five minutes can prevent someone who needs the bay from carrying out their daily business.

“NDS would love to see increased monitoring and improved monitoring systems from local governments.

“When it comes to private bays, that requires good corporate citizenship to ensure bays are accessible for those who need them,” Ms Waylen says.

There are currently over 78,000 Acrod permits in circulation in WA.

“It’s an issue that touches many lives, not just a select group of people,” Ms Waylen says.

by CHARLIE SMITH  and STEVE GRANT

REDLANDS STREET residents in Bayswater have discovered almost half of a 3 to 3.8-metre wall designed to block out truck noise from the new NorthLink highway upgrade will be below road level.

The $1.12 billion upgrade runs north from Collier Road to Muchea, and it’s intended to improve freight capacity, reduce urban congestion, and reduce road deaths by eliminating four of the state’s top 15 most dangerous intersections.

It’s estimated to take 80 per cent of heavy vehicles off Great Northern Highway.

But Redlands Street residents want to make sure they’re not subject to a conga line of roaring trucks.

Bayswater councillor Chris Cornish attended a meeting between residents and the state’s contractor John Holland.

“Sounds like a good-sized wall, but when asked what ground level they were measuring the wall height from a problem emerged,” said Cr Cornish.

“I think that wall is going to start about 1.5m below the road level, so in actual fact the proposed 3 to 3.8m wall will only be 1.5m to 2.3m above the new highway. This means you may be able to visually observe trucks, and no doubt hear them.”

Main Roads PR officer Celena Chamoun says they are aware of the issues raised by residents and are working closely with the contractor to address their concerns.

John Holland contractors told residents if the wall doesn’t block sound levels in line with the required state standards then they’ll come back and fix it.

But Cr Cornish says that’s not ideal: “Let’s ensure the job is done properly in the first place. The 3 to 3.8m wall needs to be from road level,” he said.

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER council has appointed Andrew Brien as its new CEO with a $319,625 salary package.

Cr Brent Fleeton was the only councillor to vote against the appointment, saying the yearly wage was “obscene” and at the top end of the advertised $250,000 to $325,000 range.

“My vote against was related to the salary as I think it is obscene that any local government in WA should pay one person so much,” he says.

“I trust the committee has chosen the best candidate from the field of applicants.”

Mr Brien, currently CEO of Bunbury council, has also been CEO of Fraser Coast Regional Council in Queensland, and has 25 years experience in local government.

He’s worked his way up from the bottom: after six years in the army he started as a labourer for Brisbane city council.

His total package as Bayswater CEO is worth $319,625 and his five-year contract will start no later than July 1.

Bayswater mayor Barry McKenna says 40 highly qualified candidates applied for the job, but Mr Brien stood out and had an “established track record”.

by DAVID BELL