No-Confidence Motion brought against Town Clerk raises concerns about conflict of interest - CoI Hears

No-Confidence Motion brought against Town Clerk raises concerns about conflict of interest – CoI Hears

Oct 01, 2018 News

The No- Confidence Motion brought against Town Clerk Royston King, last March raises questions about conflict of interest.
The issue was highlighted by former Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan as he testified before the Commission of Inquiry into the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, (M&CC).
Duncan had filed the Motion against the Town Clerk on February 26, last, but was never discussed at the level of the Council.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green had disallowed a No-Confidence Motion brought against King, by the Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor based on legal advice provided by Attorney-at-Law, Maxwell Edwards.
Giving a detailed recap of the March 12 occurrence, Duncan told the COI that there was conflict of interest in this case and recommendations should be given on how to better handle such situations in the future.
He explained that the Town Clerk had been tasked with placing a No-Confidence Motion against himself on the agenda before it could have been addressed by the Council.

Former Deputy Mayor, Sherod Duncan

“That is something I think should be looked at since the person whom the complaint was made against, is the same person responsible for placing the Motion on the agenda.”
He said, too, that although the Motion was placed on the agenda, the way it was treated and disposed of, left much to be desired.
The Former Deputy Mayor told the Commission that the Motion was shut down almost immediately after it was raised.
“There was no discussion of the Motion; it was never put to a vote. Instead, what the council was asked to vote on was a legal advice of a lawyer, which was provided to the Town Clerk and not the Council itself.”
The former Councillor noted that the lawyer in question (Maxwell Edwards) is not even the legal representative of the Council but the husband of another Councillor, Noelle Chow-Chee.
“That is what was circulated to councilors, when the purpose of the No-Confidence Motion was for the council to officially inform the Town Clerk of the issues of concern; for the matter to be discussed; and for the matter to be forwarded to the Local Government Commission which has the powers to institute disciplinary measures,” said Duncan.
He said that Edwards had, among other things, advised that the Motion be amended to remove the ‘No-Confidence’ clause.
The former Deputy Mayor was however adamant in his stance not to change ‘a line’ or ‘a full stop’ in the Motion.
As consequence of refusing to amend to the Motion, Duncan said that the Mayor instructed the document in its original form would not be allowed.
“It was a bizarre afternoon,” Duncan told the Commission.
The former Councillor therefore asked the Commission which is headed by retired Judge Cecil Kennard to review the manner in which the No-Confidence Motion was treated and disposed of and to make recommendations for the Local Government Commission (LGC) institute the appropriate action against the Council.
The LGC, which has oversight duties for local government organs, had launched the probe into City Hall after it received several complaints over the M&CC’s management of financial and other matters.