Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
Former Spanish Town Mayor Dr. Raymoth Notice looks up at a placard given to him by church members during a march for peace in the St. Catherine community in April.- IAN ALLEN /STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
YOU COULD almost see the weight of it, the regret, the relief, the resolve when former Mayor of Spanish Town Dr. Raymoth Notice turned to the television cameras to read his prepared resignation speech on Thursday. It was perhaps fitting that Dr. Notice, a controversial figure who had vaulted into the public spotlight in the year 2000 after blowing the whistle on the infamous prison beatings, was now making an ignominious exit under the glare of, what else, television cameras.
It is ironic that Dr. Notice had his head handed to him by the media last week, a media that 'took notice' of him five years ago, and carefully built him up over the years, and which seemed to take a perverse pleasure in scrambling to tear him down again. Many pundits believe that his political career may well be over, and without even a decent burial all that's left are the ugly details.
Contacted yesterday, Dr. Notice offered a sangfroid response to the media firestorm around him. "I am down but not out, surely I will rise again if the voice of the people says so."
The fact that Dr. Notice has climbed to such a vaunted position in a relatively short time reveals a level of political talent, and an unshakeable belief in his own destiny. Conversely, his spectacular fall may be a by-product of his environment, his private foibles and his outsize ego. But say what you want about the man, his is a mixed legacy that will fascinate and confound historians for years to come.
INEXPERIENCE A VIRTUE
Lampooned by the media because of his halting speaking style and his sometimes clueless pronunciations of words, Dr. Notice made his inexperience a virtue, his sins a sign of sincerity, and his drawling accent, an endearing quality that resonated with the common people. In person, the man himself radiates a personal warmth, and a down-home rustic charm accented by the thousands of 'Big Boy' jokes glittering in his eyes.
A native of Trelawny, Dr. Notice has always considered himself a son of Spanish Town ever since he went to work as a medical intern at the Spanish Town Hospital in the early 1990s. Dr. Notice officially took up his job as medical officer of health in the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) on August 1, 1995, and simultaneously, established a thriving practice in Spanish Town. In 2001, he resigned from the public service in preparation for a bid at representational politics, pulling off a neat bit of jujitsu in the process.
A FORMIDABLE FORCE
Dr. Notice came to office only one year after entering politics. In the October 2002 General Elec-tion, he contested the North Eastern St. Catherine seat for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), losing to incumbent K.D. Knight of the People's National Party (PNP). But seven months later, he was back in the reckoning in the Local Government elections, taking a division which helped the JLP to a 23-17 advantage in the St. Catherine Parish Council
He is admittedly a bit of an odd duck. First, take the matter of the odd first name, and Notice's bravado a surname that seems to scream 'look at me', then you have a recipe for eccentricity.
In June 2000, the public got its first helping of Dr. Notice when he fought back tears on the witness stand during a Commission of Inquiry as he gave emotional testimony on the severity of the punishment inflicted on inmates inside the prison last month. The medical doctor had treated many of the 300 inmates at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre in May 2000, when he was the doctor in charge. He treated the inmates for a range of injuries including broken bones, and one prisoner even lost an eye.
It was a dizzy time for Dr. Notice, and he basked in the glare of media attention. He even won a Gleaner Silver Pen award for his winning letter titled, 'Behind these walls', which described the conditions at the maximum security prison, including the prevalence of the HIV virus and the lack of rehabilitation. It was published on May 26, five days after the beatings started.
After he resigned from the DCS, he was involved in August 2002 in a public dust-up with K.D. Knight, incumbent Member of Parliament and Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, outside a bar along the Sligoville main road in St. Catherine. The two men were separated after an agitated exchange of insults, after which they collared each other.
I RETREATED
"He 'draped' me up, and I 'draped' up this tall man, but I restrained myself, considering my strength, and the skills I have in flooring him ... I simply retreated, because I did not want to hurt this senior gentleman who I respect," Dr. Notice said.
"I am not a violent person, but it was out of respect for K.D. Let me tell you something, some people say that if I had floored him, I would have won the election without campaigning," he said, giving his trademark laid-back chuckle.
Then, there was that time in 2004 when he made a controversial statement while attending the function to open the newest leg of the Highway 2000 toll road.
He had gone to the event even though his colleagues in the JLP boycotted the event in protest over the fees that motorists were asked to pay. During the event, he uttered the phrase 'let us see some of the progress', which members of the media took to be an endorsement of the PNP'S 'Don't Stop the Progress' tagline for its political campaign.
In December 2003, in response to escalating violence in the town, Dr. Notice proposed the St. Catherine Parish Council gun amnesty programme whereby persons giving information on the whereabouts of illegal weapons would be given monetary rewards. He got no widespread support from parliamentarians. Nonplussed, he instead launched a Gun Crime Prevention Programme instead, targeting students and gun-toting criminals. This programme was fully supported by the churches and the business people of Spanish Town but met with little success.
In February of 2004, Mayor Notice faced the most challenging time of his political career. Feuding between gangs caused the death of 19 persons, and at the height of the hostilities, he reiterated his appeal for a gun amnesty programme. As the violence continued in August 2004, he threatened to quit if the central government failed to put a lid on the situation.
In April 2004, eyebrows went skyward when the Mayor's former chauffeur Basil Henry accused his boss of assault occasioning bodily harm and making threats against his life for allegedly `carrying news` to his wife. The allegations were reported to the police. The Mayor was fingerprinted and faced the charge in court, but later walked free after making a public apology to Henry. It was the first chink that appeared in the Mayor's armour. But it would be fatal.
In what the media dubbed the 'Writing on the Wall' incident, a notice demanding answers from the parish council about the death of Oliver 'Bubba' Smith. Mayor Notice revealed that the first of four questions posted on the Council building queried the relationship between the Parish Council and the notorious `One Order` gang. The next question, he said, asked who received the first $300,000 out of the $500,000 that was used to clean the Spanish Town market in 2003.
This `writing on the wall` comes in wake of speculations earlier that plans were afoot to have Mayor Notice killed. Subsequently, the Mayor was summoned to an emergency meeting with the top brass of the CIB Headquarters in downtown Kingston, following reports of alleged death threats made against his life. When contacted by a reporter, Mayor Notice, in his typical offbeat manner, quoted a section of Psalms 21 to show he had no fear of death threats.
Now that he has found himself with extra time on his hands, Dr. Notice plans to continue to "serve his clients and his Bog Walk division, and devote his time to meaningful community projects like heritage tourism in the old capital".
