…Arindell re-elected in secret balloting after open voting produced tie
THE conference room at the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LMTC) came alive with celebratory screams and excitement after Waneka Arindell and Wainwright Bethune were re-elected for second terms as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.

This re-election came after two rounds of motions for the voting to be done via secret ballot. Arindell and newly elected Councillor who recently demitted office as Region 10 PNCR Chairman, Deron Adams, were nominated by two councillors each, before nominations were closed. The councillors then voted twice for the votes to go to secret ballot and both times there was a tie. Anticipation and nervousness permeated the room as the Town Clerk Orleena Obermulla, asked for a brief intermission to seek advice on the very peculiar situation.

This was eventually done by secret ballot and Arindell collected nine votes of the 16. The elections for deputy mayor was also done by secret ballot and this too produced a tie between Bethune and newly elected Councillor Monica Hackshaw. Arindell however, used her casting vote in favour of Bethune, citing that for the past three years she has worked alongside him and he is very diligent and hard-working.

Arindell in her victory speech said that she is happy that democracy has prevailed and she thanked her colleagues for standing their ground in electing a candidate of their choice. She also thanked the administrative staff of the LMTC, who were loudly celebrating her re-election, for their support also. The other candidates that were sworn in on Wednesday from the APNU are Yanick Graham, Alicia Bentick, Lawrence Simon, Stephen Massiah, Leroy James, Lorna Calvan, Fern McKoy, Gary King and Kevin DeJonge. For the AFC, Roger Kingston and Norvelle Fredericks were sworn in and the PPP’s lone candidate, Sherry James. They all swore on the Holy Bible to serve the people of Linden without fear or favour, affection and ill will.

The LMTC conference room was packed to capacity with regional officials, stakeholders, former Mayors Stanley Smith and Carwyn Holland, relatives of the candidates and residents at large. Minister Valerie Adams-Yearwood who served as campaign manager for the APNU, said that it is a rewarding feeling to see 13 of her candidates taking up 16 of the seats. She urged the candidates to remain humble servants of the people since they have great expectations of them. “I want to remind you that as councillors, you are servants of the people and not masters; Linden is looking forward for greater things from you and as I look around the table I believe that you have the potential, the ability, the confidence and the skills to meet the expectations of the people of Linden,” she said.

Former Mayor Holland who also serves as the President of the Guyana Association of Municipalities (GAM), urged the councillors to change their mindset and thinking to achieve progress and also urged the residents of Linden to hold the councillors accountable. “Only when people are held accountable, then you will see them taking their responsibility more seriously.”
Both Members of Parliament Jermaine Figueira and Audwin Rutherford also congratulated the council and told them that Linden is on the verge of great things. The councillors were urged to learn from the mishaps of the previous council.

Arindell said that she is hoping to meet with the new council in a few weeks to assess their skillsets so that they can effectively serve in the various committees. Arindell is a wife and mother of three. She is a former journalist and a teacher and served as mayor for eight months during the last council. Before that, she served as deputy mayor for two terms.
She had described her short stint as purpose-driven and is proud of her achievements. Some of these include the improvement of garbage collection; council networking and twinning with international organisations and cities; institutional strengthening; debt management; founder of the junior mayor programme and more.