Who in their right mind thinks we need 15 MLAs?

| 01/03/2012

Question: Why does a tiny country with a population of 50,000 need 15 elected representatives? Answer: It doesn’t! Maybe the public has lost count over the years. But, believe it or not, we currently have 15 MLAs who are paid nice salaries to represent the people. Why? That’s about seven too many. What is the need for all these seats? And, don’t forget, this is in addition to what is practically an army of permanent civil servants who get virtually all of the real work of running the country done.

A society with a population this size clearly does not need so many representatives. Couldn’t we manage as well or better with one paid politician per district? Or, if you prefer, zone the islands into five or six electoral districts based on population numbers and let each area choose one representative.

If our current bloated political machinery worked for free and actually got things done then sensible people might be able to overlook such a farce. But the present situation in the Cayman Islands is inexcusable. Currently we have a horde of mostly self-serving barbarians who are elected by handfuls of people. So what if Cayman’s political landscape has been carved up into imaginary kingdoms called “districts”. (That’s what they are called here, but anywhere else they would be called “neighborhoods”.) We can change how we elect leaders anytime we want to.

The people of Cayman need to reduce the number of their MLAs before Grand Cayman sinks into the sea from the weight of all the pompous nonsense produced by our fleet of MLAs. Aren’t we supposed to be a culture blessed with a natural strain of superior seamanship? Well, let’s jettison some dead weight, weigh anchor, and set sail for sanity. Erasing half or more of the current MLA positions would save money and time, and allow us to recapture some of our dignity.

Why does West Bay need four representatives, for example? West Bay is not that big, either in size, population or complexity. Let’s consider the record. Having four well-paid MLAs has not stopped that district’s slide into violent crime in recent years, has it? Why do we need four captains? Couldn’t one MLA fail at crime prevention solutions and other priorities just as well four have!

If we are going to be inefficient, corrupt (allegedly),and incompetent, why not do it in a thrifty and streamlined manner, with fewer MLAs to pay? With the amount of money wasted over the years on salaries, expenses, and crazy projects by unnecessary MLAs, we could build our own cruise ship dock and have money left over to feed every child a proper breakfast at school.

Not only would eliminating half the Legislative Assembly chairs currently filled by empty vessels be good for Cayman, it would also be consistent with our supposed political philosophy. Isn’t Cayman strongly conservative? Well, one of the pillars of conservatism is small government. So why aren't all our passionate right wingers interested in shrinking the size of Cayman's ridiculously oversized government? One does hear about whacking the jobs of low-level civil servants from time to time, but never a peep about the most damaging bloat of all. It is important to understand that unnecessary MLAs do harm far beyond their salaries and expenses. They write checks for nonsense ideas that the people have to pay for. Where is the always conservative leadership of the Chamber of Commerce on this? Their members love to pose like rock-solid conservatives on almost every issue but oddly don’t seem to have the inclination to speak up on this one.

It’s simple, people: Fewer MLAs means fewer grand projects that never amount to anything, less money spent, less paperwork, less embarrassment, and more sanity for the Cayman Islands.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Viewpoint

About the Author ()

Comments (118)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. The lone harangued rides again. says:

    The fat begins at the top, and it is going to destroy this country.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Here is what we should do:  Have Cabinet run as a team, since afterall, we should know before hand who is going to be the Minister for what portfolio.  How else can we judge if we have donkeys in a horse race?  Cabinet should then have to face a national vote.  THe most qualified and able team will win the vote.  Cabinet afterall represents the three Cayman Islands and should be elected as one bady by each voter casting one vote for the team he or she thinks has fielded the most capable people.

    Then there should be district elections.  One representative per district – WB, GT, BT, NS, EE, CYB & LCM.  One man, one vote!

    There, we just reduced the amount of representatives to 11, thus saving our country money in salaries, pensions, medicals and best of all, we can hold each one responsible and accountable for their actions.

    Andrew Reid and Wayne Panton – please put together a good team under the present circumstances and we will elect you to make the changes that we so desperately need to save Cayman.

