Cr Zappacosta broke his silence in spectacular fashion, accusing his one-time political ally and personal friend of placing the sister city relationship between Griffith and Communita Montana del Grappa in jeopardy by not fulfilling his duties as chair of the committee.

The revelations come amid speculation that the 25-year arrangement between the two communities is crumbling after the Italians cancelled a visit to Griffith scheduled for July.

However, Cr Dal Broi has hit back at the allegations, saying the mayor had taken six weeks to concoct “a pathetic excuse” to cover a decision made without justification.

But Cr Zappacosta said he was made aware some time ago that the delegation’s visit was under threat and had taken the reins of council’s sister city committee in an attempt to resurrect the relationship. “One of the reasons why I’ve decided to take control of it is that it came to my attention there’d been a lack of communication with the committee in Italy,” Cr Zappacosta said.

“The fact that they’re not coming and not celebrating the 25 years of sister city relationships is certainly a disappointment … and I lay that squarely at the feet of the chairperson, Cr Dal Broi, for not devoting enough time and attention to the 25th-anniversary celebration.”

Cr Zappacosta said on hearing the visit was in doubt, he reviewed all correspondence between Cr Dal Broi and the Italian committee and was surprised at what he found.

“I have been through the files in council regarding what communication and what correspondence there had been between council and the Italian committee and I was quite surprised to find that there’s been none. In order to facilitate the exchange here I took it upon myself to ensure that everything that has to be has been done. I was concerned about Cr Dal Broi’s attitude and the breakdown in communication and for the sake of the future success of the sister city arrangement I took control.”