MONTEGO BAY, St James — Newly appointed chief executive officer of the St James Municipal Corporation Naudia Crosskill has big goals to positively impact the image of the local authority by strengthening the work being done by her team.

“I plan to work on the culture of the organisation and the customer service because we are here to provide a service and I have to make sure that my staff understands that if there is no public service, they have no jobs. It is important that they serve the public well so that the public sees the value of the council,” Crosskill declared in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“Once we start getting those right, then we also have to make sure that the things we have responsibilities for — like the drain, roads, and building plans — are being taken care of. We have timelines within which these functions are executed, and I plan to work with my staff and the council to try our best to ensure those timelines are met. We also have to be responsive, so when the public calls on us, we respond,” she continued.

Explaining that she believes more work needs to be done to bridge the gap between citizens and the local authority, Crosskill told the Sunday Observer that this is high on her agenda. She pointed out that this goal will benefit the citizens of St James as well as the municipal corporation, as a mutually respectful relationship will bring forth great results.

Crosskill, who took over the big seat earlier this month, replaces now-retired Gerald Lee.

“I want to make sure that the image of the council changes whereby people don’t feel like the council is just some place that they come and do as they please but that it is a professionally run government organisation that is here to protect the public and to make sure that we have civic order while the rules and regulations, as laid out by the various Acts, are adhered to,” Crosskill stated.

“The truth is that I don’t believe there is a lot of respect for the authority of the council out there, and so my passion comes from the fact that I want that to change. I want to do everything in my power to make a difference in how the council manages the affairs of the jurisdiction over which it has control,” she added.

Crosskill is no stranger to the local authority. She has devoted her professional career in several capacities at two additional municipal corporations across the island, as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. She told the Sunday Observer that she first started at the then St Thomas Parish Council in her home parish, in 1999.

“I started as the accountant general, operations, which was the name of the post then. However, within the same year the person who was director of finance migrated and they promoted me to the position, being the only person in the council with a degree that could fulfill that role. I was director of finance for many years until 2012,” she said.

“I then left and went to the Ministry of Local Government for a short stint in the accounts department, where I spent about a year and a half,” Crosskill added.

After a fulfilling five years as the city treasurer of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation, Crosskill was then promoted to the CEO position at the Portmore City Municipality in 2018. She told the Sunday Observer that she spent the last four years in this role before journeying to the second city where she is ready to “make a difference”.

“I was in Portmore and now I am in St James, where my greatest desire is for the public to have great respect for the council, for us to understand and execute our function the way it is supposed to be done, and for our image to be changed,” she said.

While exuding confidence and a type of charisma that was welcoming, Crosskill told the Sunday Observer that she was first introduced to working at the municipal corporation through a family friend, after completing her bachelor of science degree with a double major in accounts and management. She also holds a master’s degree in banking and finance.

“When I was a little girl I used to say that I wanted to be a flight attendant or a bank manager. As I grew older I knew I wanted to do something in finance, but I did not know that the council had work like this. But, my brother had a friend whose father was a councillor, and he told me about the job at the parish council so I applied,” said Crosskill.

Sharing that she is excited about her new role at the St James municipality, Crosskill said she believes the local authority has the potential to become the model council on the island.

“My desire is for us to be the best council in Jamaica so [that] when we talk about local government we become the default council, and Caribbean countries can use us as a model. I want citizens to have great respect for the council, and for the staff to feel proud to say they work here, also for young people coming up to see St James as a place that they desire to work in,” she said.