FORMER Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, in an unprecedented move on Monday, opted to vote against her colleague, Heston Bostwick, in a motion he took to the horse-shoe table to defy the decision of the Local Government Commission (LGC) on a vacancy-related issue.

Ever since she joined the City Council in 1992, Chase-Green has never once voted against her colleagues, but she could not hold back earlier this week when the Council met for its fortnightly statutory meeting.

She said no to the motion that was brought by her fellow ‘A Partnership for National Unity’ (APNU) Councillors Bostwick, and Clayton Hinds who seconded it, on the basis of it being illegally tabled.

But Bostwick felt strongly about the need to go ahead with the motion even as the town clerk advised him that it was not properly before the Council. According to the laws governing the municipality, he needed to provide a 96-hour notice of the motion.

In an invited comment on the issue, Bostwick explained to this publication that the LGC had directed the City Council to fill six vacancies, after which a committee was set up for this purpose. The process followed all of the guidelines that were set by the LGC.

After the six persons were selected by the Council based on a scoring point system that was in place, the LGC wrote saying it did not agree with the selection. Bostwick, though, feels that it is the Council that has the final say, as it is supposed to operate as an independent body.

“They should’ve accepted it as a notification,” expressed Bostwick, adding, “That’s dictatorship. You gave us the greenlight and upon completion, you want to embarrass us. And they did not give us any reasons for disapproving the individuals we selected.”

Bostwick’s motion, which received the support of 15 councillors, also called on the Human Resource Manager to disregard the LGC direction and proceed with sending the selected individuals appointment letters as of November 1.

Four People’s Progressive Party (PPP) councillors, along with Chase-Green, voted against the motion, and APNU’s Trichria Richards abstained.
But Bostwick said as an experienced person in the political arena, the move by his colleagues did not surprise him. “You should never fool yourself into believing that you’ll always have one hundred percent support. You just have to ensure you have the majority on your side, and that tells you that great minds think alike.”
Bostwick maintained that the LGC’s letter reeks of unprofessionalism and said he is opposed to having officers in ‘acting’ roles when the law provides for them to be appointed to substantive positions.

Chase-Green, though, said her refusal to support the motion was because it was badly placed before the Council and did not even enjoy a proper debate.
“How could I vote on a motion that was illegally put before the house? But it seemed like they already had everything planned. But I voted on an issue I knew was wrong,” Chase-Green said.

She noted that as soon as PPP/C’s Dimitri Ali began speaking against the motion, the Mayor cut him off from speaking.