Palmer MANDEVILLE, Manchester:
YOUNG, TALENTED, educated and dedicated, accurately define Winston Palmer, the Manchester Parish Council's director of finance.
Palmer, a former student of Manchester High School, and the holder of a master's degree in Business Management from Nova University, he assumed his current position in January 1999.
Since then, his initiatives have led to the revamping of the way the Council handles its finances.
It's easy to underestimate his abilities and dedication to hard work given his youthful look, but he has shown a commitment to his job uncommon in many areas of public life.
Single, Palmer, has exhibited the virtues of a responsible Jamaican male, setting examples for his peers, and dispelling the myth that men in general are irresponsible. He says he finds his work at the Council challenging, but considers it part of his mandate to change the mindset and improve the work ethics there.
Palmer said he would like to see the island's Parish Councils transformed into a modern-day business, self-sustaining and carrying out the people's mandates efficiently, and professionally, with accountability, like a well-run private company. Too many employees in government, as well as in the private sector, make their salary the motivational force, instead of accomplishments in their work, Palmer said.
Money, he said should be the payoff, at the end, with the feeling of satisfaction that comes with a job well done. While basking in the accolades heaped on him by the 15-member Parish Council during its monthly meetings, Palmer insists that if his primary motivation was money, little work would be done.
His advice to fellow workers is a quote from Charles Steinmetz: "Co-operation is not a sentiment, it is an economic necessity."