  3. Cathy says:

    Cayman Conscience, no matter how much you spin it, Caymanians need more "representation" in their country, and hence if not a few intelligent MLAs, the country will need more than fifteen to voice our concerns.

  4. Paper Caymanian says:

    Too many MLA's.Too many police.Too many public 'servants'.

    Cutting the whole machine in half would be a nice start.

  5. Anonymous says:

    There are 435 members of Congress in the USA. with a population of 313 million. = 1 Congressman per 720,000 people.

    There are 650 members of Parliament in the UK with a population of 62 million. = 1 MP per 95,000 people.

    There are 620 members of the Bundestag in Germany with a population of 82 million = 1 MP per 132,000 people

    There are 308 members of Parliament in Canada with a population of 35 million. = 1 MP per 114,000 people.

    Why then do we need 15 Members of Parliament for 50,000 people = 1 MP per 3,300 people?

    We don't even have our own armed forces to manage.

     

    • Demi O'Crassy says:

      If you do the figures per voter it becomes an even bigger joke.  Ezzard managed to get elected with 250 odd votes.  The UK is reducing the number of seats in parliament too.

      • Anonymous says:

        If it is based on voters, then perhaps East End and North Side should be combined.

        • Anonymous says:

          No, you can't really make that case. At 18 MLAs it works out at 834 voters per MLA. EEand NS each have just under 600 voters or almost 70% of that number which should then be rounded up to one MLA each. However, if you are doing it on a straight number basis you cannot justify 2 MLAs for CB/LC at 1000 voters this should be rounded down to one MLA but we know that the Constitition says that they must have at least two. Also on GT would7 MLAs on a purely number of voters basis.      

    • Anonymous says:

      Apples and oranges. The stupidity of that comparison is shown by the fact that on the U.S. figures we should only have 0.07 of one MP representing all three Islands. Obviously you cannot begin to compare Cayman to countries with tens of millions of people as there will be economies of scale. Compare it to countries or territories with a similar population.  Bermuda with a population of 70,000 has 36 reps plus 7 senators = 1 MP per 1,628 people; BVI pop. 25,000 has 15 reps = 1 MP per 1,667 people. At 1 MPper 3,300 people Cayman actually looks good by comparison.   

      • Anonymous says:

        Anonymous people aren't very brave calling other people stupid, but I can see your point–if you lower the bar enough, Cayman looks good by comparison.

        • Anonymous says:

          I did not call anyone stupid. I said the comparison was stupid and then demonstrated that it was. The point is to compare like with like.

  6. Anonymous says:

    The answer to the titular question is "Anyone".

  7. Anonymous says:

    The answer to the low quality of some of the MLAs is to change the law and have paper Caymanian eligible to run for the LA.

    It will raise the bar for elected politicians.

    At some point the European Court could mandate this change in the law.

    • Anonymous says:

      The European court would not have a basis to do so. If a paper Caymanian wants to run there is a clear path: (1) become naturalised as BOTC; (2) renounce any other citizenship.  

      • Loopy Lou says:

        You think?  I think the Court in question would not require any renunication nor would it probably uphold bars on UK or BOT citizens standing if they have been hear for say 10 years or more.

        • Anonymous says:

          That’s hilarious. You think someone would vote for you based on being on island for 10 years?

          Better think again.

          Unless you are standing up handing out $1,000 at a time you would have no chance. UDP has trained the people to beg for hand outs. No new anything so the people continue to beg. The right caymanians can make all the changes the problem is they aren’t the popular caymanians.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Great article and I believe that all we need is 2 representatives on a salary of $60,000 for each of the larger districts and 1 for the Sister Islands, NS & EE. Each district would have 2 council members for GT, WB and BT and 1 for the other districts who manage the budget and resources of their respective disricts, the council members will serve maximum 4 years per term and will be paid only $40,000 per year. The council members will be elected by the people and will work on a full time basis during their tenure. We have way too many politicians who don't do anything but collect a big fat cheque and cause embarassment with their lack of leadership and morals. This system will create saving of around 50% and also enable each district to be properly led and mananged like a business.

