MONTEGO BAY, St James - FORMER St James Parish Council Public Relations Officer Suzette Brown is tipped to represent the ruling People's National Party (PNP) in the Montego Bay South Division in the upcoming local government elections.

Brown who worked at the council for 11 years before forming her own public relations company, confirmed yesterday that she has applied for the position and is expecting a favourable response for the party.

She said, if elected, she plans to use the wealth of knowledge and experience gained during her tenure at the local authority to better the lives of her constituents.

"Having gotten the experience I figure the time is right to come off the sidelines and to make my contribution, and that is what I am about. I am going to show the people what real representation is all about," said Brown, who resigned from the council last October.

Prior to gaining employment at the St James Parish Council, Brown worked as a research assistant for Euromoney Financial Publications in London and as a public relations officer for the Mona Institute of Business. She was also a newspaper and radio reporter.

A native of Trelawny, the 38-year-old aspirant holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications and a Master of Arts degree in Communication for Social and Behavioural Change.

Yesterday, Member of Parliament for Central St James Lloyd B Smith, in whose constituency the Montego South division falls, said he is supporting Brown's candidacy.

"I believe that she has the necessary experience and background to bring some amount of expertise and quality service to the downtown Montego Bay area. Also, I think that it is refreshing to have a female candidate because right now the (St James) parish council is dominated by males," said Smith, who is also Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He added that the parish council is well in need of persons of the calibre of a "Suzette Brown".

"For too long the perception is that the parish council is for people who are of a certain level and who cannot go much further in the political arena and we need to change that perception, and so we need to see some very qualified people in the council, persons who can run the parish council as a business," he argued.

Brown is also said to have the "full backing" of the hierarchy of the PNP's Region Six, which covers the parishes of Hanover, St James and Westmoreland.

Observer West sources say "very soon" she will be confirmed as the party's standard bearer in the division.

The Montego Bay South division encompasses the inner-city communities of Canterbury, North Gully, sections of Salt Spring Road, Hart Street, Thompson Street and McCathy Street.

Brown, who is a member of Smith's Central St James management committee, said she has already started to work in the division, which she claimed has been grossly neglected.

"The division has been neglected over time and so I am going there to fix that," she stressed.

According to Brown, so far, the response from residents in the division has been excellent and they have pledged to work with her for the betterment of the area.

If elected, Brown plans to place great emphasis on education, which will include skills training; address the concerns of the elderly and the youth, as well as "cleaning and greening" the communities.

She added that she is already in dialogue with the private sector to establish school feeding programmes in sections of the division.

In the 2007 local government elections, the JLP won 13 of the 17 contested divisions in the St James Parish Council. Three of the sitting councillors — Brenda Taylor and Mexine Bisasor (JLP), as well as Averie Rosegreen (PNP) — are women.

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