COMMUNITIES Minister Ronald Bulkan has written to Georgetown Mayor Patricia Chase-Green reminding her that the elected Council is “supreme,” whereas Town Clerk Royston King, like any other administrative officer, is hired to carry out the directives of the Council. The minister specifically made mention of the instance in which the Town Clerk recently removed the vendors on Robb Street, between Bourda and Alexander Streets, without first being directed by the Council to do so.
King had, in fact, subsequently told the Council that he took an “administrative” decision and did not even need to inform the Office of the Mayor. This was in response to Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan’s complaint that he was uninformed of King’s intended actions. Duncan was at the time performing the functions of the Mayor.
Minister Bulkan, in his letter, said the Mayor’s defense of King at the following statutory meeting was unexpected and not in conformity with the law.
“I wish to inform you that your interpretation of the roles of officers does not coincide with the letter and spirit of the laws,” Minister Bulkan started out in the letter.
“Section 8A of the Municipal and District Council Act of 2013 clearly sets out and states the general duties of city councillors. The section repeatedly makes clear that the elected council is supreme, the Town Clerk is but an administrator, like any other administrative officer, hired to carry out the directives of the council.”

PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT
For example, the minister said the aforementioned act states that one of the duties of the Council is to ensure that the municipality is managed in a professional and competent manner by a qualified Town Clerk. “Obviously, it is expected that the Council shall hire, manage and oversee the actions of a competent Town Clerk, as it would any other hired officer.”
Section 77 of the said act also states that the Town Clerk is an administrative officer and not an executive official, Minister Bulkan pointed out. “Clearly, therefore, the authority of the Town Clerk is derived from the decisions of the Council. As such, he may perform duties only assigned to him by law and be directed by the decisions of the Council.
“Evidently, the law does not contemplate any scenario in which the Town Clerk makes an order with regard to the management of the municipality in the absence of an order from the Council. Further, it is unthinkable that the Town Clerk may make such an order without the knowledge of the Council and after doing so, inform the Council of his own decision. To do so would be to exceed his authority and usurp the mandate of the Council.”

IMPROPER
According to the minister, the decision of King to remove vendors from the Robb Street location without being so directed by the Council was outside of his authority. “And your (the mayor) defense of his actions was unexpected, and while understandable, was not in conformity with the law. In any case, the Markets Committee and the constituency representative should have been involved in the making of such a decision, in addition to the Council.”
Meanwhile, Constituency Six Councillor Andrea Marks had staged a one-person protest at City Hall to show her disapproval of the manner in which King suspended selling on Robb Street.
Holding two small placards aloft for the entire statutory meeting to see, Marks left no-one in doubt as to how she felt over the matter. One of the placards read: “Has Royston King take up from where Sooba left off?” the other simply said: “Royston King must go.”
King and his team had swooped down on the vendors and terminated the businesses that vendors were conducting on the basis of having to clean the area. Frustrated and angry, the vendors turned up at Councillor Marks’s home, quarreling and urging her to intervene.
In his response, the Town Clerk was adamant that he took an administrative decision, and hence did not need to inform the mayor’s office. He detailed that vending operations were suspended on the basis of environmental integrity, road safety, reduction of criminal activities, food safety, and public health.
The Mayor had backed up King noting that as Chief Executive Officer, he has a right to stop all works and transactions immediately if he finds any conditions that are unsanitary.
Chase-Green had also pointed out that King took such actions in the best interest of the City.