  9. Anonymous says:

    cayman is doomed due the incompetence of the local candidates……. caymans only hope is if they let the most educated hard working members of society vote and run for office…… but unfortunatly this basic human right is denied for expats…

    • Anonymous says:

      You are very impertinent to suggest that expats are the most educated hard working members of society. It is not a basic human right for expats to vote or run for office in Cayman.

      • Anonymous says:

        modern day cayman could not exist  without expats!……wake up and face facts!

        • Anonymous says:

          True, but that has nothing to do with who should have the right to vote.  

          • Anonymous says:

            Cayman as we know it today would not exist without expats!  but that does not mean we have to hand our country over to them.

    • Anonymous says:

      Why should it be considered a basic human right for non-citizens to be elected representatives?

      • Anonymous says:

        why would you want to deny rights to residents who live, work and pay taxes here?

        • anonymous says:

          did you say PAY TAXES???

          • Anonymous says:

            yes through indirect taxes and work permit/residency fees……. how else does the gov five free education to caymanians only?

            • anonymous says:

              Caymanians Only???  I would request you go down to Social Services and invesitage how many EXPATS are on Gov assistance…as far as paying work permit fees, et al, I say, Hire a Caymanian and you won't have that problem…people who spout off about  "paying taxes" make laugh…you don't pay "taxes", you pay duty's and fees…Taxes are mandatory,  dont' wanna pay duties and fees??? Buy local…

              • Anonymous says:

                And you don't think local retailers pass on the duty and fees THEY pay to consumers?

              • Anonymous says:

                The most depressing thing about hiring in Cayman is when HR tell you that a troublemaking local has put in a resume for a position that you have a top quality hire lined up. Rather than dilute worker quality I usually defer the hire for a few months.

                • Anonymous says:

                  So a suitably qualified Caymanian who wants a job with your company is only "a trouble making local" and you admit that you take steps to avoid considering them for hire. Thank you for that admission. It's what we've known all along but it is still shocking to see it expressed without any apparent recognition that it is wrong.  

                  • Anonymous says:

                    I want to recruit top quality people, not the merely "qualified".  You're shocked?  I don't really care, it happens, will go on happening, so get used to it. We are here to make money not operate as social security service.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      And what is happening now both in the government and private sector is that locals who are not "qualified" but described as "suitable" are being hired over other qualified or highly qualified applicants.  It's a jobs program to gain votes for McKeeva Bush.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      Actually the two words go together "suitably qualified". There is no law or policy that requires  Caymanians to be employed in a job for which they are unqualified. That is just nonsense. The trouble is that some employers include qualifications which are not necessary for the job but happen to be held by the particular expat they want to employ and to deny Caymanians the jobs.   

                    • Anonymous says:

                      The problem is your mindset – to employ Caymanians is to operate as a social security service. It is called prejudice. You are a bigot. If you keep an open mind you will find that there are excellent Caymanian employees. By all means make money but you are required to observe the laws of the land and not to flout them in the name of making money. You are a prime example of someone who abuses the system  by advertising a position, having no intention of hiring a Caymanian however highly qualified, because you believe that the ideal candidate must be an expat. You are also arrogant about it. Your sort is a prime cause of the division and bitterness between Caymanians and expats. Anyway it serves to vindidate the comments many Caymanians have been making on this forum concerning the prejudice they face in the employment market.  

                    • Anonymous says:

                      There are many great Caymanian employees.  I will always hire them if I can.  But I am not going to hire someone who is not of the quality of staff I expect regardless of nationality.  This poster jumps to the conclusion that there was "no intention of hiring a Caymanian however highly qualified".  No-one ever said that.  They just said that "suitably qualified" can be too low a standard for many.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      Anon 1548 while I agree with what you are saying here is the problem.

                       

                      Cayman has only so many jobs and the private companies are still goping outside to get people. This means there are no jobs for a number of people. We are setting ourselves up for a big problem down the road. I hope you and your high qualified people are ready for it.

