Advice from AG, solicitor general confirms Joel Williams as May Pen Mayor, says McKenzie

The Government's chief legal advisors, the attorney general and the solicitor general, have stated that Joel Williams rightfully occupies the position of Mayor of May Pen, amid an impasse over the chairmanship of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation following November's by-election in the Aenon Town division.

Minister of Local Government Desmond McKenzie told Wednesday's post-Cabinet media briefing that while People's National Party (PNP) councillors in the municipal corporation have been pushing to have Williams removed, "based on the law, what they are asking for is not allowed".

The by-election in the Aenon Town division brought the number of sitting councillors in the municipal body to 22 – split down the middle 11 apiece between the PNP and the Jamaica Labour Party.

The PNP councillors believe the mayorship should reside with their caucus, claiming that the by-election results meant it now had the overall popular vote.

McKenzie informed Wednesday that he had sought legal advice on the matter and recently received a joint response from Attorney General Derrick McKoy and Solicitor General Marlene Aldred.

McKenzie said the attorney general and the solicitor general have advised that Clause 32 of the Local Governance Act clearly lays out what happens when a tie occurs after a by-election.

He quoted from their letter stating that "Where there is a tie in the political representation following a by-election, the person who occupied the chair as chairperson before the by-election remains as the chairperson after the by-election.

"Additionally, Clause 19 of the Act states that the tenure of the chairperson of a municipal corporation lasts from one local government election to the next. The only way in which that chairperson can be removed between islandwide local government elections is if a no-confidence motion, supported by the majority of all councillors in the municipality, no sooner than 12 months after the date of the last local government election."

McKenzie stated that the advice means that Williams remains the chairman of the corporation while Clive Mundell remains the deputy mayor.

"With the legal position being clearly expressed I'm expecting that the outburst and the disruption of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation will come to an end and that the needs of the people in their respective divisions will occupy the attention of all the councillors," he said, noting that he was disappointed about the manner in which the dispute has unfolded.

McKenzie pointed to recent disruptions to meetings of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation and the abrupt end to last week's abrupt end to the Annual General Meeting of the Association of Local Government Authorities of Jamaica (ALGAJ).

In the meantime, McKenzie also suggested that a no-confidence vote after February 26, is unlikely to succeed in removing Williams.

"If after the one year there is a vote of no-confidence against the mayor, it means that all the councillors will have the right to vote, and, interestingly, the mayor who sits as the chairman, has the right to a vote, but he also has the right to the casting vote. So that in itself answers the question. So if there comes a time when there is a vote of no-confidence, nobody would expect that the person who the vote of no-confidence is raised against will vote against himself," McKenzie stated.

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