Local government watchdog seeks more permanent fix for Perth council's problems

Will City of Perth ratepayers ever get a functioning council?

Local Government Inspector Tony Brown knows all too well just how bad things are — this week, he launched his first inquiry into the problem-plagued council, triggered by a report from monitor Carol Adams, who spent the better part of five months observing its antics.

But while he's not sharing those details with the public yet, he is getting his ducks in a row to make a more drastic move.

That could potentially involve recommending to Local Government Minister Hannah Beazely that she suspend or dismiss certain councillors, or even the entire council.

Problematic history

The council has come back from scandal and controversy before, but it wasn't easy.

Former Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi was hung out to dry for a shopping list of issues — undeclared gifts and travel, findings of serious breaches of local government laws and factional infighting.

Conduct described in an explosive report as "systemic failures in leadership".

The council itself was plagued by poor governance and was repeatedly described as "dysfunctional" — issues that came to a head in 2018 when it faced a wipe-out suspension and a subsequent $7.2 million two-year inquiry that found the city's culture had become dominated by self-interest, complacency and a lack of accountability and transparency.

Now-Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas restored stability as the city's leader for several years, but even he faced his own demons.

He was reprimanded and ordered to apologised for using his mayoral Facebook account in his Liberal preselection campaign for the 2025 state poll.

After the star Liberal candidate moved up the terrace to parliament to claim his new seat, issues seemingly began to fester again.

Acting Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds became Lord Mayor, and soon after, the acting CEO resigned after labelling an attempt to order a workplace culture review unlawful.

Mr Reynolds later backed away from those plans and announced he would ask the inspector to review the city's culture.

Less than two months later, a leaked report found "concerning parallels" with the situation at the time and the 2018 collapse of the council.

One of its most alarming findings? The relationship between council and management was in "crisis".

Paving the way for more action

Unlike previous councils though, the current council — and its dysfunction — seem too far gone.

After already officially putting the council on notice and ordering it to make improvements, or else, the Inspector went a step further this week by ordering the three-month inquiry.

The probe is necessary to enable him to activate tools for more serious action, including recommending suspensions or dismissals, and allows for earlier intervention than what is currently afforded to Minister Beazley.

"I too have been incredibly frustrated with what I've seen at the City of Perth and I'm pretty over it," she said on Tuesday.

Frustrated is an understatement.

Ms Beazley would certainly have been hoping things would have been cleaned up by now.

Instead, another three months will need to play out while the Inspector conducts his own probe.

Mr Reynolds this week welcomed the inquiry and said it provides an opportunity for matters to be "independently examined".

'No evidence' of dysfunction

Not everyone sees eye-to-eye on the current situation.

In a bizarre moment on Thursday that led to a heated exchange with a veteran journalist, the president of WA's peak body for local government denied there was anything wrong with the council.

"There is still no evidence [of dysfunction at The City of Perth] … that's not for me to judge, that's for the community to judge," WALGA President Mark Irwin told reporters.

Mr Irwin also spent a portion of his address at WALGA's annual conference calling out the state government for its role in painting the sector in an unflattering light.

"Sometimes I feel like as a president of our sector I live in a different world to the state government because all I see is fantastic things happening out in our sectors," he told the room.

The next three months will tell all.

Can the council rebuild and stabilise? Or is an extraordinary collapse the only path forward? The inspector can be the only judge of that.