…says town clerk too lenient with staff

GEORGETOWN Mayor Patricia Chase-Green has said that certain officers of the City Council continue to perform poorly because Town Clerk (TC) Royston King is not taking action against them and is too lenient with them.Questions were being raised recently on how the Town Clerk is managing officers under his supervision. “Because you are not taking action against your officers, and you are being lenient with them, they continue to give you what they’re giving you,” said the Mayor.

She made the observation when she was querying why the orders of the council were not followed with regards to arrangements to facilitate a flea market.

“You will get the fire because you have to ensure that the instructions are being carried out,” the Mayor told the TC before city councillors.

Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan joined the Mayor and stated that not only does the TC have to control his officers; he has to control his contractors as well. “I was in a very embarrassing situation with Councillor Fraser. A resident called us into Meadow Brook to look at an issue and the contractor, in our presence, said he has no time with 28:01. When a contractor can say that the TC is his friend and he ain’t got no time with the mayor and the deputy mayor… Madam Mayor, we are approaching some dangerous precedence in this council here,” Duncan said.

The Mayor responded that this matter was brought to her attention and that the TC has already started to address it.

However, she cautioned: “Mr. Town Clerk, I am saying to you if you can’t manage your officers, this council could manage you,” the Mayor said to loud applause. “You have got to pull your officers together. If they don’t want to hear, then you will be the one to answer. At the end of the day, it says that the TC is the Chief Administrative Officer of the council who gives instructions to his officers and so you have to do better than what you are doing with your officers. Every Monday morning you have meetings with your officers, what is coming out of it? Excuses all the time! And so Sir, I am pleading with you. Talk to your officers.”

Chase-Green said contractors ought to be aware of the lines they must not cross. “This Mayor don’t give nobody permission. This mayor brings everything to the council. I have nothing to hide. This contractor’s disrespect is unacceptable. There has to be a line that is drawn between friendship and professionalism,” she said.

The TC offered that the Deputy Mayor is trying to get him to be responsible for the behavior of officers in the fields. “And that is a very hard thing to do. Sometimes you just cannot control the wild behavior, even if you talk to them,” King pointed out.