THE mayor of Spanish Town Raymoth Notice was rapped by his People’s National Party (PNP) colleagues last Thursday after he told the council that he symphatised with former Jamaica Labour Party councillor Henry Fisher, who is facing drug trafficking charges in the United States

“I do not want anyone to use the council to demonise or rebuke anyone. The man (Fisher) is not convicted for any act of criminality so I don’t want the council to point fingers,” the mayor said after PNP councillor John Wilson (Old Harbour North) called Fisher’s arrest a sad day in the council’s history.

Wilson urged his colleagues to set a better example as their constituents looked to them for guidance, noting that it was the first time in his 20 years at the St Catherine Parish Council that a councillor had ever been arrested on drug charges. “We ought to be ashamed of ourselves when things like this happen because it impacts adversely on all of us as councillors,” he said.

He got the support of Councillor Denise Daley (Linstead Division). “We on this side do not want the council to sympathise with anyone who has been caught in an illegal act. I want it to be known that we condemn such action by any councillor. We don’t want to cover up or condone any illegal act by a man who is allegedly caught with (illegal) drugs or to sympathise with him,” Daley said to applause from both sides of the council.

“Therefore, I don’t want you as my mayor, to say you sympathise with a councillor who has been arrested and charged by the police for his alleged involvement in an illegal act. I can’t imagine Mr Mayor, that you would really even think of supporting any councillor from this chamber who commits an illegal act and has been taken in custody by the law, for that matter,” Daley said

But in an attempt to justify his comments, Notice countered, “I sympathised with the man because he has a family, although I condemn such action by him. I want you to understand me.”

Fisher’s absence from three consecutive council meetings prompted PNP councillors to call for his resignation since he had sent neither an apology nor a medical certificate concerning his absence. Notice at the time said the council had no documentary proof that Fisher was arrested nor had they received an official resignation letter from him.

In July, Fisher, who is being held in custody without bail, sent his resignation letter to his member of parliament for North East St Catherine, Abe Dabdoub, who instructed him to send it to the Parish Council.

The council accepted the resignation which Notice said was received on August 31. Fisher was arrested in February on drug trafficking charges in Key West, Florida by Drug Enforcement Agents (DEA) after he was allegedly found with six kilograms of cocaine.