Claudia Gardner, Gleaner WriterHANOVER:
DEPUTY MAYOR of Lucea and councillor for the Hopewell division, Vasca Brown, was ejected from the regular monthly meeting of the Hanover Parish Council yesterday, following a heated exchange with Mayor Lester Crooks.
The exchange between the two began after Councillor Fredrocious Miller of the Green Island division demanded that Councillor Brown apologise for allegedly disrespecting the mayor and councillors at a finance meeting last week. Councillor Miller threatened to leave the meeting if Councillor Brown did not either leave or apologise.
Councillor Brown had allegedly used expletives when addressing Mayor Crooks during the finance meeting after his request for funds to clean drains in Jumpp Town in his division was denied.
For almost an hour, Mayor Crooks alternated between pleading with Councillor Brown to apologise, and ordering him to leave. But Councillor Brown refused, and insisted that the councillors had no authority to throw him out of the meeting.
"Apologise for what? I will address anything pertaining to any allegation in writing," Councillor Brown said. "Who don't want to stay, don't stay! Leave!"
"I don't see what it takes for him to apologise and move on," Mayor Crooks lamented. "I want you to leave!" he said, turning back to Councillor Brown. "There is no way we can tolerate an attitude like this. We have never seen anything like this!"
But Councillor Brown maintained that he needed to exercise his legal rights and said he would not leave until he saw the parish council by-laws which govern conduct at meetings.
"I neva see dis from mi born. Jus' get up an say yuh sorry! A beg mi haffi beg yuh? Imagine if I weren't here today you would be chairing this meeting; after you have disrespected this council so much. We ask you to leave! Cho!" the mayor said.
"Missa Brown, could you just leave the meeting?" he continued. "You can't get a copy of the by-laws now. If you as a councillor, after two-and-a-half years, just asking for by-laws, you shouldn't be here!
The mayor's last comments resulted in another angry outburst from Councillor Brown. The mayor at that stage threatened to call the police to get Brown to leave. The councillor finally left the meeting after Councillor Samuels produced a copy of the parish council by-laws which verified that his ejection from the meeting was legal.
