By Alva Solomon

MRS PATRICIA Chase-Green was on Friday elected Mayor of Georgetown when the new councillors of the Georgetown Municipality met for the first time following last month’s Local Government Elections (LGE).Sherod Duncan, former University of Guyana Student Society President, was elected Deputy Mayor by the council, whose members were sworn in at City Hall in a packed Council Room.

Other council members who were elected to serve on the Georgetown Municipality are Heston Bostwick, Tameshwar Budhoo, Carolyn Caesar, Noelle Chow-Chee, Oscar Clarke, Welton Clarke, Yvonne Ferguson, Malcolm Ferreira, Gregory Fraser, Junior Garrett, Carlyle Goring, Linda Gomes-Haley, Winston Harding, Ivelaw Henry, Lyndon Hilliman, Salima Bacchus-Hinds, Lionel Jaikarran, Bishram Kuppen, Desiree Liverpool, Andrea Marks, Alfred Mentore, Roopnarine Persaud, Akeem Peter, Trichria Richards, James Samuels, Phillip Smith, Monica Thomas and Sophia Whyte.

Mayor Chase-Green told the media following the meeting that being the fourth woman to serve in the post of Mayor, “it is a great feeling,” and expressed appreciation to the Almighty.

Chase-Green said she was very thankful to those who assisted in her campaign, including those persons she had met for the first time while campaigning.
In regard to the smaller parties whose representatives sit on the council, Chase-Green said those persons will have a say. She noted that there are several committees on the council in which they could participate; and according to her, there are legal provisions for other committees to be formed.

“So they will have a say. There will be no one who will be left out of a committee system; everyone will be given an opportunity to serve,” she declared.

CONSULTATIONS
Chase-Green said that, as Mayor, she views the council as a team, and her first consultations will be with the entire council of elected members.

“We will sit and we will determine the way forward, because, as it is, every constituency would have promised their people in the communities something,” she promised.

She said the council is designed in such a way that matters highlighted by councillors will be examined within the respective constituencies. “So we have to meet as a council,” Chase-Green noted.

Moreover, she said the council is “way past” negativity, and described the mood on Friday as positive. She said the council wishes to see Georgetown develop, and there are young persons on the council who want the City to progress.

On an immediate matter, she said the council’s Finance Committee has a Chairman, and that committee can meet anytime to determine the way forward as regards several persons who have grievances with payments they claimed are owed to them by the municipality.

The new Mayor said that, as a new council, the body will have to determine its assets and liabilities, among other issues.

NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
Meanwhile, Duncan told reporters that the council is ready to work. He said, “It cannot be business as usual at City Hall”.

He noted that persons voted for a change, and, as Deputy Mayor, he intends to get to work for the citizens of the City. He said it is no longer a campaign, and according to him, the citizens will have to be represented fully by the new council members at City Hall.

“I am looking forward to a better working relationship among the councillors, a different tone at City Hall with the public, with our vendors; and, like everybody else, I am eager to get to work,” Duncan noted.

Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, and Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, were in attendance at the swearing-in ceremony at City Hall. Bulkan pledged the support of Central Government to the council.

Hailing the occasion as historic, Bulkan said the day comes after a hiatus of 21 years, and some 18 years since the last LGE was constitutionally due.

He said the mayorship baton has been passed from one Green to another, referring to former Mayor Hamilton Green, Chase-Green’s predecessor.

OPPORTUNITY
“I believe I represent the views of President Granger, who would have said that with reference to the General Elections of 2015, that it represented not a victory but an opportunity,” Minister Bulkan said as he congratulated the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and elected councillors of the Georgetown Municipality.

The minister noted that their new posts presented an opportunity for them to serve the residents of their respective constituencies as well as the City of Georgetown.

Bulkan said Friday was the beginning of the first stage of repairing and rehabilitating “the damaged system of local administration”, and he described it as the democratic renewal of the life of council members.

He also expressed appreciation to the former Mayor and councillors for the services they provided to the City over the years.

As time ticked towards 13:00hrs on Friday, the gathering in the room anxiously awaited the arrival of Chase-Green, who was tipped for the position following the March 18 polls.

Dressed in the colours of the governing APNU+AFC, Chase-Green, who served as Deputy Mayor during the previous administration of the council, was welcomed by supporters and staff as she entered the City Hall compound.

She entered the Council Room and was greeted with handshakes, and soon after, Town Clerk Royston King administered the afternoon’s business.

Shortly afterwards, the councillors took the oath, and nominations began shortly after King read the legal procedures as regards the election of the Mayor.

After the floor was open for nominations, Oscar Clarke, the PNCR General Secretary, who was re-elected to serve on the Town Council, rose and nominated Chase-Green.

His nomination was seconded by Councillor Alfred Mentore, and shortly after, Councillor Junior Garrett rose and requested that nominations be closed. At that point the councillors were asked if the request should be heeded, and they consented by raising their hands.
When the clock on the wall inside the room struck 13:55 hrs, King announced that Chase-Green was elected Mayor of Georgetown, and the room erupted in loud cheers from visitors and council members.

After assuming her new post and responding to additional handshakes, Mayor Chase-Green assumed her seat at the head of the circular table. She then presided over the meeting in her official capacity, and in emotional tones expressed her appreciation to the council on electing her to the post.

She then announced that nominations were open for the post of Deputy Mayor, and Councillor Trichria Richards rose and nominated Duncan for the post. Her nomination was seconded by Chow-Chee, and nominations were closed soon after by way of vote.
Duncan was then elected to the post of Deputy Mayor amid loud rounds of applause from those gathered in and outside the room.

After the cheers subsided, the councillors then elected a new Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee, and Oscar Clarke was nominated to the post without opposition.

A voting process then followed for six members to be elected to serve on that committee, and soon after, those persons were elected to serve. They included Councillors Garrett, Mentore, Whyte, Ivelaw Henry and Yvonne Ferguson.

The Town Clerk then announced the next sitting of the Council as being April 11, 2016, and the traditional time of 14:00hrs was agreed to by the new councillors.

The council will meet on the second and fourth Monday of each month, with Tuesdays being delegated for meetings should a holiday fall on the meetings set for Monday.