Treasurer’s Department among areas need tightening up at City Hall
March 19, 2016 | By KNews | Filed Under News, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....ing-up-at-city-hall/
There are key areas in the Georgetown Municipality that must be tightened up. This was the firm assertion of Mrs. Patricia Chase-Green who, ahead of the dissolution of the City Council, held the position of Deputy Mayor.
Patricia Chase-Green
She was at the time speaking at a farewell event for outgoing City Mayor Hamilton Green at City Hall on Thursday.
And Chase-Green said that she is particularly saddened by the operations of the Treasurer’s Department. According to her, too many people are treated with disrespect when they attempt to access the services of that Department.
“You come to the Treasurer’s Department, (you’re told) come back tomorrow, come back the next day (and are told) ‘Oh we ain’t get it yet, come back the next day’…Nobody takes the time to ask if you have the passage (money) to come back or if you are going to be allowed time off to come back.”
“Sometimes you come for your salary and you hear ‘Oh come back’. They don’t know if you’ve got to take your sick child to the doctor with that money and I am disturbed about that,” said an evidently irked Chase-Green.
Chase-Green in a passionate presentation there said that she is confident that with the new Town Clerk, Mr. Royston King, at the helm of City Hall it is expected that the sad state of affairs that obtains in some departments will soon be reversed. The former Council had recommended that staffers, particularly those tasked with working at counters, be exposed this year to communication training to help improve their interaction with clients.
It is Chase-Green’s hope that the training will commence shortly as according to her, counter staff are tasked with being the face of the Council and therefore must treat those with whom they attend to, respectfully.
“No one should have to come to this Council and sit down for four hours and be told to return for any business they come to conduct. We must be able to run an efficient Council,” asserted an animated Chase-Green.
And she certainly did not downplay her support for the current Town Clerk who some believe was hired on the basis of favouritism.
“He would’ve passed an interview, we didn’t hand-pick he like how others were hand-picked. And so the officers that are supporting him I am asking you to let today (Thursday) be the turning point for this new city, this modern city that you are responsible for building.
“It is not the Councillors, we will make the policies and we will say we want all the nice roads and all the nice parks and so, but it is you who have to go on the ground and produce that nice park, produce that good road, clean those drains,” said Chase-Green.
In essence, she disclosed that without 100 per cent support from the municipal staff, the incoming Council will be worthless. And she expects to continue to be a part of the Council, she was among the contestants at the Local Government Elections yesterday.
And she anticipates that she will continue to work closely with King even as she alluded to his efficiency. She recalled that it was King who after assuming the office of Town Clerk responded to the many concerns of workers.
She disclosed, for instance, that the calls from workers of the Cemetery for improved working facility were among the concerns addressed by King.
“How many years we have been bombarded at the Council that the (Cemetery) office doesn’t have lights, it doesn’t have a proper chair? The office of itself looked like where it was, dead. And I don’t think even the dead wanted to visit (there) either,” said a passionate Chase-Green.
She therefore noted that the Municipality is not merely for persons who have a desire to run for a position but rather for people who are ready and capable to manage the city.
“All of them who want to run; athletic sports coming up in November…they can go and run that race. We want to manage a city not run it,” insisted Chase-Green.