And, as you heard the mayor is sticking to his guns, drumming it in that a city with unpaid taxes cannot expect or demand basic services.
One facet of that came to the forefront at the start of the summer when the council, unable to pay its garbage bill, had to find stopgap solutions to accomplish the task.
And while that problem seems to have been temporarily alleviated thanks to a bailout by the central government, the mayor concedes it's more band-aid than an actual fix for a systemic problem:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"We are putting something down the road that will eventually rear its ugly head again. The garbage fee will not go away. The situation will be the unsustainability of paying for Garbage 3.8 million annually is unsustainable, mayors before me have come and gone and have said the same thing. I am saying the same thing: we need to do a permanent fix for the garbage collection."
Reporter:
"So, you say it's been pushed down the road. What's been decided right now. I know the government, the central government gave you something but is it sufficient, for how long does that hold you over."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, it holds us overcoming into the high season and so the high season cures that for the time being but when you reach July, August, September again it will be knocking on your door again and so we have to become more innovative. I've spoken to several area reps and they are saying why not look at creating a fund. What you call a green fund to have businesses and entities and our diaspora brothers and sisters contribute to the fund to keep our city clean. That's a wonderful idea but will it work? That's the reality we face."
Laptop For A Worthy Kid
And while the council grapples with its sanitation bill, it's also stepping in to solve the difficulty behind online learning, at least for 12 city-based school kids.
That difficulty, a problem of access, where kids who can't access a device find it nearly impossible to keep up with the new modality of hybrid learning.
But some relief came today in the form of a laptop donation given by the Belize City Council and the Taiwanese city of Guanzhong. Cherisse Halsall was at the handing over ceremony this morning and tonight she'll tell you how it went for one hard-working, determined recipient.
Pushback Against Parking Meters
We also asked Bernard Wagner about the new parking meters set to be installed in Belize City.
Pictures of the machines hit social media at the end of 2021 causing a wave of concern to citizens who under the current circumstances can't imagine being charged for even one more thing.
But while the threat of them loom, they've yet to be installed. The Mayor says that the delay is due to pushback from the city's area reps who've given him alternate revenue solutions that in his estimation seem far-fetched. Here's more:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Whenever you are initiating any activity or initiative that requires a fee you will have push back. We face that currently, the parking meters are here, we require a provisionary authorization letter from the ministry because it involves a fee, putting a fee on those people that will be using the parking meters. So, that has it's own challenge, whenever you are implementing fee you will have some pushbacks from the area reps that mein, we putting on fees again on people. So that is where we stand right now with the parking meters, they are ready to be installed, they have already been programmed but we require by law that once it involves a fee that it be passed through Cabinet and through the house."
Reporter:
"So if there is pushback there, will it happen?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"I am optimistic that it will happen. We will have to consult obviously with the area reps to get by in, that's part of your job to sell your project, to sell your initiative, I think it's a wonderful initiative. It will bring clarity, it will bring, we have many business houses that people park in front of them all day and so people who want to access those businesses can't access those businesses and so we will require consultation with those area reps to see how we can get this project off the ground."
Wardens Never Meet Traffic Quotas
Those meters are just another strategy for the council to increase its revenue.
That may be because according to the mayor, Belize city's traffic officers have never been able to hit their long-established five tickets per day quotas:
He explained today.
Cherisse Halsall:
"Sir, we've heard about the quotas for the traffic wardens in Belmopan, are there quotas for the traffic officers in Belize City as well, and isn't that a punitive measure for the residents given how difficult it is to park in downtown Belize?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, quota's have been with us from way back. We didn't change any quotas when we got into office we found a traffic system that requires that officers give five tickets per day so. If you work it out it's 100 per month, that's the quota that we met, we have not changed it, we remain with it, to say tht we sanction our officers if they don't make it, no. It's a fluid situation and we work around it but you also expect some sort of performance management. That you require your officers and every organization to perform. I'm certain that you all have to do some amount of stories per day. So it's the same. It's not a revenue driven activity. It's more about blending performance along with compliance of the laws in the city."
Reporter:
"So they've met it for the most part?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"No they've never really met it, it's been a struggl and so we work along with them but they have never been able to meet that five a day."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Sir but them meeting it, is that punitive measure toward the residents and people would ask because we see these traffic officers measuring..."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Residents they break the laws everyday, we live in a, we are not disciplined, we live in a city that each and everyday there are thousands and thousands of breaking of the law. All we are saying is if the citizens comply with the law then we wouldn't have to write tickets."
Treasury Lane Into Taxi Alley
And while the City is set to get new parking meters, it's also bringing back something old, a facet of the city landscape that many thought was gone for good.
It's Treasury Lane, that good old left turn off Albert Street at the corner with Brodies and Battlefield Park that made getting to Regent Street much less tedious.
That much used street was subsumed into the park some years ago, but now it's coming back - but as an alleyway for parked taxi cabs.
That's because those cabbies will have to move to make space for the city's brand new electric buses, set to hit the streets in June. Here's how the mayor explained it:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"We have already met with the taxi association there, they are willing to move for us, we'll be. Our plan is to re-open that street alongside Brodies and turn it into an alley or a parking area for the taxis to be in that ally to pick up passengers and commuters. They have already spoken to us, the taxi association. They are willing to move along with it so we are actively pursuing it."
Naked Vagrant In Front of City Council's Citadel - Who's To Blame
But while tickets are handed out hand over first for bad parking, it seems that city officials are turning a blind eye to violations of common decency, even when it happen right in front of their shining downtown citadel of municipal governance.
It's perhaps the only conclusion to be drawn after a video of a homeless man exposing himself in front of the City Council yesterday, was shared widely across social media platforms.
We asked the mayor about that too.
Cherisse Halsall:
"Sir a question about the dignity of your council, there is a viral video that went around of a man standing across the street from this building stark naked and exposing his private parts to this building, do you feel that something should have been done to stop that in the process."
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, we need the collaboration obviously of the different organizations, this issue is not something new, this has been on the, all the previous councils have faced this situation of homelessness, when I was growing up there was a fix for homelessness, they had the facility at mile 21 and that worked pretty well. What we have now is that these mentally challenged people are left to wander all across the city. This is a Ministry of Health issue. It's a mental health issue, it's a family issue, it's a community issue. It's also a city council issue because our businesses are suffering from these individuals sleeping homeless right on their doorstep. Each and every morning many of these businesses have to be washing down in front of their business place and they have been clamoring to us, let's get a permanent fix for it. We need to see how we can find a permanent solution to the homelessness situation in our city."
City Hall Sickout
Couple OMICRON with multiple lapses in Covid enforcement, and it's no wonder that Belize City businesses are straining under mass sickouts.
And, right about now It seems no office is immune, and unsurprisingly, the City council finds itself right in the mix.
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"I don't have the actual figures but I know the valuation department has a number of people out as well as our works, department, our engineering department has some out, our planning department has some out but that is where you have continuity and succession planning in your department the necessary competency and capacity in the house so that you continue the necessary business of the city."
"Most businesses are facing the outbreak right now, this OMICRON is very contagious and the city is not immune to it. We've been battling it from day one and we continue to battle it. Your organization battles the same each and every day, all organizations are facing it. The point of the matter is that we can't go back to not doing business. We see the effect of not doing business in the city when there was a total lockdown. I don't believe any modern city right now across the globe is engaged in that activity. It's about blending. Ensuring that you practice the safety measures, getting vaccinated is very important. Not that the vaccination will have you not get the disease but the point is that when you do contract the disease it will be at a lesser scale."
