Mayor Moore caught in councillors’ cross hairs

WESTERN BUREAU:

Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Bertel Moore is now facing the heat from councillors in the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), which has been engulfed in turmoil since three People’s National Party (PNP) representatives resigned from the party a month ago.

Moore became a target yesterday after his absence from a special sitting called to address a PNP councillor’s alleged use of indecent language during last month’s WMC meeting.

Moore, the councillor at the centre of the allegations, and the other three PNP councillors all shunned the meeting. Only the four Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and two of the three now-independent councillors turned up for the meeting.

The JLP councillors took the mayor to task, saying they are losing confidence in his leadership.

Kevin Murray, councillor of the Friendship division, said he has become wary of Moore’s leadership as chairman of the WMC and mayor of Savanna-la-Mar.

“I am concerned about the flip-flopping of our mayor, where, in this forum, one thing is stated, and in another forum, we are hearing otherwise. I am losing my confidence in how he operates as our leader and it is something that has been discussed before. He is not bold enough,” said Murray.

With nobody to challenge his rant, Murray intimated that Moore could potentially face a similar situation to Danree Delancy, who was recently ousted as Moore’s deputy, having served in that position for 12 years.

Delancy was relieved of his position when the three independent councillors, who recently broke ranks with the PNP, joined with the JLP councillors for a no-confidence vote. The ouster is now being challenged in the courts.

Citing the upheaval in the corporation, which saw independent councillor Ian Myles replacing Delancy as deputy mayor, Murray said a wind of change is blowing over the WMC. He hinted that unless Moore sees himself as a part of the change, he could become a casualty.

“Based on what happened about six weeks ago, I am beginning to wonder if he has the boldness or the braveness to oversee what is happening here,” said Murray. “Sometimes you have the administrative arm overruling the political arm of this corporation, and I am quite concerned. It has worsened since the whole episode of what is taking place.

“I have great concern that our mayor might not be able to fully control and operate the corporation at this important point that we are at, and we need strong action now to prevent some of the things that are currently happening,” added Murray.

Garfield James, an independent councillor for the Sheffield division, also took a shot at his former PNP colleague, saying that he is concerned about utterances Moore recently made regarding who is the rightful deputy mayor of Savanna-la-Mar.

“It sends a very conflicting message to the public and it creates hardships and challenges internally as well as externally,” said James. “The mayor needs to provide clarity on this and other internal matters at the next sitting of the corporation.

“In addition to that, I came across a memorandum that was served internally and signed by the mayor, stating that the former deputy mayor is being left in charge of the council while he is away ... . It will lead to challenges, and these matters must be addressed at the highest level to bring some sense of normality to the office,” he added.

Unlike Delancy’s situation, which required a simple majority to unseat him, even if the JLP councillors are joined by their independent colleagues, they will face a hurdle in mustering the two-thirds support from councillors needed to oust the mayor.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com