Perth Voice Interactive

GARBAGE dumpers have made an extreme sport out of littering in Yokine, with a temple of trash dumped on Hector Street.

The vacant block has long been a magnet for garbage: even outdated satellite images on Google maps shows filth spread wantonly around.

Couches, cans, cardboard boxes, old insulation: nothing’s too crap to be dumped on this verge.

The Voice reader who tipped us off to the junk said it was hard to tell the difference between Hector Street and a third-world slum.

Stirling council picks up hard rubbish just once a year, after pulling it back from twice-yearly pickups in January 2013. There were concerns at the time about the cutback leading to more dumping, with lazy homeowners preferring to leave rubbish on the verge for half the year rather than take it to the tip themselves. The council “has not noted an increase in illegal dumping” following the change says council waste and fleet manager Sean Sciberras.

He says the council will clear up the Hector Street dump, and rangers will keep an eye out for signs of illegal dumping.

Offenders are issued fines between $200 and $500.

by DAVID BELL

WOOLWORTHS has lodged a liquor licence application for its controversial 990sqm Dan Murphy’s at the Maylands Peninsula Tavern.

It was lodged with the WA department of racing gaming and liquor.

Labor Maylands MP Lisa Baker plans to lodge an official objection to the licence in a last gasp attempt to kill the project.

“That’s nearly the area of an entire football field of our suburb dedicated to selling cheap grog,” she says.

“If this plan goes ahead, it will pave the way for other big liquor barns to move into this small community, which is already battling issues of street drinking and antisocial behaviour.

“…a Dan Murphy’s in the centre of Maylands is not in the public interest.”

“Residents are overwhelmingly opposed to this plan, with more than 80 per cent saying a Dan Murphy’s in the centre of Maylands is not in the public interest.”

Ms Baker says locals support the $3.5 million revamp of the Maylands Peninsula Tavern, but not the bottleshop element of the proposal.

The bottleshop won planning approval from the unelected but powerful state administrative tribunal after earlier being rejected by both the locally elected Bayswater city council and the local planning assessment panel.

In 2010 Ms Baker spearheaded a campaign that stopped Coles building a similar outlet on Guildford Road.

Maylands is home to a number of agencies, including Shopfront, Autumn Centre and 55 Central, that tackle the impact of alcoholism.

Reverend Chris Albany from the nearby St Luke’s Church, which hosts local AA meetings, has joined the chorus of opposition.

“The last thing that the Maylands area needs is a large discount liquor store,” he says. “The area houses services for people who have had alcohol problems in the past, and it’s a mainly residential area.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

WITH another healthy tree vandalised in Vincent, mayor John Carey wants a city-wide register set up to keep track of how many are being killed.

The mid-sized tree on the corner of Lake and Brisbane Streets was one of the heftiest to be knocked over in recent years, apparently the target of a strongman contest by meatheads.

“I was going on an early morning walk and came across it. I’m really disappointed,” Mr Carey says.

“It’s just this ongoing, senseless, and destructive vandalism.

Meatheads on the rampage

“It is so frustrating because Vincent and the community is really getting behind our greening program: we’re doubling our investment in trees and the adopt-a-verge program, it’s all about cooling our streets.”

There are four or five other vacant tree spots on Lake and Brisbane Streets where vandals have snapped off trunks. Recently on Beaufort Street 70 trees were killed by vandals in 18 months, costing ratepayers about $50,000.

Mr Carey wants a city-wide register so a clearer picture can be drawn of the problem. Tree bollards may be an option.

by DAVID BELL

THE search for the new CEO of Vincent is on, with the council offering between $200,000 and $300,000 for the right candidate.

The council is looking for a new CEO after it voted 7/1 not to renew John Giorgi’s contract.

The job offer was posted on Seek on April 24 and mayor John Carey says there’s already been a lot of interest.

When Mr Giorgi’s contract wasn’t renewed, former councillor John Little said the council would be lucky to get a new CEO given amalgamations were looming and the appointee could soon be out of a job.

Lots of interest

“Contrary to that view that we’d struggle to get people, we are getting lots of interest,” Mr Carey says.

The contract is for up to two years, and Mr Carey believes a CEO would likely retain a senior position in any merged Vincent/Perth, assuming mergers go ahead.

The job ad says the council is looking for “innovative, energetic and smart leadership”.

The seven-page selection criteria notes the council wants someone who “fosters and drives a culture of innovation,” “in particular reviewing and improving all aspects of town planning”. The juicy pay packet is set by the WA salaries and allowance tribunal, based on the size of the council.

by DAVID BELL

FORMER Vincent CEO John Giorgi has been given a payout in the ballpark of $200,000.

The exact figure is hard to calculate as no parties involved will talk, but the council’s most recent financial report shows a $220,000 variation in employee costs compared to the previous month. Acting CEO Mike Rootsey confirms a “major component” of the variation is Mr Giorgi’s payout.

Mr Giorgi’s contract was due to expire December 31 and he’d hoped to get renewed, but councillors voted 7/1 to let him go.

Mr Giorgi went on immediate leave and loyal council staff launched a petition demanding his reinstatement, to no avail. Mr Giorgi came to a quiet agreement with the council that he leave early.

Blowout

The $220,000 blowout in employee costs puts that section 141 per cent over budget, but it can’t all be attributed to Mr Giorgi as the item also covers maternity leave and other pay variations.

The terms of the agreement remain secret, but smart money is he would’ve been paid out his wage until December 31, along with any leave owing. State legislation limits the maximum he can be paid is “the value of the remuneration that the person would have been entitled to had the contract not been terminated”.

The vacant CEO position has been advertised with a pay rate in the range of $201,433 to $302,822.

THE weekend’s olive harvest went well for the kids from North Perth primary school who were out picking fruit to raise money for their P&C.

There were fewer olives this year after a hot, dry summer, but the 730kg of juicy olives yielded even more oil, with 126 litres pressed at York olive oil co, compared to last year’s 104.

Last year $7000 was raised selling the oil dubbed “Harvest 6006”, and the multi-variety brew picked up a silver medal at the Royal Show.

BAYSWATER city councillor John Rifici has sold his iconic cafe, after 14 years grinding coffees and whipping up lasagna.

Rifo’s Cafe, at the corner of Guildford Road and Eighth Avenue, helped spark Maylands’ cafe strip culture.

Cr Rifici has sold the business to a four-person consortium, including long-time staffer Cassia, saying he felt jaded commuting seven days a week to and from his North Fremantle home.

The 51-year-old has hung up his apron to sell real estate in and around Fremantle.

“I’m still friends with loads of people in Maylands and know lots of business owners, so it won’t impact my ability to be a Bayswater councillor,” he says.

“I also still own the building Rifo’s operates in, so there will always be that tie as well.

“I haven’t decided whether I will run again for council at the next election.”

In June Mr Rifici, staff and customers—including a nine-year-old girl—barricaded themselves inside the cafe when a gang tried to smash its way in with rocks.

A staffer was king-hit, a customer punched and bottles were hurled.

The traumatic incident inspired Mr Rifici to seek election, running on an anti-social behaviour ticket.

He is pushing for CCTV on Eighth Avenue and a more visible police presence in Maylands.

Mr Rifici says the new owners will modernise the menu with more tapas and shared plate options.

Before opening Rifo’s, Mr Rifici was a hairdresser for 20 years, a profession shared with mayor Sylvan Albert.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK