KD changes his tune

Government Senator K.D. Knight on Friday supported two bills that will allow for the postponement of local government elections for up to 18 months despite being labelled a 'flip-flopper' by Tom Tavares-Finson, the leader of opposition business in the Senate.

"Having examined the whole concept of trust, I feel comfortable supporting the legislation," said Knight.

Stating that he was a thinking man who is given to reason, Knight said he no longer believed a postponement of elections for mayor of Portmore was a breach of trust.

"I have no remorse in having stated as I did last year. I have no regret in changing my position," the government senator said.

"One of the things we can't do is sort of implant ourselves into the past and not understand the dynamics of thinking and that a thinking person will move on. A position can't be static."

But Tavares-Finson said Knight, who gave former minister with responsibility for local government Robert Montague an 'F'-plus rating for having tried but failed in the job, deserves a double 'F' for being a flip-flopper.

Knight had hesitantly supported amendments to the Municipalities Act last year, stating that if the Government failed to have the Portmore mayoral election by March this year, it would have been a betrayal of trust.

boundary review

Emerging from the review of boundaries in 2010 when two new constituencies were created, two divisions, though in Portmore, did not fall entirely within the boundaries of Portmore. As a result, the councillors for the Portmore Pines and Greater Portmore North divisions were unable to take seats in the Portmore Municipal Council.

Parliament last July passed bills to address the anomaly and also to allow Leon Thomas to continue acting as mayor until local government elections are held. The law requires an election to be held for the Portmore mayoralty if a vacancy occurs less than 15 months after the mayor was elected.

Thomas became acting mayor after George Lee died in September 2013, and were it not for an amendment to the law, he would have had to face the ballot. The old law states that he should not have acted for more than six months.