Rivers makes history in WB
(CNS): The former premier of the Cayman Islands is still the first elected member for West Bay but inan historic victory C4C candidate Tara Rivers has broken the UDP straight vote. Rivers has been returned to the district in second place ahead of Bernie Bush and Captain Eugene Ebanks. With the count slowed in order to allow the returning officers to make the official declarations in West Bay as well as Bodden Town where Al Suckoo is hoping to secure the fourth seat for the PPM the final result has still not been officialy released. It is now clear that the UDP cannot form a government and the PPM will be the largest group in the new parliament but whether Alden McLaughlin will be premier however still remains in the balance.
Category: Politics
Tara you have done extremely well and much congrats goes to you.
Tara you were elected on many grounds but, perhaps the most appropriate one to this article by CNS, is your independence.
Please Tara, do not go into a PPM Cabinet: this would betray your claim to being independent and it would betray the people that voted for you on the basis of your independence.
If the people of West Bay wanted to vote for PPM they had four PPM candidates in WB and none ofthose even came close to being elected.
I repeat for your sake, assuming that you are interested in getting re-elected in 2017, do not enter a PPM Cabinet.
The best compromise you can make is that you can write to the Governor to the effect that you will support the PPM's Government: you can justify this to the people of WB by saying that the Country needed a Government to run its affairs and you supported the PPM on patriotic grounds of allowing a Government to come into existence BUT, you retain your independence by not entering the PPM Cabinet.
I wish you the best Tara.
That poor girl. West Bayers trying to blackmail her ala McKeeva style already.
Correct because the govt. is completely dependent upon them to remain in the majority.
I disagree. She will only be able to get anything done if she is in Cabinet. She should help form the coalition. She can't become leader of the opposition unless C4C acknowledges that it is a party but even then apparently Roy considers himself the leader of that party.
Sorry but i still havent figured – Who is Captain Eugene ?
Captain who?
Congratulations Tara. I see we now have a 'River' (of life) flowing down between the (two) 'Bushes'.
Chances are one bush might get watered and grow but the other is hopelessly rooted in barren soil and stone.
Will she now become the next PPM member? If they give her a cabinet position won't she effectively become PPM because of collective responsibility?
I hope she become Leader of the Opposition instead. She would be more effective there than being silenced in Cabinet where she is the only dissenting voice and has no choice but go along with the party.
I wish the Coalition for Cayman (C4C) had told us BEFORE the election that they meant they would form a coalition of the Opposition and not a Coalition Government.
It pays to tell the truth cause if Jude had a told we that he was running we would have advise him that not a chance in George Town Bo Bo, but you would a make clean sweep in Cayman Brac.
No more luck in Cayman Brac than in George Town
With ju ju now aligning herself with the PPM and having such a strong running team like moses it will help her for the next time. It might not be as easy, but this time was perfect for jude to run in the Brac. Timing is very essential with everything.
Way to go Tara!!!! Now I just hope that you stand strong and represent us the right way and with all good intentions and do not let Mac intimidate you at all! I know that you are a strong and smart woman!!!
As much as I would like her to become a cabinet minister, I worry that she will be silenced in WB because once in Cabinet she is in the minority and has to go along with the majority vote because of cabinet rules that force her to do so..she in effect will become a PPM member..
No, in Coalition the minority members get disproportionate say. It is their price for allowing the largest party to be in office.
yeah sure…which planet are you from?
A heartfelt congratulations to Tara Rivers! Majority of my fellow West Bayers seen that we needed a change in our District & we voted for it. So very thankful that the hold UDP had on West Bay for years is O V E R! I pray that Tara will bring nothing but prosperity to her people of West Bay & also the people of the Cayman Islands. Tara is a smart, educated & honest person & I cant wait until she's swon into Cabinet to represent our Islands!
Behind every successful lioness there's a roaring lion. Well done and thank you folks.
Well done Tara, I look forward to your representation in our district. You who I have seen over the past few months in your clean campaign (along with your steely campaign manager Satina) to be a level-headed, intelligent and unflappable person not prone to drama and utterly respectful. I trust that by association, the level of all of our representation in West Bay will be raised to a higher standard all round, and confident that with your nature and professionalism, you will work effectively with the other elected members.
"No more hand outs, only hand-ups" as Mervin would say. A government where corruption is a shocking anomaly not the norm – how sweet that will be. All the people coming toogether to vote for you, people from across various parties and from all walks of life and backgrounds supporting you, because they were so "done" with the corruption and because your ernestness and respect for all resonates with so many.
