Peter McCall, who served Jell Ward in 2003-05, said it was after "long consideration" that he decided to express his concerns about the council elections.

Mr McCall was particularly concerned that the council was "dominated" by the ALP and urged ratepayers to vote for people with residents' best interests at heart.

"Let's get back to the grassroots of our three levels of government in this grossly over-governed country of ours.

"The purest form of government is local government where the resident-ratepayer is adequately represented by a 'local' representative known as a councillor. This election is being funded by interest groups including the Australian Labor Party and rich property developers for their benefit, not ours you can be sure."

May or and ALP member Paul Klisaris said the current council was dominated by non-Labor members.

"Council has worked effectively over the past three years and delivered outcomes that make us the envy of other cities around Australia.

"There should be no fear in the community if a person holds strong social values. Local government, once you're in, is non-political. We rub shoulders with people from all walks of life and political beliefs and we've continued to deliver results to the people of the community." He said Mr McCall was lashing out because he lost his seat at the 2005 council elections.