Councillors up in arms over Town Clerk’s “continued illegal spending”

By Zena Henry
The “illegal” purchase of an executive chair, a suite, and the possible acquisition of an $8M vehicle for the office of the Town Clerk has apparently driven the rift deeper between the divided agents of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Mayor Hamilton Green and his Deputy, with the support of some city councillors were yesterday up in arms about the unapproved purchase of what they say are “non-priority” items over several major issues affecting the city.

Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green shows where Council’s files are stored in the absence of cabinets.

Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told the media during a press briefing at the Mayor’s office that there was no approval for the $400,000 in items that the acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba had purchased. She pointed out that Sooba is also gearing towards the purchase of an $8M vehicle to be added to the two that are already at her disposal.
The Mayor and Councillors are insistent that there are many issues wrong with Georgetown, which take priority over the purchase of a vehicle and chairs. They charged that while finances are still a major issue for the Council, Sooba continues to spend unapproved funds mainly to her benefit.
Chase-Green charged that in the “spending spree”, the acting Town Clerk has expended far more than a million dollars of unapproved money, while she continues to starve the Mayor’s side of the Council of basic necessities. She added that while a third vehicle is being secured, the Mayor’s vehicle remains without fuel. The Mayor has since taken Sooba to court for failing to provide basic items for him to carry out his duties. That matter will be heard at the High Court on Friday.
Additionally, Chase-Green pointed out that the Council secretary has failed to provide any assistance in the battle against the chikungunya virus.
“Instead of buying a $400,000 chair, she could have purchased spray cans and chemicals and we could have conducted the work ourselves.”
Instead, Chase-Green charged, the Town Clerk (ag) is depending on the Health Ministry, which she said she is collaborating with to deal with the matter. The City Council does not have one spray can of its own, Chase-Green continued.
The Deputy stated further that two open back trucks recently purchased by the Local Government Ministry are already off the road after commencing work only two weeks ago. The Engineer’s department, Kaieteur News was told, deemed them unfit for road use.  The Councillors are unable to say how much the trucks cost and whether it came out of the Council’s $20M subvention. Minister Norman Whittaker signed in place of the Mayor to facilitate the truck purchase and councillors have urged that action be taken against the Minister in this regard.
Chase-Green said that Sooba has also commenced repair work on the Town Clerk’s office, despite ongoing discussions by both local and foreign bodies to restore City Hall, which has been declared a heritage site. It was stressed that such repairs and spending are not priorities, since experts have already noted that no repairs are to be done on the building so as to retain the model.
The acting Town Clerk stated however, that the purchase of the new vehicle had been approved by the Mayor and Councillors earlier this year. When asked about priority spending, she told this publication that it is well known that the Town Clerk’s office is in need of a new vehicle. In terms of the suite and executive chair, Sooba said the finance committee had approved the purchase of the items and it had gone through all the relevant procedures. She withheld, however, who within the committee would have authorized the purchase.
The Town Clerk stated that the existing chairs had been used for some 35 years and were infested with bugs. She went on to say that the works in her office were necessary since the ceiling, in particular, needed immediate repairs.