The Customs Department has 9 Assistant Comptrollers. It's a whole lot - and tonight they're making news because a motion filed in the Supreme Court could see their appointments quashed - allegedly because the Public Service Commission didn't follow procedure.
6 of them were appointed in July of 2021, and 3 more were appointed in August. But two senior customs officers who applied for the post were simply passed over - and now they have been granted permission to apply for judicial review of the appointment process.
Dave Vaccaro - a customs officer with a masters degree and 25 years in the job, and Rackel Waight, also with a masters and 20 years in the job applied for the post of Assistant Comptroller when it was advertised in 2020.
But they never even got notified that it had been given to others - they found that out on Facebook.
They say the persons who got the job were not qualified or were less qualified than them. And their attorneys argued to the judge that the Public Service Commission abdicated its duties under the Constitution by ignoring the public service regulations and the circular to that outlined how to promote people.
Yesterday, in a 23 page decision Justice Geneviève Chabot granted leave for Judicial Review. Today, via zoom Vaccaro's attorney told the media why it's an important interim decision:
Attorney
"What the evidence suggest at this point is that there was a wholesale disregard for the regulations and the circulars. Justice Chabot has said in her decision granting leave that look, this application raises serious issues of public interest, fairness, transparency with public administration. It is in the public interest to ensure that Belizeans are treated fairly and that hiring and promotional processes be open and transparent as a necessary condition for the good administration of the public service. So, our position is quite simply this, you promoted people who were not qualified, they did not meet the qualifications under the regulations or the circulars, so they ought not to have been promoted in the first instance and in the case of 3 individuals you didn't even apply for it."
"We are saying that, look none of these individuals met those requirements at all. So that is the reason why we are challenging the process which the public service commission adopted and therefore the decision ought to be quashed and in the case of Mr. Vaccaro, we are saying to the court please grant us an order of mandamus to properly consider his application being the most senior applicant with a master's degree in customs. Consider his application in accordance with the law."
"But the potential impact is that these 9 individuals that were chosen, they also stand to lose their promotions and implicit in the judge decision to grant leave and as you said earlier the strong language that she had use it suggest that look, what the public services commission did was grossly egregious."
The case will now go to full trial in the weeks ahead. The Public Service Commission has been ordered to disclose all the documents considered, minutes and transcript of meetings and/or hearing for the 9 who were promoted to the post of Assistant Comptroller.
Notably, the judge found that procedural missteps such as these should be ventilated in court, and not taken before the Belize Advisory Council which deals with disciplinary matters.
Andrea McSweaney McKoy represented Rackel Waight while Andrew Marshalleck, Jorge Matus, and Imani Burgess represented the Public Services Commission.
