Ratepayer accuses Vincent Mayor of ‘lowering the tone’ of local govt with Scaffidi comments

CITY of Vincent Mayor John Carey defended his integrity this week against a resident who claimed he was “lowering the tone” of local government.

Stuart Lofthouse confronted Mr Carey during public question time ahead of this week’s council meeting, asking why he was politicising local government by “slagging off” the City of Perth.

“You have stated that you are setting the tone, maybe you are bringing the tone down,” Mr Lofthouse said.

He asked Mr Carey, who is the Labor candidate for Perth electorate, if comments he had made publicly against the City of Perth were a political stunt.

Mr Carey recently publicly called for City of Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, who was investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission, to resign.

Mr Lofthouse also asked who the woman calling residents and introducing him as part of his campaign was.

“Maybe it is time John makes the decision whether to stay on as Mayor,” he said.

Mr Carey shot back at Mr Lofthouse, instructing him to sit down.

“I conduct myself with absolute integrity and a clear code of conduct,” he said.

“There was a story in the weekend paper that said only one candidate abides by the donation laws and that was me, and it is on record.”

Mr Carey revealed the woman making phone calls was working on his campaign.

“All political parties do it; the woman is a 68-year-old Scottish pensioner and not using City of Vincent resources and I will put that on the record,” he said.