THE City Council, at the statutory meeting last Monday, voted, by majority, in favour of a proposal by Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green to restore, forthwith, the monies cut from the allowances of certain councillors.

Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba had reduced the allowance of councillors who failed to attend the fortnightly statutory meetings.
She took the opportunity to remind the Mayor that she is the Chief Accounting Officer of the municipality.
But 15 councillors sanctioned Green’s motion, none were against and three abstained, on the ground that Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ganga Persaud, having been written to on the matter, had not yet responded.
Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green claimed that Sooba has no authority to make such a decision and the law does not stipulate that the payment has anything to do with attendance at the meetings.
Instead, she maintained it is for travel and subsistence.
However, Sooba insisted that she will be enforcing the regulations in Chapter 28:01, as advised by the Local Government Minister, that councillors who absent themselves from meetings of Council will not be paid for the days of absence.

50 PERCENT         
One councillor, Monica Thomas, complained about  the action by Sooba because her payment was lessened by 50 percent although she was never an absentee from meetings.
“This calls for revolutionary action,” Thomas urged.  
Prior to the Monday’s statutory meeting, Chase-Green wrote to the Minister complaining that Sooba had abused her powers by reducing the monies payable.
The Deputy Mayor quoted the Municipal and District Councils Act, which states, in part: “The City Council may, in each year, with the approval of the minister, appropriate out of the funds of the Council, a sum to utilise for the remuneration of councillors other than travelling and subsistence expenses incurred in the course of duty and may, with such approval, determine what sum shall be payable to each councillor.”
Notwithstanding this legal provision, Chase-Green charged that the Acting Town Clerk overstepped her boundaries and, capriciously, lowered the stipulated amounts for councillors.
She said it is affecting the municipal system because it is limiting the ability of councillors to work in their respective constituencies.
Chase-Green said this, in turn, creates a democratic deficit because it inhibits the ability of councillors to engage residents of local communities on municipal matters and affects the availability of opportunities for citizens to participate in the decision-making process of the municipality.
“With local government reforms and elections pending, it is clear that the question of local governance is receiving substantial attention among critical stakeholders. Yet, we have an Acting Town Clerk who is bent on creating a democratic deficit either out of sheer ignorance or gross incompetence or both,” Chase-Green alleged in her letter.