Gaskin says City Council a total disgrace

Blasting them as moribund, illegitimate and a total disgrace, former City Hall consultant Ramon Gaskin called for the wholesale sacking of the longstanding Georgetown City Council. He also chided Mayor Hamilton Green for harassing the current acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba, saying that the incompetence of Green and the entire council is legendary.

There has been a fierce battle for control of the cash-strapped municipality, with Green mobilising vendors, councillors, and other citizens to pressure Local Government Minister Ganga Persaud into sacking Sooba.  Green has never gotten along with any of the previous town clerks.
In a letter to the editor, Gaskin said it ought to be clear to everyone that Green and some other councillors are waging a multi-pronged war on Sooba to force her out. This unrelenting campaign, he said, consists of strikes, picketing exercises, demonstrations, a letter-writing campaign, struggle within the council, mobilisation of staff and vendors, and approaching the minister to secure her removal. According to Gaskin, the city has never seen such a campaign planned, orchestrated, and prosecuted in such an unconscionable fashion by former politicians who claim to be elected by the citizens, but, in fact, have had no legitimacy since 1997.
“These very politicians who operate under an illusion that after 19 years one can still be legitimately a city councillor, obviously are not familiar with the Municipal Act 28:01 or the Constitution of Guyana.  These are the same former politicians who, in the days and years of the worst excesses and corruption and stealing at City Hall, never once raised their voices against those involved in racketeering and lawlessness.”
Notorious
Noting that he holds no brief for Ms Sooba but has some familiarity with City Hall, Gaskin said it was partially in response to his reports to Mr Keith Burrowes on his findings at City Hall that led to the removal of the notorious troika of Town Clerk Yonette Pluck-Cort, City Engineer Gregory Erskine, and Andrew Meredith and the elevation of Sooba to the position of acting town clerk.
“From the very beginning, many members of the now ineffective and expired council were unhappy with the minister’s decision, but having previously readily accepted the imposition of the now dismissed town clerk by a former minister, they found themselves in an unenviable position arguing against the present minister’s decision,” he asserted.
Since the minister did not impose the council’s own favoured candidate selected from among their own old boys/old girls network, the campaign was immediately launched to make life uncomfortable for Sooba in every possible way in order to drive her from the position, Gaskin reasoned.  He said this campaign of intimidation and bullyism has continued uninterrupted.

Hogwash
Referring to a letter by Green in which he attempted to give the reasons for the great “frustration” felt by his councillors and to illustrate Sooba has behaved like a “dictator” and showing disrespect and displaying “insubordination” to the mayor in a memo, thus provoking his request for her “immediate removal”, Gaskin said all of this was hogwash.
He said the entire notion of Sooba being disrespectful and insubordinate is rubbish.
“The expired councillors who are waging an all-out war against Ms Sooba cannot command any respect from her, and if indeed, she appears not to have any respect for them, then they brought it upon themselves and should stop complaining. They deserve exactly what they get. As for ‘insubordination’, this is pure nonsense. The town clerk is never subordinate to any councillor. His/her duties are set out in the Municipal Act 28:01 and it sure as hell does not include being subordinate to any councillor,” Gaskin declared.
Illegitimate
Gaskin said central government also bears some responsibility for this continuing travesty, noting that the time has come to establish the Local Government Commission as required by the Constitution and to hold new elections. He added that while this is being put in place, the minister should use his powers under the act and immediately dismiss the entire lot of councillors from all the parties in this decaying, moribund, expired and illegitimate forum.