Punta Gorda Town is the only municipality in Belize where there’s a PUP Mayor, and a UDP controlled council. Even in a small town, it makes for unpleasant bedfellows and that permanent discomfort was ratcheted up to open warfare last week when the Mayor went national on his councilors, blowing them up for appointing a city administrator behind his back. The PUP Mayor went national on them telling Love FM and Channel 5 that they were running a game to find a feather-bed for a special friend of the UDP. We asked both sides to comment yesterday and found that the administrator is just the tip of the iceberg in Punta Gorda.
Floyd Lino, Town Councillor
“The town administrator became a problem with the Mayor particularly because of the transparency that came of course with an administrator.”
Carlos Galvez, PG Mayor
“I am still not privy to a contract for this administrator, I have not seen the document. Yes checks are signing right, and I must make it clear right now what is happening at the council. I am the accounting officer, I should be held responsible for finance. My colleagues have gone to the extent of opening a special account where both of them sign onto checks, particularly the Deputy Mayor and also Councilor Lino.”
Floyd Lino,
“This is a history of our overdraft from Scotia Bank. You will notice that there months here when the Mayor has ran up our overdraft to up to $33,000 and the capacity approved by the Ministry of Finance for us at the bank is $15,000.”
Carlos Galvez,
“The fact of the matter is we had an administrator in place. The administrator was getting a salary of $2,100 a month. Now that administrator was frustrated, they reduced his salary from $2100 to $1800 a month and then you would come back now and tell me months after and you’re going to hire an administrator and pay him $3,000 month, give him fuel at his disposal, give him phone allowance, $150 every two weeks? This is unbecoming, it is ridiculous. Now that’s an abuse of taxpayers’ money.”
But the UDP Councillors say the abuse of public funds is at the hand of the mayor.
Floyd Lino,
“The PUP Mayor we have has been mismanaging our funds and he has been spending our money as if it is his own personal money.”
The point to these receipts which show him spending hundreds of dollars on multiple purchases of fuel on the same day – a total of 17 receipts for one month.
Floyd Lino,
“Fuel received all on the same date. This was the 27th of July. 27th of July this one was eighteen gallons, yes premium gasoline. This one was on the same date, ten gallons. This one was for the diesel vehicle that he has.”
Carlos Galvez,
“In respect to the allegations, the abuse of fuel, as a social obligation, and this is what my colleagues seem not to understand, as a social obligation you have male and female basketball and football teams. You have billiards team, you have Boys Scout, Girl Guides, you have both institutions, St. Peter Claver and Methodist School that would come to you, they are going on educational tours. As a social obligation, the office of the Mayor, you want to tell me the office of the Mayor is not entitled to assist? I believe personally, correct me if I am wrong or let me be removed as Mayor but I think it is a social obligation and my colleagues they understand or they know it well but they are playing politics.”
But they say this receipt, signed by the Mayor’s wife for fuel on the council’s tab is where Galvez crossed the political line.
Floyd Lino,
“This one to my right, which is your left, this one is the Mayor’s signature. The other receipt is his wife’s signature. So he actually sent his wife to the gas station using taxpayers’ money like this, sent his wife to the gas station to get gas in the name of the Town Council. This, to our opinion, is very unacceptable, it is not something we will tolerate. As a council we pledged good governance and that is exactly what we are doing.”
Carlos Galvez,
“If that is the case, I am going to personally sue both Mr. Pennil, who is the Deputy Mayor, and Mr. Lino. This has gone berserk and I am saying if they are accusing my wife to go and get fuel at that service station then I will have to take them to court because in no way that is right. And if they have forged her signature, if they have changed dates or made amendments to any receipt, then I am going to take them to court because this is the first time I am hearing about this.”
The Mayor later told us that it did happen without his knowledge when the Kendall Bridge was out. The UDP councillors say this is all about the Mayor being used to having his own way.
Floyd Lino,
“When our council now put fiscal management in place he has issues with that. When we put transparency in place he has issues with that from the mere fact that we are mixed council, simply means that we have not been seeing eye to eye on a number of things because we have not tolerated him.”
Carlos Galvez,
“As long as I run for Punta Gorda Town I will continue to deliver my seat as the Mayor and you can take that to the bank.”
To extend on the Mayor’s explanation of the voucher signed by his wife. He said he found out about it after the interview. He explains that he was stuck on the north side of the Kendall Bridge when it was taken out by rains – and with the approval of the revenue manager – who called the gas station for her – she got the gas to go pick him up at Kendall.
