East Cannington resident Des Bowers has vowed to stop raising safety concerns with the City of Canning, lest he be on the receiving end of legal action from Mayor Patrick Hall.
As revealed by Examiner News, Mr Hall is suing Shelley ratepayer Richard Aldridge in the Supreme Court, citing 33 incidents of alleged defamation.
Mr Bowers is a long-time asbestos and safety campaigner within Canning, and he believes Mr Hall is out of line in his actions.
“He’s an employee, he’s elected by the ratepayers, he’s just an employee and the ratepayers vote the council in so in a way he’s suing his boss,” he said.
“I haven’t done anything wrong and I shouldn’t have anything to be scared of but if I get dragged into a court case with him, he’s got the money.”
Such is his level of concern that Mr Bowers, who has never had any reluctance to contact the city over perceived safety concerns, has vowed to stop raising his concerns with the city.
“Anything at all, I won’t do it.
“I’ve been blocked by this guy who thinks he’s top dog.
“I’ve always been concerned with issues of safety but I don’t want to get sued, so I’m not speaking out about anything more.
“It would be easy for him to go through my past complaints and put together a file on me.
“I’m not doing anything on safety anymore, if I see something out of line I’ll walk past it, I’m not going to be taken to court by him.”