                    • B1 says:

                      lol… the world my friend, is a capitalist world, driven by profit. If a business owner doesn't make profit, his business fails and he has to downsize the business. Don't expect the business owner to hire those he thinks will not perform his business well.

                      Your only escape is to have a mix economy where there is more socialistic value than capitalistic value, and everyone in the system has to work for government and be placed on a salary scale and certain regulations implemented to promote innovation and incentives. Workers will be placed on a graded salary scale and perks included. Such is a socialist system. If you want some elements of capitalism, just promote private eutrepreneurs of no more than a business staff of 10 persons. One of the key distinctions of socialism from capitalism, is that socialists see the value of cooperation and equality more than capitalist do, which they talk more about the making of more money and competing and taking over the market.

                      But we can talk all day about this – It is not going to happen in Cayman!  TheBritish system like the U.S. system, has always defended capitalism, and any name like "socialism" is look upon in a negative light.

                  • Dollar Bill says:

                    Ooh you can sense the melodrama!  "Suitably qualified" is the rallying cry of the mediocre who use their passport as a qualification.  Employers want the best workforce they can get and while hiring top quality locals whenever possibly, only recruit the bare minimum of "suitably qualifieds" to keep immigration happy. 

                    • Anonymous says:

                      There was no melodrama in my post. Suitably qualified refers to your academic/technical/vocational qualifications and experience. It is not substituting a passport for actual qualifications. But you clearly illustrate one thing: the Immigration Law is not working. There is a strong need for a compliance culture/enforcement. The extra cost could be funded by the hefty fines on miscreants. Your behaviour is corrupt, unethical, unlawful and contemptible. 

                    • Tiger Feet says:

                      At least by the last sentence the person you are moaning about has gone fairly far down the road to cultural assimilation. 

                    • Anonymous says:

                      That comment says far more about you than it does about Caymanians. One thing about the ability to post anonymously is that brings out the latent racism.

                    • Dollar Bill says:

                      Suitably qualified and top quality are different things.  You just don't seem to get that bit do you?  I want first rate.  Start and end of process.  If I can't get that then I am hiring no-one and will outsource or get by until there is a window. 

                      As for you views about my behaviour, guess how much I care?  Yep, not one bit.  But it did rather comically descend into melodrama again at the end . . . Go for five adjectives next time.

                • Anonymous says:

                  This has been happening and happening more and more. It has even gone further there is communication between the different companies who use their connections to block people from getting jobs and then in turn hire someone on a work permit for the job. These are the things that the protestors should be protesting about.

                  • Dollar Bill says:

                    What's wrong with warning colleague that a notorious applicant is sending in resumes?  It helps us to ensure to continuity of staff by making sure that applicant does not get in the way of a renewal.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      What makes one a "notorious applicant"? Is it being bothersome by having the appropriate qualifications and applying for jobs when the expat employer already has selected an expat for the job? Does that mean if a Caymanian has a falling out with one expat employer he is blacklisted by all other expat employers? Is that how it works? Is that why there are a number of highly qualified Caymanians out of work? Please tell us more. You are giving us a lot of insight into the grievances of Caymanians in the employment market.  

                    • Tiger Feet says:

                      We'll let your imagination run for a bit on that one, we "ex-pat employers" have to keep some things secret.  But whatever it is, it is much better organised that you will ever imagine. . .

                    • Anonymous says:

                      It seems you just realised you blurted out too much. Thanks for sharing. It helps to shape our immigration policy.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      No, rather I figured out it was more fun to mess with your head.  Shape your immigration policy all you want, but have no doubt if you had your way it would result in fewer jobs for Caymanians.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      You overestimate your abilities. Clearly if you have your way it will indeed result in fewer jobs for Caymanians. Unless Caymanians are going to be employed there really is not much point in having you. 

                  • Anonymous says:

                    It is useful to share names of troublemakers who go moaning to immigration.  That is better than finding out afterwards you have employed one and can't get rid of them regardless of performance.

