A frustrated Linden Mayor came before the national media in Georgetown on Monday morning, with supporting councillors by his side, to urge that the Town Clerk, Jenella Bowen, be removed from office.
Mayor Carwyn Holland, who has been in office for just over four months, said while he does not like to see someone being put out of a job, he believes that if the town of Linden is to move forward, it must first get rid of the current Town Clerk.
The Council recently moved a no confidence motion against the Town Clerk and is hoping that the Minister of Communities accept the council’s recommendation for Ms. Bowen to be replaced.
That motion was triggered by the release of financial information to the public that did not truly reflected reality. It was the head of the Council’s finance committee, Deron John, who moved the motion.
It was reported that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor had claimed over $500,000 in travel allowances for gas over a three month period. However, the record reflects a cost of just over $200,000.
The Council believe that there have been too many instances of the Town Clerk operating as if she was a one woman show who had little regard for the rest of the Council.
This is not the first time that a motion of no confidence has been moved against the same Town Clerk. During the life of the last council, a similar motion was moved against her, but no action was taken.
Holland said if the current move fails, he will be forced to continue to highlight the problems being faced by his municipality on the national stage.
“We need changes and we need the Town Clerk removed”, Holland said, as he listed several problems facing the municipality that the Town Clerk has ignored.
He pointed to contracts still being given out to contractors who have failed with previous projects and also the administration of the council not fully implementing programmes and initiatives that would have been approved by the Council.
The Mayor said while the Council represents the policy makers, the administrative department of the town must be supportive and implement decisions in a timely manner.
He said the town continues to face problems with garbage collection and a lack of resources has been contributing more to that problem.
The Mayor said he has made repeated requests of Central Government but has not gotten the level of support that he was expecting for the town that voted overwhelmingly for the coalition that now sits in government.
He said he is still hopeful that there will be a turnaround but that turnaround must first begin with the removal of the Town Clerk.
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