Hope Town District Council

The Hope Town District Council is a Local Government District Council in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The District is within the Abacos in the BahamasFact|date=December 2007.

Pre-existence

When Local Government was introduced to the Bahamas in 1996Fact|date=December 2007, the Hope Town District Council did not exist. Hope Town had its own town committee and the neighboring communities of Man-O-War Cay and Great Guana Cay shared a town committee. The seat of Council was in Marsh Harbour that involved the Central Abaco area and the cays. The Town Committees of both Hope Town and Man-O-War Cay/Guana Cay each sent a Council member to sit on the Central Abaco Council.

Creation of the Council

Local Government terms in the Bahamas, are three year and after the first term of Local Government (1996-1999), the Minister of Local Government saw the need for the Cays to have its own council, and thus the birth of the Hope Town District Council. The Council consists of three settlements and surrounding cays, including the settlements of Great Guana Cay, Man-O-War Cay, and Elbow Cay. The other cays that are included are:
*Scotland Cay
*Canes Cay
*Sandy Cay
*Garden Cay
*Johnny's Cay
*Lubber's Quarters
*Parrot Cays
*Tilloo Cay
*Pelican Cays

Council representation

The Hope Town District Council consists of seven members, all elected. Three members are for Elbow Cay, three members serve Man-O-War Cay, and one represents Great Guana CayFact|date=December 2007. The numbers are based on registered voter population, meaning that Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cay have larger population than Great Guana Cay.

The residents of Great Guana Cay have recently been voicing concern over their representation feeling that they deserve equal representation with the other two towns. The Minister of Local Government has been aware and is considering a change in the current member structure for the 2008 Local Government elections.

History

Hope Town District Council 1999-2002

This was the first Council to serve on the actual Hope Town District Council. Elbow Cay(Hope Town) needed no elections as Suzanne Bethel, Scott Patterson, and Kevin Albury were elected unopposedFact|date=December 2007. The same situation followed in Man-O-War as Roy Russell, Arthur Elden, and Richard Roberts were elected unopposed. In Great Guana Cay, Glenn Laing defeated Donna Sands in an election. The Chief Councillor and Deputy Chief Councillor are elected amongst the Council, not directly by the people. After this group was elected, they choose Roy Russell as the Council's first Chief Councillor and Suzanne Bethel to serve as the Deputy Chief Councillor.

After three months into the term, Chief Councillor Russell insisted that the main office be in Man-O-War Cay, where he is resident. The Island Administrator disagreed and stated that Hope Town is the capital for the District and the office should always remain in Hope Town (Elbow Cay). As a result the Man-O-War Council members resigned in protest. Man-O-War Cay went without representation for almost a year until Harcourt Thompson, Jimmy Albury, and Tony Albury were appointed to serve out the termFact|date=December 2007.

After the resignation of Chief Councillor Russell and the Man-O-War members, this left the Chief Councillor's position vacant and the Council elected Suzanne Bethel as the Chief Councillor and Kevin Albury as the Deputy Chief Councillor. Into the term, Scott Patterson resigned, and Roscoe Thompson finished out his termFact|date=December 2007.

No major dilemmas occurred during the term of this Council, other than the fact that being a new District, Chief Councillor Bethel and other Councillors quickly discovered the challenges that her Council and the Councils to follow have discovered. The biggest being the diverseness of the different settlements even though they are within a tight nit district. Under this term, Chief Councillor Bethel also got to undertake the establishment of the Pelican Cay's Land and Sea Park. As the term ended, Chief Councillor Bethel after being active in Local Government and the Board of Works for almost forty years, retired from local government. Local residents still recognize her as their "Iron Lady" or "Margaret Thatcher"Fact|date=December 2007.

Hope Town District Council 2002-2005

The dust from the General Election showdown in the Bahamas had not quite settled, and Local Government elections were set a month later. Elections in Hope Town had Jeff Key, Roscoe Thompson, and Diane Bethel, the victors, getting more votes to secure the three spots than Junior Meynard. In Man-O-War Cay, Walter Sweeting, Tony Albury, and Roy Russell won election defeating George Phillpot, Jeremy Sweeting, Gary Sawyer, and Bill Albury. Glenn Laing went in for Great Guana Cay unopposedFact|date=December 2007.

The Council members elected Walter Sweeting and their Chief Councillor and Jeff Key as their Deputy Chief CouncillorFact|date=December 2007.

From the get-go this Council dealt with a controversial matter. They attempted to award a Council member Tony Albury a government contract, and along with the fact that he was the highest bidder. Much controversy ensued, and after awarding the contract, Tony Albury resigned his post, and Haziel McDonald served his spot the remainder of the term. Much criticism arisen from surrounding Councils in Abaco including from Yvonne Key of the Central Abaco Council who publicly denounced the way they handled the matterFact|date=December 2007.

Other than this matter, the life of this Council went relatively smoothly without much other controversy. The road contract for Hope Town was signed while in office, and this road stretched from the post office to Dorris Cove. As the term ended, they did petition that the Minister of Local Government realign the Hope Town District Council so that each town could have their own Council. The decision was deferred by the MinisterFact|date=December 2007.

Hope Town District Council 2005-2008 (Present Council)

Elections in Hope Town had only one person nominate, Roy Cash. Appointed to the vacancies were Wayne Hall and Robert Malone. In Man-O-War Cay, Jeremy Sweeting nominated, and Joe Albury and Chris Albury were appointed. Glenn Laing was re-elected to serve a third term in Great Guana Cay defeating Anthony Roberts and Troy Albury [http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/bahamasweb2/home.nsf/vPrint/a5fb7665f3e4341306256f0000763055!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=5 The Government of the Bahamas - Family Island Councillors ] ] .

Wayne Hall was elected the Council's fourth Chief Councillor and Jeremy Sweeting elected as the Deputy Chief Councillor.

This Council has been viewed to be one of the most pro-active Councils. Shortly after taking office they went on a campaign with a white paper document that would implement zoning and building code laws for the district. After a four month campaign, the white paper was defeated in a referendum. Although the Council's idea was rejected by the district, Hope Town voters favoured the idea.

In May 2006, Chief Councillor Hall relocated to Nassau. The Council then elected Jeremy Sweeting as the Chief Councillor and Roy Cash as the Deputy Chief Councillor. Jeremy Sweeting became the youngest Chief Councillor in the country's history. Harold Malone was elected by default to take Wayne Hall's seat as a council memberFact|date=December 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.bahamas.gov.bs/bahamasweb2/home.nsf/vPrint/a5fb7665f3e4341306256f0000763055!OpenDocument The Government of the Bahamas]