Councillor sent in resignation from public service after election victory

The top human resource officer at the Coroner's Court in Kingston has testified that, two weeks after the local government elections last year, embattled Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) counciller Dean Jones handed her a resignation letter that was dated October 25th.

Janet Morgan Rogers, the administrator at the Coroner's Court, revealed, too, that up to December 12, 2016 when Jones handed her the letter, he was employed by the state's Court Management Services (CMS), as a judge's orderly.

Morgan Rogers said she raised concerns about the date in the letter and the date it was handed to her, but could not recall the response she got or the rest of the discussion.

She acknowledged, also, that in the letter handed to her on December 12, 2016 Jones indicated that his resignation would take effect on October 26, 2016.

Morgan Rogers was giving evidence in the Supreme Court yesterday in the election petition filed against Jones by losing People's National Party (PNP) candidate Constantine Bogle.

Bogle is seeking to have Jones removed as the councillor for the Yallahs division of the St Thomas Municipal Corporation, contending that at the time of the local government elections on November 28 last year he was a public servant and did not live in the division, both in contravention of the law.

Responding to questions from Bogle's attorney Bert Samuels, Morgan Rogers said despite the resignation letter dated October 25, the attendance register at the Coroner's Court, located on Sutton Street, in downtown Kingston, showed that he signed in for work the following day and up to early November.

Bobbett Dawkins, senior director for human resources and administration at CMS, said up to December last year Jones was still being paid by the agency.