Mayor Hamilton Green once again survived a ‘no-confidence’ motion and challenged opponents to “bring the evidence” after they accused him of discrimination and being a dictator.
The motion came up for debate yesterday at the Mayor and City Council’s statutory meeting. Moved by GGG Councillor Patricia Chase-Green and seconded by Councillor Llewellyn John, the motion was moved after the Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall appointed the acting Town Clerk substantive Town Clerk, although the Council had recommended another person for the post.
One clause in the motion accused the Mayor of persistently “allowing the officer purporting to carry out the duties contrary to the wishes of the Council.”
Chase-Green led the debate with stinging accusations of the Mayor’s lack of competence in several sticky matters, including selling ‘Old Smokey,’ the Council’s incinerator.
Also making presentations in favour of the motion were Councillors Gwen McGowan, Junior Garrett and Ranwell Jordan. McGowan, who said she was “speaking from my heart,” stated, “The Mayor criticised us on more than one occasion calling us all kinds of names. You can take that and no more.”
Garrett, in his presentation, told the mayor that under his leadership there has been no improvements in the city but “massive corruption.” He added, “There is no proper financial management under your leadership… it is time you go.”
Speaking against the motion, meanwhile, were councillors Eon Andrews, Oscar Clarke, Hector Stoute and Parbhodial Sattan. Andrews pointed out that he has “total confidence in the mayor” and said that he would never support such a motion at any time.
Clarke added that “we’re going in the wrong direction” and he said, “The right motion was a motion of sanction moved against the Town Clerk.” He noted that if the councillors were upset with the appointment of the Town Clerk, then they could have moved to the court to seek sanctions against the minister.
He added that he believed that the minister was on tenuous ground and called the motion against Green “nonsense,” since he has no control over the actions of the minister. Councillor Stoute stated he would not support the motion since its construction and words were placed out of context.
He also stated that there was nothing the council can do now that the minister has already made the appointment. “He [the minister] has got authority and is using it to the best of his knowledge and authority.”
Being the voice of caution, Deputy Mayor Robert Williams stated that the matter was not about Hamilton Green but the system under which the chairman functions. However, Williams told the mayor that “the time has come for effective leadership by you” before moving an amended motion.
Williams abstained from voting on the motion.
When it came time to vote, only five persons were in support of the motion: Chase-Green, Jordan, John, Garrett and McGowan. Twelve councillors voted against and three abstained from voting. Not all 30 councillors were present when the motion was debated. Green’s group, the GGG holds 12 seats on the council, the PNC 10 and the PPP/C 8.
This is the second no confidence motion against Green in the space of eight months. The previous was last year June, when Jordan moved the motion after questions to the mayor about an official trip he made to China were not satisfactorily answered.
Green, meanwhile, in his response to the motion called on councillors to look at the system in which they function. He stated that “we are dealing with a complex constitution, legal and political matter.” He added that councillors met the opportunity to appoint the current Town Clerk with their bickering, instead of waiting on her to answer the order which was issued against her by the High Court. “We walked into a situation because we are so stubborn and anxious,” he told them.
As for the motion against him, Green called it “unfortunate, misdirected, infantile and demonstrates a personal vendetta against some persons.”
