ACCUSATIONS of corruption against Mount Isa City Council chief executive Emilio Cianetti have been made by a former employee.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Cianetti has been accused of using his position to gain employment for his wife at the council, despite her allegedly being banned from working there again.
He has also been accused of promoting a brother-in-law at the council and using council equipment for upgrades to his property.
Mount Isa City Mayor Tony McGrady received a letter in July from the Crime and Corruption Commission, which listed the accusations and recommended the council investigate the charges.
Cr McGrady told the commission that the council would not further investigate the accusations.
The accusations against the chief executive were not accurate, he said.
Mr Cianetti did not have a brother-in-law, and his wife had “glowing testimonials” from when she formerly worked at the council, Cr McGrady said.
“Emilio had no say at all in who got the job,” he said.
Mr Cianetti said he was accused of using a council-owned drilling rig to bore water – equipment the council did not own.
He did pay council staff to work on his property as the council ran commercial engineering services at the time.
There was no favouritism and he paid for every hour that employees worked on his property, Mr Cianetti said.
The chief executive said the accusations were made by a former employee who was unhappy with a review of the council’s operations, which began about 14 months ago and was coming to a “tail end”.
The review affected “inside and outside staff” and included the amalgamation of several council departments.
Council employees had also been shifted to other roles to fill essential positions.
The former employee left of his own choosing but was spreading “malicious rumours” to other employees, Mr Cianetti said.
He addressed council staff, informed Cr McGrady about the rumours and asked the Queensland Police Service criminal investigation branch to view records proving the accusations were false.
Mount Isa councillors also heard about the accusations in a closed business section of a full council meeting.
Mr Cianetti said the investigations left a bad taste in his mouth.
“It’s the insult, when you try to live your life by a certain code,’’ he said.
“I know I’ve done no wrongdoing.”
■EDITORIAL: PAGE 6