Deputy Mayor Micah Goodin Granted Extension; Will He Resign?
His time as deputy mayor of Belize City should have come to an end today, but tonight Micah Goodin is holding on to his seat as the second most powerful officer at City Hall. He was given an additional week to deliberate and decide whether he will be stepping down on his own volition or face a recall by his colleagues in the Belize City Council. It’s the latest in an ongoing saga involving Goodin who was caught up in a shooting incident in mid-May that left shadow councilor Tae Medina injured with a bullet graze to the neck. On May twenty-sixth, during a meeting of the caucus, Councilor Albert Vaughn moved, by way of a resolution, to have Goodin step down as deputy mayor or be voted out by a majority of his fellow councilors. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Deputy Mayor Micah Goodin has been granted a proverbial stay of execution, following a decision by his colleagues at City Hall to extend the time needed for him to confer with his family on whether he should demit office. Councilor Goodin finds himself at the heart of an otherwise delicate situation in the wake of a shooting incident on May fourteenth, that resulted in a shadow councilor being grazed by a bullet. Earlier today, during a meeting of the Belize City Council, it was agreed unanimously that the beleaguered deputy mayor has until Monday to tender his resignation. During a recent conversation with Mayor Bernard Wagner, he told News Five that the move to unseat Goodin is a confluence of missteps on his part as an elected official.
Bernard Wagner
[File: May 27th, 2022] Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“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.”
That fourteen-day period elapsed today. In a press release issued by the Belize City Council this afternoon, it states that a collective decision was taken to allow Goodin additional time to make up his mind. Should he decide not to step down, a motion will be tabled for a special meeting to be held next Wednesday to recall the deputy mayor by way of a vote.
Bernard Wagner
“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.”
…so much so, that in the immediate aftermath of the incident three firearms that were licensed to Deputy Mayor Goodin, his associate, Tarique James, and Kenyon Tillett, the traffic officer with whom they had an altercation outside of an establishment on Newtown Barracks, were confiscated. We note that both James and Tillett were arraigned on several counts relating to the incident. According to Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, ballistic analyses of those weapons would have been conducted.
Chester Williams
[File: May 16th, 2022] Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“I have since directed the police to take away all firearms from the three individuals who are in possession of licensed firearms. The firearms will be sent to the forensic lab for ballistic purposes, as we still need to ascertain if all three guns were fired, or only two were fired.”
To date, there has been no update on the findings of those tests and what bearing, if any, they would have on the investigation into the shooting. Nonetheless, when we spoke with Prime Minister John Briceno last week, he reserved comment on the matter, going as far as saying that it’s a decision to be made by CitCo.
Prime Minister John Briceno
[File: June 2nd, 2022] Prime Minister John Briceno
“That is a decision for the city council. They, in their wisdom, have decided that Micah should take kind of a timeout, you know and step down as the Deputy Mayor of Belize City, so that’s not for me to comment on.”
We note that it would be the first time in the history of the Belize City Council that a deputy mayor would be ousted by his fellow councilors.
Isani Cayetano For News Five
