Compensation recommended for former Town Clerk, Carol Sooba

Dec 02, 2018 News

Former Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba must be paid all her benefits, which are legally due to her, according to the just concluded Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of City Hall.
Sooba’s appointment was revoked by Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, shortly after the Coalition administration came to office in 2015.

Former Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba

Sooba provided a written statement to the CoI and claimed that her employment was wrongfully terminated. She also claimed that she should be paid her full benefits and paid until she attains the age of 55, as the Council and Minister made a fatal mistake when they revoked her appointment as Town Clerk.
She contended that if the Minister revoked her appointment as Town Clerk, at least she should have stated reasons for the revocation of the appointment.
The CoI report stated that having considered the averments contained in the written submission of Sooba, the only rational and logical conclusion arrived at is that she should have resumed duties as the Legal Officer of the Council.
Chairman of the CoI, Justice Cecil Kennard, stated in the report, “Having been off the job for more than one-year reinstatement would be difficult to recommend, in the given circumstance one can only recommend that she be compensated for her wrongful removal from office.”
Bulkan in a letter dated July 1, 2015, formally informed Sooba that her services will no longer be needed effective July 7, 2015.
She was replaced by current Town Clerk, Royston King, whom the CoI report recommended should be terminated and face a criminal investigation.
While the document to Sooba failed to mention any particular reason for the dismissal, Minister Bulkan had expressed his intention to act on the Council’s no-confidence motion, shortly after taking office.
Months before she was fired, Sooba left the Municipality, amidst votes of no–confidence by the Council and cheers from members of the public.
She had been sent on administrative leave to facilitate an investigation into alleged misappropriation of the Council’s funds, some of which included waiving of $27 million in interest for a property in Georgetown without the knowledge and fiat of the duly elected Mayor and City Council; the payment of fees to an Attorney in excess of $1 million, for extraneous matters, not approved by Council.
Sooba’s initial appointment as Town Clerk had been fiercely objected to, with critics claiming that she was not qualified for the position.
She had been accused of being placed within the Council by the then ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to hinder the city administration.
Sooba is now an appointed member of the Local Government Commission (LGC) which ordered the CoI. It will be up to the LGC to carry out the recommendations of the CoI.

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