Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds has pulled out of a commitment in the United States at short notice, complaining of a back injury.
Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds has pulled out of a commitment in the United States at short notice, complaining of a back injury.
Mr Reynolds was due to represent the city and speak at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas between March 23 and 27.
Dubbed the world’s premier energy event, Cr Reynolds has previously attended as a councillor.
“I can confirm I am no longer travelling to attend CERAWeek due to a recent back injury that has not improved sufficiently to manage the long-haul journey,” the Lord Mayor said in response to questions from Business News.
City council representatives have previously flown business class to the event, but a decision was made by the council in February, to permit only economy class travel.
“Travel arrangements were made in line with the city’s policies,” Cr Reynolds said of his planned US trip.
“Given the nature of the injury, the unpredictability of how the journey would affect recovery was the determining factor, and travel class would not have changed that.
“The city will continue to be well represented on the ground by senior members of the executive team, who have been closely involved in preparations, and I will participate in key sessions remotely where appropriate.”
The Lord Mayor said he had given the injury every opportunity to improve, but it was still causing issues.
The City of Perth has been under intense scrutiny since Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley appointed an inspector, who installed former Kwinana mayor Carol Adams to monitor the council following a report into psychosocial risk on the council.
Since August, eight staff within the council’s governance and elected member support roles have quit.
“The city is facing significant risk due to workforce depletion,” the council’s audit and risk committee was told this week.
