By Trudy Simpson Staff Reporter
A MONTH-LONG heated debate and controversy over whether the Harbour View Division of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) should be declared vacant fizzled out at yesterday's Council meeting after it was reported Councillor Fitzgerald Taylor had resigned.
Questions over whether the seat should be declared vacant arose from a resolution introduced at the November 14 Council meeting by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor Desmond McKenzie (Tivoli Division). The resolution charged that by missing more than three consecutive Council meetings without an apology, Councillor Taylor had violated section 31(b) of the KSAC's Standing Orders.
The People's National Party (PNP) majority defended Councillor Taylor, citing his signature in the attendance book for the July 11 Council meeting, one of those in question, to try to prove his innocence.
The councillor, who is said to be studying abroad, was found to have violated the KSAC's Standing Orders by leaving the island without the consent of the Council but Town Clerk Errol Greene pointed out the point was now moot because of Taylor's resignation from electoral division number 39.
The next step will be to inform the Director of Elections, Danville Walker, that the KSAC has another vacancy, the first being the Duhaney Park Division, which has been without a Councillor since the death of Neville Thompson last September. Mayor Marie Atkins is expected to send a notice to this effect within the next week or two.
But Harbour View, like Duhaney Park, may have to wait to get a new councillor since some councillors, among them Mayor Atkins, believe the Government will hold off on a by-election until local government elections, which they expect to be called next year.
Meanwhile, the PNP and the JLP believe they have a very good chance of securing the Harbour View division although they also contend no one could second guess the residents in Harbour View.
"Harbour View seat is in an area where the people decide their own fate (but) there is a very, very good chance," said JLP Councillor Lee Clark, who ranked his party's chances much higher than the PNP's.
"They (PNP) won the seat last election but I think since then a lot of things have happened. Obviously, the seat wasn't being monitored or worked by the Councillor," he said.
Forty-year political veteran and Councillor for the Trafalgar Division, Neville Ashman, disagreed.
"He (Taylor) did a good job while he was councillor but then he has got to go on and if there is an opportunity, he needs to take that," defended Councillor Ashman, who will not seek re-election because of his failing health and because, he says, he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren and in the church.
Also discussed yesterday were the problems of unkempt parks and stray animals, with Mayor Atkins warning that the owners of these animals would be hauled before the courts. She noted it was illegal to rear animals within town limits.
In addition, the following resolutions were supported:
a) that the KSAC publicly present its budget to the citizens of Kingston and St. Andrew and have their input when deciding budgetary issues for financial year 2001/2002;
b) that the faces, names, aliases and offences of the ten most wanted criminals in the island be broadcast on television nightly and in the newspapers as frequently as possible and;
c) that 10 more buildings: 128 Old Hope Road, 2 Arundel Street, 21 North Street, 72 Spanish Town Road, 5a East Avenue in Greenwich Town and on corners bordering East and Laws Streets, Gold and Tower Streets plus Gold and Water Lane- be declared public nuisances.
