Darrell Bradley Says Belize City is “Better than I Found It”

Darrell Bradley

Belize City Mayor Darrell Bradley is set to demit office in the next five weeks and is currently in the process of transitioning back to private life as an attorney.  Over the past six years, he has remained at the helm of City Hall, having succeeded former Mayor Zenaida Moya.  Since then, the mayor acknowledges that the Old Capital has undergone major transformation, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development and sanitation.  Despite the many accomplishments during his tenure, there have also been numerous challenges.  Upon assuming office on March sixteenth, 2012, Mayor Bradley ordered an audit of the cash-strapped City Hall, reviewing everything from financial practices to the physical wellbeing of its employees.  During the first one hundred days, he rolled out a plan which introduced a transparent system of public tendering and procurement.  That mechanism remains in place and is among the more commendable achievements under his belt.  But what influenced Bradley’s foray into electoral politics, and why at the municipal level?  Those are a few questions we put to him this evening in an exit interview with News Five.

Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor

“Initially it was a decision that I actually felt that City Hall needed substantial amounts of institutional strengthening and I felt that I had the knowledge and the ability to make a serious contribution at municipal government.  I remember at the time I was contemplating running for central government and the party had asked if I would consider running for municipal government.  Many people had dissuaded me from that because municipal government at that time had significant challenges.  You had allegations against the former mayor, you had a great degree of, I would say, a lack of motivation in terms of municipal government.  There was a lack of trust and credibility.  There were serious challenges there.  As well, in terms of my doubts as to whether or not the city council had the financial capacity to really do the things that are set out statutorily as its mandate.  That notwithstanding, I felt that I could have gone there and really turn things around, so to speak, and restore a degree of trust and confidence in municipal government to the extent that people really believed that municipal government could deliver on goods and services for them and chart a vision for Belize City and essentially just leave the city in a better way and I felt that over the last going on to six years now that we’ve actually done that.  It has been significantly challenging but I think that we have over the course of that period turned the ship around, so to speak.  It is not one hundred percent but I believe that we are moving forward to where I can comfortably say that I will leave the city in about forty days better than I found it.”