                    • Anonymous says:

                      Does "moaning to Immigration" mean making a complaint that you are not observing the immigration law? Why can't you get rid of someone regardless of performance? Provided you observe the requirements of the Labour Law you can dismiss anyone, Caymanian or non-Caymanian, if they perform poorly.     

                    • Anonymous says:

                      Yeah right, keep on drinking the Kool Aid.  Better not to make the mistake in the first place than go through the pain of trying to correct the problem later on. 

        • Anonymous says:

          Because they are not entitled to them?

      • Legal Seagull says:

        As residents have the rightto vote in Jersey it would be almost impossible for the UK government as respondent to make a credible case upholding the current limits in the franchise in Cayman.  Remember the UK as the national goverment would be the respondent, not the local subnational Cayman Islands.

        • Anonymous says:

          Nonsense. If Jersey wishes to do that that is Jersey's prerogative. However, that action by Jersey does not suddenly create a universal human right.  

    • Anonymous says:

      Posters on CNS shoul dbe required to take classes in critical thinking

    • Anonymous says:

      Wow!!.. What a misguided perception ofprivileges. Can you please enlighten us to the successful political ideologies that has served your country of birth so well?

  10. Knot S Smart says:

    This is a well written article and I agree. We do not need more representatives (especially those who are representing the interests of themselves and their rich friends).

    And as another poster has stated – the major decisions should have to be approved by 2/3. and their salaries should be lowered to 2/3 of what it is at present…,.

  11. Slowpoke says:

    How about a little experiment…  At the next election, only “Non-Caymanians” (Born or Status) are allowed to run for office.  Furthermore, only non-registered voters are allowed to vote (great cruise ship tourist attraction).

     

    Then, let us see where Cayman is four years later.

    • Anonymous says:

      I'll tell you where we would be. The marginalisation of Caymanians would be complete and probably irreversible. We would be like the aborigines in Australia.

      Next dumb suggestion?  

      • Anonymous says:

        why would caymanians be marginalised?

        • Anonymous says:

          Because there are already attempts to do so now and this would facilitate that.

      • Slowpoke says:

         

        Thank you for reading my blatantly ridiculous post and bothering to respond (I do not take myself very seriously and often forget that others think more concretely and take things seriously).  It was not intended to be a “dumb suggestion”, but an invitation to think about what would really happen.

        I am sorry to see that you think that within four years, all Caymanians would be marginalized.  I actually think we would be strengthened and develop a new resolve and cohesion, while embracing some desperately needed change.

        Also, I believe it would be a really interesting experiment in social politics, as I like research/science.

        • Anonymous says:

          It is not an experiment that we can afford. We are real people not chemicals in test tubes.

          Cohesion? Are you serious? It would bring about the very opposite.

  12. Anonymous says:

    We need more politicians.  About twice the number actually.  The reason is simple: accountability.  We need enough ministers so that they are able to take specific ministerial portfolios and concentrate on them properly.  We need a large enough legislature that the people who become ministers had to work their way up, and so have the experience and skills to do the job.  We need more MLAs to make the committee system work.  We need them also because ministers are often absent from the LA on some ministry-related business, or an overseas trip, and so the debate actually takes place between even fewer people.  Basically we need more of them and they need to be paid less, and receive an increase if they serve as a minister.  Say a base salary of $60,000 instead of $100,000.  

     

    This may get thumbs down because it's assumed that the politicians will always be like the ones we have now but trust me with one man one vote and enough people, we can have a true representative democracy.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Education is key.  Does anyone khow many MLAs actuallyhave a college degree?  Obviously  there should be a minumum requirement of formal education for persons in such powerful positions.  

    • Castor says:

      Your being elitist, one doesn't need a college or university education to be intelligent, forthright, moral and ethical. The last three, one should have learned at their mother's knee by the age of 5.

      Indeed, a level of education to be elected to public office how elitist! Tongue in cheek, maybe the electotate should be required to have a certain level of education before beig allower to vote! Eh? Indeed!

      • Dick Shaugneary says:

        "You're being elitist".  I know you were trying your very best, but try putting verbs in your sentences next time.

