No action taken against Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly over controversial pre-budget tweet

A COMPLAINT against Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly has been thrown out by the state’s local government watchdog after he posted a controversial tweet about possible budget cuts.

No action will be taken against Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly over his tweet. Picture: Kris Reichl

A COMPLAINT against Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly has been thrown out by the state’s local government watchdog.

Cr Jolly was accused of breaching confidentiality earlier this year when he tweeted his concerns about possible budget cuts to an after-school program for low-income families at a Fitzroy housing estate.

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The Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate has ruled no ­action would be taken against Cr Jolly.

“The impact of Cr Jolly’s actions was considered to be low level and the inspectorate elected, on this occasion, to provide guidance and education on council policy and legal requirements,’’ chief municipal inspector David Wolf said.

Is Yarra Council seriously going to cut its long standing afterschool program @ Fitzroy's public housing estate @ secret meeting on Tuesday?

— Stephen Jolly (@stephenjolly99) April 7, 2017

Cr Jolly said on Monday that he was relieved the matter had been resolved.

“In a nutshell, I was accused of telling locals the truth. These matters should be debated openly not behind closed doors,’’ he said.

On April 7, Cr Jolly tweeted: “Is Yarra Council seriously going to cut a longstanding afterschool program @ Fitzroy’s public housing estate on Tuesday?”

After the complaint was filed by the council’s acting chief executive Andrew Day, the Socialist councillor claimed it was payback for criticising the proposed bin tax which was later scrapped.

Cr Jolly slammed the bin tax idea, accusing the council of propping up a bloated bureaucracy at a time when overall rates revenue was increasing.

Cr Stephen Jolly addresses a bin tax protest at Richmond Town Hall. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A “waste service charge” of $247 for an average size bin was proposed in the initial council budget, to be levied on top of the state government-imposed 2 per cent rate cap increase.

The Essential Services Commission investigated the proposal and Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins later encouraged Yarra to axe the tax.

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