INDEPENDENT Newcastle lord mayoral candidate Ross Kerridge has thrown his weight behind a "thorough forensic investigation" into the Neylon-Sivo letter-writing scandal.
Dr Kerridge said a new independent investigation was needed to get to the bottom of the long-running saga and restore public trust in Newcastle council.
If elected lord mayor in September, Dr Kerridge said he would initiate a new investigation into any links between City of Newcastle boss Jeremy Bath and the Neylon-Sivo letters.
"It's time for change. It's time to stop the rot and end the scandals engulfing Newcastle council," Dr Kerridge said.
"And if the lord mayor won't launch an investigation - I will. If elected lord mayor I will move to immediately initiate a thorough forensic investigation into this scandal."
Dr Kerridge's commitment comes as it was announced this week that the man at the centre of the storm, Mr Bath, has further extended his "extended leave" until the end of September.
This means the controversial council boss will be missing from the top job from June 20 until after the September 14 NSW local government election.
He was initially meant to return to work at the end of August.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes has declined to answer if she believes a new investigation into the letters should be conducted, but said she is standing behind Mr Bath.
Cr Nelmes said in a statement that she was not interested in "campaigns that publicly denigrate our staff, be that our hard-working road maintenance crews, our waste collection team, or the CEO".
Her Labor councillors did not respond to the Herald's questions on the issue.
Dr Kerridge lost a close Labor lord mayoral preselection contest against Cr Nelmes in February, but announced last month that he had resigned from the party and would head up a team of independent candidates under the "Our Newcastle" banner.
He said this week it was time Cr Nelmes and Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig launched an independent investigation into the latest development in the letter-writing scandal.
Dr Kerridge said Mr Hoenig had placed Liverpool Council into administration last month following several scandals.
He believes the same standard has not been applied to Newcastle council.
"It's time to restore trust and integrity to Newcastle council," he said.
The name Jason Sivo has been linked to Mr Bath's best mate Scott Neylon as the pair supplied the same mobile phone number to the Herald in letters to the editor a few months apart.
The revelation comes as Mr Bath maintains his silence on the issue.
Mr Bath has been the subject of heavy scrutiny since revelations last year that dozens of letters and online comments have been published in media outlets over 13 years under the name Scott Neylon, which twist the truth, distort reality and follow Mr Bath's career progression, attacking his critics and supporting his employers.
Mr Neylon, who has lived in Japan for almost 30 years, has been best mates with Mr Bath for decades.
Mr Bath denies writing the letters or having anything to do with them, and Mr Neylon has said previously via email he, not Mr Bath, penned the letters under his name.
An investigation by council's consultant Pinnacle Integrity found in December that there was "insufficient evidence" that Mr Bath was involved in the misleading letter-writing campaign, or that he passed confidential information to Mr Neylon.
The Herald has been unable to find any trace of a Jason Sivo living in the region.
