Dear Editor,
The Mayor of Georgetown has been quoted in the local press recently as having stated that the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown shall be cancelling all leases that have been granted by its former Town Clerk. What an epiphany. Why did it take so long?
This is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. The question to be asked however is whether the scandalous parking meter deal will be cancelled also, as part of the effort to make right the wrongs committed at the Council over the years.
Strangely though the Chief Citizen, according to the press is indicating that any monies garnered by Council as result of the leases which he claims were illegal, will not be refunded to the lessee. How could the Council collect and keep money which according to him it is not legally entitled to? Further he is suggesting that the leases signed by the then Town Clerk and carrying the seal of the Council had nothing to do with the Council as they were never brought before the Council or any committee. Are they for real? Will the officer who was unauthorized to sign these leases but who did so anyway face the music? Why did the City Treasury receive the money over months and years if the Council did not approve these transactions?
Has the Mayor ever heard of the legal hypothesis whereby an employee may or can bind the employing company: by virtue of actual authority or ostensible authority which they were vested with? Is he trying to make a distinction between the Town Clerk who is the Chief Administrative Officer and the Council as he or she executes tasks on behalf of the Council? Does he understand the duties and functions of the Town Clerk? Is he suggesting that the Town Clerk is personally liable for things he or she signs on behalf of the Council?
We have heard of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Cirque du Soleil and many others but I doubt there are many with as many acrobats, trapeze acts, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, and stunt-oriented artists as the number associated with City Hall.
It is time that the Council stands up and takes blame for the mess that Georgetown finds itself in and stop trying to shift blame someone else such as the central government, the business community, the ratepayers, their employees etc.
Yours faithfully,
Deodarie Putulall