        • Castor says:

          …. and speeling and typing……. lighten up man, have a laugh at yourself.

      • Shakin' my Head says:

        I’m with Dick on this one – holy spelling atrocity! That and I add that if you elect peasants you will get the governance that you asked for and project the global image you wanted.

    • Anonymous says:

      Rubbish. Does Bill Gates have a degree. No.

      What I do agree with is that with the size of our population we should have less MP`s and the salaries of could be less, especially for the ones without a ministry.

      • Anonymous says:

        The average guy in Cayman without a degree is no Bill Gates.

        • Married to a Caymanian says:

          You could not be more right!!!  Let's look at facts:   Bill Gates scored 1590 out of 1600 on the SAT and enrolled at Harvard College in the autumn of 1973- see any Caymanians from OUR public schools doing THIS?!?

          • Anonymous says:

            Mind you, Bil Gates did not go to public school either. He got his education at Lakeside School, an exclusive preparatory school.

    • Anonymous says:

      Some of the most famous politicians in history didn't have a college degree – just good old common sense.

  14. Anonymous says:

    I have an idea, call me crazy!  And yes, this is a real idea.

    Why not install more Chief Officers, as some (not all) do have way too much oversight in terms of numbers of Civil Servants/Authorities/GOE's/Deparments INSTEAD of adding more MLA's to the mix, who frankly don't have (or aren't suppose to have) direct say in the running of the Civil Service.

    Of course, I know some will push back, but it seems to me a Chief Officer is (or shoudl) be more effective in running the day to day operations of the Civil Service.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      I'm not too big on this Chief Officer thing but they cost less than MLAs and actually does the work so I say yes, good idea.

  15. my my says:

    Right 12:28. We have just ONE person running everything anyway – with the advice of his friends – not the other elected officials. The rest of the MLAs just follow along and collect their money. 

  16. Anonymous says:

    Mac doesn't pay attention to the other 14 now so I guess if we had one competent politician instead of what we have now that would be all that would be required.

  17. Anonymous says:

    It's bad enough now that you got one guy as Minister of Tourism, Finance and everything that matters. What you propose could only increase corruption as power is concentrated into fewer hands.     

  18. Libertarian says:

    Less than 15???  I wish we had 30, 60, 100, 200 MLAs representing all of Cayman!  That way rich individuals like Dart will have a warm time buying them all out!  It is easy to feed 15 or less children a pot of soup, but think of it – to feed over a 100 children, my poor well-off friends will have no choice but to employ a good cook from overseas to cater to all of them. Lol… I kow it sounds funny! And let's say you made everybody an MLA, then frig that, my poor Dart man and well-off others will have no other choice but to accept defeat when there is a vote for a passage to a law, because they can't possibly please all 50,plus+ people on the island by their almighty dollar.

    MY WHOLE POINT IS – THE MORE POLITICAL POWER THAT IS SHARED IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESSES OF GOVERNMENT, THE BETTER IT IS FOR THE PEOPLE.

    AND THE LESS POLITICAL POWER THAT IS SHARED AND THE MORE IT IS CENTRALIZED TO A FEW, IS THE WORSE OFF FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE LIKELIHOOD FOR CORRUPTION AND FAILED ECONOMY. 

    Regards

    • Anonymous says:

      Libertarian are you smoking something?

      Your babble made no sence.  Part of the problem is government is too big now and the cost of living reflects that or doesn't the cost of living effect you? Who will pay for all the MLAs you envision? The trough is too large now.

      Dart baiting is beneath you.

      • Libertarian says:

        Government is too big, and that is not good, but the "sharing power" .. you can never get too big on that. The more power that is shared, the larger the periphery, the better for Cayman.  Read again what I was saying and please don't confuse "shared political power" with big government.  😉

        • Anonymous says:

          Evidently, it has been proven to be acceptable that the Premier’s seat is the only one that matters. We should Referendum to withdraw the omnipotent staff of power from that seat/person and restore balance and debate to the LA.

