A feud has brewed between councillor Jess Jennings and some of his colleagues following his loss in the mayoral election to Bobby Bourke last month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He has accused councillors Alex Christian and Ian North of playing games, claiming they attempted to take down Graeme Hanger while he was in the city's top job and have now set their sights on the new mayor.
"Their ultimate back-flip comes in the week of the mayoral election, when they go from trying to sink Cr Bourke to doing the exact opposite and voting him in as mayor," Cr Jennings told the Western Advocate.
"And to top it all off they now justify their back-flip by reckoning they can knock the new mayor off from the inside. These games are just totally ridiculous, they devalue council, and seriously distract councillors from good policy which means ratepayers miss out."
Councillors Christian and North have fiercely denied the claims, saying they fully support the new mayor.
"The mayor has my 110 per cent support. It's disgusting to suggest otherwise," Cr Christian said, while Cr North said he has no problems with anyone.
Cr North said, "I'm just bitterly disappointed. I stepped aside for Graeme [in 2017] so he could have a clear run and I stepped aside from this one so there were less contenders ... I voted for Bobby, so what does that say?"
Cr Christian also addressed Cr Jennings' claim that he liked to "have a bob each way", after he sent Cr Jennings a message saying that he would support him as mayor if he was elected.
He said it was his intention to support whoever was elected during their term.
"My original support was for Ian North, which all the councillors were aware of. When he didn't get the numbers, I voted for Bobby as my original choice was no longer in the race," he said.
"I don't really understand where the game playing comes in."
In a public Facebook post on September 18, the day of the election, Cr Christian had alluded to Cr Jennings not returning his phone calls.
Cr Jennings told the Western Advocate that he spoke to Cr Christian for almost an hour before the election.
He also felt Cr Christian couldn't complain about communication.
"The other thing about councillors communicating more is that Cr Christian hasn't been at a single council meeting of any sort for months prior to the mayoral election," he said.
"Normally, we would cross paths all the time, but when you don't attend meetings for months on end, you're not doing the job and are simply ripping off ratepayers while you're still taking their money."
Cr Christian has clarified his absence, saying it was due to medical reasons.
"Not attending those meetings wasn't my choice. Unfortunately I missed them due to medical reasons; I was doing it tough for a month or so but I'm feeling much better now," he said.
"I'd suggest Cr Jennings knew about that and bringing it up like this is a low blow, especially when mental health is such a serious issue we are trying to address and support. It's disgusting actually and beggars belief."
