Too many mayors? Why an ex-Perth lord mayor’s $25k portrait has been collecting dust

At the top floor of Council House in Perth’s city centre, the lord mayors who helmed the council over the past century are immortalised in grand portraits that line the walls of its primary meeting place.

From James T Franklin to Sir Fred Chaney and Dr Peter Nattrass, the 16 life-size portraits of former lord mayors draped in gowns, service medals and the mayoral chain represent all those who have held the role since King George V elevated it to that of Lord Mayor in 1929.

Former City of Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi was the first woman to be appointed to the role and served from 2007-2019.Credit: Nine Publishing.

But there is one prominent figure noticeably absent among more than a dozen men lining the walls of the level 11 function room — former lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi, the first woman to be appointed to the role.

The City of Perth commissioned award-winning Melbourne-based portrait artist Vincent Fantauzzo to paint the former lord mayor in mid-2023 after he was handpicked by Scaffidi herself.

Fantauzzo’s work adorns the walls of several Perth offices, with the acclaimed artist having unveiled portraits of property mogul Nigel Satterley and former WA governor Malcolm McCusker in the past 18 months.

But questions have since been raised about the whereabouts of Scaffidi’s portrait — which was commissioned at a cost of $25,000.

WAtoday has confirmed the portrait was delivered to the city in December 2023, but the city revealed it was not currently on display because there was insufficient wall space.

A city spokesperson told this masthead the city was “revisiting” the current hang of its lord mayoral portraits.

“At present, there are 16 lord mayor portraits on display in the level 11 function room, but there is currently no more space for a portrait without reconfiguring the room,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson insisted it intended to display the portrait in the “near future” and would notify the former lord mayor beforehand.

Scaffidi told this masthead she had not received any contact from the city since selecting Fantauzzo to do the portrait, who she revealed had also been commissioned to paint a portrait of current Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas.

“I don’t lose sleep over it, but I had wondered [what had happened to the portrait] … I am dying to see it,” she told WAtoday.

Asked whether she believed the city should have anticipated that questions may be raised about the portrait’s absence and taken reasonable steps to avoid it, Scaffidi said: “I do think the situation could have been addressed more expeditiously.”

“People need to move on,” she said.

Scaffidi served as the state director of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia for more than a decade before being elected to the City of Perth council.

She was elevated to the role of lord mayor in 2007, a position she retained until March 2018, when she was suspended alongside the rest of her council in March 2018 by then-local government minister David Templeman amid allegations of mismanagement and infighting.

Commissioners were installed, and a major probe launched at a cost of more than $7.8 million to ratepayers.

After a 12-month inquiry that blew out to two years, a 2000-page report tabled in parliament concluded the city had been “poorly led, divided and dysfunctional”, uncovered breaches of the Local Government Act and made more than 340 recommendations for renewal.

Templeman claimed the probe had also unearthed suspected criminal behaviour among councillors, city employees and their associates which had been referred to state and federal police and the Australian Taxation Office.

But four years on, there have been no criminal convictions stemming from the claims unearthed by the inquiry.

The council was ousted just eight weeks after Scaffidi had returned to her mayoral duties after stepping aside at the request of former premier Mark McGowan while awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a State Administrative Tribunal ruling that she had committed 45 breaches of the Local Government Act.

The Court of Appeal ultimately dismissed 26 of the 45 breaches, which concerned her failure to disclose gifts and travel perks, including a $47,000 trip to the Olympics funded by BHP.

Scaffidi’s term expired before the inquiry was completed, with Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas taking the reins in the 2020 local government elections.

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