Former councillors defend embattled ex-mayor

On last night’s newscast viewers heard former city councillor Eloisa Trujeque express her support for ex-Mayor David Fonseca, the man who claims to have spent around four hundred thousand dollars of city funds on donations to the poor–but can’t account for a single penny. Today, thanks to the cooperation of the People’s United Party, we were able to interview three more former councillors. For Marshall Nunez, Linsford Castillo and Danny Madrid, it seems to be a conflict between loyalty and reality.

Marshall Nunez, Former Belize City Councillor
?I think some level of complacency took place and he became comfortable with the way that was done. As I said, probably if he was given the opportunity to do it again I am positively sure he wouldn?t have done it the same. I would not have done it that way for sure and I don?t think anybody else would, but it came out the way it did now, so that would be a caution for anybody else.

Stewart Krohn
?When you look to the point where the former mayor was writing bad cheques to his own City Council, then cashed them and they turn out to be no good, not once, not twice, but many times, something has gone way off the tracks here. Can you condone that??

Marshall Nunez
?Nobody would. Nobody would condone such a thing and I know that he feels very terrible. I think as a man who have served this city and have garnered respect of the city over time, to make such a mistake and have it affect him so terrible.?

Stewart Krohn
?You talk about affect him so terribly, how about affect us the taxpayers? I mean you?re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars of public funds that we don?t know what he did with them.?

Marshall Nunez
?From the council perspective, or the past council perspective, we know that many times, many people have come to the council for assistance and for help. Every one of us in the council have at one point referred to or recommended somebody to Dave for assistance and we know that they were assisted. We wanted the people to be assisted, we never question how he did it.?

Stewart Krohn
?Did you know that the mayor was spending approximately four hundred thousand dollars with absolutely no accountability??

Lindsford Castillo, Former Belize City Councillor
?Certainly, I do not know the figures per se, the procedures. And looking at it in hindsight, certainly what has happened and how it came out, I do not agree with. You know the procedure was … ?

Stewart Krohn
?I?m not asking if you agree about it, as a councillor did you know that this was going on??

Linsford Castillo
?I did not know the specifics of what has been happening at the council under our tenure, because we were a hands-off council. That?s way we had managers, that?s why we had the professionals there to do the work. We merely sit in caucus and set the policies and leave the work and the specifics to the managers. So no, to answer your question, I did know of any specific amount that the mayor supposedly spent.?

Stewart Krohn
?Well not supposedly, he says he spent it. That is not up for question. Okay, you say that it?s the professionals, the technicians that somehow let this get by. Are you saying that it was their responsibility to raise a red flag when they saw this totally unorthodox?to put it in its best light?method of income distribution going on??

Linsford Castillo
?Yes, I believe so because the mayor alone could not and still cannot do certain things based on his own merit or using his own authority. That is not the way that the council works. And therefore we have managers there to look after the best interest of the council. And therefore, yes, I believe management should have played a more hands-on role, whether it has to do with cautioning, whether to do with advice; that is what they were being paid to do. So yes, I believe so.?

Stewart Krohn
?But the financial manager says that every month her report on page two showed exactly how much was disbursed to the mayor and what was going on. You never read the report??

Linsford Castillo
?Of course. We get copies of the reports on a monthly basis as councillors, and so therefore we are aware of the bottom lines that has to do with what revenues is in the council, what has been collected, on a monthly basis, definitely yes.?

Stewart Krohn
?But the expenditure?what she is saying, what Miss Wade is saying is that is was right there in black and white item for the mayor?s budget and it should have been apparent to all of you if you had read the report, exactly what was going on. She said if you all knew what was going on, you are the elected people, she?s got to sign where they tell her to sign.?

Linsford Castillo
?Stewart, I think this is quickly getting to a pass the buck and the buck has to stop somewhere. And I think the mayor has taken responsibility fully for what has happened and now it?s a matter of dealing with the situation.?

