Dear Editor,
Please refer to the Stabroek News headlined story on page 12 of the edition of Thursday, September 4, 2014, ‘Sooba denies announcing dissolution of local government bodies.’
As the elected Vice Chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, I was invited, as were other members of that committee, to a meeting summoned by the Town Clerk (ag), Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba, on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 10:00 hrs. On my arrival at City Hall, the following councillors and officers were present: Councillors Anthony Boyce and Junior Garrett, both members of the committee; shortly thereafter Councillors Eon Andrews, Gladstone George, and Devi Ross, all members of the Finance Committee arrived. Also in attendance were Councillors Ranwell Jordan and Gregory Fraser. The following officers of the council were present: Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba, Town Clerk (ag); Ms Valerie Clarke-Chichester, Assistant Town Clerk and Secretary to the Finance Committee; Mr Ron McCalmon, City Treasurer; Ms Paulette Braithwaite, Personnel Officer; Mr Sherlock Lovell, Deputy Clerk of Markets (ag); Mr Stephen Bailey, Superintendant of City Constabulary; and Mr Walter Narine, Solid Waste Manager. Dr B Jeffrey, the Medical Officer of Health arrived later.
Councillor Junior Garrett, who was the immediate past Chairman of the committee, was voted out of this position at a statutory meeting of the council two weeks earlier and it, therefore, fell to the Vice Chairman to preside over the meeting.
Accordingly, I took up my position as Chairman upon my arrival and was immediately greeted by the Town Clerk (ag) with the words, “Councillor Clarke, I have two very important announcements to make.” I replied by indicating that she would be allowed to do so after the meeting is formally called to order, since it would be necessary for the minutes of the meeting to reflect her announcements. Immediately, thereafter, I called the meeting to order and invited the Town Clerk (ag) to make her announcements. Reading from what appeared to be a prepared script, the Town Clerk (ag) said that her announcements would ‘negate’ this Finance Committee meeting and, indeed, any other meeting of the council from being held in the future since the President did not assent to the Bill passed in the National Assembly to extend the life of the local government bodies, NDCs and Town Councils including the city council, which would have ended as of August 31, 2014.
Continuing, she made her second announcement which was in reference to a memorandum she claimed was sent to city council staffers by the Mayor instructing them not to take any instructions from her since she was on administrative leave.
In my response to the (ag) Town Clerk’s announcements, I said that I am not personally aware nor is the council aware of the life of the council having been brought to an end; had this been so it would have been gazetted and publicised in the newspapers. On the second announcement, I merely observed that the Mayor’s communication to staffers had nothing to do with the holding of the Finance Committee meeting of the council for which we were all gathered.
Immediately, thereafter, the Town Clerk (ag) instructed the staff members present to return to their desks as she herself, accompanied by Secretary to the committee, Ms Valerie Clarke-Chichester, exited the meeting. It should be noted that all the other staff members remained in their seats since they recognised that this was a legally constituted Finance Committee meeting which was summoned by the Town Clerk (ag), Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba, herself.
With the unceremonial departure of the Secretary to the committee, Ms Valerie Clarke-Chichester, the business on the committee’s agenda could not be proceeded with in a timely manner.
In the foregone circumstances, please allow me to make some observations. If Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba, whose substantive position on the staff of the city council is “legal officer”, did not seek legal advice before making her so-called very important announcements leading to the adjournment of a legally constituted Finance Committee meeting, what does this say about her leadership? What clearer evidence does anyone need of the unfitness of Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba for the position of Town Clerk (ag) into which she was catapulted by the Minister of Local Government in the Donald Ramotar administration. This obviously confused lady revealed her Jekyll and Hyde character on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 and one must now ask what her next moves will be. It must now be clearly obvious to all those who have been following this city council saga, that the actions of Ms Carol Ryan-Sooba have the tacit support of the Ramotar cabinet and that she is being encouraged to be disrespectful to the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown. Her attacks on the Mayor have taken on the appearance of the bizarre, refusing to supply his office with stationary and his official transport with fuel. She has descended into derogatory name-calling at statutory meetings of the council aimed at provoking disorder and generally undermining the orderly progress of these meetings.
This pattern of behaviour has
persisted in spite of the fact that the Mayor brought it to the attention of the Minister of Local Government as well as the President by correspondence on numerous occasions.
Meanwhile, decisions of the council are routinely ignored with the now familiar phrase recorded in the responses to decisions of statutory meetings, being, “The administration noted the decision of the council.”
The PPP/C government stands condemned for putting their narrow political interest over that of the citizens of Georgetown and, indeed, of all local government council areas by (i) not accepting the verdict of the majority in the National Assembly which approved the local government reform legislation after the most exhausting scrutiny and debate; (ii) failing to honour the date, August 1, 2014, approved by the National Assembly with the passage on February 10, 2014 of the Local Authorities (Elections) (Amendment) Bill, for the holding of local government elections.
During the debate on the aforementioned Bill in the National Assembly, the PPP/C wanted to have the date extended to December 31, 2014. Therefore, the call by the Leader of the Opposition for a date to be announced by September 15, 2014 gives the Donald Ramotar administration yet another opportunity to redeem itself.
Yours faithfully,
Oscar Clarke
Vice Chairman
Finance Committee, M&CC
