Victor Cummings Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer
If the parliamentary committee on local government reform has its way, all of the country's mayors could soon be directly elected.
These mayors would be elected to preside over the entire parish; not just the capital town or city.
Under the existing local government system, only the mayor of the Portmore Municipal Council in St. Catherine is directly elected. Every other mayor is selected by fellow parish councillors to preside as chairman of the council and mayor of his parish capital.
The members agreed that a directly elected mayor of the Portmore Municipal Council (established in 2003) should continue to preside alongside a directly elected mayor of St. Catherine, with the residents of Portmore being able to vote in both elections.
Vigorous discussions
Consensus was arrived at on this point only after vigorous discussions, sparked by questions raised by Victor Cummings, a government member on the committee. He initially suggested that Portmore's status be changed to one which has a municipal manager, while a single mayor for all of St. Catherine would be elected.
Questions were raised as to whether an anomalous situation could be avoided in St. Catherine by separating and establishing Portmore as a separate parish.
Keith Miller, the respected local government consultant, reminded the committee, however, that the existing Portmore model was seriously considered by Cabinet and a decision made not to establish it as a separate parish to avoid "opening the floodgates" with other major towns demanding parish status.
Any proposal to depart from that principle would have to return to Cabinet for its consideration, he suggested.
Members of the committee also expressed strong support for extending the term of the parish councils from three to four years.
Senator Anthony Johnson argued that it was important, at the same time, to restrict the power of central government to postpone the holding of these elections indefinitely. Successive administrations, since Independence in 1962, had been guilty of this unacceptable practice, he said.
Questions were raised as to whether an anomalous situation could be avoided in St. Catherine by separating and establishing Portmore as a separate parish.