Stewart Krohn
?Well, you talk, Linsford you talk about dealing with the situation and you say the mayor has taken responsibility. The mayor to my knowledge has not ever said that oh yes, I took that money on my own personal account and I will pay back every cent of it. Do you think he should pay back the money??

Linsford Castillo
?Well I certainly believe that what he has done and the assistance he has given, certainly whatever amount it is, I believe that most of that has gone into assisting the people. So if there if something to pay back, yes he should payback, but I don?t believe he should pay back everything, because certainly with the poverty alleviation programme that we have been carrying on at the council, from what?as I mentioned earlier, I will speak on what I know?direct assistance has gone to many people and there are many people out there who have benefited directly from the mayor when he was there.?

Stewart Krohn
?Why do you think the mayor wrote bad cheques to the city council and cashed them? Why on earth would anyone do that if one?s intentions were noble??

Linsford Castillo
?Stewart I will no speculate on that because I do not know the details of that, so I will not get into that matter.?

Stewart Krohn
?Linsford you can say that you won?t get into it, but in the next breath you?re saying, no you don?t think the mayor should pay back the money because it went to a good cause. But if you look at the mayor?s actions, everything he did indicates that these were not?that the money did not go where he said it went, because if he wanted the money for a legitimate programme you would not write bad cheques and have them cashed at the Traffic Department. Something is wrong here.?

Linsford Castillo
?Yes, as I mentioned, the procedures certainly I do not agree with. You know, the way it was done and the procedure that was used, I am not in agreement with it and I will say as much as that. And what we need to do now is to remedy the wrongs. Mistakes were made, crucial critical mistakes and hindsight is teaching that to us everyday. And I?m not standing in front of you justifying whatever actions or trying to right any wrongs. Yes, the procedures were wrong. Yes, some mistakes were made. But now what we need to do is to implement corrective measures.?

Stewart Krohn
?Why should the public think that the former mayor is anything but an outright thief??

Danny Madrid, Former Belize City Councillor
?Well, that?s what people think right now, and I can say the media does a good job with that, good or bad. But what I can say about what I know about him is that the procedure he used was wrong, let?s accept that. But the intention behind that was to assist hundreds and hundreds of Belizeans who need the services, who need help. And I?m talking about scholarships, I?m talking about medical bills, water bill, light bill; you name it and they are there for a purpose. And they are there every single day, especially on Wednesdays when we call it clinic. And that was the intention that he was doing??

Stewart Krohn
?Why didn?t the mayor account for the money??

Danny Madrid
?That?s one wrong thing that he did …?

Stewart Krohn
?But isn?t that a big wrong thing that he did??

Danny Madrid
?It?s wrong, but let?s not look at it like he?s a thief.?

Stewart Krohn
?Why not??

Danny Madrid
?People will be saying that, some people will understand and know that what he did with the funds is to help Belizeans. And I am sure that the present mayor will have that same problem; where will she get funds to help the people who are in need? She has to go somewhere. Maybe now this is a lesson that you should do it properly … yeah, legally.?

Stewart Krohn
?Give me a reason why you would give all that money without creating a mechanism for it? Why would you borrow money, why would you take salary advance? Why would you write bad cheques and cash them at the city Traffic Department to give money to the poor when there is a perfectly legal, normal mechanism to do this? It looks like the mayor stole hundreds of thousands of dollars. Can you get around that fact? Can you give me an explanation why??

Danny Madrid
?You can?t get around the fact. No, you can?t because people …?

Stewart Krohn
?So can you blame the public for thinking the ex-mayor?s a thief??

Danny Madrid
?You can?t blame the public and the opposition using it, because it?s politics that we?re dealing with. But, what I am saying, what he used the money for was for good purposes to help people.?

Stewart Krohn
?How do you now that??

Danny Madrid
?Because I am one of them who used to send people to the mayor. I can?t help you today, I don?t have enough, I don?t have this. And there?s hundreds and hundreds of people who come to you everyday. You send them to the mayor.?

And while that mayor was today behind his desk at P.U.P. headquarters on Queen Street, Fonseca declined our request for an interview, asserting that he had already said all he needed to say.