Perth lord mayoral race heats up

As the City of Perth elections draw near, several lord mayoral candidates are hitting the campaign trail to claim the ceremonial chains, with teams launching websites and going door-to-door.

With the October 20 election the first to require voters to number preferences under the recently-introduced preferential voting system, the stakes are even higher.

Despite rumours of dark horse candidates yet to join the race, current councillors Lisa Scaffidi, Max Kay and Michael Sutherland, former stock broker Neil McKinnon and pensioner Bill Bradbury appear to be the only figures intending to nominate for election by the deadline of September 7.

Emerging with her long-awaited policy platform this week through her Get Perth Moving website, Ms Scaffidi has put strategic planning and development, affordable housing and flexible trading hours high on her agenda.

Ms Scaffidi, along with Mr Kay and Mr Sutherland, have taken an ‘all-or-nothing’ approach to the election by only nominating for the position of Lord Mayor.

 “I was very conscious of not campaigning too soon and taking the focus away from my duties as a councillor,” Ms Scaffidi told WA Business News.

A councillor since 2000, Ms Scaffidi said her priority would be to bring people together to form a strong vision for Perth and put a plan in place, to make it happen.

Under Ms Scaffidi’s watch, the City of Perth would also be subject to a strategic review of its finances, with the aim of gradually reducing its reliance on parking revenue.

Feeling a groundswell of support building for his campaign, Mr Kay has formed a team of prospective councillors, including current city councillor Rob Butler and business people Charles Bellow and Ainslie Gatt.

In the two months since his website has been live, Mr Kay revealed it had received more than 90,000 hits.

Mr Kay said his aim was to be transparent and approachable, being the only candidate to post 57 pages of policy documents on the website.

“Parking is a serious issue in this city. I will look at changing some of the parking laws and policies. I think if you need a car park, why not have them,” he said.

Fellow councillor and deputy lord mayor Mr Sutherland has also teamed up, gaining councillor candidate and property identity John Tognolini, International Business Council chair Margaret Hall and publisher Sandra Liu on his ticket.

Mr Sutherland said tackling anti-social behaviour would be a key priority for him as lord mayor, as would fostering greater cooperation between the city and neighbouring councils and making changes to the controversial convention centre.

 “I’ll be extremely pro-active when it comes to making this city a destination. Forget the ‘Vatican City’ approach, you can’t run a city like a postage stamp,” he said.

Launching his website last month, Mr McKinnon has been seeking to increase his profile amongst Perth’s business community.

His main aims are to make council more self-sustaining, address parking and traffic problems in the city and allow the youth of the city to have a greater say in its development.

“I want to make this council green, dark green, and that will take vision and planning,” he said.

Fellow outsider and East Perth pensioner Mr Bradbury has plans of his own to shake up the city by removing council parking privileges and promoting cycling.

Mr Bradbury previously told WA Business News he wanted to improve lighting in the city to weed out crime, create a 25-year plan for the city, and be the “everyman’s lord mayor”.