Cr Crasnich took to social media to air his grievances on Tuesday  after the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Cr Petty had breached part of the Local Government Act by arguing and voting against a staff proposal to rezone land neighbouring his own property.

‘‘For those who don’t know, this is the salami who calls everyone else unethical,’’ Cr Crasnich wrote on Twitter, linking to the Mercury’s story about the tribunal’s finding.

Asked about his odd Italian meat product descriptor, Cr Crasnich stood by the comment but didn’t think it was ‘‘a terrible insult’’, as he said his own father had called him a salami as a child.

‘‘It’s kind of like a bit of meat that just sits there,’’ Cr Crasnich told the Mercury.

‘‘I guess I just wanted to express that we’ve had three years of this guy insinuating everything under the sun about me and my colleagues. It’s called poetic justice.’’

Cr Petty said Cr Crasnich’s comments were ‘‘outrageous’’, as he had not taken the time to speak to him or read his submissions to the tribunal.

Cr Petty also said he was disappointed in the tribunal’s finding against him, emphasising that he had sought legal advice and believed he acted in the correct way by declaring his financial interest and then remaining in the council chambers for the debate and vote.

‘‘My legal advice was that the [Local Government Act] had changed and I was entitled to vote on a rezoning matter,’’ Cr Petty said.

‘‘I was elected on the issue of rezoning in Helensburgh, so if I hadn’t voted on that particular matter I wouldn’t have been doing my job as an elected representative.’’

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said he would not have chosen to refer to another councillor as a salami, suggesting his colleagues not take the opportunity to ‘‘celebrate someone else’s difficulties’’.

However, he did say he had advised Cr Petty about conflicts of interest on a number of occasions,  noting the first time he had raised the issue was in October 2011.

‘‘There have been near misses in the past and Cr Petty, in that circumstance, was found to have had a conflict of interest and was reprimanded or warned by the Office of Local Government,’’ Cr Bradbery said.

‘‘This is a history that goes back a long way, but this is the first time Cr Petty has been penalised.’’

Cr Bradbery also said the other 12 Wollongong councillors had ‘‘exercised their responsibility in a way I think has been very cautious’’.

Greens councillor George Takacs always declares he is member of the university’s staff if it is the subject of a council motion, while Labor’s Ann Martin makes it known she works for the NSW Planning department in all planning matters.

Likewise, Liberal councillor John Dorahy recently absented himself from the debate involving Skydive the Beach as he holds shares in that company.

Cr Bradbery said the council’s general manager, David Farmer, would read out a statement to officially reprimand Cr Petty at an upcoming council meeting.