Ministry Starts Municipalities Reform Review
The Ministry of Home Affairs has commenced a Municipalities Reform Review, and will “give consideration to restoring some form of business vote addressing the issue of the disenfranchisement of these tax payers,” Minister Michael Fahy said today.
“I have written to St. George’s Mayor Garth Rothwell and Hamilton Mayor Graham Outerbridge expressing the Ministry’s intention to move forward with Municipality reforms,” said the Minister.
“The Ministry will be reaching out to relevant stakeholders of the Corporations as well as to representatives within their organizations to gather information, views and opinions with respect to the review.
“We are of the view that in an effort to improve efficiency and effectiveness as well as increase oversight in accordance with the principles of good governance we must explore new options.
Minister Fahy continued, “We will give consideration to restoring some form of business vote addressing the issue of the disenfranchisement of these tax payers. To be clear, in this regard the consideration is a business vote not a property ownership vote.”
“I can confirm that discussions with the Parliamentary Registrar on this matter have commenced. I want to reassure the public that the residential vote will not be affected, as the voting rights attributed to these residents were long overdue.
“Voting rights for the residents of Hamilton had been denied since the birth of the Municipalities Act in 1923, a fundamental error that was addressed and supported with the 2010 reforms.”
In response, Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge said, “The Council is highly encouraged and looking forward to the opportunity to provide substantive information as Minister Fahy revisits the municipality reforms that were made in 2010.
“Last year, the Council commenced the process of looking internally at what we would like to see reformed in the Act. I must add, the two previous City Councils had looked at and made significant suggestions on how the Act could be reformed….
The Mayor continued, “A meeting will take place next week with Minister Fahy. We are grateful that the Minister has included the Council at the start of the process. We will share our views and make recommendations.”
Minister Fahy’s statement follows below:
Good afternoon:
As you will be aware, under the Ministry of Home Affairs I have an extensive and varied remit, comprising of such areas as workforce and immigration matters, labour relations and charities.
The Municipalities, which include the Corporation of St. George’s and the Corporation of Hamilton, also fall under my umbrella.
Today, I’d like to take this opportunity to inform the public that the Ministry has commenced a Municipalities Reform Review.
In recent days, I have written to St. George’s Mayor Garth Rothwell and Hamilton Mayor Graham Outerbridge expressing the Ministry’s intention to move forward with Municipality reforms.
In my correspondence I shared with both Mayors that the Ministry of Home Affairs has started the process of assessing the work that was undertaken by the previous Government regarding this matter.
While our review is in the early stages, it is no secret that a great deal of work was already completed as part of the 2010 reform process.
Our goal at this stage is to update the current data and garner additional views to assist us as we take the next steps forward in this process.
With that in mind, the Ministry will be reaching out to relevant stakeholders of the Corporations as well as to representatives within their organizations to gather information, views and opinions with respect to the review.
The Ministry has also lined up meetings with the Mayors to discuss the review.
Additionally, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to come out and share their views regarding the way forward for the Municipalities, when we host two town hall meetings on May 17 and May 20.
The meeting on May 17 will be held in Hamilton and on May 20 we will be at Pennos Wharf in St George’s.
I think it’s critical to point out that both the Town of St. George’s and City of Hamilton are historical beacons for our Country. St. George’s occupies a unique place as part of Bermuda’s heritage. It was the site of the Island’s first settlement and in the last decade, it has garnered the distinguished status of being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Old Town was once a place bustling with tourists, commerce and cruise ships, and under this Government, we are hoping to see St. George’s restored to those heights once again.
As for Hamilton, well this is our main port – it’s the lifeline that keeps Bermuda going.
It’s our vibrant capital, where businesses thrive and our social atmosphere comes alive.
We see this as the location of endless possibilities for our future.
The reality is however, that the Municipalities have been chartered for decades under the existing structures while our Island has experienced significant and profound political, social, cultural, economic and infrastructure development.
In fact, until 2011, there hadn’t been any reforms to the Municipality Act since 1923. The 2011 reforms represent the beginning of a process that must now evolve in the best interest of today’s Bermuda.
We are of the view that in an effort to improve efficiency and effectiveness as well as increase oversight in accordance with the principles of good governance we must explore new options.
