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Interim Town Clerk forced to leave meeting after Council refuses to recognise her
Kaieteur News – Interim Town Clerk, Candace Nelson, was forced to leave the statutory meeting of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on Monday after City Mayor, Ubraj Narine, and several councillors told her that the Council would not recognise or include her in the proceedings.
Interim Town Clerk, Candace Nelson
Even as Nelson sought to address the council at the meeting, the Mayor told her that “I do not recognise you. Your words can’t be minuted here because the Chair doesn’t recognise you. I don’t recognise you. You would not be recognised by the Chair.”
The Mayor also told Nelson that legal proceedings have been filed before the Chief Justice, challenging her appointment, and that she should leave the meeting. Several councillors supported the Mayor’s position by protesting Nelson‘s presence at the meeting.
“We do not recognise you!” they shouted.
Though she left the meeting, Nelson has since written to the Local Government Commission (LGC) and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, explaining that “the abuse and disrespect,” of the Council is preventing her from effectively carrying out her statutory duties. In addition, Nelson claimed that allegations of forgery have been uttered also against her by the Mayor which resulted her leaving the meeting.
“The Mayor is trying to impugn my character and expose me to public odium, ridicule and embarrassment,” Nelson stated in the letter.
According to her, the Mayor and about 15 other members of the council were publicly lambasting her and that is the reason that she left the meeting.
This is not the first time that Nelson is faced with defiance from members of the Council. Earlier this month, Nelson was also told that the Council does not recognise her but she informed the meeting that she was not leaving, as her lawyers have advised her that there is no court order restraining her from participating in the meeting.
On July 27, 2021, the LGC demoted Sherry Jerrick to Deputy Town Clerk for reportedly not performing her duties satisfactorily. Local Government Commission (LGC) commissioners reportedly voted unanimously to revert Jerrick to her previously held position, and later made a decision to appoint Nelson as the Interim Town Clerk. The Council has moved to the High Court to block the recent appointment of Nelson as Interim Town Clerk.
City Mayor, Ubraj Narine
According to document filed through attorneys-at-law Teni Housty, Nigel Hughes and Konyo Sandiford, the M&CC is asking the court to grant an interim order staying or suspending the implementation of the LGC’s appointment of Nelson until the hearing and determination of the application.
The “Town Clerk of Georgetown” is listed as the claimant while the LGC is the respondent. The application is expected to be heard on September 1, 2021, at the Georgetown High Court.
According to the claimant, Nelson, since her installation as Acting Town Clerk, “has taken a number of disruptive actions which pose serious ongoing continuing breaches that compromise the sanctity of the operations of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown.”
According to the court documents, Nelson sought to suspend a tendering process commenced months prior to July 28, 2021, and has allegedly sought to influence the records of statutory meetings of the M&CC of Georgetown by deleting matters from minutes of meetings as well as seeking to dictate the contents of the agendas for subsequent meetings of the council. “It is feared that if the implementation or further implantation of the decision is not suspended, Candace Nelson will further disrupt the activities of Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown,” the grounds for the application stated.
Further, it is being claimed that the conduct of Nelson, who is purportedly acting under the power of the LGC is “inimical” to the best interests of the M&CC, the infrastructure of the City of Georgetown and the residents of Georgetown.
Citing that Nelson is acting without proper authority, the claimant said that her action has had a disrupting effect on the smooth and efficient functioning of the M&CC.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the LGC, Julius Faerber, shared some insight into the matter a few weeks ago, where he stated that the decision to remove Jerrick was a unanimous one.
But this notion was rejected by two opposition-nominated
members of the LGC, Trotman and Joan-Ann Romascindo, who issued at joint statement to the press, explaining that the decision was not unanimous since Commissioner Trotman did not vote to remove Jerrick as Acting Town Clerk.
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