Contention Again in the Belmopan City Council
Controversy has erupted once again at the Belmopan City Council. This time a few of the councilors have come public to criticize Mayor Sharon Palacio for naming a new deputy mayor. That individual has also come public to reject the position on the basis that the position came without an election. News Five’s Marian Ali went looking for answers. Here is that report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Two councilors from the Belmopan City Council have taken to social media to blast Mayor Sharon Palacio for appointing another of their colleagues as the new deputy mayor. Councilor Guadelupe Chicas and Nikki Augustine, in separate posts, criticized Mayor Palacio for naming Pauline Soberanis-Tillett as their new deputy, effective August tenth. A press release, bearing the Belmopan City Council logo and purporting to come from the six councilors that make up the Council, states that the naming of the new deputy was not in accordance with the Belmopan City Council Act, Section Nineteen (Two). That portion of the Act essentially states that a deputy mayor can be replaced after there is a vote in caucus. Mayor Palacio explained to News Five today that she made the decision to appoint Soberanis because four of the councilors have kept away from meetings, so, she went ahead based on an agreement that they all agreed on at their last meeting – that is to rotate the post of deputy mayor so that every councilor could serve in that capacity before their term of office as a council expires in 2024.
Sharon Palacio
Sharon Palacio, Mayor, Belmopan
“At that meeting we discussed that it would be opportune for each councilor to get a chance to act as deputy mayor because it will always look good on their resume and also it would be good especially if they plan to continue their political career. So, the point was brought up as to how we were going to move the way forward, and we agreed it was going to be done at the following meeting – call it the elections, so that would be this set of minutes here and that was our last meeting. I found it in my right to do something, so I quickly looked at my time remaining and it’s well-outlined here: August tenth to December twenty-ninth, it would be Pauline, giving her a hundred and forty-two days, Councilor Nikki Augustine would go next, and right down the line.”
Palacio said she recused herself from the vote and left the meeting, but was surprised by the results.
Sharon Palacio
“Councilor Chicas, who was a very good friend of Councilor Tillett nominated Councilor Tillett and never voted for her. So, Councilor Swasey won. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about someone nominating someone and not voting for the person. That’s what Councilor Guadalupe Chicas did. And as I said, I will call a spade a spade. So the new deputy mayor, Darren Swasey, he was installed and congratulated by all. I must tell you, that from that date to today, I’ve not seen Councilor Swasey.”
The Mayor said that, according to the agreement, they would rotate the post every one hundred and forty-two days, and Swasey’s time has expired as deputy mayor and as far as she is concerned, the new deputy is Pauline Soberanis-Tillett. But Tillett also issued a Facebook statement declining the position on the same grounds as those cited by Chicas and Augustine, and the Council’s press release – that she was not elected in accordance with the Council’s Act. But despite this, Palacio says that Soberanis, who had also agreed to the terms in the meeting, would now have to formally notify her of her reluctance to serve as deputy mayor.
Sharon Palacio
“Yes, the Act says that, but you have in the past and other councils have done likewise, whereby we’re giving people an equal chance and in this particular case, as I shared with you, these councilors have refused to come to meeting.”
Marion Ali
“Why would you think –?”
Sharon Palacio
“They have their own personal agenda.”
Marion Ali
“The person that you nominated, Pauline Soberanis-Tillett has also declined the position because she too agrees with what the other councilors are saying – that she was not placed there by an election.”
Sharon Palacio
“She has declined on Facebook. She would need to send me something in writing because I’ve sent her something in writing.”
Marion Ali
“What has she told you personally?”
Sharon Palacio
“Yesterday when she saw it, she said to please take down the post, and I did not take it down.”
So what happens now? Palacio says that once Soberanis writes to indicate to her that she rejects the appointment, she will nominate another councilor from among them in accordance with the agreement they made at the last council meeting. But, she hopes that cooler heads will prevail and that there can be some civil discussion going forward.
Sharon Palacio
“All she needs to do is to write me and say “I reject it.” Then once that happens, we have the next person in line and they can reject it as well, or, the best thing – and that is what I want to come out of all this – that we can sit down. I am open for a reconciliation because the people voted us in for something, and together we can make a difference.”
Marion Ali For News Five
Mayor Palacio says she has written to the Ministry of Local Government to notify them about the controversy and that the P.U.P. will intervene to solve.
