Independent councillor Myles new deputy chairman of WMC
Published:Friday | July 14, 2023 | 12:07 AMMark Titus/Senior Gleaner Writer
OUSTED DEPUTY Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar Danree Delancy may not follow through with his threat of legal action. However, he is convinced that his three former People’s National Party (PNP) colleagues who conspired with the minority Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caucus to remove him from the position he has held for the past 12 years were driven by selfish political ambition.
His former colleagues, Ian Myles, Garfield James, and Layton McKenzie, councillors of the Little London, Sheffield, and Grange Hill divisions, respectively, resigned from the PNP on Monday, reducing the party’s hold on the local authority to one.
During the monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) yesterday, the three independent councillors joined forces with the four sitting JLP representatives to file a motion of “No Confidence” against Delancy, who represents the Bethel Town division.
Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, Councillor Bertel Moore, was in a state of confusion as the seven demanded an immediate vote while the now weakened PNP caucus pleaded for the Municipal Corporation’s chairman to delay his decision and seek legal advice. This soon turned into a heated debate as members made charges and countercharges against each other.
“Chairman, if this motion is voted on or carried out today I have a battery of lawyers standing by, and you and others can prepare to make some trips to the Supreme Court,” Delancy warned.
After much debate, which resulted in an extension of the meeting which had the three members of parliament for the parish of Westmoreland and local government minister Desmond McKenzie in attendance, the motion was successfully passed, seven votes to five against. The seven votes were cast by the three former PNP members who are now independents, along with the four JLP councillors.
Myles was selected as Delancy’s replacement and will be sworn in at the next monthly meeting in September.
While it is customary for disgruntled or dissatisfied political representatives to switch loyalty to rival parties, educators Myles and James and McKenzie, who has been in representational politics at the local government level for nearly 40 years, say they will continue as independent councillors.
“The motion with the JLP is solely that we believe in good representation, and based on our assessment, we have identified that the deputy mayor was not carrying out the kind of representation to enhance the council,” said James.
He rubbished the suggestion that it was orchestrated by the JLP, arguing that as local government minister, McKenzie has a right to attend any municipal corporation meeting he chooses.
James was not willing to say that he would never join the ranks of the ruling party, saying that for now, his focus is on representing the residents in the Sheffield division and preparing to battle Ian Hayles of the PNP and incumbent Moreland Wilson, as an independent candidate, for the right to represent the western Westmoreland constituency in the next general election.