City Council Public Relations Officer Royston King has moved to the court to challenge the controversial selection of Carol Sooba as Town Clerk.
King, who was one of the four applicants for the post, has applied to the court through his lawyer Nigel Hughes for an order directed against Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud to show cause why his decision to appoint Sooba should not be quashed.
Chief Justice Ian Chang on Friday granted a conditional order directing the minister to show cause why the decision should not be set aside. The proceedings are due to continue on December 23.
King contends that the decision is an abuse of power; is contrary to the legitimate expectation that post would be filled by the “best suited and qualified” person based on the criteria established in advertisements by the minister; and was unreasonable since the minister failed to apply the criteria he had established for the identification of the best candidate.
In King’s supporting affidavit, he states that after attending several interviews, he was informed that he was idenitifed as the candidate who achieved the second highest points for the said position, while Sooba had achieved the lowest points. “…I had a legitimate expectation that the person who was best qualified based on the criteria deployed by the interviewing panel and the Minister of Local Government, would be appointed to the position.
“I verily believe that the Minister abused his power when he appointed Carol Sooba on the basis that the said applicant was the best of the candidates when on the criteria established by the said Minsiter she was the least qualified…I am informed by the Deputy Mayor that I was the candidate who achieved the second highest points for the said position,” he notes.
Sooba was identified by the panel as being the least suitable candidate, but Minister of Local Government at a press briefing recently had argued that Sooba was the best qualified person for the job and that is why she was appointed.
Paul Clarke was unanimously recommended by the interviewing panel as being the best suited candidate, but Persaud had alleged that because of Clarke’s failure to disclose that he was dismissed from the Inter Development Bank he could not get the job.
The members of the interview panel responsible for vetting applicants for the Town Clerk position were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government Collin Croal, who was the chairperson of the panel; Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, Dale Beresford; the principal personnel officer from the Public Services Ministry; and a representative from the Ministry of Finance.
