Mustang Bar managing director Michael Keiller will run for council in the City of Perth’s upcoming election, campaigning on a police and parking platform.
Mustang Bar managing director Michael Keiller will run for council in the City of Perth’s upcoming election, campaigning on a police and parking platform.
Mr Keiller, who has run the Lake Street venue for about two decades, has been an active participant in the city’s governance since the 1990s having been involved in several advisory committees on activation and the city’s design.
In addition, he is the current chair of Business Improvement Group of Northbridge after previously serving as the group's secretary and treasurer.
According to Mr Keiller’s announcement, his campaign will focus on increasing police presence in Perth’s CBD as well as creating new cultural events to support the city’s retail and hospitality businesses.
He told Business News that lack of responsiveness from the council and police in recent years had lead many businesses to feel unconfident and informed his campaign’s platform.
“We’ve got to try and get confidence back with people [so they feel] that when they make a phone call, something will happen,” he said.
“It’s got to be a bit more can do, not can’t do.
“We’ve got to get back to some common sense applied to some of these things.”
Mr Keiller also advocated for greater uniformity in the city’s parking regime, which he said had become convoluted and unwelcoming to visitors.
“On any given signpost there might be three signs, and people just stand there looking at it and think, ‘What does this all mean?’” he said.
“When they walk back to their car they have a $100 ticket and they don’t know why.
“That’s not very conducive to getting people to come back to the city.”
Mr Keiller has not endorsed a mayoral candidate at this stage, telling Business News he would wait until closer to October’s election to decide if he would make an endorsement.
“At this stage it’s about me putting up my hand,” he said.
“We’re still a long way out.
“As it gets down the track there will be people I will probably say … I’m more aligned to their thinking than some of the others.”
Mr Keiller’s candidacy comes after Liberal Party WA staffer and former City of Bayswater councillor Brent Fleeton declared he too would run for council, campaigning on cleanliness and the creation of an international minerals exchange.
Mr Fleeton currently serves as a principal consultant to lobbying group OverArch, and until July was a corporate and community affairs manager at NBN Co.
He too has yet to declare if he is supporting a mayoral candidate in the race.
The City of Perth has been without elected representation since the council was suspended in 2018.
Elections to the city’s mayoralty and nine council seats will be held on October 17.
