By John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter 
Lee
A POWER struggle is brewing at the Portmore Municipal Council as Deputy Mayor Collin Fagan clamours for more power and authority in the running of the two-year-old municipality.
The Gleaner has learnt that a resolution to amend the Municipality Act was tabled by Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor Natalie Rodriguez in support of the People's National Party's deputy mayor at last week's Council meeting after Fagan reportedly signalled his support for the move.
However, at the last minute, Councillor Fagan backed down, apparently under pressure from the PNP's hierarchy. The resolution was subsequently defeated by the PNP controlled Council.
But Councillor Fagan, when contacted, denied he had promised to support the JLP Councillors.
"I couldn't have done that because I don't know anything about the resolution...," he said. "Even if I was in support, the resolution was premature because it would have to first be discussed at the retreat (in August) to have a common understanding," he added. He also denied being disciplined by his party.
Sources told The Gleaner that Councillor Fagan has been dissatisfied with his role in the George Lee-controlled Council since the Local Government Elections of June, 2003, and has been advocating for the deputy mayor to be the political head of the municipality, with the Mayor's role being limited to an executive one.
Prior to the elections, Fagan was the PNP's main contender for the top job of mayor, but he was defeated by the current mayor, George Lee.
Despite the failure of the measure last week, Councillor Rodriquez has served notice that the Opposition Councillors will not yield because of what she described as a "disjoint between the operations of the Council and the Mayor."
It is anticipated that another attempt will be made to dilute the mayor's powers at the Council's two-day retreat in August to examine its by-laws.
"Right now we have to approach it outside of a resolution, in the sense of probably going through the by-laws," she said.
Reacting, Mayor Lee, the country's first directly elected mayor, disagrees with the suggestion for his deputy to be the political head of the Council, describing the proposal as a "retrograde step".
"I certainly disagree with the resolution because I think it is very clear that the deputy acts in the absence of the mayor," he said.
"If by chance the resolution was successful to give (more) power to the deputy...the whole process would have gone backwards."
