Belize City has a new deputy Mayor; he is first time councillor Dion Leslie. Leslie earned the post yesterday in a close intra-council vote, edging out the Mayor's choice, Wayne Usher who got five votes, while Leslie got six. But that close contest is only a small part of behind-the-scenes jostling that went into yesterday's vote for deputy and the assignment of councilor portfolios.
The Mayor decides portfolio assignments – crucial because it partially determines which councilors will shine and which will languish in the shadows: those who get a heavy portfolio – particularly those that generate income - can make a name or gather influence for themselves, while those who get minor portfolios often don't have much to work with.
And the rule seemed to be, to the victor go the spoils, because our read is that those who were perceived as not supporting Mayor Moya got cut out of the prize portfolios. Those prizes were spread between five councilors and the Mayor. First among them is Moya loyalist, Wayne Usher who may have lost on the deputy race, but won big with the portfolio of traffic which was additionally bolstered by tourism and public health.
Dean Samuels was also rewarded for his support of the Mayor; he was assigned southside works, housing, and planning and zoning. Newcomer Kevin Singh who nominated Usher for deputy was assigned security and markets.
Newcomer Roger Espejo got works on the northside and sister city relations. Phillip Willoughby kept youth and sports on lockdown, but got his portfolio bolstered with the addition of the all-important sanitation portfolio. And to herself, the Mayor assigned revenue, human resources and finance.
And while those are the prime-time portfolios the other five councillors got assignments of a significantly lower profile and resource base. Erica Chang who topped the polls got assigned the non-descript parks and playgrounds; deputy Dion Leslie got public relations and special events; Andrew Faber got small business initiatives and after schools programs, Laura Esquivel got municipal courts and culture while Leila Peyrefiite got what we'd have to call a virtual portfolio, liaison to NGO's and civil society. Ouch.
We were unable to reach the Mayor for comment today, but we did reach her new Deputy Dion Leslie who told us he will do his very best with the portfolios he's been assigned.
