ACTING Town Clerk of the Georgetown Mayor & City Council (M&CC), Ms. Carol Sooba and the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Royston King, are at odds over the advertisement for her job, among others.

She has described the move to advertise for the post as  “unofficial”, when responding to how the application process is proceeding as the Council seeks to fill the posts also of City Engineer, Treasurer and Solid Waste Director.
According to Sooba, the procedure has not attracted interest of prospective applicants, since the Council was  in receipt of only two applications.
She said the poor response could be attributed to the “unofficial vacancy notice” which was published in the Kaieteur News by the PRO.
Sooba said King invited interested persons to submit their applications to his office and that was unbeknownst to the administration of the Council and against the rules governing the municipality.
As a result, applications sent to King or the Personnel Officer will not be considered by the Local Government Ministry, she said.

OTHER REASONS
According to Sooba, one of the other reasons for the poor response to the invitation could very well be tied into the poor management and financial problems being experienced by the Council.
But, while the Council is  in receipt of only two applications, there are suggestions that others have also been submitted to the ministry and the Acting Town Clerk said it is expected that, before the closing date, more interest would be shown by members of the public.
Meanwhile, King refuted the allegation that he unofficially advertised the jobs and declared that the statement by Sooba is “worrying, dangerous and entirely false.”
He said the Council, on January 28, 2013, instructed the administration to advertise all existing vacancies within the Georgetown municipality.
King said, following that directive, he sought the advice of the Chairman of the Personnel and Training Committee, Mr. Oscar Clarke, who instructed him to proceed with advertising the four senior positions.
King said, once an instruction of such nature is passed by the Council, the Publication Relations Unit is obliged to act as it is binding on all of its officers.
He pointed out that he has been the PRO of the Council for more than 16 years and has always been tasked with placing ads of all types in the media and it remains the practice of the PR department.
However, King said it has never been the practice of the department to receive applications for any posts advertised by the Council and moreso, the PR section.
He noted that those applications are accepted by the Personnel Department and, in the instant case, with the four senior positions being advertised, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary is also accepting applications.

ALSO ATTENDED
King said the meeting, at which Council gave the directive to advertise, was also attended by Sooba.
He maintained that the PR department was just carrying out its function in keeping with the principles of the Council and which have long been the practice even under previous Town Clerks.
King said placing ads is not a simple issue as it involves a number of factors, including size, colour, fonts, timing space and, by right, the PR section is the one which deals with members of the media and public. On the basis of that interaction, the PR unit is the most appropriate department to do such work.
King reiterated that the directions of the Council are binding on every single officer, including the Town Clerk.
Presently, the closing date for the positions will be March 15, after which applications received will be forwarded to the ministry, where decisions will be made on the appointments.
The vacancies arose after the December 2012 dismissals, by the ministry, of Yonette Pluck-Cort, Gregory Erskine, Andrew Meredith and Hubert Urling.