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We put that to him today in a feisty, extended interview. It is long, but it is also revealing. Here's how the back and forth went:

Jules Vasquez
"So, we have North Front Street, which is being done under the STP. Then you have Freetown Road, which is now receiving major surgery. So, I'm saying that these are 2 of the major arteries on the Northside. Is it too much, Mayor?"

Darrell Bradley - Mayor, Belize City Council
"I don't think it is, and the City is working on Freetown. I've spoken to the contractor yesterday, and I've asked him to see what we could do. A portion of Freetown, BWS is still working on, so our contractor is working on half of the street while BWS is finishing their works. We're going to start Mapp Street, and we're going to start the other side of North Front Street. I don't think it's too much work; I think that with proper coordination and with greater traffic management - some of the works - I hoped that Freetown Road been much further along by now. We're now actually 2 and a half months on that particular street. It's a main street; it's 1.3 miles of road, and that's one of the reasons why it's taking so long. And there's a tremendous coordination that has to go between the City and BWS, but we're hoping that we could finish that street by the ending of November. When the streets are finished, people will not complain any longer. We're also mindful that the Christmas season is about, and we know that persons will be travelling about increasingly because they'll be going to stores; they'll be going to the downtown area. So, we're trying to see how much work we can really push before that rush starts, and we will then take a little break and start back in January."

Jules Vasquez
"The Council, which was strapped for cash recently - in a cash flow crisis, which you refuse to concede to - however it got some bridge financing, which evened that out. And, you've proceeded spending again like there's no tomorrow. I shudder to think what will be the case when the bond is floated - if it is successfully subscribed to."

Darrell Bradley
"Well, you would ask me this, and the reality is that I had expected the bond to have been floated by now. That's the reality, and so the Council had been stretched because many of the infrastructural works we had expected to be paying for out of the bond proceeds, whereas we're trying to pay for it out of our internal funds. That's unsustainable. These are works that we're investing in, that's unbudgeted, and that causes a problem on our cash flow because we didn't expect to spend that. We expected to be spending out of the bond proceeds. One of the things that we're going to do with any additional financing that we do is, we're going to treat it as an advance on the bond because all the monies that we're getting from any of the financing or from our internal funds are going strictly to street infrastructure work. But, we're expecting that the bond will be released. We're right on target for November 15, and we're expecting that shortly thereafter, monies will begin to come in under that project."

Jules Vasquez
"Obviously, it's very intoxicating to be the magic wand mayor, but at a certain point, one has to adhere to prudential standards of fiscal management. You have recklessly managed the-"

Darrell Bradley
"That's how you put it?"

Jules Vasquez
"Yes, I'm not saying that you've mismanaged. I'm saying that you recklessly managed the City's finances in over-extending the City, with the bond not being floated, and we don't know if it will be fully subscribed. You have put the Council - through your own doing - in adverse position where recently it was behind on its obligations, for example to the sanitation companies. You have proceeded with undue haste."

Darrell Bradley
"Well, there is no - first of all, I totally reject everything that you've said. I think that it is very uncharacteristic of the reality. The truth of the matter is that when you look our City, and when you look at indicators of our City, we are not doing what we should be doing. We, as a city, should be far advanced of where we are. For example, every single day at this present moment, when I meet with my engineers and my technical team, I tell them that by now, we should have finished North Front Street. We should have finished Mapp Street. We are behind in terms of schedules. I took a tour in Lake Independence, and I observed Lawrence Avenue. There was more water on the street, than there was street. That requires a certain level of urgency, and as Mayor of the City, I can't go around the City, sit in my office, and know that children have to walk through water to get to school, or people have to be driving through those unsightly conditions. So, I make no apologies for being fast on the works that we do. I know that it's inconvenience. I know that it has put a strain on our budget because a lot of the street works have been unbudgeted. But, this is what the City is supposed to do; we are supposed to be the custodian of the City's infrastructure. People won't invest in a city; businesses won't develop in a city if when people come through our roads, they're driving through potholes, mud, and water. And so, I entirely reject everything that you're saying. I make no apologies for everything that you're saying because at the end of the day, the City is meeting its obligations. We're not a for-profit organization. We're paying our major suppliers. We're meeting our obligations, and we are delivering on our commitment to the residents of Belize City. At present count now, we have cemented 31 major streets in Belize City. And that is a success in only a short period of time. Right now, we're at 31; I want that number to be at 61 or a 101 because we need, as a city council, to cement every single street in the City. And if we have to get a bond to do it; if we have to go to banks to do it; if we have to be a little bit on the edge - I wouldn't characterize it as irresponsible. But I'm saying that we will take calculated risks to ensure that the residents of Belize City drive on quality streets; I don't make any apologies for that. That's what the people want, and that's what they elected me for."

Jules Vasquez
"However, at the same time, you can't pay Luke Jones the $16,000 that the Council owes him."

Darrell Bradley
"Man, I will show you checks that we've written to Luke Jones. The reality of the matter is - and this is the truth in any large company - the City Council presently employees 268 people. We've reduced that from 297 when I got elected. So, we're cutting our staff. Whenever anybody goes on any kind of retirement, or any kind of termination, and they're entitled to their benefits, a lot of times, the money that they are due is not something that you have in the bank. The City Council doesn't have any vault where we have a significant amount of money. You want to retire or leave now? Okay, I'll just right you a check. We don't have that luxury."

Jules Vasquez
"You have a fried chicken budget but a lobster appetite in terms of the Council."

Darrell Bradley
"I wouldn't concede to that-"

Jules Vasquez
"You can't afford to pave all the streets in the City. We don't have the revenue base to support it."

Darrell Bradley
"Man Jules, I sit every single day with my City Administrator, City Engineer, and my Councilors, and they tell me the same thing you are telling me. They look at me and say, 'Mayor, you can't this, that, and that.' And you know what I look at them and tell them? We're at 31 now. You're telling me that I can't do this. We have never defaulted on our salaries. We have honored our obligations with our sanitation contractors. We're honoring our obligations with people leave the Council, in terms of paying them whatever gratuity and they're due, and we've built 31 streets. You are telling me that I can't do it, and it is happening. So, the problem really is not that there is fiscal cliff - if you will - that the City will fall off of. The problem is the lack of fortitude and determination on the part of the people who are supposed to be involved."

The prospectus for the municipal bond is scheduled to be launched next week.