Dear Editor,
AS a former deputy mayor,I have been paying attention to the controversy surrounding the parking meters in Georgetown and I can honestly say that the meter arrangements was riddled with corruption from the inception.There were no consultations with stakeholders first to begin with ; every day it stinks more as the media dig deeper into the main people who did the underhand dealings.This is my take as a former mayor/deputy: there should be no buying of any article as big as the parking meters without the full knowledge of the entire council and the approval by a vote at the statutory meeting.
In the first place, the mayor should have instructed the town clerk to invite the stakeholders and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce at a specially convened meeting to hear about the arrangements and the implementation of the parking meters and the fees which will be charged.The mayor and town clerk went ahead to implement the meters after confrontation with some, if not the majority of councillors in a statutory meeting.The former Deputy Mayor, Sherod Duncan warned, had warned the mayor and town clerk that there would be serious repercussions by the people who have stores and vehicles, but they paid no heed and went ahead.
Shortly afterwards, the stakeholders were provoked to anger and retaliated against the parking meters.Hence, the people marched against City Hall and on the mayor’s office. The town clerk and his cohorts at City Hall should be blamed for the people flooding the streets and protesting.This has created a security crisis; the stakeholders were provoked to anger and retalitation against the parking meters.Some vehicle owners and businessmen were humiliated,intimidated and harassed every day by the city constables,and their vehicles were clamped and towed away.
But instead of removing the meters,an even greater tyranny has been imposed upon the stakeholders.A local elite at City Hall has usurped power by fraud and has now perpetrated itself by imposing unreasonable charges at schools and other places on an even more preposterous scale,backed up by naked smart solutions. Although the court has barred City Hall from collecting money,I read that the mayor will go ahead and implement her decision,which I consider to be contempt of court What needs to be done are recognition of the problem and the implementation of certain reforms.
In their struggle, the AFC came on board and condemned the parking meters as others were asking to put the project on hold or reduce the cost for parking as the stakeholders went through unspeakable sufferings. Yet they continued their opposition. Some people felt that the protestors were organised by the opposition, but the messy truth is, it was called people’s power against a power-drunk, conscienceless clique at City Hall.From the beginning, when fresh elections were held for Mayor/Deputy and councillors,I noticed that the pulling and dragging by the mayor and the deputy and this did not auger well for the council.
Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan can be considered a one-man army fighting against the odds: he stood up for justice for his people and constituency, he has exposed much corruption and underhand dealings in the council and from that day he was called an enemy of the state and council. He brought to light for the people, the stinking deals with the parking meters and the rampant corruption and for that he was attacked by the mayor at meetings for speaking the truth. This is my understanding about the local government laws 28:01: the mayor has no veto powers to overrule statutory decisions, the town has to work with the full council’s decision which is passed at the statutory meeting, not the mayor’s decisions. Anything else is a violation of the law and the council can move a no-confidence motion against her if she s outside the full council’s decisions and the law.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan