Mayor Hamilton Green yesterday came under fire from city councillors demanding answers on the source of the funds for a recent trip to China, at the council’s statutory meeting.
The mayor’s only response was that it was through “facilitation” and “influence”, sparking a no-confidence motion against him that failed because of lack of notice.
Green, the City Engineer, the Clerk of Markets, the Systems Analyst and the Mayor’s Secretary made an official visit to a trade expo in China between May 14 and 25 this year.
At the last statutory meeting, Councillor Fitzgerald Agard had raised the issue of funding for the trip since it was not funded by City Hall.
Since then, in a bid to get to the bottom of the funding, the council had contacted the Chinese embassy for information but was directed back to the mayor.
Councillor Ranwell Jordan taking up the issue again at yesterday’s statutory meeting pointed out that neither the Town Clerk nor the Treasury Department could provide any information on the financing of the trip. Jordan called on the mayor to state if any contribution made by the Chinese was a gift to the Mayor personally or a gift to the City Council. Jordan stated that if the gift was to the city then it should have passed through the treasury but there was no evidence of money passing through the treasury.
The councillor also took issue with the persons who were selected to go with the mayor and the short notification to the council. Jordan said that it was only a day before the trip that a memorandum about it was circulated. He further noted that the selection of who should go was not the duty of the mayor.
“The fact is that you acted alone on a matter that has to do with council,” Jordon told the mayor adding that one of his responsibilities as mayor “is not to assume that you can function without the authority of council”.
Meanwhile, Councillor Andrews pointed out that a councillor approaching the Chinese Embassy for information was very unprofessional adding that there seemed to be “a deep desire to destroy, hurt and embarrass” by some councillors.
Deputy Mayor Robert Williams in response to the criticisms of the mayor said no money can go into the city treasury unless the M&CC was named. He said too that clarification was needed on whether it was the Chinese who had purchased the tickets, unless there is clear evidence to prove this.
Councillor Oscar Clarke said it was a “sad day” for the council debating the issue. He pointed out that there must be a procedure and an official inquiry should be made by the Town Clerk. To the mayor, he said he had expected a formal report upon his return from China.
It was following this that Jordan moved a motion stating “that council has expressed no confidence in the mayor of the city of Georgetown”. This motion was seconded by Councillor Gareth who told the mayor, “you are not the only decision maker. You, sir, have to understand that we are not less minions than you are.”
The councillor added that as mayor, Green needed to remove himself since “this city is going down, down and down by the day”.
However it was pointed out by the deputy mayor that according to the law such a motion cannot be passed without notice.
The mayor, in response to the criticisms raised by the councillors said that no cheque was paid to him personally or in his capacity as mayor, but was made possible rather through “facilitation” and “influence”.
Green called the councillors’ queries “self-destructive conversation”. And in reply to Clarke, he said he had made done a report but was not able to distribute it because he had to leave for official duty in Manhattan and had only returned some two hours before the council meeting.
Green who said he did not want to go into detail reiterated that the trip was made possible through “facilitation” and “influence”. Citing an example the mayor pointed out that he had a daughter who was a top official at an international airport. He did not say if she provided any tickets.
Another example he said was a phone call he made to someone who he knew. He said that person provided accommodation to his delegation and later provided transportation with pay.
The debate over the funding of the China trip took nearly four hours. Councillors then moved on to settling issues that were raised at the previous statutory meeting.