Clarendon power shift stalled by court order

THE People’s National Party (PNP) says it plans to challenge a Supreme Court injunction that has stalled its bid to take control of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation. PNP senior councillor in the corporation Scean Barnswell has also questioned how the injunction was handled at the corporation, claiming it was not entered in its registry, and raised doubts about whether it had been properly served. The dispute emerged at a special meeting of the corporation on Friday, where councillor for the May Pen North Division Tanyalee Williams formally made the switch from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to the PNP, giving the Opposition party a 12-10 majority in the 22-member council. The switch had created an opening for the PNP to seek the removal of Mayor Joel Williams and Deputy Mayor Clivalee Mundle and elect replacements backed by the new majority. However, the meeting was halted after the mayor said an ex parte interim injunction prevented the council from dealing with the matter. In a statement issued on Friday, the PNP described the injunction as “profoundly anti-democratic”. The PNP said its legal challenge is intended to allow the meeting to continue and the relevant resolutions to be considered. Earlier, during the special meeting, Barnswell also raised concerns about how the injunction reached the corporation, questioning whether it had been formally recorded and properly served.

PNP supporters outside the Clarendon Municipal Corporation on Friday (Photos: Karl Mclarty)

PNP senior councillor in the Clarendon Municipal Corporation Scean Barnswell making a point during Friday’s special sitting.

“Chairman, let the record reflect that we have asked the question of how the document has been received at the municipal corporation? We have a registry that logs all external correspondence that comes to the CEO. It is logged into the registry and I just want to place on record that there is no indication of this document being logged into the council’s registry,” he said. Barnswell later told reporters that the document appeared to have been presented without the usual procedures being followed. “There was no signature on the document by the…judge who would have seen it. There was no official seal or stamp on the document itself, [and] while we respect the court’s decision, we just want to highlight some of the things which we have a problem with the document, no signature, no file date, no official seal or stamp, and it was just a courtesy copy that was sent to us. So… our attorney is vetting it some more, and they will advise further as to how we proceed,” added Barnswell. CEO of the corporation Rowhan Blake told councillors during the meeting that he was served in his capacity as the defendant and had attended court at 9:05 Friday morning. Blake said he then circulated the decision to councillors by email, using the same method through which he normally sends minutes and other correspondence. He said the order restrained the corporation, its councillors and officers from considering, debating or voting on agenda items two to five, which were the ones that covered the proposed changes to the corporation’s leadership. The mayor relied on the order to stop the meeting from proceeding. But PNP councillors disputed his handling of the adjournment, arguing that the decision to end the meeting should have been put to a vote and decided by the majority. Councillor Romain Morris (PNP, Mocho Division) referred to the Local Government Act and called on the corporation’s CEO to guide the meeting on how it should proceed. “Mr CEO please note this meeting was not adjourned properly. The motion of adjournment, Mr Chairman, is a question and is set out in the Local Government Act section 32(J) and with that said, Mr Chairman, it must be adhered to… With that being said the chairman is no longer in his seat, [and] I am going to ask if we can elect a member among ourselves to continue with the remainder of the meeting from the majority,” questioned Morris. His intervention followed the mayor’s repeated attempts to end the meeting, citing the injunction. The PNP councillors maintained that the decision to adjourn should have been put to a vote and decided by the majority, rather than the mayor declaring the meeting over. As the dispute continued, Morris suggested that the councillors remaining in the chamber elect someone from their majority to continue with the meeting. However, JLP councillors disputed that approach, maintaining that the mayor had already adjourned the meeting and that the council could not proceed in his absence.

Mayor of May Pen Joel Williams speaking at Friday’s special sitting of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.

Member of Parliament for St Catherine South Central Dr Andrew Wheatley (left), mayor of May Pen Joel Williams (centre) and MP for Clarendon North Central Robert Morgan (right) in conversation following Friday’s special meeting of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.

PNP councillors continued to challenge the handling of the adjournment and called on Blake to advise them on the way forward, but Blake and the mayor subsequently left the chamber, even as the PNP members maintained that the meeting had not been properly adjourned. The dispute over the adjournment added to the disagreement over the injunction, with the PNP unable to proceed with the planned leadership changes despite its new 12-10 majority. Mayor Williams, speaking with the media after the meeting, defended his decision to seek court intervention. “We are seeking to get clarity as it relates to the Section 16 of the Local Government Act… They are the ones who are playing political football with the people’s business, not us on this side. We’re always serious about getting the people’s business done in the parish of Clarendon and [by] extension across Jamaica. That’s what we’re here for, not to play games,” declared the mayor. He declined to discuss Williams’s decision to leave the JLP, saying: “She’s on the other side and I don’t wish to speak on her.”