Sooba to appoint Mayor of Georgetown (Ag)

Aug 15, 2013 News

By Rehanna Ramsay
In an unprecedented move, Acting Town Clerk Carol Ryan-Sooba, has announced that she will be appointing a new person to act as head of City Hall in the absence Mayor Hamilton Green and Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase Greene.
Sooba, is however not alone in her move, as she informed the media yesterday, in the presence of several senior City Hall staffers, that she has been “instructed” by Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker to ensure that certain sections of the municipal regulations are complied with.

Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green

Sooba disclosed that Mayor Green left the jurisdiction last Tuesday for an indefinite period, while his Deputy Patricia Chase-Greene has left Council without leave for in excess three weeks.
The Town Clerk (Ag) claims that both, the Mayor and his Deputy had left their posts, without undertaking the ‘legitimate’ process of selecting someone else to act in their capacity.
Whilst Sooba noted that at the last statutory meeting “the Mayor and some Councilors decided to select Councilor Ranwell Jordan to perform the duties of Mayor.”
She added, “The Town Clerk (Ag) had advised the Council this was illegal, since legally, it is the duty of the Town Clerk to call a Special statutory meeting to have a nominated Acting Mayor in place to perform their duties while the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are out of the country.”
Despite her advice, Sooba said, Jordan has accessed the Mayor’s office and is performing the duties of Mayor.
A meeting is planned for Friday August 16, at which the Town Clerk (Ag) is expected to act in accordance with several sections of the Municipal Act and nominate a new acting Mayor of Georgetown.
She has since instructed the Chief Constable to retrieve the keys to the Mayor’s office since it is the property of the Council, until the nomination meeting is finalized.
While the Local Government Minister could not be reached for a comment, Region Four Chairman, Clement Corlette views the actions of the Acting Town Clerk as prohibited.
“She cannot nominate an Acting Mayor … the Mayor and Councilors are supposed to meet and nominate a presiding member of the Council”
The Town Clerk Ag also made mention of the recent protest activities conducted by vendors.
Sooba held that the protest exercises were incited by Mayor Green and some Councilors within his political party.
“The people who were motivated to join the protest happen to be a few irate vendors. In fact, a mixture of irate illegal street vendors and thugs and other persons of that ilk…This was a protest that was not organised by the Council.”
As such, Sooba admitted that “these illegal actions” affected the work of the Town Clerk and staff of the Municipality.
“Our properties and our lives were at risk. We had to be ever so vigilant as to how we treated that situation. The protest also escalated to my home, candles were lit around my yard, mannequins, red flowers and all sorts of garbage dumped, while protestors hurled abuses at the Town Clerk Acting.”

Carol Ryan-Sooba Town Clerk (Ag)

Sooba believes that the protest stemmed from the lack of action on the part of the Local Government Ministry to support calls for her removal as Town Clerk (Ag).
The Council had expressed no confidence in Sooba as Town Clerk on several occasions.
According to Sooba, legal action will be taken against the Council on her behalf.
“While I don’t want give in depth detail of circumstances that caused this call for a no confidence motion against me. I will give a hint to the media because of legal implications and other actions that the Town Clerk and the Ministry of Local Government will be taking.”
The Acting Town Clerk subsequently, cited demands that Mayor Green made on the Council to have taxes written off from his wife’s property, Jelante’s Pharmacy.
Sooba explained that the Council was forced to write off in excess of $ 9 million worth of taxes, which was owed by that enterprise.
“There is no provision in law that exists for such …. The Mayor was advised that he is to cause his wife to pay up the taxes and it did not go down well…”
Sooba made mention of several other illegalities within the Council that lie at the foot for the protest and calls for her removal.
She however promised to work assiduously in maintaining law and order for the protection of the property, lives and well-being of the city.
Senior officers present at yesterday’s undertaking include Solid Waste Director (Ag) Walter Narine, Chief Constabulary Officer Andrew Foo and Deputy Town Clerk (Ag) Sharon Harry-Munroe.

3 thoughts on “Sooba to appoint Mayor of Georgetown (Ag)”

ramaul persaud August 15, 2013 at 10:06 am

city hall is a big disgrace
besmart August 18, 2013 at 6:39 pm

City Hall can never function properly because it is being run by the wrong people.
Morgan August 20, 2013 at 9:51 pm

the town clerk(ag) had advised the council this is illegal, since legally,it is the duty of the town clerk to call a special statutory meeting bla bla bla….can some legal brains enlighten me since she is an actor ?????