Good luck to all the elected members and please, please remember you are in service to Cayman and put there in trust by the people. We expect the best behaviour and example of leadership from you all.
Theres no way she will stay in politics without hand outs. People are under paid and the first time that Bayer goes nad knocks on her door and she refuses them a bread for their hungry children or even worst not answering the door bell or telephone call they can bid themselves fare well in the next election. A very late and professional Politician tried that and today they are not only dead but almost forgotten.Remember a politician is just a slave for the Community.
Congratulations Tara. Thank you for breaking the stranglehold of the UDP on West Bay. I believe you will be a fantastic MLA. It's wonderful to have a woman of integrity in the house again.
PPM member.
Now we just need to get rid of Bernie and capt. Eugene and Big Mac.
I hate to class poor Bernie with the likes of captain Eugene and McKeeva without giving him a chance, but the fact that he's associated himself with them really doesn't say much for him.
the fact that Bernie joined the UDP clearly speaks speak for him, which is not good!
I like Bernie and I think his chance to shine will come when Mac is arrested and is forced to step down. The shadow over Bernie will be taken away and we will see then if he has what it takes. I sincerely hope so.
Newsflash! McKeeva was arrested last December and charged in March. He is now awaiting trial. He will only be barred from holding office if and when he is convicted.
Bernie's choice to run with McKeeva shows a willingness to compromise principles for poltical gain. Same for Theresa. That tells me all I need to know.
Congratulations Tara, I am very proud of you. As a UDP supporter I encouraged our supporters who only wanted the 3 UDP members who are in, not to throw away their 4th vote but to vote for you. As a West Bayer did the writer of "now we just need to get rid of…" did you see the stats? That is not going to happen until they decide they no longer want to run and we know Bernie is just starting his political career and he has a lot to offer so he is here for the long run.
Mac goes to jail, Cappy loses interest, and Bernie who is a good guy…. Does good. End of problem….. til Mac gets out and gets re-elected. I’ll be an old an then anyway.
If Mac goes to jail for corruption then he will be disqualified from ever running again.
Can you imagine 2 motor mouths Bushes and 1 droopy representing West Bay. No one is willing to work with the 3 UDP's in the house, yet they will be collecting this big money for doing nothing. Boy those West Bayers are fool fool to vote them in. Get this West Bayers, there will be no more Nation Building Funds hand out for unnah. Go learn to work for a living! Tara will be train to service Country by the Progressives. She will learn the correct way to be a legislature and representative with morals and intregity.There are some older men there like Mr. Eden and Mr. Tibbetts to teach herthe ropes and any other C4C candidates who wishes to learn.Congratulations Tara!!
Well I am praying that Tara doesn't buckle to help the Progressive form the government, she was elected on the basis that she wanted a coalition government. I sure hope she doesn't take any lessons from them on running the government or her political career will be shortlived, because PPM only know how to spend they don't knopw how to earn. However I know Tara is too intelligent for that
If Tara helped them to form a govt. obviously that would be a coalition govt., bright spark.
Dear, when you talk about two motor mouths, consider yourself one. You should be ashame of saying things about motor mouths cause you are one! Mac & Bernie is two good people that can stand up for West Bayer and not afraid of people like you.
What got you all is that it burns you all to see that Mac got back in and no the people of West Bay is not fools but the rest of the Island looks like they have a short term memory and needs to be treated for it.
We will continue to do so if it will burn the rest of the Cayman Islands cause we are the only one that have sense. when it comes to politics we know what to do and show you all when we say something we mean it.
mac is yesterdays burger my friend. He will give you indigestion if you continue to chew on him. We really wish you wouldn't since we've ordered surf and turf from Grand Old House for you. Besides, you're so hell bent on burning the rest of the Cayman Islands you cant even feel those first degree burns that are consuming you. Give it a break my friend. Come sit and dine with us. You have no idea the dessert we've prepared for you. Oh and we do have some heavenly ointment for those burns…
Imagine that……………………….being the 2nd elected member in WB and not even a part of their group!!!
You cant touch this woman!!!
We all know how BB got in!!!
You go gir!!
You walked in and mashed up their Dolly House!!!
Welcome to the CI Native Revolution Long Live the Revolution !!!