Some of what will be considered has already been discussed and debated in recent years. Options such as quangos and other non-quango models have been explored.
Again let me stress that these are only options for consideration at this early stage.
The fundamental issue is to ensure that we increase the democratic process to ensure good governance for the benefit of all Bermudians.
During this process, we are committed to gathering much valued input from the stakeholders and the public, and ultimately recommend a modernised governance structure that will serve Bermuda’s needs now and in the future.
Additionally, we will give consideration to restoring some form of business vote addressing the issue of the disenfranchisement of these tax payers.
To be clear, in this regard the consideration is a business vote not a property ownership vote.
To this end I can confirm that discussions with the Parliamentary Registrar on this matter have commenced.
I want to reassure the public that the residential vote will not be affected, as the voting rights attributed to these residents were long overdue.
Voting rights for the residents of Hamilton had been denied since the birth of the Municipalities Act in 1923, a fundamental error that was addressed and supported with the 2010 reforms.
As I close I am encouraging feedback from the public at our Town Hall meetings next week and I very much look forward to hearing and discussing the views from all concerned.
Thank you.
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Translation: Well, we looked under the hood on this one too and darn it, yet again we found that Ewart was right. We should’ve let him finish this thing and we would’ve been able to look at the current crop of idiots at City Hall like the sideshow they are. But you know what, we’ll just dust off the work that was done and implement it.
So Gosling, Harvey, Swan and the rest, what flag will you fly upside down now? Any marches coming? We’re waiting for your statement on this one.
I don’t think you can fly ANY flag. The Corporation removed the flagpole.
Hmmmm: Nice spin. You know the real reason that the Corporations were annexed was so that their finances and good credit rating could be hi-jacked, EB could stick it to the business owners by cutting them out of voting, and Outerbridge and crew would be a shoo-in. Of course, there is no black cloud without a silver lining, so Bakatahn finally got the vote they’d been wrongly denied all those years – which was expected to translate into grateful votes come election time.
Maybe we can have the streets opened and the loading zones put back, and lets make the sidewalks smaller, reduce them to maybe 20 feet wide, and lets hire some actual engineers as city engineers
Let’s see who is now going to march on Parliament. And will the march be led by the Town Crier? Will the marchers try to damage Minister Fahy’s car as they did with Zane DeSilva’s car?
you never know
Emotions run high and history is the problem ,the cure and the curse.
was it Zane’s Car or a GP car.
Mrs Furbert
Don’t try and re-invent history. I know for a fact that you were not there when that event happened, because I saw you arriving after it all happened.
There was absolutely no attempt to damage his car. In fact my recollection was that the only reason he got the attention he did was because he tried to pretend he was on his mobile phone as he was sneaking out of the House.
CT
It would be interesting to know if Mayor Outerbridge supports the restoration of voting rights to those tax payers in the City who own businesses. I know for a fact that one elected member of the Corporation agrees with this move. In this age of transparency let’s hear it directly from the current Mayor so these tax payers who operate businesses will know whether or not to vote for Mayor Outerbridge if they have their democratic rights returned.
Once again I emphasize the need for,”a 24 hrs manned,(like the old days) Police presence on the Ole Town side of the bridge along with a full time manned Fire Station…Just imagine,(and it is possible too)a fire were to breaks out and the firemen aren’t able to get from St.Davids in time to prevent the fire from spreading? Remember this, that the vast majority of them buildings in the Ole Town are extremely old and aside from all that, it is also a Heritage Site!
True Words have been spoken here.
The 24 hr need of a Police Station in the Town of St Georges is a essential to the conductivity of Law and order.
The removal of the Police Station was another brainchild of the PLP – what a sick thing to do.
even the old Towns of the Wild West has a Sherif station or post.
What Govt. removes the Police Station from a town!
Because the Buildings are very close and are very old one small fire could start one hell of a chain reaction.
We need Urgent attention to the Town of St Georges.
Please, we are the Old Town, not the Ole Town. We are neither in Spain nor Miississippi
Basic rule for reform: no taxation without representation. I urge all those who lost their vote to stop paying Corpoaration taxes until such time as they regain their right to have a say as in how their hard earned money is spent.