…he claimed $100,000 for fuel just 12 days after his vehicle was filled with 30 gallons

GEORGETOWN Mayor Hamilton Green, at a press conference on Monday reported to the media that acting Town Clerk, Carol Sooba, had written him requesting possession of the Statutory Mace, the highly valuable ornamented metal staff which is in the Council Chamber during statutory meetings.

The Mayor revealed that on numerous occasions Sooba had written letters to him requesting the mace, but he ignored them, because “the Mace belongs to the Mayor”.

The Town Clerk however explained to this newspaper that constitutionally, she has the protective custody of assets belonging to the Mayor and City Council. She continued that the Mace has always been in her office until the last statutory meeting, after which the Mayor opted to have a constable transport it to his office.
Sooba further explained that it is not a hidden fact that apart from monies being missing at the M&CC, other valuables have vanished. She even pointed out that the Mayoral Chain, which the Mayor is supposed to be wearing on special occasions, has “vanished”.
As such, the Town Clerk claims that she is refusing to “take any chances” with valuables belonging to the M&CC.

LIVING OFF THE COUNCIL
She said that recently Mayor Green requested $100,000 as a refund for gasoline which he claimed he paid for. But Sooba claimed that a mere 12 days prior to his request for the refund, the Council had fuelled his tank with an excess of 30 gallons of gasolene.

She posited that this absurd behaviour by the Mayor has led to the conclusion that the Council has to take care of the Mayor and all his needs. “Anything wrong with the Mayor, or anything he needs, the Council has to provide that for him,” she said.

RACIAL PRACTICE CLAIMS REFUTED
The Town Clerk also refuted a statement by the Mayor made at his press conference that she (the Town Clerk) acts in a racial manner.
According to Sooba, the examples highlighted by Green that she hired Indo-Guyanese staff after she had fired Afro-Guyanese staff were “nonsensical”. She explained that the circumstantial issues surrounding the removal of two staff members were not a decision made by her, neither were the appointment of the new staffers.
Contrary to reports also made by the Mayor that the Town Clerk had crashed her vehicle, Sooba explained that on Monday morning her driver was involved in an accident with a Buddy’s Taxi Service car, and the bumper and grill of her vehicle were damaged.
She stressed that she was not in the car at the time, as the driver was on his way to pick her up. She was made aware that the driver of the taxi was charged for dangerous driving and was also advised to desist from using the vehicle until the damage was rectified.

(By Ravin Singh)