Six questions the City Council need to answer

Oct 02, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
Every now and then, I observe press releases, letters to the Editor and some grand announcements emanating out of the Georgetown City Council, regarding some pie in the sky ideas like the Council getting involved in cardboard recycling. Or putting drones over Georgetown to monitor the city’s activities or building a petting zoo on the Merriman’s Mall, but I hardly ever see thoughtful, genuine and important information being communicated properly to the citizenry.
Citizens of Georgetown would be clearly more absorbed and attentive to information that affects and impacts on their daily lives, to details of significant things that the city has done as opposed to grand plans that might never see the light of day, but most of all citizens would like City Hall to listen more and talk less, as they could only properly carry out their duties if they know what the citizens want, as opposed to pushing things down the throats of citizens like the infamous parking meter project.
Consequently, I would wish raise a few concerns and to ask a small number of questions that are of burning interest to Georgetown residents and hope that their Public Relations Officer would respond with verity and alacrity. First, I would be delighted if the PRO could say how much outstanding and accumulated leave is due to the Town Clerk and other senior officers of the Council, the reasons why they are not proceeding on it and whether they have been paid illegally in lieu of leave.
Second, could someone in the Council say why it took more than ten years to purchase a stun gun for the Council’s Abattoir, whilst they inhumanely bludgeoned animals to death all the while? Whether anyone in the Council was sanctioned for purchasing an incomplete stun gun set, and why did they not just purchase ammunition and packing rather than another complete set?
Third, I would like to know when the Town Clerk will make available for public scrutiny the signed and approved minutes of the previous Council meeting that approved the awarding of the contract through a sole sourcing method, to Smart City Solutions or their affiliated shell companies such as National Parking Systems.
Fourth, could a list of individuals and companies who were granted illegally, waivers of interest on outstanding property rates without the fiat and or knowledge of Full Council be published, and also what are the legal justifications for such waivers? Fifth, could the citizens be told whether the beauticians, barbers and cosmetologists who operate in the shantytown arrangements on the Merriman’s Mall are licensed and accredited to do so?
Sixth, could we be told when the Council will stop masquerading with their own old broken down refuse collecting equipment and those of three small contractors and acknowledge that they are not up to the task, pay the two major contractors and have them clean up the city? Seventh, could the citizens be told of the total cost of the many, many overseas travels by the Mayor, the Councillors and the Town Clerk, and what tangible benefits will be derived by the citizens as a consequence of these jaunts? Public relations is not about appearing in the press as much as possible with grandiose plans and behaving like an imperial overlord, but by keeping your ears to the ground, by doing things that will improve the city’s image and not just talking, and by respecting the wishes of the people you serve.
Nadine Jerrick

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