          • Libertarian says:

            I agree with you 100%

            Such like a provision where the Premier will have to get at least 2/3 of the house vote in order to make his decisions on the country's business and finance affairs, would be beneficial.

          • Anonymous says:

            What we have in the States is the three sections of government, executive, legislative and judiciary. This balance seems to work for us.  There doesn't seem to be a judiciary in Cayman to for instance sort out the constitutional disagreement of 1 man 1 vote. in the States the courts would resolve that.

            In a democracy the elected politicians form the ruling government and manage the government until the next election. How do you effectively share popwer. Management by committee?

            • Anonymous says:

              Yes, we have three branches of government here too. The courts do have power to interpret the Constitution. However, the problem is that the matter of one man one vote, single member constituencies was deliberately left out of the Constitution because because the previous govt. wanted the UDP's support for the Constitution.

              In certain certain U.S. states, the electorate also have the power to recall politicians during the middle of their term if they fail terribly. Witness the 2003 recall election of California Governor Gray Davis that led to the election of Arnold Schwarzneggar. We need a recall provision here.

          • Anonymous says:

            That is because of the particular characters involved together with our multi-member constituencies.

    • Libertarian says:

      It is obvious that no party supporter would support my comments because I am outright against the party system of representative democracy that fails to fully and truly represent Cayman. Regards

    • Anonymous says:

      Libertarian we cant find one good one now and you want us to elect how much?

      Moreover to pay that number we would have to fire 50% of the civil servants. They are the ones doing the work not the politicians and they have earned their position.

  19. anonymous says:

    You are simply wrong on the base of your premise. Given the complexity of the country, even the current 5 ministers in Cabinet, with their 13 areas of responsibility, have their hands full. The base response therefore is we cannot have a Cabinet that is the majority of the legislature– it would really be really bad governance. And with your 7 legislators concept, only 3 could be in Cabinet. 

    Additionally, we keep comparing the Cayman Islands with a small town of 50,000 persons-your inaccurate neighbourhood analogy. Cayman is a country that deals with 50,000 residents, 300,000 overnight tourists and 1,500,000 daily visitors. It deals with a colonizing power 5000 miles away as well as various international agreements and issues (attacks on Financial Industry, Cuba, various treaties, etc)  Not your average 50K town in the USA!

    If 7 MLAs could deal wth everything here as well as cover the 13 major ministries in Government I would be the first to support making the elected group smaller. It just cannot work.

     

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Nonsense. It is the permanent secretaries and all the other civil servants who make things work. Most of our MLAs only create noise and problems. If you don't believe it, just ask the civil servants who have to work around them in order to keep the country running.

      • Anonymous says:

        Then it is the permanent secretaries who have got us in the current mess and ought to be fired.  

        • Anonymous says:

          The permanent secretaries have to do what the politicians tell them or they get the boot.

          • Anonymous says:

            So the PS runs things and the politicials are non-essential but if they go wrong he can them blame the politician? You can't have it both ways.  

    • Anonymous says:

      The points you are missing are first that a lot of the current complexity is artificial and the second is that we should not have politicians flying all over the planet on made up trips and trying to micromanage everything including which pot hole to fix and at what time of day. 7 competent politicians would be all that was needed if politicians kept to deciding how big the budget should be, what the relative percentages going to education, law enforcement etc should be and whether the publics money was being well spent.

      • Anonymous says:

        It's not artificial at all. Cayman has fewer MLAs and Ministers per capita than Bermuda and BVI.  

    • Bling man says:

      Wa we got now na workin!

