How bridge named after Paul Pisasale spiralled into a four-year dispute
What began as an argument over Paul Pisasale's name on a local bridge evolved into allegations, tribunal hearings and political infighting. A deputy mayor has now been found guilty of misconduct.
Paul Pisasale Bridge was located on Sinnathamby Boulevard in Springfield, west of Brisbane. (ABC News: Anna Hartley)
Ipswich Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic has been found by the council watchdog to have engaged in misconduct after she accidentally sent confidential information to a journalist.
It occurred during a heated debate over the renaming of a bridge and road, named after former mayor Paul Pisasale.
Cr Jonic will have to take part in a training course on how to handle confidential information.
A long-running political feud within Ipswich City Council, sparked by a dispute over whether assets should continue to be named after former mayor and convicted criminal Paul Pisasale, has ended with a misconduct finding against the city's deputy mayor.
Queensland's Councillor Conduct Tribunal (CCT) found Ipswich Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic engaged in misconduct after she accidentally sent confidential council documents to a journalist during the renaming debate in 2022.
The finding is the latest in a dispute that has divided councillors for almost four years and has further thrust the legacy of former mayor Paul Pisasale into the public consciousness.
Pisasale resigned in 2017. He cited ill health at the time and was later charged with extortion and sexual offences as part of a Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) investigation.
Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale was found guilty of extortion in 2019. (AAP: Dave Hunt)
The entire Ipswich City Council was dismissed by the state government in 2018 after the CCC found a culture of corruption within the organisation, with an administrator appointed until the 2020 election.
In December 2021, the newly elected council voted to remove Pisasale's name from a bridge in Springfield and from Pisasale Drive in Yamanto.
The decision sparked significant community debate and led to a consultation process on replacement names.
A draft community engagement report from that process in 2022 was the focus of the internal council dispute, after Cr Jonic and fellow councillor Jacob Madsen raised concerns about changes made between a draft and final version.
Cr Jonic said at the time she was not opposed to renaming assets, but argued thousands of community responses had been excluded from the final report and alleged in media interviews that Mayor Teresa Harding had made changes to that report and had "selectively edited" community responses.
At the time, the council offices and the mayor stated the report had improperly included social media reactions as responses, outside the consultation scope.
Nicole Jonic has been fo
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