A former City of Perth councillor created a sham office lease within the CBD in order to nominate as a candidate and had dozens of ballot papers distributed to his family's private mailboxes to try to secure his re-election, an inquiry has heard.

Key points: Keith Yong admitted he had behaved unethically in his conduct

Keith Yong admitted he had behaved unethically in his conduct He denied planning to fill out 45 ballot papers he had mailed to his family

He denied planning to fill out 45 ballot papers he had mailed to his family Mr Yong won a seat on council in the 2013 election by just 54 votes

Keith Yong is giving evidence in the first of a series of public hearings as part of an investigation into operations and affairs at the city overseen by Perth barrister Tony Power.

It was prompted by a period of turmoil which included infighting, accusations of unethical behaviour, the gifts and expenses scandal surrounding Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and the eventual suspension of the entire council.

Mr Yong was elected to the council in 2013 and was a key backer of Ms Scaffidi, before being voted out in the 2017 elections.

Counsel assisting the commissioner Philip Urquhart has been grilling the lawyer over the steps he took to become eligible to run for the council.

The inquiry was told Mr Yong's law firm Lex Legal, of which he is a co-director, had a lease on an office suite on Adelaide Terrace.

Keith Yong was a key backer of Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi. ( ABC News: Eliza Laschon )

However, in order to be able to nominate as a candidate, he needed to be the sole occupier of property within the City of Perth boundary.

So he had another lease drawn up, in his name, for a single office within the suite that his company already occupied.

Lease was 'sham, dodgy and false'

He told the hearing he did not pay any rent for the office, but created a document indicating he had.

Barrister Tony Power is heading an investigation into the operations of the City of Perth.

Mr Urquhart put to Mr Yong that the lease was not legitimate, and was "sham, dodgy and false".

"It's a lease purporting to be what it is not. And that is the definition of sham. It's a sham lease isn't it?" Mr Urquhart asked Mr Yong.

"Yes," Mr Yong said.

"It was entirely unethical, would you agree with that?" Mr Urquhart asked.

"Yes," Mr Yong said.

Voting in local government elections is not compulsory and historically voter turnout has been low.

Less than 27 per cent of those eligible voted in the 2013 City of Perth elections, and with a population of less than 30,000 in the city a single vote can be crucial.

Mr Yong beat his nearest rival by just 54 votes.

Ballot papers sent to family

Three years later, hoping to secure his re-election at the 2017 poll, he arranged for 45 ballot papers to be sent to post office boxes to which only he and his family had access.

He said he did it so that he could hand them out to companies and encourage them to vote for him.

"It doesn't look good and it's not right," Mr Yong said. "It was a naive decision."

But Mr Yong denied he ever planned to fill out the ballot papers himself.

Mr Yong had 45 ballot papers sent to his family's private mailboxes to try to bolster his chances of re-election. ( ABC News: Alisha O'Flaherty )

"It was solely for the intention of collecting for family and friends, for distributing to them," he said.

"It has never come across my mind ever to sign or vote for anyone, I swear.

"I have done a huge mistake."

The City of Perth discovered the ballots were going to the Yong family address before the election and intervened, ruling them ineligible to be lodged.

The inquiry is next expected to hear from another former councillor and Lisa Scaffidi ally, Judy McEvoy, as well as councillor Jim Adamos and City of Perth development approvals manager Margaret Smith.

Mrs Scaffidi and former chief executive Martin Mileham will give public evidence in the coming weeks.