FORMER Innova and Mobil employee Maureen Short is running against Hobsons Bay mayor Tony Briffa at the October 27 election.
Ms Short said she was running for council because she had “always been civic-minded and highly passionate” about Hobsons Bay.
Ms Short and Cr Briffa are among 14 candidates vying for two positions in Cherry Lake ward. The two independent candidates have been involved in a long-running saga after Cr Briffa sent three emails to Ms Short saying she should be dismissed by Mobil and that “the gloves are now off”.
The emails centred on a community meeting about a controversial toxic soil plant proposed for Altona by Innova Soil Technology.
“The Innova project is not something I am involved with any more and I remain neutral about the issue,” Ms Short said.
“I want to move forward, not backwards. From an integrity and emotional point of view, there have been some tough times.”
Cr Briffa said Ms Short’s nomination proved that “her complaint against me was nothing more than a political witch-hunt by a failed Labor Party candidate”.
“In the interests of openness and transparency, I hope her election material makes it clear that she supports dirty industry like the proposed toxic soil facility in Altona, which I have always opposed.”
Incumbent councillor John Hogg, who is among 11 candidates tussling for two vacancies in Wetlands ward, was this week expelled from the Labor Party for running against ALP-supported candidates. He will run as an independent.
Sixteen candidates are running for three positions in Strand ward, including former ALP member Oliver Tripodi, who has not ruled out preferencing independents. Yesterday he said he had resigned from the party.
Former premier Steve Bracks has endorsed independent Angela Altair and Labor’s Michael Raffoul, Luba Grigorovitch and Carl Marsich.
— Goya Dmytryshchak
