A WAR of words has broken out between Logan mayor Luke Smith and two of his councillors.
Cr Smith says councillors Darren Power and Lisa Bradley have made misleading accusations in the media, engaging in a smear campaign against him.
Cr Smith said that he had no choice but to publicly denounce them.
The mayor issued a statement in response to an ABC story which said Logan councillors were questioning why Cr Smith had chosen to declare a conflict of interest during a vote at a council meeting last week, when he had not declared a conflict during a previous vote.
Councillors Power and Bradley told the Jimboomba Times they believed that the mayor’s statement was obscuring the truth to mislead the community.
“He’s trying to make a silk purse out of the sow’s ear,” Cr Power said.
Cr Power said the Crime and Corruption Commission was still investigating allegations against Cr Smith.
Earlier this month the commission tabled its report on Operation Belcarra, an investigation in response to complaints about the conduct of candidates contesting the 2016 local government elections.
The report said a company Cr Smith used to channel election donations was poorly governed, reducing the transparency of donations.
It stated the CCC focused on five allegations involving perceptions that Cr Smith failed to give a disclosure return within the required time or provided a disclosure return he knew was false or misleading and had attempted to unlawfully influence council decisions relating to his donors.
According to the Belcarra report, the allegations about Cr Smith were still being finalised.
At council last week, Cr Smith declared a conflict of interest during a vote on projects at Springwood, which include two shared pathways.
The ABC story said Cr Smith had not declared a conflict of interest at a council meeting on September 19 during a vote on a motion that related to one of the shared pathways.
Cr Smith said his conflict of interest last week related to other projects.
“I believe these councillors have engaged in an appalling ongoing attack on my integrity in relation to a council vote on the Springwood Summit outcomes in March 2017,” he said.
“They have repeatedly made misleading accusations in the media that my donors would benefit from the changes I voted on, however it has been confirmed time and time again that the SKL Cables development application does not benefit from increased building heights and the development is not eligible for infrastructure charges incentives under the Springwood Economic Development Zone.”
Deputy mayor Cherie Dalley said the councillors should focus on their community.
“This atrocious campaign against the mayor in my opinion is nothing more than a desperate attempt by some councillors to grab a headline,” she said.