Congrats Tara; I am so proud of you; now dig your nails in there and let the cleaning process begin
CONGRATS TARA ! I'm one West Bayer that is very proud today this chain has been broken i trust & look forward to you repersenting us.
so proud of you. youve done the impossible! i wish jackee and sharon along with jude were able to get in there as well. we need more women, more independents, more change! but there is hope after all!
Congrats Tara, you have finally broken a small piece of the UDPs spine, now we must wait to see if Mr. Bush is convicted, I assume we then would have to have a by election for that seat and or the person who came 5th would take the seat,. Then we run forward four years and you and your team will break the UDPs spine.. You go girl.
So if Mac is found guilty of one or more of the offenses he is being investigated for, who takes his place? The person who came in 5th??? And good grief – my fellow West Bayers – remove the tinfoil hats and put down the Kool-Aid! UGH.
I'm confused, I have followd Cayman politics very closely for many years, Who is Capt. Eugene Ebanks?
He’s our official seat warmer for WB. Does nothing, says nothing but nods his head during vote time. I want to see the LA videos to see if he stays awake.
LOL – Perhaps he give outfree boat rides? The skipper of the SS Minnow? Just someone with 1307 good friends? Ugh.
I am captain Eugene Ebanks!
Who-gene?
And you are DEFINITELY not Spartacus!
I am Eugene.
Not so. Captain Eugene Ebanks doesn't call himself anonymous (although the Cayman public does for very good reason), and he doesn't have a computer. And he doesn't know how to post on CNS. Plus he's just not that interested. Besides he simply couldn't care less. As a matter of fact, he was in the bank cashing his check while you were doing silly things on CNS. Plus the West Bayers say it's OK to give him that big fat paycheck every month for four more years for doing absolutely nothing whatsoever on the face of this earth while you and me work our asses off to pay our cuc bills every month to help the poor guy out. And the West Bayers know exactly what they're doing because the king of honerable said it was the right thing to do, and we all know the king of honerable is the financial expert. Plus if the real Captain Eugene Ebanks had anything at all resembling a conscience he would most certainly not be friends with the king of honerable. Very unfortunately for all of us it seems we STILL have both of them to sacrifice our life savings to indefinitely but it's getting better. Very slowly and very painfully it is starting to get better. We do sincerely hope you're happy, West Bay.
I think the real Captn Eugene died a decade ago but was replaced by the stuffed version for political expediency. There can be no other explanation for an MLA who does so little and says so little.
Somebody who has done nothing for the water sports industry or represented the people of the industry. Stingray should be a National Heritage place where only caymanians should be working in the industry rather than flocks of expats taking out foreigners who quite frankly does not know the history of the island. Reduced the influx of these boats and return it to founders along with their children and relatives.
Jobs for the hundreds of Caymanians that seek employment in the watersports industry right?
I am Caymanian, and I worked in this industry growing up when i was 12-16yrs old as a "summer job". The companies I worked for were keen to hire locals like myself as we could give a local spin on all the tours. But…..those companies started overlooking young Caymanians like myself when those that were hired called in sick on their 2nd day on the job, complained "that this is not in my job description", were rude to customers or just didn't show up when they were hired.
Like it or not, there are many reasons that Caymanians don't get certain jobs in Cayman, you only have to ask the business owners, both foreign and local why that is.
Stop with the "silver spoon" shite and get off your ass, apply yourself, strive for the best and the results will follow. Simple really, but not so much for a lot of people out there.
Thank you, a voice of reason! Unfortunate but true……anyways on another note you gotta love how a discussion about a electoral candidate somehow gets dragged back to a anti expat row…..again. Shame.
hillarious….
Capt. Eugene is the person who has collected $10,000 a month for the last 12 years for doing absolutely nothing. Typical West Bayer!
I take it you are familiar with lots of West Bayers who collect $10k a month to do nothing? I am certainly not. Our district has been diminished in value by the system of dependency created by Mr. Bush. However, if the majority of persons were receiving such large amounts monthly they would no longer be dependent on him.
What a disgraceful statement. I am a West Bayer, and I resent your comment! That could be said of many, many individuals from any district on the island. Yet I cast no stone. We are all not as "typical" as you have stated.
However, please define "typical" for me.
I agree with the posters below. While your statement is the absolute and shameful truth regarding whogene, it is just plain wrong to class all or most West Bayers with him. I would like to once again say thank you sincerely to the typical litterate West Bayer for your part in releasing us from mckeevas mangy fangs and giving us a proper Government. I am from Bodden Town by the way.
No, then there will be a by-election.
