HGP Nightly News – PNCR General Secretary Sherwin Benjamin says the recent public distancing by Town Clerk Candace Nelson from legal action filed by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council against the Government has exposed what he believes is a deeper problem inside City Hall, one tied to authority, political interference and the weakening of elected local government.
Nelson had publicly clarified that she was not part of the legal proceedings involving the disputed Water Street property, saying she did not authorise the filings and did not sign any legal documents connected to the matter. That statement came after reports had linked her to the case because, under normal municipal procedure, legal action by the council is typically brought in the name of the Town Clerk.
It was against that backdrop that Benjamin was asked by Nightly News, to comment on what the episode says about the state of affairs inside City Hall. According to Benjamin, the issue goes far beyond one court matter. In his view, the public disagreement reveals a deeper breakdown in how the municipality is functioning, with council decisions not always being carried out by the administrative arm of the city.
“What you have in essence is everything operating in the reverse,” Benjamin said. “Central government makes the decision and the staff execute central government’s decision, and it makes the council look as if they’re not doing what’s supposed to be done.”
He argued that under the law, the Town Clerk is “in fact an employee of the city and should be taking the instruction of the city.” Benjamin said the council is entitled to receive advice from the Town Clerk, but the final authority rests with the elected body. “You can advise the council, but the council can basically not take your advice,” he said, adding that if there is disagreement, the proper course is for that to be recorded because “at the end of the day, the council has to be accountable to the people.”
For Benjamin, the larger concern is that there appears to be a pattern in which some city staff are not taking direction from the council itself. He said there is “a situation existing where persons are not taking their instructions from the council,” and that this has contributed to the confusion and public contradiction now surrounding the Water Street case.
He described the current situation as “a sad state of affairs,” arguing that it reflects not only internal dysfunction but also the influence of central government over municipal affairs. In his view, the controversy at City Hall fits into a larger trend in which the autonomy of local democratic organs is being eroded and decisions are increasingly being shaped outside the structure of the council.
Benjamin also linked the issue to President Irfaan Ali’s recent public comments about wanting a PPP/C-led City Council and stronger control over Georgetown. He said the President has now “indicated quite openly his intention to manage the affairs of the city through whatever means necessary,” and argued that the latest controversy should therefore be understood within that wider political context.
For the PNCR General Secretary, the Town Clerk’s public statement is not simply an administrative clarification. Rather, he sees it as another sign of the growing conflict over who is really directing the affairs of Georgetown, and whether the authority of the elected council is being steadily hollowed out from within.
