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Darrel Bradley, Attorney
"Really on all it was a very good decision. We haven't gotten the written decision yet. As I said we haven't won on all points but essentially what Mr. Grjalva was suing for is a dent amount and he was awarded the full debt amount of $80,000 plus."

Denny Grijalva, UDP Standard Bearer - Orange Walk Central
"I feel good about it because I think justice was served. I believe that we gave the town council all kinds of way to pay the bill and they were trying to go around the bush and finally we won the case. I am happy about it."

Jules Vasquez
"Will you advise your lawyers to be agreeable because at the end of the day Orange Walk Central in Orange Walk and that's your town. You don't want to crush the town council."

Denny Grijalva
"It's not really about the money really. It's about setting a precedent. I believe that we need to be sincere. If you owe and owe and you need to pay. My company would be sending them a bill if they didn't owe, so it's not really about the money and the streets are for our town, so I think we have to give them a break. We have to talk to them and see how we can come with a good solution."

Grijalva was also represented by Alifah Elrington. And so Mayor Bradley, the public official and private attorney has won a ninety thousand dollar judgment against a sister council. But, we had to ask, how does that work? Because while it is a PUP council - Bradley enjoys good relations with Mayor Kevin Bernard through the Mayors' association. So, we asked the Mayor about his double life as mayor and barrister - which led to an extended exposition, complete with third person references.

Jules Vasquez
"That you know so well how crushing these lawsuits can be on a municipality's well-being, you are under so many right now. I mean you will bring one against your sister council? That's kind of rough."

Darrel Bradley, Attorney
"But I've maintained this as well and I think I had responded this to you Jules that one of the things that I see myself as a professional. If somebody comes to me with a case I can't pick, chose and refuse the cases. Some people in the public may say well you be tactful because are a politician. But remember I also have private obligations that I have to deal with, so that I have to work as an attorney and I have much respect for Kevin Bernard. I it on several committees with him including a committee to revamp the workers regulation for the city council and of course we sit every month on the mayors' association and I deal with him as a professional. I can respect the difficulties that he has had to deal with."

Jules Vasquez
"Even while increasing them."

Darrel Bradley, Attorney
"It's not increasing them because I didn't sign the contract to do the streets. The people of Orange Walk are enjoying those streets, so that you have to pay for them. When we are saying in terms of our debt obligations, if we can bite the bullet, deal with the litigation, sit down with the people, say that we are going to pay you - that's something that they also have to pay for, but nothing that I have done have shown me to be anything other than professional in the various roles that play including mayor and lawyer."

Jules Vasquez
"Sir, but it is you who have so often and so heartily extolled the life of public service that you wish to pursue. It is you who have wax poetic so many times I've been in your office and you have said that you want to remain in public life, you want to remain in public service. There is a sacrifice involve in that. So you don't have to take cases. You want to take cases because, I don't want to be unkind, it's your professional pursuit and it enriches you and that's not wrong. You are a lawyer, you should do that, but one has to make choices."

Darrel Bradley, Attorney
"Yes. Jules I will ask any member of the public and this is not me being prideful; I am more than a fulltime mayor. I am also a fulltime attorney, I am also a fulltime family man. I have a young family which is my chief priority. You ask any member of the public and I would hope that you would play this unedited; you ask any member of the public if Darrell Bradley as mayor and again this is not being prideful - Darrell Bradley as mayor is not a working mayor - that you are not seeing your city transformed; that you drive around the city and despite all the headaches with traffic and the frustration, you can see work going on in every part of the city. So that I ensure that I can deliver on all of my commitments to residents of Belize City notwithstanding the fact that I have professional obligations, notwithstanding the fact that I have business obligations and chiefly I have private and family obligations. I am delivering and I am doing my job as mayor and the voters in this country will decide this March 2015 and I've made no secret of the fact that I have been acting as attorney. I've made no secret of the fact that this is a commitment of mine and if voters dislike that then they can use that as a reason not to vote for me. But I would say vote Darrell Bradley because of the record. Don't say well you are practicing law, you are doing this and that - look at the work that we have been doing and I would tell you that many of the mayors - I suspect that this is only a problem in Belize City because we are the media hub and I am a very vocal mayor, but you check out Joe Coye practice as an accountant while he was mayor. I have people who work at City Hall who worked with him and they can tell you. You check out other municipalities in Belize City, the mayors in various other municipalities work as real estate agents, they work as accountants, they work as teachers - they do other jobs and every single councilor in the Belize City Council all of them have another job, so you are bringing this to me as it is some sort of pariah, some sort of unusual circumstance that the mayor has a job. Which is not the case. Mayors historically and going forward have had other jobs. What you have not had is a mayor who is performing and what we have now is somebody who has another job, working hard as a professional at that to try to pay his own bills with his own family which is his private responsibility and obligation, but is also doing a good job as mayor. So why would you criticize that? Judge me on things which are fair, judge me on the streets. judge me on the debt servicing that we are doing and our performance in the capacity as mayor and I think that the residence of Belize City are generally happy, everyone isn't happy, but generally happy that I am doing a good job. What else do you want from me Jules?"

Even if he does say so himself...

We'll have more from the mayor later as he discusses a controversy developing over a proposed colonial museum.