City Hall needs visionary leaders

Jul 05, 2016 Editorial

Democracy was at work when the residents of Georgetown voted on March 18, 2016 to elect 30 city Councillors, who, in turn had voted to elect a Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Given the turbulent experience at City Hall under the last administration, the people had hoped for transparency, accountability and proper management of the city finances and affairs.
That hope vanished with the secrecy surrounding the installation of parking meters in the city by two unknown companies.
The parking meter saga has not only exposed wrong doings by the Almighty Trio, but it also revealed that dictatorship is alive and well among the old guard at City Hall. It can be said that only the new kid on the block, Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan, is providing a good measure of openness and transparency, and is being accountable to the Councillors and the residents of Georgetown.
The Almighty Trio should know that democracy is not merely about free and fair elections, but rather about accountability, transparency and inclusiveness which are pillars of good governance. Ignoring their constituents and the councillors could spell trouble for the Mayor and Town Clerk, if the latter decides to have a vote of no confidence against them.
The controversial parking meter installation contract and the secret trip to Mexico and Panama by the Mayor, Town Clerk, Oscar Clarke and Junior Garrett have attracted a wide range of criticism from the public. But Clarke’s insulting remarks that “I have no apologies to make; I am getting like Harmon” shows his insensitivity to the public.
Why is he still the Chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the M&CC, and not subject to disciplinary action is mind boggling? It is regrettable that the Mayor has condoned such rude and uncivilized behavior.
But what is more distasteful is for the Mayor to say that “It’s a shame that some people had to resort to the likes of Google and Wikipedia to search for the address of the company.” It seems that she did not use any or did due diligence before giving the contract to National Parking Systems (NPS), a barely known company with a fake address in Manhattan.
We have been informed that NPS partnered with Smart City Solutions (SCS) which had a contract to install parking meters in Mexico but had secretly contracted another company to do the installation. In other words, both NPS and SCS do not have any experience in installing parking meters anywhere.Georgetown will be their first experiment.
Suffice it to say that a dictatorship has emerged at City Hall among the Almighty Trio who brazenly stated that they do not have to consult with anyone on the parking meter installation project. It seems as though they are covering up a scheme that is rife with secrecy.
The saying that the leopard cannot change its spots hold true because even though the contract was signed by the previous M&CC administration, protocol dictates it should have been placed on the agenda for scrutiny by the newly elected councillors, since no work had commenced.
If it is true that open-self confession is good for the soul, then the Mayor, Town Clerk and the Finance Committee Chairman need to know that using the hallowed chambers of the City Hall to advance their personal agenda will result in serious consequences.
The President should be applauded for visiting City Hall but he must be careful not to seem to be giving legitimacy and credibility to some of the questionable characters there with his presence. At the same time, he cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the parking meter controversy and the plunder of the city finances for which his government has 25 out of the 30 councillors. The truth is that the only persons who should have visited the City Hall at this time are the Police.
City Hall needs honest, visionary and transformative political leaders.