  20. Anonymous says:

    Never mind the population of 55k+, the ELECTORATE is around 14,000, so 15 MLA's is one per less than 1,000 people…truly insane…

  21. so Anonymous says:

    Cayman is a wellfare state. Get used to it.  Many Caymanians have gotten used to being fed versus feeding themselves.  If you stop feeding all the non functioning what will they do on their own?  What would all these non functioning but highly paid individuals do to pay their bills?  Can you see them working after all these years of feeding of the trough?  All of these Hungry individuals are being paid for one thing.  Channeling power to the one who holds the key to the money.  In return he makes sure they get paid. (heres your 5% back thanks for your support.)   Too bad the people of Cayman are useless to this equation the moment after they cast their vote.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Wrong. You make the classic mistake of basing your comments simply on the size of the population. Cayman cannot be compared to a small town in a large country which is not involved in such matters as immigration, customs, international agreements etc which are all taken care of by the national or federal govt. You also cannot compare the ratios to much larger countries which obviously benefit from economies of scale. It is just simplistic thinking obviously coming from someone who has no concept of what is involved in governing the country.

    The need for 15 MLAs stems from the fact Cayman faces a wide array of complex domestic and international issues as reflected in the various Portfolios of the Ministers of Government. Even with 5 Ministers the portfolios cover very wide ground and are challenging to manage. It would be quite impossible to manage with the 2 Ministers that your 5-6 MLAs would allow. In order for there to be 5 Ministers and to establish the proper ratio in the LA there must be at least 15 MLAs from which to draw them.

    A relevant comparision is Bermuda which has a larger number of representatives per capita – 36 Reps plus 7(?) senators.Bermuda's population is less than 70,000.

    Yes, I know there will be the knee jerk thumbs down but the thinking person will understand my points.          

    • Anonymous says:

      You make the classic mistake of defending the indefensible. Are you seriously arguing that there is some vital national interest in the people paying for the work of MLAs such as Capt. Eugene? Really?

      • Anonymous says:

        How to improve the quality of our representation is a completely separate subject. I think the Capt. Eugenes in the LA will be taken care of by one man, one vote.

      • Anonymous says:

        Evidently it is not indefensible. I have explained the the defence and you have not been able to refute it.  You are missing the point which has nothing to do with Capt. Eugene.

    • A. Pastafarian says:

      YOU are the one who is wrong, Mr. Anonymous,  You say "I know there will be the knee jerk thumbs down but the thinking person will understand my points."   I gave you a thumbs down without a knee jerk, and I am one of the most thinking persons on Cayman,  

      Would I lie to you?….. Never!

    • so Anonymous says:

      So your back to the "how many Caymanian MLA's does it take to do one MLA's job?  Your right that it takes 3 but there is an easier, much less costly, and more successful answer.  Too bad its against Cayman culture.

  23. Bueller says:

    I couldn't agree more.

     

    And I'd love to hear someone explain why we need 'election neighbourhoods' at all on an Island this small.

  24. RG says:

    But Caymanian Conscience, you need enough MLAs to take on the porfolios. You can't have one guy minister of finance, tourism, housing, health and human services at the same time. So you need a  sufficient amountto take on the porfolios. I personally think that the more representatives we have is the more represented.

    • A. Pastafarian says:

       

      RG, are you from another planet??  If not, you must already have a seat in the MLA.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Right On!!!!!!

  26. Anonymous says:

    being an mla = winning the lottery……..of coourse they wiill find an excuse to have more mla's

    their track record and incompetence in recent times makes me sick…….

  27. Anonymous says:

    Cayman doesn't have a population of 50,000 people. Let us not forget that due to the apartheid system enforced in Cayman, a large proportion of the adult population is disenfranchised.

    • Anonymous says:

      You misuse the word apartheid. 

      Apartheid is appropriately used where legal distinctions are made merely on the basis of race. In Cayman, as in most countries, voting rights are based on citizenship. That is not apartheid.

      The population refers to the total number of people who are resident in the country at any given time whether or not they are citizens, permanent residents or on full work permits.  Merely being a part of the population does not normally entitle one to vote in any country.   

  28. Anonymous says:

    It is simply social welfare.  Incompetent individuals getting paid good money and great benefits to do absolutely nothing, but what else would they do except take off the government to live.  Its a sad case and the country continues to self destruct.  I lived in Cayman for many years and witness the incompetence, ignorance and arrogance as well as unempathetic individuals throughout the island.  Ive met some great people as well , but for God Sake start taking your country back.