THE City of Perth is in turmoil again, just one month after lord mayor Bruce Reynold’s election, with acting CEO Peta Mabbs resigning on Tuesday.

The lord mayor is under fire over a “workplace culture” review he dropped on colleagues with little notice before their November 18 meeting, while a former councillor has described a “cloak and dagger” atmosphere; and a current councillor has publicly posted that events at the City have left her “not feeling okay at the moment”.

Alongside the short notice, debate about the “urgent” culture review was gagged, with councillor Liam Gobbert moving a procedural motion to head straight to a vote just as Mr Reynolds finished reading out the terms of reference for an in-house committee to oversee it.

Mr Reynolds didn’t outline his reasons for suddenly calling for the review at the meeting, but later said it was a “standard governance tool for an organisation of this size and standing”.

“The intent was to provide council with the earliest opportunity to begin addressing workplace culture with proper oversight, and especially with a new leadership team,” Mr Reynolds said.

The motion also called for lawyers Mills Oakley to be appointed to undertake the review, with up to $125,000 being allocated for the process.

Councillor Catherine Lezer voted against the review and flagged a revocation motion at the December meeting, but was out-manoeuvred by Mr Reynolds who called a special council meeting for Tuesday just gone, with councillors being notified the evening before.

Only councillors Gobbert, David Goncalves, Lisa Ma and Chris Patton joined the lord mayor for the meeting, where he announced he’d called it to put forward his own revocation motion.

Unsurprisingly, it was voted down, which means that under council’s standing orders, Cr Lezer won’t be able to revisit the issue for the next three months.

During the meeting acting CEO Peta Mabbs was visibly tense, and the Chook has learned that she tendered her resignation the same day.

The City’s media team said there was no announcement or statement.

Ratepayer Vicki Raniszewski was one of the few who got wind of the meeting and fronted question time.

“What was the purpose of rushing through this motion at last minute on November 18, 2025 in the ordinary council meeting without being on the agenda, allowing ample time for councillors, administration, CEO [or] ratepayers to consider and speak on it publicly,” Ms Raniszewski asked.

Mr Reynolds said there was no intent to rush the item, and noted it had received an absolute majority which “shows there’s a clear support for progressing the matter”.

East Perth resident John Morrison also submitted questions prior to the meeting, telling the Chook he was unhappy the mayor didn’t allow him to speak at the meeting and only taking them on notice.

Mr Morrison said he had “grave concerns” about the process.

“Firstly, I must question the decision to call this special council meeting at such short notice,” he said.

“It does not give the community time to get involved, it does not even allow time for many councillors to attend.

“And the CEO [Michelle Reynolds] is on planned leave, so also not in attendance.”

Ms Reynolds’ absence has been on many lips since the controversy arose, with many interpreting the review as a chip at her authority.

As the CEO of another major council noted to the Chook: “I don’t think it’s any secret that the lord mayor doesn’t get on with the CEO.”

On Wednesday afternoon, councillor Raj Doshi, who’d voted against the review but didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting, posted that “on a personal level, I am not feeling okay at the moment”.

“Recent events and interactions have left me feeling quite unsettled, and it has impacted my wellbeing.

Respectful

“I am raising this appropriately and transparently because psychological safety, respectful conduct, and a supportive working environment are essential for good governance and the effective performance of our duties through the elected member’s office.”

The Chook reached out to Cr Doshi through an intermediary, and while they assured us she was still going “strong”, they said her concerns about her treatment on council stretched back to before the culture review.

Cr Doshi said she did not want to comment further.

But former councillor Steve Wellard has been vocal this week in his concerns about the direction of the council.

Mr Wellard said there had been a “180 degree shift” since former lord mayor Basil Zempilas’s term, which he said had been characterised by the media personality’s enthusiasm for collaborating with his councillors.

“There’s two things I really admired about him,” Mr Wellard said, noting that he’d not been a fan of Mr Zempilas before his election.

“The first thing was that if he made a mistake, he’d ring around and say ‘did I make a mistake’ and then he’d ask ‘what can I do so I don’t make that mistake again’.

“The second thing was the he learned from his mistakes, and he didn’t make them again,” he said.

by STEVE GRANT