Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s chief of staff Jacob Clifton resigns pending internal review into his behaviour

Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s chief of staff has resigned just weeks after he was stood down pending an internal review into his behaviour.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s chief of staff has resigned from his position just weeks after he was stood down pending an internal review.

The Herald Sun on Sunday revealed a senior bureaucrat at the City of Melbourne had stopped coming into work while an internal process involving their behaviour was underway.

It can now be revealed that chief of staff Jacob Clifton has stepped away from his role.

“Jacob Clifton has resigned from his position at the City of Melbourne and finished with the organisation yesterday,” a council spokesman said.

Mr Clifton has not commented publicly on the matter and had not attended work since the review began, but this week was elected as a delegate for Victorian Labor’s state conference representing the Socialist Left faction.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp's chief of staff Jacob Clifton has resigned. Picture: LinkedIn

Clifton’s resignation adds to a number of controveries overseen by Capp. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Leadership at Melbourne’s Town Hall had gone to ground over the saga, which has been hotly-debated since the employee stopped coming into work last week.

But the Herald Sun on Sunday revealed a senior staffer has stepped aside from their duties while council’s chief executive holds a review centred around their behaviour.

Despite multiple requests for comment, the City of Melbourne had refused to respond to questions about the probe under claims it does not comment on “internal staffing matters”.

They provided comment on the record once he had tendered his resignation on Thursday.

The move to stand down the bureaucrat, and now his resignation, has created another headache for the powerful council as it seeks to move past its previous scandals.

Since coming into office, Lord Mayor Sally Capp has sought to move the council into a new era after it was rocked by a major political scandal centred around her predecessor Robert Doyle.

Mr Doyle resigned in early 2018 after then councillor Tessa Sullivan made several claims of sexual harassment.

A report made public in 2020 also found he had engaged in “highly distressing” behaviour by touching a woman inappropriately at a black-tie event, with the council acknowledging there had been cultural issues.

But Ms Capp’s has also overseen controversies during her time in office.

Last year, they were forced to review their donations policies after the Sunday Herald Sun revealed former chief executive Justin Hanney received thousands of dollars in anonymous funds for a yacht race without declaring it.

Mr Hanney later quit his position.

Ms Capp was also slammed at the end of 2022 after she gave a speech suggesting that Covid “was good” for Melbourne.

Mr Clifton has been approached for comment.