By Charlene Macaulay
Wyndham mayor Peter Maynard cautioned councillors Walter Villagonzalo and Aaron An against accepting an invitation to China in either a council or private capacity, a leaked letter has revealed.
Councillors An and Villagonzalo last month flew to Jinan to be part of the judging panel for the Overseas High-level Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.
Both were offered all-expenses paid trips.
Cr Villagonzalo said he had given up his “free time” to attend and allowed the organisers to pay for his flights, accommodation and other travel expenses. Cr An said he covered the cost of the trip himself.
Among the competition organisers was the Eureka International Group, whose subsidiary company, EIG Developments, owns the Elpis estate in Truganina.
In a letter sent to the two councillors on June 22, Cr Maynard raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and misuse of position in “accepting such a substantial gift from a private organisation”.
“Based on the issues outlined above, I do not approve the request of accepting this invitation and associated gifts, submitted on behalf of Cr Aaron An and yourself,” Cr Maynard wrote.
“Furthermore, given that you and Cr An have been extended this invitation in your capacity as a councillor, I do not believe that you could accept this invitation in a private capacity.”
When Star Weekly asked both councillors why they ignored the mayor’s advice, Cr Villagonzalo said “other emails between the mayor and I contain his view that as I had decided to attend, I did not need his approval”.
Cr An said he believed he had addressed the question previously.
In response to Star Weekly’s questions about whether the councillors’ actions constituted a misuse of position or breach of the councillor code of conduct, Wyndham chief executive Kelly Grigsby said it was “the responsibility of individual councillors to manage compliance with the [Local Government] Act”.
“If any breaches were to occur, it is the responsibility of the Local Government Inspectorate to investigate the matter,” she said.
Local Government Inspectorate chief municipal inspector David Wolf said that after reviewing information, an investigation was not warranted at this stage.
