Powell appointed secretary/manager for the St James Parish Council
WESTERN BUREAU — The St James Parish Council this week accepted the recommendation of the Public Services Commission (PSC) to appoint Christopher Powell, who has served as the acting secretary/manager for the council for the past 10 months, to the position of secretary/manager.
Powell took the job in January this year following the retirement of then secretary/manager, Lilieth Allen, who had served in that capacity for many years.
The recommendation was accepted at the monthly council meeting on Thursday.
Last month, the council had rejected the PSC’s recommendation, claiming the “proper and acceptable” procedure had not been followed.
Councillor Glendon Harris, who has responsibility for the Maroon Town Division, said at the time that the PSC had not consulted the council before making its recommendation. And Harris maintained that consultation was necessary as the move toward a more autonomous council under the Local Government Reform programme continued.
Hugh Solomon, Montego Bay’s mayor and head of council chairman, also threw his support behind Harris and when the matter was put to a vote, the majority of the councillors present voted not to accept the PSC’s recommendation.
The council was then mandated to request a meeting with the commission to have the matter discussed.
However, this week, Solomon said he had a very satisfactory meeting with the PSC concerning Powell’s appointment.
“I attended the meeting and I think we had proper dialogue and a precedent has been set that consultations will be made with the parish councils when appointment is to be made to the council by the Services Commission,” Solomon said. “Now that we have had dialogue, we are now satisfied and we are ready to accept the recommendation of the Services Commission,” he added.
At the same time, Solomon remarked that the council had not been opposed to Powell’s appointment to the post, but rather to the way it was conducted.
“The council at no time objected to the appointment of Mr Christopher Powell. The council had objected to the way in which the Services Commission had dealt with the appointment of Mr Christopher Powell,” Solomon stressed.
