TWO CONTRASTING aspects of Local Government performance have been on display in recent months, reaching an apex of sorts in the last few days. We refer to the political manoeuvring in the Portland Parish Council and the activist grandstanding of Mayor Desmond McKenzie in Kingston.
Both sets of activities derive in a sense from the Local Government sweep by the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party in all but one Parish Council in the last elections. This was a situation ripe for political tension since the Central Government is still controlled by the People's National Party; which means in effect that Local Government is the province of JLP-controlled parochial councils still dependent on the national administration.
The political manoeuvring in Portland revolves around apparent attempts by the PNP to regain control of a Local Government council to put a dent in the 2003 JLP Local Government sweep.
On the other hand, Kingston's mayor has been performing like a man on a mission. His campaign against what he says the KSAC has deemed as illegal billboards has attracted criticism in some quarters.
The Mayor may be on good ground in so far as advertising billboards are erected on public property without permit or payment of the requisite fees, thereby depriving the Corporation of well-needed revenue. But signs on private property which facilitate public identification by persons pursuing legitimate business may be another matter, deserving of legal determination.
The latest kerfuffle over a visiting circus company is on clearer ground. If indeed the requisite permits were not secured, the Mayor was right to put his foot down and insist that the regulation be followed.
Municipal administration should be positive and beneficial to public safety and well-being. Mayor McKenzie has given good examples of what active Local Government can achieve even in the potentially hostile context of philosophical differences of the central administration.
On the other hand, the Portland Parish Council appears to be hamstrung by local politics and seems far removed from attaining any kind of platform on which the long-projected Local Government Reform can be built.
While signs, circuses and personality differences may be important, it is far more critical for councillors to focus on the issues that affect the daily lives of people, and not on petty conflicts.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
