Jaw-dropping

One imagines a number of jaws dropped on Monday when PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo submitted that party’s list for the June 12 Local Government Elections, inclusive of the name Patricia Chase-Green. Those whose mouths remained closed probably put it down to the usual political machinations this country cannot seem to abide without, and are likely waiting to see what will result from this latest manoeuvre.

Citizens in the first group would have been shocked because of the vitriol that passed between Mrs Chase-Green and the current administration during her previously long tenure in City Hall. Mrs Chase-Green entered city governance in 1994 as part of the now defunct A Good and Green Guyana (AGGG) list. That party, which only contested Local Government Elections, had been headed by controversial former prime minister Hamilton Green, a longstanding member of the PNC, who at that time was at odds with that party. AGGG won the Georgetown constituency at the August 8, 1994 polls and Hamilton Green was subsequently elected mayor, a position he went on to hold for 22 years during which period no local government elections were held.

Mrs Chase-Green served as a councillor for close to 18 years before she was called upon to act as deputy mayor when the holder of that position, Robert Williams, fell ill in 2011. In March 2012, sometime after his death, she was elected to the post full time by eleven of her horseshoe table peers.

Though she was sometimes at odds with PNC councillors during her sojourn as an AGGG member, Mrs Chase-Green joined them as part of the APNU+AFC list for the next local government polls, which were held in March 2016. APNU+AFC candidates won their constituency seats in Georgetown, as expected, by a wide margin. Even before the elections it had been bandied about that Mrs Chase-Green had set her sights on becoming the next Mayor of Georgetown. It was therefore no surprise when she was elected at the Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) first meeting with Sherod Duncan, a member of the AFC as her deputy. That honeymoon did not last.

Mrs Chase-Green’s three-term tenure as mayor faced significant crises, including the often apparently unilateral actions of former controversial town clerk Royston King. Constantly in the news, Mr King was allegedly the actor behind the attempt to build townhouses on the Bel Air Park Community Ground. There were also his obnoxious plans to install a

presidential park, complete with sculpted busts of former presidents at Merriman Mall, along with a petting zoo. Another petting zoo was also, according to him, earmarked for the Promenade Gardens. Thankfully, the funds that were being misused for these outlandish projects dried up before they could get very far.

The new PPP list member’s name, however, will be forever tied to the ignominious parking meter project, which the M&CC implemented in January 2017, after it signed a contract with Smart City Solutions (SCS) in May 2016. Mrs Chase-Green was a very vocal proponent of metered parking, but approval of the contract was not unanimous at the council level. It was reviewed, amended and resigned in September 2016. However, its implementation was met with weekly protests by civil society, legal action and subsequently scrapped. SCS later sued the government and that contest is about to be arbitrated.

After several clashes with Mrs Chase-Green, including being anti-parking meters and one attempt to run against her at the council’s mayoral elections, Mr Duncan stepped down as deputy mayor, paving the way for his fellow party member, the late Lionel Jaikarran to serve. There appeared to be some consensus in the APNU+AFC coalition that the posts of mayor and deputy mayor would be held by members of the respective parties. However, in March 2018, the APNU appeared to renege on this, ousting Jaikarran and voting in its member Akeem Peter as deputy mayor instead.

Mrs Chase-Green also clashed constantly with Ronald Bulkan, then minister of communities, and following the November 2018 local government elections, both she and Peter were replaced. Recognising that her lustre had also worn off among Georgetowners, not just over the parking meter project, but the fact that her constituency was among the worst served while she was mayor, Mrs Chase-Green faded out of the limelight.

Now she is back and with a bang, having once again changed allegiance. The PPP must be confident that she can deliver at least one section of the city in the upcoming polls, thus allowing it more leverage in Georgetown. What Mrs Chase-Green will gain from this new alliance remains to be seen. There are thrilling times ahead.