Arguments erupt over Mayor and Councilors being locked out of meetings

Mar 27, 2013 News

By Zena Henry
As City Hall and its Town Clerk continue to bump heads over administrative functions, arguments grew on Monday over Mayor Hamilton Green and Council members being locked out of Council Chambers last Tuesday, prior to two scheduled meetings.
The Mayor and Councilors were trying to get to the bottom of the lockout when arguments erupted between them and acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba.

Two of the disgruntled workers at City Hall yesterday

The Councilors argued that it is unacceptable that Council members were locked out of their scheduled meetings and demanded answers from Sooba. They said that last Tuesday, two meetings were scheduled; a press conference at 10:00 hours and a subsequent meeting of the personnel and training committee.
The Councilors claimed that when they arrived at the location, the doors and the windows were locked and the keys for the chambers could not be located by the person responsible, Assistant Town Clerk Sharon Harry- Munroe. They said that the doors were only opened when the press conference was almost over and a suggestion was made to break them open.
The Council was further peeved that the speaker system had not been activated for the meetings. Mayor Green said the system was reluctantly set up and was not turned on afterward.
It was disclosed that Councilors and media operatives had to use the Mayor’s parlour to gain access to the Council chambers. Mayor Green was highly annoyed when he asked who authorized the locking of the doors and “could not get a straight answer”. In fact, he and Sooba ended up in an exchange of words when the Town Clerk insisted that the Mayor wanted to hear something other than the explanation that she was prepared to offer.
Sooba invited Assistant Town Clerk Munroe to explain what had occurred. Munroe explained that she was told by the Town Clerk about the meetings and had communicated with the Councilors on the matter. She however said that she was not sure where the press conference was being held and thus gave the Councilors some time before the chamber was opened.
Mayor Green however insisted that it be recorded that the explanation given by Munroe made no sense, since letters were sent to the Town Clerk informing her of meetings. He also highlighted that an answer to the core question as to who locked the doors was not given.
Green charged that “some hand was behind the lockout”, while Councilors argued that the door had to be ordered locked, since it is unusual for the doors to be locked.
One Councilor, Florence Bourne, said that she was told by a staffer that the Town Clerk instructed that nothing be touched for the meeting. Another Councilor Gladstone George opined that the Minister of Local Government should get involved or there would be deadlock between the Council and the Town Clerk.
Sooba however defended that she was not at City Hall on the day in question and dismissed claims that she gave orders to have the doors remained locked.
In the meantime, protest action was taking place in the Council compound where private garbage collectors continued to strike for unpaid services due from early last year. At least seven of the unpaid workers expressed dissatisfaction about the Town Clerk refusing to give them their pay. The operators said that they have not been paid for the first five months of last year and despite several orders by the Council to have them paid, the Town Clerk refused to hand over the money.
At Monday’s statutory meeting, when the issue came up, the Town Clerk said she was not going to pay the workers unless the Local Government Minister assents to it, despite the Council already giving the go-ahead to pay more than a month ago.
The workers said they have already engaged the Minister who alleged that source documents in relation to the workers’ service were not sent to him when the matter of payment came to his office.
The workers said that subsequent to the Minister’s revelation, the relevant information was handed over, but still they are not paid.
Ever since, the workers have withdrawn their services from the Council and continue to advocate for the salaries.
A senior source at City Hall however opined that deliberate attempts are being made to frustrate the work of the Council. The individual charged that sporadic hiccups have been occurring which undermine progress.
“Unless we fix the administrative deadlock that’s occurring, the Council’s business will continue to stall.”