Rank-and-file Labor members have called on their party colleagues on Newcastle council to make public a confidential investigation report into chief executive Jeremy Bath.
The Georgetown-Waratah branch of the party passed a motion on Monday night noting the council's investigation into the "fraudulent and deceptive letter writing campaign allegedly conducted by 'Mr Scott Neylon' and Mr Neylon's close personal relationship with Council's CEO, Mr Jeremy Bath".
The motion "calls on the Lord Mayor and Labor Councillors to urgently release the Terms of Reference, evidence and report into the letter writing scandal to restore faith in the administration of Council".
"The letters have politically attacked local elected State and Federal Labor Representatives, but local council representatives were not subjected to these attacks," the motion reads.
An investigation by consultants Pinnacle Integrity found there was "insufficient evidence" to support allegations Mr Bath had contributed to the letters, which a Newcastle Herald investigation has shown date back 13 years and mirror Mr Bath's career progress from ClubsNSW to Hunter Water then the council.
Mr Bath denies writing the letters or influencing his "best friend", who has lived in Japan for 25 years, to write them.
Mr Neylon has told the Herald he, not Mr Bath, penned the letters.
The elected council resolved last week to "proactively consider and seek advice" on whether a Pinnacle Integrity letter summarising the investigation's outcome and the full investigation report could be released publicly under freedom of information laws.
Labor sources said they expected most of the 12 party branches in the Newcastle local government area to pass similar motions to the one approved by the Georgetown-Waratah members.
They said Merewether branch would pass a similar motion in January and others would follow.
The Georgetown-Waratah motion questions the effectiveness of the Bath investigation, noting the investigators did not contact the Herald as part of their inquiries nor "access" the 19 letters, many of which were not published.
"It appears the Newcastle Herald has conducted a more extensive investigation into this scandal than Newcastle Council," the motion says.
"Branch members have been confronted by members of the community concerned about this sorry saga."
The branch "expresses significant concerns that this horrendous scandal has brought Newcastle Council into serious disrepute".
The motion comes amid an increasingly bitter split between Newcastle Labor members aligned to lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes and those who support Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery.
The two women have been locked in a public slanging match this year over a range of issues, including the "privatisation" of council pools, alleged "bullying", council spending and Mr Bath.
Ms Hornery alleged under parliamentary privilege last month that Mr Bath had authored the Neylon letters and "shamefully abused" his $550,000-a-year job funded by Newcastle ratepayers.
She also called on the chief executive to be sacked.
The internal war is raging against the backdrop of looming preselection for council elections in September and speculation over who will replace Ms Hornery as Wallsend MP when she retires and Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp if his political career does not survive an ongoing Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation.
