The legal challenge initiated by the Georgetown Mayor and City Councillors for the removal of acting Town Clerk Candace Nelson is contending that her appointment is unlawful, while accusing her of disruptive actions that could affect the Council’s ability to meet its obligations.
During a statutory meeting of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) last Monday at the Kitty Market Hall, Nelson was given notice of the challenge to the Local Government Commission’s decision to appoint her to act as Town Clerk. Citing a matter before the court Mayor Ubraj Narine asked that Nelson vacate the Town Clerk’s chair during the meeting, which was eventually aborted after she refused to give in to his requests.
Although Sunday Stabroek newspaper was unable to determine who initiated the proceedings, the legal papers seen by this newspaper list the “Town Clerk of Georgetown” as the claimant.
Nelson, who is being represented by attorneys led by Nigel Hughes and Teni Housty, has since said that Narine has claimed that he signed the legal papers. “Something is seriously wrong with that,” she said in a statement that was issued after the aborted meeting, while claiming there is no precedent for his doing so.
Section 6 of the Municipal and District Councils Act states, “The City Council may sue and be sued by and in the name of “The Town Clerk of Georgetown.”” In addition, according to Section 8 of the Sixth Schedule of the Act, which addresses the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Town Clerk, where any document is required as a necessary step in legal proceedings on behalf of the Council, the Clerk shall sign unless a law otherwise requires or authorises, or the Council has given the necessary authority to some other person for the purpose of the proceedings.
According to the application that was seen by this newspaper, the conduct of Nelson, whom it says “is acting without property authority,” will continue to have “disrupting effect on the smooth and efficient functioning” of the Council.
Among the grounds its cites is the complaint that Nelson, “since her attempted installation as the Town Clerk Acting, has taken a number of disruptive actions which pose serious ongoing continuing breaches that compromise the sanctity of the operations” of the M&CC.
The application further states that she has sought to “influence” the records of the Council’s statutory meetings, by deleting matters from minutes of meetings as well as “seeking to dictate” the contents of the agendas for subsequent meetings.
It adds that Nelson suspended a tendering process which commenced months before her July 27 appointment and has “potentially compromised” the ability of the M&CC to honour its contractual and other financial obligations.
It also says Nelson has not facilitated a “proper handover of the [Council’s] assets,” while expressing fears that unless removed she will further disrupt the Council’s activities. The application seeks Nelson’s removal and an interim order staying her appointment, while contending that her “purporting” to act under the power of the Local Government Commission is “inimical” to the best interest of the Council, the city, its infrastructure and residents.
While the members of the Local Government Commission unanimously agreed that former acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick be reverted to her substantive position of Assistant Town Clerk, the Commission’s Chairman Julius Faerber made the decision to appoint Nelson in consultation with Deputy Chairman Norman Whitaker. Faerber has said his actions are in keeping with the Commission’s legal practice, while noting that appointing a replacement was critical since the position of Town Clerk could not remain vacant. Two opposition-nominated members of the Commission have questioned the legality of his actions, while the majority APNU members of the Council have maintained that he acted illegally.
In a statement issued last Thursday, the Commission maintained that it has always executed and continues to exercise its mandate within the confines of the relevant legislative framework. “It continues to do so even as this matter is currently engaging the courts. As such, the Commission has taken the decision to respect the jurisdiction of the courts and not litigate these issues in the public domain. Nevertheless, until a court of competent jurisdiction has issued a formal pronouncement on these issues, the Local Government Commission will continue to perform its legal mandate and work with those persons who are desirous of improving the local government system in Guyana,” it said.
As he repeatedly request that Nelson vacate the Town Clerk’s chair at last week’s statutory meeting, Narine reiterated that the Council did not recognize her but vowed to respect the outcome of the court proceedings.
Nelson, however, did not budge, stating that the Council could not nominate someone to sit in the Town Clerk’s chair since that was the duty of the Town Clerk.
The meeting was eventually adjourned
