City of Burnside Councillor, Julian Carbone has resigned from the Council following a code of conduct investigation over a message sent to a teenage girl from his official Instagram account.
Burnside Mayor, Anne Monceaux, this afternoon confirmed that she had accepted Cr Carbone’s resignation.
“The past few days of media coverage surrounding Councillor Carbone has taken its toll on many people,” Mayor Monceaux said.
“I am deeply saddened, in particular, by the impact that this may have had on the young woman involved and more broadly, others within our community.”
The Mayor said that when presented with the findings of a Code of Conduct investigation into Cr Carbone on Tuesday evening, the Council resolved that he give a written apology, undertake social media training and deactivate his social media.
“Two Council Members had called publicly for his resignation and the past 48 hours have shown that many members of the community support that,” Mayor Monceaux said.
“I have accepted his written apology and resignation and am pleased that Council can now move on and continue the good work our Council members have been doing for our community.”
Cr Carbone had earlier rejected calls for his resignation from fellow councillors.
The code of conduct complaint investigation was launched after he reportedly sent a message from his official Instagram account to a 17-year-old girl which stated: “Lots of bikini photos – but it’s so damn cold at the moment hey”.
The teenager lodged a complaint (pictured) with Burnside Council in December last year and further alleged the councillor’s Instagram account followed a “number of young females”.
Cr Carbone told the ABC the message was inappropriate, but he did not consider it “sleazy or dodgy”.
“It was simply making a comment that she was at the beach, and it was cold at the time,” he said.
The investigation, which saw Council engage the services of a cyber security expert, cost the Council more than $11,000.
