Minister walks out of City Council meeting

Jun 24, 2014 News

-Dissolution, internal elections among options for dealing with “disoriented” City Hall
Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker yesterday walked out of his first ever sit-in of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) Statutory meeting. Once outside he expressed disappointment at the way the body is carrying out its duties.
The Minister said that the Mayor and some Councilors were engaging in

Minister Whittaker engaged the PPP Councillors following his walk out yesterday

semantics rather than being productive.
Minister Whittaker said that among the options his Ministry has in dealing with the Council, the more prominent are the dissolution of the Council, the holding of annual internal elections of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, or the implementation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC).
Minister Whittaker pointed out that under the Municipal and District Council’s Act Chapter 28:01, Section 306, the Minister can declare the Council to be in default and dissolve or suspend it for some time, if it is found among other things that the body failed to observe financial instructions and maintain reasonable standards of efficiency and progress in the discharge of its functions.
The Minister pointed out that he could also call a day for the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as the case may require and prescribe their terms of office. He said that the same is stated in the Local Authorities Elections Amendment Act.
The question of an IMC, he said remains an option.
The Minister stated however that at this juncture, the Ministry is more concerned with the implementation of the massive cleanup project to be undertaken in the city.
Whittaker made his maiden visit to City Hall yesterday and sat in the Council’s statutory meeting. He expressed that because of the request by citizens to “do something about the city,” he decided to write the Council, the Mayor specifically, asking to engage the body. He said the Mayor replied positively to the request and he (Mayor) was aware that the Minister would have been present.
However, the Mayor did not recognize Minister Whittaker until almost an hour into the proceedings and Whittaker deemed the Mayor’s action as “stooping very low.” The Minister said his presence at yesterday’s meeting was to give the Council an opportunity to discuss concerns such as the denial of fuel to the Mayor’s vehicle, councillors unpaid stipend and the service the Council should be providing, but isn’t.
The Minister added that the Mayor was carrying on with semantics, and nothing productive. “What we have is a demonstration of what City Hall spends most of its time doing. About 50 minutes into the meeting and they are engaging in semantics, nothing productive.”
He said also that Deputy Mayor Patricia-Chase- Green spent 20 minutes talking, “what I consider to be foolishness.” He said that he expected to address the Council at the inception of the meeting but he was not even acknowledged, yet “all they are talking about is a ‘t’ not crossed in the minutes, a word that has a different meaning and exercising futility…They are wasting the taxpayers money,” he charged.
Whittaker said, “We are trying to help the Council.”
He highlighted various issues which he said the Council is failing to address before highlighting that the Council wants the government to give to it the $500M slated for Georgetown’s clean up. “I’ve got to be dumb and stupid to make those funds available to them,” the Minister posited.
Mayor Hamilton Green said that he welcomes any enquiry by the Minister so that it could be highlighted how he has been micro-managing the Council and how the imposed Town Clerk (ag) Carol Sooba is contributing the negative issues facing the body.
The Mayor said also that he would have recognized the Minister after he had made his announcements, “just as I did when the Opposition Leader David Granger had visited the Council.”