WMC at odds over legality of meeting

WESTERN BUREAU:

MARVALYN PITTER, chief executive officer at the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), says she will be seeking the advice of the attorney general about whether a special meeting of the corporation that was held in August was legally convened.

Pitter’s decision follows nearly one hour of political wrangling between the opposing parties to confirm or not to the minutes of the August 10 meeting, which deputy mayor Ian Myles, councillor for the Little London division, presided over while he was sitting as a self-declared Independent.

“I have repeatedly informed you that the meeting was properly convened, but since you have refused to be guided, I will stand down and I will write to the attorney general for an option on the matter,” Pitter told councillors at last Thursday’s spirited general meeting of the WMC.

Earlier, she pointed out to the politically intense councillors that there were two minutes before them, one for September and the other for October, and that the corporation should move to confirm in order to proceed with the business of the people.

“We had unfinished business in September; the August meeting was not confirmed, and as such, we would need to confirm the August meeting this morning,” Pitter said as she attempted to provide guidance to the political arms of the corporation.

She also noted that the council confirmed July’s meeting twice, a process that is not legal.

“Remember that the September meeting started with the August minutes. We cannot confirm the July meeting twice, and that was done,” the CEO revealed.

According to her, and based on the law, the meeting for August was duly constituted. In that light, she asked the members to go back to the minute book marked September.

“There was a quorum; therefore, the meeting was duly constituted ... I am making myself very clear that we need to confirm the minute book that is marked September 23 because I will not be able to sit and accept that we cannot,” Pitter said.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL MEETING

That advice was scoffed at by ousted People’s National Party (PNP) deputy mayor Danree Delancy, who argued that the meeting that was held in August had to be declared unconstitutional.

“In no way, shape, or form I’m going to stand or sit here and accept any minutes for the month of August. We went through this last month. August’s so-called meeting cannot be legitimate,” Delancy insisted.

Supporting his stance, the Bethel Town division councillor pointed to alleged breaches of the protocols in seeking to have a special meeting of council. He said all the councillors were not informed as prescribed by the bylaws and that the meeting that was being requested was that of a general council meeting.

“I got the notice, but the letter asking for that meeting should have been addressed to the chairman of council. It was addressed to the CEO of the council. And according to the same bylaws, if you write to the chairman and he doesn’t respond within three days for such a meeting, then the councillors can now write to the CEO,” Delancy explained.

He said further that at the end of the July meeting, they all agreed to go on their traditional summer break in August and resume meetings in September.

The ousted deputy mayor shared that even while they are on summer break, if there are matters of grave concern, then a special meeting can be convened.

“The notice that I saw about a meeting clearly stated that they were asking for a general council meeting. It could not be a general council meeting in August, Mr Chairman. I also saw a subsequent notice informing me that the meeting that was being asked for in August has been cancelled. Therefore, I acted on the last notice,” he said.

Continuing, the councillor stated that such a meeting, if it were held, could not have been legitimate, and no decision that was taken at that sitting could have been binding.

“Therefore, Mr Chairman, I move that you, once and for all, forget about that so-called August meeting and get on with the business of council, confirming the minutes of September’s meeting.”

Garfield James, the JLP councillor for the Sheffield division, expressed disappointment in the way Delancy, the former deputy mayor, had chosen to ignore the advice of the CEO.

At every request by Pitter to guide the corporation into confirming the August meeting, Bertel Moore, chairman of the WMC, rejected it with the support of his PNP colleagues, arguing that if they were to do that, they would be accepting an illegally held meeting and would be bound to take and discuss matters arising from it.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com