Ousted Lucea mayor takes matter to court
LUCEA, Hanover — An application filed in the Supreme Court by ousted mayor of Lucea Lloyd Hill to reverse a January 14 decision by members of the Hanover Parish Council to boot him as chairman of that local authority is expected be heard tomorrow.
“The whole thing was not properly done so I asked my lawyers to file the suit last week so I can be reinstated as mayor,” Hill told the Observer yesterday.
The Observer was told that councillor Hill (People’s National Party, Sandy Bay division) is applying for judicial review on the grounds that due process was not followed.
Specifically, his lawyer Abe Dabdoub is expected to argue that the councillors ought to have served notice for the motion which should have been voted on at the next sitting of the council, as opposed to suspending the standing orders at this month’s regular monthly meeting to vote on the motion.
If Dabdoub’s application is successful, it is expected that the court will grant an order, effectively reversing the events of January 14, which saw four of the seven councillors teaming up to vote Hill out of office on the grounds of a loss of confidence.
Hill was replaced by his deputy Fredecious Miller, a long-standing PNP councillor for the Green Island division.
Meanwhile, arising out of the incident, the Opposition PNP has summoned Miller and councillor Collville Allen (PNP, Cauldwell division) to a meeting of the party’s Disciplinary Committee scheduled for next Monday.
“There were some concerns that were raised and a report came to the executive last week Monday and the executive — following the guidelines of the constitution — established a Disciplinary Committee to deal with the matter,” said Julian Robinson, the party’s deputy general secretary.
Since the January 14 ousting of Hill, there have been calls from several PNP members for strong disciplinary action to be taken against Miller and Allen.
Robinson said yesterday that the Syringa Marshall-Burnett-led committee will seek to outline and hear the sentiments of the party members as well as to hear from Allen and Miller “their side of the story”, before coming to a conclusion.
