To his opponents, Pierre Azzi was part of a powerful "junta" of councillors who ran an aggressively pro-development council at Canterbury that is now mired in a corruption scandal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But Mr Azzi said he hadn't been cut out to lead.
"I'm a soldier, I'm not a general," Mr Azzi told a long-running probe into the council on Wednesday.
Mr Azzi, former councillor Michael Hawatt and the council's general manager Jim Montague are at the centre of an investigation by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The inquiry is scrutinising the way in which the former Canterbury council, since merged into the City of Canterbury Bankstown, handled the area's development boom between 2014 and 2016.
They are also examining how the former council's planning chief, Spiro Stavis, landed that job and how he conducted himself in the role.
The inquiry has been told the council was racked by political division and dominated by a "junta" led by councillors Mr Azzi and Mr Hawatt about the time the former head of planning, Marcelo Occhiuzzi, quit.
It has also heard allegations that Mr Azzi and Mr Hawatt resorted to blackmail and threats to install their pick of Mr Stavis.
Mr Azzi, who worked as a taxi driver, told the inquiry on Wednesday that he got to know Mr Hawatt, a Liberal councillor, after Mr Azzi was elected as a Labor councillor in 2012.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, David Buchanan, SC, said the pair had later been at the centre of a group of seven councillors who had largely voted together, particularly on planning matters.
That group had included Labor councillors Mr Azzi, Mark Adler, Fadwa Kebbea and Karl Saleh, and Liberal councillors Mr Hawatt, Con Vasiliades and Ken Nam, the inquiry heard.
Mr Buchanan questioned how the councillors from the opposing political parties came to vote in a bloc.
"Sometimes you have to forget which party you're in," Mr Azzi said. "Sometimes you have to work together for the benefit of the community."
Mr Buchanan said the inquiry had heard Mr Azzi and Mr Hawatt had "controlled the numbers on council".
"No," Mr Azzi replied. "I don't control nobody."
Mr Azzi frequently voted in the same way as Mr Hawatt because "he was always the mover [of the items]". He denied he'd started his own caucus meetings with Mr Hawatt on planning matters.
He didn't know why some people at the council, including Mr Montague, had described the group as the "junta". "I don't know what they meant by junta, I don't know what that means."
Mr Buchanan: "You didn't understand it to be drawing on an analogy of a group of military generals running a country?"
Mr Azzi: "I'm a soldier, I'm not a general. It came out we're like a gangster or something."
He said it would not be fair to liken the pair's behaviour to that of military generals.
"We are the councillors and everybody is entitled to his opinion. I never gave orders to anybody to follow my direction."
It was not the first time Mr Azzi's behaviour had drawn references to military terminology.
He was described as a “lieutenant” of former premier Morris Iemma in statements previously tendered at the inquiry.
Mr Buchanan said the commission had previously heard Mr Azzi had a forceful demeanour.
"I'm not a general, I don't carry guns," Mr Azzi said. "It's the way I speak, I never meant to undermine anybody."
The hearing continues in front of Commissioner Patricia McDonald, SC.
