City of Moreland: Oscar Yildiz slams election of socialist councillor

A former mayor has slammed the election of a socialist councillor, arguing it will make Moreland a hot-bed for social justice activism.

Independent Moreland councillor and former mayor Oscar Yildiz beleives the “elitist left” has taken control of the local government, after the election of socialist Monica Harte to council.​

The recent election of a socialist to an inner-city Melbourne council is evidence it has been overtaken by “leftist elites” and will “go the way of the City of Yarra,” according to a former mayor.

Two-time mayor of the City of Moreland and councillor Oscar Yildiz said last Tuesday’s election of independent socialist Monica Harte not only gave the far-left a majority voting bloc, it would see the council “go woke and go broke” before the end of the year.

“Council has been hijacked by the elitist left,” Cr Yildiz told Leader on Tuesday.

The election of Cr Harte, a seasoned union veteran who campaigned on Sue Bolton’s Socialist Alliance ticket, means the number of Greens and socialist councillors at the 11-person council is six, giving them a majority voting bloc for the first time.

The City of Moreland is led by Greens mayor Mark Riley, whose term has so far been defined by the controversial plan to rename Moreland at an estimated cost of $500,000 to ratepayers.

Cr Harte was elected in vote countback held on Monday for Moreland’s north west ward, which has been vacant since Milad El-Halabi quit the council in February.

Mr El-Halabi is facing criminal charges that he, along with his wife and daughter, tampered in Moreland’s 2020 elections by allegedly filling out and returning electoral ballots that were stolen from residential letterboxes.

Cr Yildiz said an expensive name change of Moreland was now a fait accompli, and predicted the true sum to be “at least” $1 million.

“Many of their policies will not sit well with the voting public — particularly in the north of Moreland,” he said.

Cr Yildiz went further in his criticism, and said he predicted a gag-order would be imposed on Moreland councillors, similar to what the City of Yarra sought to impose on councillors earlier this month.

At Moreland’s most recent meeting independent councillor Helen Pavlidis’ questions over the cost of renaming Moreland were stymied by Cr Riley, leading the former to say she had been “gagged.”

Cr Yildiz said the Greens-led alliance would also seek to remove street parking on Brunswick’s historic Sydney Rd, “to the destruction of the local businesses”.

Socialist councillor Sue Bolton hit back at Cr Yildiz’s claims, and said neither she nor Cr Hart belonged to an alliance with the Greens.

“I’ve always been a voting bloc of one person on council,” Cr Bolton said.

She denied her advocacy as a socialist councillor had been out of touch with the community, and pointed to her opposition of the closure of the Fawkner Pool and the controversial ‘Design Excellence Scorecard’ – a policy which would have prevented councillors from voting on contentious developments – as proof of her knowledge of the community.

On the subject of a Yarra-style gag order, Cr Bolton said: “I never have and never would support a gag order.”

She said that she was on the public record opposing Yarra’s controversial attempt to stop councillors speaking to the media.

“All councillors take up social issues from time to time, including Oscar (Yildiz). They only condemn other councillors for taking up social issues when they don’t agree with the particular social issue,” she said.

The leader has attempted to contact Cr Harte for comment.