Alfred Mentore elected Georgetown Mayor

THIRD-term Councillor and former Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore was on Thursday nominated, and subsequently elected as Mayor of Georgetown, almost one month after the Local Government Elections (LGEs).

Mentore, who lost the elections in his constituency, was elected at the meeting room of the Kitty Market in Georgetown, where controversy struck following his election and nomination to the City Council’s finance committee.

Following the swearing in of the 30 new members of Georgetown, the council members immediately went into the business of nominating its Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The first name called for nomination to the post of Mayor was Mentore, nominated by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) member Gregory Fraser.

Former mayor and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member Patricia Chase-Green then rose to nominate fellow Party member Odayson Ashby for the post.

However, when the two nominated names were put to a vote, Mentore garnered some 19 votes, while Ashby received 11, thus making Mentore the new Georgetown Mayor-elect.

Regarding the post of Deputy Mayor, a newcomer to Local Government and APNU member, Denise Miller was also elected to the post on majority votes.

While these nominations came off with their usual heckling, the real controversy struck when the Council made its moves to elect members for its seven-member finance committee.

The drama ensued as members of both parties argued for minutes across the room as to who stood first to provide their list of names for nomination to the committee.

However, Mayor-elect Mentore first recognised his deputy, who read a list of six names, which included his, to be appointed to the finance committee. Subsequently, PPP/C Councillor Dion Young read a list of four names for the council to put to a vote.

Mentore, who was chairing the meeting at the time, had recommended that the council vote for the lists suggested. This move was quickly challenged by Chase-Green, who said that there were 10 names suggested in total, and as such votes should be taken by individual names and not as a bloc.

“You have six and four; ten people nominated for the finance committee. Of the ten persons, we have to elect seven, so could we do the right thing and do it individually for seven; it has always been done that way,” she said.

When Mentore’s name was called for the votes to be cast, several members of the council shouted, “Conflict of interest!” and questioned why the mayor should be part of the finance committee.

However, while this was questioned, APNU members on the council used their majority and appointed Mentore to the finance committee.

Members elected to that committee were then named: Lelon Saul, Alfred Mentore, Troy Garraway, Clayton Hinds, Yvonne Ferguson, Tahirih Adams, and the PPP/C’s Jainarine Singh, who, in a surprise twist, received the most votes to be a member on the committee.

Meanwhile, the Mayor-elect and Deputy Mayor-elect are expected to be sworn in soon, and the 30-member council is expected to have their first statutory meeting in early August.