By Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
YESTERDAY'S MONTHLY meeting of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) disintegrated into chaos and a lot of shouting as Councillors debated a resolution which called for the seat occupied by Councillor for the Harbour View division, Fitzgerald Taylor, to be declared vacant.
At the centre of the uproar was Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor Desmond McKenzie who, along with his colleagues, argued that Councillor Taylor, who has been abroad studying, had missed three consecutive ordinary meetings without apology and should lose his seat, as declared in section 31(b) of the KSAC's standing orders.
This provoked a strong reaction from the People's National Party (PNP) majority which rushed to defend Taylor. Quoting from section 226 of the standing orders, PNP Councillor Victor Cummings (Allman Town) said such a decision could not be made without two thirds majority support. He also insisted Mr. Taylor had been given leave in October, subsequent to the three meetings he had apparently missed.
This, some Councillors argued, meant he was still considered a Councillor up to October and the November meeting would be the first he had missed since he received leave. But others questioned, how could Councillor Taylor be given leave after being absent for three consecutive meetings?
Councillor McKenzie attacked Mr. Cummings' supposition, stating that: A) section 226 referred to expulsion of a Council member, not to declaring a seat vacant and B) that the minutes from the July to the September Council meetings showed the Councillorslor had missed three ordinary meetings.
"All I'm asking you to do is to take the necessary action available by law. This is not about PNP or JLP but right and wrong. He was elected to serve people in Jamaica not abroad. The people of Harbour View need representation on the ground," he told Council members, urging them to act on "the principle of law and not on politics".
But after the meeting, a Council member charged the controversial resolution represented a political move.
"It was politics being played out in councillors. The JLP think they can win the seat in a by election and so they want the seat declared vacant," the member said.
Despite input from Deputy Mayor Larel Thomas, who expressed Councillor Taylor's apology and his desire to resign because of his educational commitments and numerous admonitions from Mayor Marie Atkins, both sides argued for more than an hour while a fascinated group of students, who had come to observe the meeting in preparation for Jaycees-sponsored Junior Council on November 23, looked on.
