By Ruza Zivkusic
UNSUCCESFUL Grasslands Ward candidate Peter Portelli who was beaten by Brimbank City Councillor Ken Capar by only eight votes during last year’s council election, calls on Cr Capar to stand down from council or face “humiliation” at the next election.
Mr Portelli, who was also a former Sunshine councillor from 1986-89, described Cr Capar’s intoxicated behavior at the Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association (ACCA) conference in Auckland last month as “embarrassing to the people who elected him”.
“I could have done a much better job than him,” Mr Portelli said.
“Whether he resigns or not, it’s going to go against him at the next election because I’m going to use all the press clippings and publicity (of Cr Capar’s resignation from Keilor Cemetery Trust) at the next election,” Mr Portelli said.
He said many people from the community approached him, asking “what’s going on”.
“The community should protest for him to resign and go quietly before it gets worse. “Why stay another two years?” Mr Portelli said.
Municipal Association Victoria President Dick Gross said a councillor could not be sacked from council for just being drunk.
“Under the current law, the only way you can be moved from council is to be charged or convicted,” Mr Gross said.
St Albans Traders Group Association President Sebastian Agricola said Cr Capar was a designated representative of the St Albans Traders Group Association but never turned up to a single meeting during the past year.
“You can’t hang the bloke without knowing exactly what he’s done,” Mr Agricola said.
“I think the community deserves to know exactly what he’s committing to, what he says he did and what those allegations are,” Cr Agricola said.
Cr Margaret Giudice said if the allegations stated by ACCA’s President Pieter Den Boer in a letter to the Keilor Cemetery Trust were true, then it was “not acceptable behavior for a councillor or anyone”.
“I do believe that we’re going to need to have an explanation otherwise it’s going to go really crazy,” she added.
Brimbank City Council Chief Executive Officer Marilyn Duncan declined to make a comment about Cr Capar’s resignation from the Keilor Cemetery Trust.
