Mayor reverses decision to terminate City Engineer

In a turn of events, Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore has overturned a decision to terminate City Engineer Abdul Rasheed Kellman following a robust legal challenge and council evaluation.
This development comes after Kellman, who has served the council for approximately 22 years, successfully contested allegations that he had abandoned and/or forfeited his duties.
The controversy began when Acting City Engineer Kenson Boston asserted that Kellman was absent from his duties. Town Clerk Candace Nelson cited a seven-day absence, but Kellman’s legal team argued that his duties often required him to work in the field, “a standard practice for engineers”.
At this week’s Statutory Meeting of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), held at the Kitty Market, Kellman’s defence was bolstered by Councillor Patricia Chase Green, who pointed to a significant flaw in the Council’s operational structure and absence of superiors.
In her contribution to the case, Green questioned Boston’s punctuality similar to his questioning of Kellman, given that fact that City Engineer Boston acknowledged in his explanation to the Council that Kellman’s absence was brought to his attention by Town Clerk Nelson and not through his own observation.
“There’s no standard procedure of reporting to work in the mornings… If you come in here tomorrow morning or any given morning to check the officers, you won’t find them at the desk.
“I’m being frank, you had a senior officer come in front the committee to say to the committee that he ain’t see a man from the 9th of December to whenever. Was he really absent? He could check in, go to the office, do whatever he has to do and step out back, because there’s no reporting system,” Green said.
Following a lengthy discussion, the Council resolved not to terminate Kellman, but instead to issue a formal warning.
In his deliberation on the final decision, Mayor Mentore emphasised the need for procedural changes to prevent similar issues in the future.
“The recommendation and decision of the Council would be not to terminate Mr Kellman; however, in addition to that we will write him a warning letter speaking to his conduct and the way he performs and how he reports to his head or superior,” the Mayor said.
This lack of a formal mechanism for monitoring attendance and work activity has come under scrutiny, with calls for immediate reforms.
Mentore also tasked the Human Resources Department and Committee with developing a monitoring system for all staff and officers.
“Based on the suggestion made by many, I heard Councillor Alfonso [De-Armas-Archbold] as it relates to, we must have some sort of monitoring mechanism in place and I want us to defer to the Human Resources as well as the Human Resources Committee to come up with a monitoring measure as well as a new procedure. Not only for ordinary staff but for all officers of this council, so in the future if we have an instance like this, we could be able to not only give the man a slap on the wrist, but we’ll be able to have enough information and evidence available to us to be able to deal with the perpetrator,” he added.
Councillors also stressed the need for a comprehensive performance audit, highlighting concerns over accountability and efficiency within the Council.
In fact, the incident has sparked broader conversations within the Council about the internal operations, highlighting the urgent need for structural reforms. As the Council moves forward, the implementation of a monitoring mechanism and a focus on accountability are expected to prevent future disputes and ensure a higher standard of governance. (G1)