Angelo Tsirekas received donation, travelled to US with West Tigers before vote on football club site
An embattled Sydney mayor travelled to the US with a Sydney NRL team, and received a donation to his campaign before he voted on a multimillion-dollar centre of excellence for the club.
NSW
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Canada Bay Mayor Angelo Tsirekas travelled to the United States with Wests Tigers on two occasions — and took a donation from its affiliate club — before voting to approve a multimillion-dollar plan for a football centre of excellence at Concord Oval.
The revelations come as the mayor prepares to walk back into his job on Monday despite a wave of internal anger from within the council.
The West Tigers training facility, funded by the council and the NSW Government, will be included in the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Concord Oval and is also expected to feature a world class sporting, recreation and community hub.
Canada Bay Council funded $15 million towards the $75 million redevelopment of the precinct.
Cr Tsirekas declined to answer specific questions on his involvement with the project, but continues to deny any wrongdoing.
The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal a legal $1000 donation was issued by the Balmain Tigers Rugby League Football Club Ltd to Cr Tsirekas’ election campaign for the state seat of Drummoyne in the 2010-11 financial year.
Cr Tsirekas told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption this months that he travelled to the United States with representatives of the Balmain Tigers Rugby League Club in October, 2017 and again in October 2018.
In one letter, tendered to ICAC, a West Tigers representative thanked the councillor for “joining me on the second annual Wests Tigers US Sports Tour ... visiting the cities of New York and Boston”.
“Along with flying business class and staying in five-star accommodation, the tour will be the epitome of a money-can’t-buy experience as we will tour the practice, playing and administrative facilities of some world leading sports and entertainment organisations from the NBA, NFL and NHL,” the representative said in the letter. “We will be visiting best practice organisations to learn and share knowledge around innovation, infrastructure, leadership and marketing.”
ICAC evidence revealed the cost of the 2017 trip was $25,000, invoiced to Joseph Chidiac and Associates. The Trip saw Cr Tsirekas join West Tigers representatives on a Brooklyn Nets facility tour and NBA game in Brooklyn, before he visited the New York Giants and watched a New York Jets games.
After leaving New York, Cr Tsirekas and the West Tigers team travelled to Boston with a stopover in Bristol Connecticut to visit the ESPN Campus for a tour and meeting before heading to Harvard.
Just a year later in October 2018, Cr Tsirekas and Joseph Chidiac set off again with West Tigers representatives to Dallas, Texas for a 12-day self-funded tour.
Just two months later, council minutes record the mayor voting for the endorsement of a plan to proceed with a major development application for the redevelopment of Concord Oval and the creation of the West Tigers Centre of Excellence.
Council meeting minutes relating to the proposal did not include a declaration of a potential conflict of interest by Cr Tsirekas, despite the overseas trips with Balmain Tigers representatives, or the donation recorded by both parties as part of disclosures to the NSW Electoral Commission.
Cr Tsirekas confirmed to the NSW ICAC that he had travelled to the United States with iProsperity Adviser and friend Joseph Chidiac as part of the stateside visit with the West Tigers.
The mayor continues to refuse any allegation of wrongdoing and is set to return from leave next week after a six-week grilling by the NSW ICAC.
Cr Tsirekas is expected to oversee an extraordinary meeting — to be held on June 28 — after he did not submit an application to extend his leave of absence with councillors.
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Mr Tsirekas, however, is facing internal pressure to delay his return from inside his own council, after the controversial allegations were aired in a series of public hearing days over several weeks.
The Sunday Telegraph first exposed his links to developers with millions of dollars in play at Rhodes last December.
Cr Tsirekas' return comes as The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Canada Bay Council sources have expressed concern over the return of the embattled mayor, instead calling on him to remain on a leave of absence until the matter is concluded.
Multiple sources from within the council said there was a desire to avoid a messy situation and a ‘media circus’ if Cr Tsirekas were to return before the ICAC investigation submitted its findings.
The public inquiry into allegations surrounding Cr Tsirekas was adjourned for findings to be handed down.
Wests Tigers and Cr Tsirekas were contacted for comment.
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