As soon as we learned about the mass terminations, we reached out to Mayor Bernard Wagner for comment, but up until news time, he has not responded to telephone and text message requests.
We do have his unaired comments from an interview he gave us on March 14, discussing this very same security of tenure issue.
Here's what he had to say then:
Reporter
"What is the issue with security of tenure? We know that was a big thrust of the former mayor so that people would not be subject to the whims of elections. How are you managing that?"
Bernard Wagner, Mayor - Belize City
"I continue to support that. I believe that the workers, the second tier workers and the lower tier workers should be given that sort of tenure."
This evening, the Public Relations Office for the Belize City Council released a short statement, but instead of addressing all 6 terminated employees, they focused only on one, the dismissal of City Administrator Candice Miller.
That statement says, quote, "The Belize City Council met with Ms. Miller last Thursday 3rd May, 2018 as part of the due process in connection with her suspension. As a result of that meeting and acting in the best interest of the city, the Belize City Council has decided to part ways with Ms. Miller. The council thanks Ms. Miller for her service provided and wishes her the best in her future endeavors."
As we understand it, Miller was terminated for, quote, "gross dereliction of duty."
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