FIRST of all, let me begin with the disclaimer that I am not writing this article in my capacity as [former] Commissioner of the Inquiry into The Mayor and Councilors of the City of Georgetown (council) although further down in this article I will refer to said Commission anecdotally.
This week, I want to take a look at the municipality of Georgetown and how it is currently being run.  A good starting point I believe would be the recent changes in the traffic route along the city’s roadways.  While far be it from me to criticise the wisdom of those behind these changes, like many other motorists who travel through Georgetown on a daily basis, I am yet to see the immediate benefits – from how it currently seems, congestion remains and in some cases has simply shifted from one place to another, whereas a brief turn would previously have gotten you from point A to point B, now you have to go through a virtual maze to get to the same destination.
Maybe the recommendations came out of the Greater Georgetown Development Plan (2001-2010) and are only now being implemented, but I seriously doubt it.  In fact, when it comes to the implementation of recommendations for our dear capital, we seem to have taken a “hap hazard” “snail’s pace” approach to everything.  On other occasions we suffer total amnesia.
If this city were a business operating in the United States, it would have long filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, been restructured, and would have had to file again.  Indeed, maybe it is time that the private sector engage in some meaningful technical cooperation with the Council, teaching our city leaders a thing or two about managing a business.
For example, while I know it is currently legally impossible here, the position of Town Clerk could be upgraded, as has been done elsewhere, like in Port-of-Spain for example, to that of Chief Executive Officer, responsible for executing projects with the sort of competence, power and eye towards sustainability (if not outright profitability), the way his or her private sector counterpart would.
Of course, I say this with maybe just a little bit or a sense or irony thrown in.  During the Commission of Inquiry, I remember organising an engagement with the City Council and the private sector, the key benefit of which was that it was hailed as without at least recent precedent.  Whereas I had expected this to blossom from that beginning into a beautiful relationship, things seem to have gone downhill instead.  While I concede that there have been subsequent meetings, I have no evidence that these have gone too far beyond the speechmaking and the photo-ops.
I would wager good money that despite all this engagement, the pile of garbage outside of any two random chosen businesses represented at these encounters is still at the same level it was before the meetings and it will be the same two months from today.  The problem is simple – a great many people prefer the status quo.  If you really want to test the commitment of many business people to municipal reform in Georgetown, simply send a letter to those currently paying domestic rates that they will be upgraded to paying commercial rates as they should – then gauge the response.
Over the years our elected city fathers have graduated from their legislative political roles through intrusive rules into the corporate realm of the city, perhaps it is therefore opportune to consider other models of managing our city. Three models which immediately come to mind are – Public/Private Partnerships (P3s), The Business Model and Contract Management. This week I will provide a few examples of P3s operating successfully.
In British Columbia (Canada) municipalities receiving provisional funding are required to tender all infrastructural projects above $20M as P3s in a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) formula. Another excellent example of how P3s can leverage public funds is a $25-million, 5,500-seat arena in Chilliwack (Canada), built using only $6 million in public funds, with the private sector investing the rest.
These models may not be popular with political interests, but I’m quite sure if a poll was taken among the citizenry of Georgetown more than 90% of its populace would agree that it’s time to allow the private sector to deliver some of the services in partnership with council. Political parties and unions are largely opposed to such management structures but this position is not in line with voter interest; rather its more about self-interest and the preservation of the status quo.
There is still much to be said for the Georgetown  2001-2010 development plan in that it could easily have been seen from the perspective of a comprehensive business plan, dealing with everything from green construction to pedestrianisation of certain parts of the city to zoning to establishing proper bus stations – indeed, much of what would be still  applicable now  exists in that document put together by the Central Housing and Planning Committee 10 years ago.  All that it needs is a bit of upgrading and most importantly a commitment towards implementation.
That said, I remain skeptical about the chances for implementation of any development plan that is not a watchdog plan, one with eyes and teeth, meaning both a capacity for monitoring as well as effective sanctioning of those found to be at fault. Hopefully very soon, a report on the status of implementation of recommendations coming out of the Commission of Inquiry will be put into the public domain – I would also bet that the citizens of Georgetown, who by now should be immune from scandal with regard to  the city, are going to be shocked by some of the findings.   Suffice to say, at present, it is clear that when it comes to development within the municipality of Georgetown, individual and institutional self-interests continue to triumph over actions taken for the common good.  And while I don’t really consider myself a pessimist by nature, I do not see any of this changing in the near or medium future – I still retain a tiny bit of hope, however, that maybe I’ll be proven wrong in this particular regard.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!