I guess you think that an Election dosent cost money. It is very costly and we will have to pay for it.
CONGRATULATIONS TARA
PLEASE you are a INDEPENDENT
STAY OUT OF THE PARTY SYSTEM once you go there
THey will court and wine you and dine you once you get to the house
Thank Godfor offering your self up
Thank God the UDP Strong hold is broken oven the Island.
It showes who is the voting public in West bay
Tara, ask for a ministry. You can do more in government than out.
While I am in complete support of Tara she can't just ask for a ministry. Her party obtained only 3 seats. They will need to await a call from the PPM.
Sure she can. She should poick up the phone tomorrow. It's called initiative.
Well, yes she can, but my point is it would be dumb.
It has always been my faith that when you want something bad enough, long enough and pray hard enough with faith to believe God will grant you your wishes, This is exactly what has happened in WB. Thank you God for giving us some relief in WB from the UDP strong hold. BT you got your act together and hopefully GT will do likewise when the final vote is in. Congratulations to all of you, Now let's get to work and clean up the Cayman Islands. God Bless you All A true West Bayer.
Now all you need do is go out and convince the other 1, 000 to 2, 000 who voted for Mac and the seat warmers to not vote UDP. One does not a break make BUT it is a start.
I prayed for a pony once. It didn’t work.
My laptop keeps opening an unwanted UDP connection. Seems no matter how hard I try to force it closed it just keeps popping up when it is not wanted.
I checked out the connections to this UDP port and the source of its activites are completely hidden. If only I could bring its activities into the light of day I could find a way to stamp it out once and for all.
Sounds like malware. Or a virus called "Dirty Wille".
You go Tara! Although many of us West Bayers seem to still be drinking the Kool Aid, this proves that there are some of us who have broken free.
So proud of Tara! First person to break the UDP stronghold in WB since its inception. Couldn't be any happier for her right now!
Kudos to Tara, but let's not forget those voters who voted her IN. Thank God for those FEW sensible ones.
Well done Tara, and thank you to the citizens of West Bay who were able to turn their backs on the grip of dictatorship in the district….now I can build my house.
Thank God the stranglehold has been broken. Well done and congrats to Tara Rivers. Cannot believe that so many would vote for a man who has done so much damage to this country. Shame on you WBayers.
I agree, but I can believe that they were stupid enough to vote for McKeeva – you can't fix stupid but you can add a new spoke to the wheel – smh
What choice did we have. PPM ? Definitely NOT, PNA? Absolutely not!!!
You had the choice of Mervin and Woody.
Well done and well deserved Tara!!
Congradulations to Tara and Thank You Lord for breaking the Dread Lock in West Bay! Looking forward to more history in West Bay soon!
By-Election favors Progressives with the majority of seats in the 2013 Legislative Assembly! If not a Progressive, Please Please Please West Bay have enough sense to put Mervin in!!!!
Who was the dread lock running in West Bay?
The dread lock vote silly!
This is not funny. It is racist.
I hear it was foolio with a wig.
dat who bakkin dirty willie suh
Wb is finally changing for the better! I hope she keeps her noise clean & stay away from Curruption! You came along ways but you are here Tara!
100% Caymanian
What in the world has Capt Eugene really done over the years? Someone enlighten me! Unbelievable!!
He has hung on tight to Mac's coat tail. Thats all.
Who?
I believe if you go check his seat you will find that it is sufficiently warm. AND….he nods his approvals….of Mac crap.
Hand out the money. Pure and simple. The persons receiving it should ask themselves is where the money comes from. It is obvious that it is not from their salaries.
He very faithfully collects a very large paycheck every month.
Well, WB will now find out how "valuable" he is without McKeevas money tree……..
Exactly.
Represent his constituents. Unfortunately it is possible to accurately represent/emulate West Bay by doing absolutely nothing – so that is what he has done.
Exactly nothing. He is just riding the skirt tail of Mr. Bush. But with PPM in he won't have much say. His nothing to assist in tourism and help the sea faring men. He will once again take a back seat and ride out his pension time.
Capt. Eugene got re-elected for learning to keep his mouth shut and his hands to his side ! can we refer to him then as the "Biggest Secret Keeper"?
Played follow the leader and been paid very well for it – from our pockets. Such a waste of a space. Could be taken up by someone who actually cares about their country.
I always assumed by his grand title that he was a war veteran or something, but no he has err a boat and pilots licence…. Wow.
So then he is a captain?
Handing out cash.