Provision of vehicles to the president and vice presidents

The motion was added to the agenda at the start of the Territorial Council’s plenary session convened on Friday afternoon. The president asked the elected officials present to vote on whether to provide official vehicles to the president and four vice presidents. For the past two weeks, they have been “using their own vehicles” in the course of their duties.

Louis Mussington reported that, while in police custody, the gendarmes informed them that they were using vehicles belonging to the Collectivité even though no resolution authorized such use. Consequently, the president wished to “regularize the situation.”

At the request of Frantz Gumbs, the Director General of Services clarified that “parking” will be at the homes of the elected officials concerned. That is to say, the elected officials will be able to drive home in the official vehicle. They will use it if they need to attend an official event in the evening or on the weekend. Otherwise, it must remain parked.

While Daniel Gibbs acknowledges that a president and vice-presidents may have this right, he does not understand the “urgency” that prompted Louis Mussington to add this resolution at the last minute, preventing elected officials from reviewing the text. He suggested adding it to the agenda of the next territorial council meeting on June 25, but his proposal was rejected.

The resolution was adopted with six votes in favor; three council members abstained (Mélisa Rembotte, Jules Charville, and Angeline Laurence), and three did not participate in the vote (Daniel Gibbs, Marie-Dominique Ramphord, and Frantz Gumbs).

Finally, Louis Mussington denied reports that seventeen vehicles had “disappeared” from the COM fleet, as had been suggested on social media. “Only two cars were stolen,” he confirmed after checking with his staff—those belonging to Bernadette Davis and the Director General of Services.