Georg Willi can breathe a sigh of relief from a legal point of view: the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic and Corruption (WKStA) against the mayor of the Green Party of Innsbruck on suspicion of disloyalty and abuse of office related to a special contract for the former manager of the city’s human resources department has ended rounded. Discontinued.
No criminal offense could be proven, a spokesman for the authority told the APA. The study started at the end of March.
Special contract caused a lot of commotion
At the end of May, a project report was submitted to the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office, which eventually went to the Ministry of Justice. The Green mayor had made a special contract with the ex-head of staff when she worked ‘only’ as a clerk at the town hall, without the intervention of the administration, which would have guaranteed her the highest salary of a manager until her retirement.
After heavy criticism from the control commission, he renegotiated and on his own initiative again drafted a contract, which included a reduction in overtime pay and a time limit until 2025 (until then she had actually been appointed head of the department).
Willi is relieved
“It was important to me that the WKStA could work consistently and quietly and come to an independent result – it came to this after a long, detailed and rigorous investigation,” said Willi with relief. He is happy that “all allegations against me have now been disproved and I can continue to focus on my work for the city and its citizens without any burden,” said the Green Party veteran.
Willi will have to fight for the municipal elections next year under difficult circumstances.
The report from the control agency got the ball rolling
The whole thing was preceded by a critical report from the control agency, which questioned or criticized, among other things, high wages, special treatment and contracts for individual employees in the Willis area and special arrangements for the then chief of personnel. This led to the woman’s being fired by the city’s senate, though Willi quickly tried to prevent this by disbanding the personnel office and creating a “personnel management” department.
However, this fell through and the victim ended up being ‘only’ a clerk at the town hall – which ultimately led to the mayor entering into that special agreement with her.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
