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Town Clerk, City Treasurer fired
…as Commission’s recommendations accepted
Two senior officials of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (M&CC) who were sent on leave in July last year have been dismissed by government, in keeping with the recommendations of a Commission of Inquiry.
Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall, in a statement yesterday said that he was abiding with the recommendations of the Commission – for Town Clerk Beulah Williams and City Treasurer Roderick Edinboro to be dismissed effective January 31, 2010.
Town Clerk Beulah Williams
The Commission of Inquiry was set up after the Auditor General’s (AG) Department submitted its report to the City Council. The AG Department found that records were not being properly maintained in the payment of wages and salaries, and that some officers were being paid in lieu of leave without the consent of the Council, among other concerns.
In the Commission’s report to the Minister regarding Williams, Commissioner Keith Burrowes said that “In all the circumstances, it will be a travesty of moral justice at least, and an unacceptably bad precedent, should not the services of the current Town Clerk be terminated.”
The same report was scathing in recommending the termination of the services of Edinboro, indicating that the evidence of his “incompetence” was explicit and overwhelming. “It is however a reflection of the indifference and indeed negligence, not only of the incumbent’s immediate supervisor, but also of the Finance Committee and the Council as a whole, that such a substantial degree of malfunctioning could have been perpetuated over an extended period of time.”
According to Minister Lall, the termination of services of the two officials was done in the public interest. The two will be paid benefits owed to them minus whatever obligations are owed to the M&CC.
In October, the Minister at a press conference told the media that he was deciding whether to accept the recommendation of the Commission of Inquiry, that Williams and Edinboro be dismissed.
The Commission’s work had concluded in May 2009 and a report was presented to the Minister in July. The report was validated and presented to the Minister in three volumes.
The Commission had found that 80 per cent of the regulations of the City Treasury Department were breached under the watch of the two officials. As a result, recommendations were made that there be a restructuring in the department.
The Auditor General’s investigation had found that nine senior officers on the executive paysheet were paid $1,371,171 in lieu of leave during 2007 and 2008.
It said these payments should not have occurred since there was an existing policy that clearly stated that all leave earned should be taken within the year or be forfeited.
The approval of the council was not sought, as is the requirement if the need arises to pay in lieu of leave. The Town Clerk did not agree that the Council’s permission was necessary.
The Auditor General had also found that a number of officers were overpaid.
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