Mayor Bernard Wagner Breaks CitCo’s Silence on Micah Goodin Fiasco

Micah Goodin

The Belize City Council met in caucus on Thursday, the first session since Mayor Bernard Wagner returned from a working visit to Barbados. On adjournment, a motion was tabled by Councilor Albert Vaughn to decide the fate of embattled Deputy Mayor Micah Goodin. That motion was supported with one voice by those in attendance. Tonight, Goodin has fourteen days to relinquish his seat as deputy mayor or face being recalled by his colleagues at City Hall. News Five went one-on-one with Mayor Wagner who candidly discussed what took place during the meeting, including Goodin’s decision to walk away from the discussion when the motion was placed on the table.

Bernard Wagner

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City Council

“That was brought up yesterday in respect to our Deputy Mayor Goodin. Again, it has been essentially a whole stream of events that really triggered what occurred yesterday in the caucus where Councilor Vaughn tabled a motion on the adjournment, of importance, where he essentially asked for Councilor Goodin to resign from the deputy mayor’s position and if not, then he will table that motion within the fourteen days as per the act’s regulations.  And those councilors in that room unanimously supported Councilor Vaughn’s motion, nine councilors.  I was a bit disappointed that the deputy mayor chose not to participate in the discussion and have his colleagues hear his end of the story.  We have never heard his side of the story and so he lost an opportunity there to really speak to his colleagues.  Councilor Novelo, unfortunately, was not in that session.  He had an emergency just prior to Councilor Vaughn tabling that motion and he left, but the other nine individuals in there, which I am a part of, unanimously supported the motion and triggered that fourteen-day window for our deputy mayor.  The thing is, as elected officials you have to demonstrate many times restraint and judgment and we have, over the past period of time [observed] that the deputy has had a series of misjudgments, having a young shadow councilor socializing after hours, drinking.  I just believe that when you have young people, liquor, guns, egos, that’s a recipe for disaster.”