– illegally appoints King as Town Clerk after another extraordinary meeting

THE controversial action of the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown is, once again, under scrutiny after yet another Extraordinary Meeting of the City Council convened with an agenda not approved by the designated Acting Town Clerk, Carol Sooba.Mayor Hamilton Green, despite admonitions from the Government about the unconstitutionality of the decision, yesterday ceremoniously (but ‘illegally’) installed Public Relations Officer, Royston King as Town Clerk.

But the installation did not oblige the Councillors to endure the blistering heat of the morning sun like how they had to bare with the atmosphere in which the previous similarly unconstitutionally summoned Extraordinary Meeting was held.
Green said the Council pursued, vehemently, the decisions made at the meeting held Tuesday, which was convened in City Hall outdoor compound.
He said they met despite efforts by “demonic forces” to frustrate them.
The Chief Citizen of Georgetown declared that the Council does not need approval to meet, from Minister of Local Government, Norman Whittaker, as it is an “autonomous body” and he repeated that the appointment of Acting Town Clerk, Carol Sooba is “illegal and improper.”

REQUISITE PROCEDURES
Mayor Green was referring to Minister Whittaker’s advice against summoning the Tuesday forum, since the requisite procedures under the Municipal and District Councils Act had not been observed.
Asked whether measures were being adopted to remove Sooba from her office, the Mayor alluded to a “contingency plan.”
“We are in a revolutionary situation, hence we never consider it useful to essay the next move,” he said.
The Council, under the guidance of the quorum that met on Tuesday, acceded to the record of minutes, further moving to, ceremoniously, despite the illegal installing of Public Relations Officer King to the Town Clerk’s post.
Meanwhile, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon had pronounced that Cabinet described the Mayor’s actions as “callous disregard” and showing contempt for citizens by attempting to “recreate sentiments, memories of his political past.”
Dr Luncheon commented, further, that the Mayor, through the motion passed to remove Acting Town Clerk Sooba, which was approved by Councillors at the Tuesday Extraordinary Statutory meeting “has no power” to do so.
About the pronouncements of Dr Luncheon on the illegality of appointing King, Mayor Green remarked that “real power exists with the Council.”
The administrative duties of the Town Clerk include signing financial statements and making payments on behalf of the City Council and those are being carried out by Sooba, who was appointed in 2012 with the approval of then Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud.
The Municipal and District Councils Act provides for a Local Government Commission but, as that has not been appointed, the power to select and remove Local Government authorities lies with the portfolio Minister.
Both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase-Greene have drawn, extensively, from the ruling of Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, which also allows for stay of execution, during which Sooba is entitled to remain in the capacity of Acting Town Clerk.

PUBLICITY STUNT
Meanwhile, Sooba said the illegality of the decision by the Mayor and Councillors, in the absence of approval from the Local Government Minister, is null and void with immediate effect, since King is “not authorised” to sign cheques on behalf of the Town Clerk, which is one of the administrative duties of the post.
Sooba, in a comment to this newspaper, remains adamant that the extraordinary meeting was tainted with illegalities, stemming from the misunderstanding, by the Mayor and Councillors, of the Acting Chief Justice’s ruling, as well as the Municipal and District Councils Act Chap 28:01.
She remarked that the Mayor held an extraordinary meeting of the City Council, which was not in keeping with the local government legislation, asserting that his action of convening it in the compound of City Hall was “a public relations stunt.”

(By Derwayne Wills )