By Mario Joseph
City Council spokesman Royston King was yesterday installed as the officer performing the duties of Town Clerk even as Carol Sooba maintained that councillors did not have the authority to oust her from the post and warned that they could face jail for contempt of court.
An extraordinary statutory meeting, held yesterday in the City Hall compound, saw the attendance of some 15 councillors who unanimously approved the motion to appoint King to perform the duties of the Town Clerk. The move came two days after councillors voted by majority to remove Sooba and recommitted to a previous decision to put a suitably qualified officer to perform the duties of the office. That meeting was also held in the compound as Sooba again denied the councillors access to the council chamber.
King, who spoke at the meeting, stated that the council was in the worst state he has ever seen it in the over 25 years that he has served it, calling it “The bane of a big joke of this great country.”
King deemed his appointment an instruction of the council under the Municipal and District Councils Act and he said it was his obligation to carry out the duties