Following a nearly hour long verbal tug-o-war, de facto Town Clerk Carol Ryan Sooba was yesterday sent on administrative leave by the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, following almost two years of contentious service.
At its first statutory meeting since the APNU+AFC coalition took office the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) activated a motion first moved in March of this year to have the acting town clerk proceed on administrative leave. The motion required Sooba to proceed on administrative leave in order to facilitate a forensic investigation into a number of alleged illegalities and improprieties.
In a press release, the M&CC said these illegalities and improprieties include “surreptitious waiving of $27 million [in taxes] for a wealthy business interest that was selling its property in Georgetown without the knowledge and fiat of the duly elected Mayor and City Council; the payment of fees to an attorney in excess of $1 million for extraneous matters not approved by council; …the purchase of equipment that was not a priority amounting to millions of dollars; her refusal to carry out any and all decisions of the duly elected Mayor and Councillors.”
At the statutory meeting Mayor Hamilton Green referred to Sooba as an administrator who had ignored and overturned a “cornucopia of decisions made by the council and expended monies without the knowledge and approval of the council. He then calmly stated that the council had decided that the administrator should proceed on administrative leave to allow for a proper investigation into these alleged improprieties some of which had been referred to the Chief Constable and the Criminal Investigation Department.
Asserting that in a normal society once sent on leave by the council it follows “as night follows day that that person proceeds with alacrity,” Green called upon Sooba to respect the decision of the council and proceed on administrative leave post haste so that the person next in line may assume the duties of town clerk.
Sooba who has consistently proven that she is no push over, did not vacate her seat quietly. The embattled town clerk first directed her objection to the Mayor charging that he was “out of order to send the town clerk on administrative leave.” Referencing President David Granger’s commitment not to witch hunt, Sooba then charged that the Mayor was “out of order for witch hunting” her.
At this point, the Mayor was called upon by Councillor Junior Garret to once again table the motion. Once moved, the motion was seconded by no less than five other councillors after which all councillors present assented to the motion.
Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green then directed that Sooba be escorted from the council chamber by a senior woman constable in the presence of Chief Constable Langevine to clear her office of personal property, after which the locks were to be changed.
Chaos erupted when Sooba declared that the constabulary officers were subject to “directions of the town clerk.” Chase-Green strenuously objected to this declaration, proclaiming that she “did not spend eight years in law school but [she] know[s] the law having read it” and that the town clerk’s power over the constabulary is limited to swearing in officers.
Sooba still refused to vacate her seat loudly telling the female constables that if they were at any point to touch her they would be committing assault. “You will be assaulting me,” she declared.
PPP councillors Victor Sobers and Prabhodial Sattan who had previously left the council chambers in protest against a
decision to offer congratulations to the new administration returned to defend Sooba.
Sattan declared that the decision must be taken to Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan for his signature before it could be implemented while Sobers stridently repeated that the action was “racist”.
The constables then proceeded to remove the furniture Sooba was utilising, at which point she proceeded to her office under guard to remove her personal effects.
By the time Sooba walked into the yard of City Hall a crowd of almost 100 persons had gathered and they stood at the fence shouting, “Go Sooba! Go!”
Against the background of the crowd’s jeers and cheering from some City Hall staff members, Sooba went. She did not however leave in the council-issued vehicle in which she had arrived. This vehicle, once cleared of her personal property, was retained by the Bonstabulary and Sooba left in a car owned by one of her junior staff members.
As the drama unfolded downstairs, Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Harry took the seat designated for the town clerk and the council statutory meeting continued.
This is the latest in a series of efforts by the M&CC to rid itself of the acting town clerk, who it claims was imposed on it by the previous PPP led government.
Sooba who was declared the least qualified applicant for the post had been appointed by then minister of local government Ganga Persaud. This decision was later over tuned by Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang who found that her appointment was “legally defective” since the former minister did not have the lawful authority to appoint anyone.
Since that time Sooba has held the post of de facto town clerk continuing to flout the decisions of the council.
Most recently she refused to pay Nnesha Hinds who had been employed as a clerk II in the Mayor’s office. Declaring that Hinds did not have the experience to hold the post, Sooba refused to pay her unless she accepted a demotion to Clerk I. After 9 months without pay Hinds resigned from her post.
