PNP councillors axed from municipal corporation
Two People’s National Party (PNP) councillors were expelled from the St James Municipal Corporation on Thursday.
The councillors, Sylvan Reid (Salt Spring Division), and Gladstone Bent (Catadupa), were given marching orders by MoBay Mayor Homer Davis, after the municipal corporation was told that the men had allegedly missed three consecutive meetings.
The law stipulates that any councillor who does that automatically gives up their position.
“Meetings are held every second Thursday of each month and whether it rains or shines, it is held. It was brought to a point of order this morning (Thursday) by councillor Charles Sinclair of the Flankers Division, that there are two councillors of the municipality who have missed three meetings,” he said. “I could not confirm or deny, so I asked my acting chief executive officer to make checks of the minutes, which he did, and we adjourned the meeting for 10 minutes, and we discovered that councillors Bent and Reid have not been to a regular monthly council meetings for the months of March, April and May.”
BLATANT POLITICS
But Reid told THE WEEKEND STAR that he has never actually missed three meetings.
“All I can say is that it is just plain and straight and blatant politics, because it’s a lot of time all of us go to council and forget to sign, for one day or another,” he said. “I am also on my way to Kingston to meet with (attorney) KD Knight to seek an injunction.”
A PNP councillor, Kerry Thomas (Mount Salem Division), said that Bent is “50 per cent blind, and over 65 years old”, and unable to attend meetings in the COVID-19 period.
But Davis said that councillors are exempted from the COVID-19 restrictions, and if they are going to miss the meetings, they can simply write or send in a sick leave request and that would have been accepted.
“I know Mr Bent is over 65, but did he send in anything, I don’t know. So there are certain procedures by law which I have no control over, and these men are no longer councillors by law,” said Davis.