‘Mayor of all the people’- Mentore talks healing, teamwork in inaugural address
As Mayor-elect, Mentore said he believes it is time to ‘bury the hatchet’ of the past and for the Council to work together.
“Let us turn a new page and let us find a way to reach across… and find ways in which we can be able to work together and build this city,” he urged.
Over time, there have been repeated calls in the city for new leadership to address a number of long-standing issues.
“We have serious issues of flooding, we have serious issues of infrastructure, we have serious issues of markets, poor and damaged roads that urgently need attention. As such, we need a strong sense of teamwork…We cannot succeed as a municipality without being a team,” Mentore admitted.
Asked about what strategies he will employ to address these issues, Mentore told the News Room that the Council will first discuss with the various constituency leaders who have direct relations and understand the needs of their constituency before they can “brainstorm ideas” and come up with a plan to tackle them.
He secured a total of 19 out of 30 votes. His competitor was PPP/C Odayson Ashby who secured 11 votes. Mentore was nominated by APNU member, Gregory Fraser and seconded by Tahirih Adams
Meanwhile, APNU representative Denise Miller was elected for the post of Deputy Mayor.
PPP/C councilor Jairnarine Singh was also nominated for this post but the APNU used its majority to vote against him.
Before the elections were held for these key posts, a total of 30 councilors who make up the new Municipal Council of Georgetown were also sworn in.
They are:
- Alfonso De Armas Archbold
- Tahirih Adams
- Odayson Ashby
- Bishram Bipat
- Jewula Ceasar
- Aileen Chalmers
- Patricia Chase-Green
- Kibwe Copeland
- Eslyn David
- Jason David
- Rudolph Dyal
- Trowes Ellis
- Yvonne Faguson
- Dexter Forte
- Gregory Fraser
- Troy Garraway
- Winston Harding
- Clayton Hinds
- Mohamed Isfehani
- Steven Jacobs
- Robert Maison
- Alfred Mentore
- Denise Miller
- Jeffon Muhammad
- Leon Saul
- Kesha Satimo
- Jai Singh
- Phagoo Singh
- Kyle Solomon
- Dion Younge