Mayor Bernard Wagner Says There is No Room at City Hall for the Likes of “Yellow Man”

Keith Yearwood

Even as the revenue stream at the municipal level is only trickling, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner says that he is not contemplating axing any of his staff. On Tuesday, however, P.U.P. stalwart Keith Yearwood was sacked as assistant park manager with the City council. Yearwood is on record saying that he did not know that it was mandatory to wear masks when entering the Traffic Department, but the mayor says all managers were informed. Yearwood, who has been employed with the council since 2018 when the P.U.P. took office, expressed entitlement to the job as a card-bearing member of the party. Well today, Mayor Wagner came down hard on Yearwood.

Bernard Wagner

Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor

“I was at the traffic department, I made a spot check on Monday and the staff came in not wearing a mask. But the issue with prior to him not wearing a mask is his attitude toward the little worker, the security guard that was tasked to ensure that the policy that we are implementing was being carried out.  And all the security guard was telling him is that you cannot enter the city hall; I have a job to do, you cannot enter. I am just listening and then he pushed the security guard and said, “You don’t know who I am? I am a manager of this council.” And that doesn’t sit with me. I don’t care who you are—you could be a P.U.P., a U.D.P.; it does not sit with me. We have to hold our managers accountable and to have, when I look at the news that he speaking about being for the small man; no, you were bullying a small man. So don’t tell me that you are about the small people. No, you can’t be bullying people. And this is the type of stance and posture we need as leaders. I am appalled at the situation with “Yellow Man.” We have a government that sits around and has a person, who is the macebearer of the House, abuse a journalist, intimidate parliamentarians and they sit and do nothing about it. For me, that’s wrong in my books and it is wrong, wrong, wrong. The city council is the hierarchy that I answer to. I have the full support of the party hierarchy as well. Our party has no sacred cows. Our party has no sacred cows and that is the message we are sending to all supporters. We have no sacred cows.”