No-confidence motion moved against Linden Town Clerk

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 February 2016, 18:42 by Denis Chabrol

Linden Town Councillors Wednesday moved a no-confidence motion against the Town Clerk, Jenella Bowen, saying that she disobeyed repeated requests to rescind disciplinary letters that she had issued to two senior municipal officers while she was on leave.

Chairman of Linden’s Interim Management Committee, Orrin Gordon told Demerara Waves Online News that the no-confidence motion would be sent to Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan for ratification.

Gordon and the Council hope that she would leave office before Local Government Elections scheduled for March 18, 2016 with the passage of the motion.

The IMC Chairman explained that while the Town Clerk was on sick leave last year, she had issued directives in writing to the Personnel Officer and Treasurer.

Gordon said despite repeated efforts at the Administrative Committee meeting on February 11, 2016 and at Wednesday’s Statutory Meeting for fear that it could bring the Council into disrepute and trigger an industrial relations dispute with the union, she declined to rescind the letters.  “She stood her ground and so the Council felt disrespected by her insistence for something that was palpably wrong… and eventually the Council decided that they were going to move a no-confidence motion against her because they were dissatisfied with not only that but some other issues that were there before,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.

A no-confidence motion was then moved by Gordon “Bad Heart” Callender and seconded by Elise Halls.

The Town Clerk claimed that Bowen was also engaged in other alleged administrative infractions.

The action against the Linden Town Clerk Bowen is reminiscent of one approved several months ago by Georgetown City Councillors against Carol Ryan Sooba and subsequently ratified by the Minister of Communities.