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Kelcey Gillett is a registered nurse by profession - one in which her business card and Facebook page would indicate she offers an array of services across multiple health facilities.

But, apparently, she's also a contractor who can paint very large buildings.

Reporter
"What can you tell us about the contract awarded to Kelcey Gillett for painting Interior and exterior of city hall and traffic department."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, the painting, the city hall requires the sort of maintenance that we we we prefer to outsource. It's a pretty small. It's pretty small costs."

Not so small at all. Documents obtained by 7news show that it is 142 thousand dollars to paint the interior of City Hall. Along with another is 45 thousand dollars todo the same at the Traffic Department.

A fifth of a million n contracts awarded to an individual, but it was never put out to tender and according to these minutes it didn't even go to the council caucus. We found no mention of it in any of the minutes this year.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"We we at the city level, have this sort of authority to, to decide who takes on the the cost of painting the city hall, this has been done before. I think the last."

Reporter
"Was it put out the tender?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"No, not not not that small amount. If I would put out our contract for, for ten, 20,000 for painting a building or a 30 to 40,000, I noh quite clear on, on, on what, what the question is alluding to. But the point is that for a small contract size."

Reporter
"So how much was the contract? I would believe it's a little bit over, over 100,000, I would believe."

Well over a hundred thousand, cumulatively almost two hundred thousand And while it may just seem like another paint job, the Mayor says it's highly specialized:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"It it, included the the the the railings. It, there's a lot of elevation. And so it requires a lot of, expertise in that area."

So much expertise, they gave it to a nurse:

Reporter
"But she is a nurse by profession, so how exactly was she selected for this contract?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"There's no contract. It's a sort of what we call, a, a invoice. You know, you bring in an invoice, a cost estimate of what would cost the city, to, to get that done. And we we facilitated that. I don't know the the particulars If it is, if it's a female on where she work, but we, we have the, the we did our due diligence on the on the person who, who is the actual contractor doing the work."

Reporter
"So you don't know her personally. So you don't know that she's Evan Thompson baby mother?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"I, I have no knowledge of that, my dear."

No knowledge of the personal affairs of a close council ally, but all the mayor wanted ot talk about was his beaming council building:

Reporter
"So how do taxpayers know they are getting value for money if a contract is awarded without bids to a special friend of a councillor."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Listen to me: this is the city hall. This is the city hall. The city hall requires it in the normal course of business to be kept in an, maintained on an annual basis. This building that you see pretty here is not just people walk in and walk out all day. You have other be able to kept upkeep."

Reporter
"Are these related party transactions ethical?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Well, it will be it will be, you could refer to it as is not ethical. Belize is a very small, country. Everybody is related. Probably me and you da family. Right? (Laughs)"

But, maybe not so funny for taxpayers:

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"These, ahm, these that you are bringing are just small job or what I call requisition jobs for service. It's not no contract. I'm not signing any contract that is less than a hundred thousand. I won't sign that."

Reporter
"Would you accept that the public and the residents could be upset over that? Because 100,000, if that is the figure, is not a small figure."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"In the numbers that we speak about it's a small figure."

We did try to reach Nurse Kelsey Gillett and councillor Evan Boo Boo Thompson for comment but up to news time they had not responded.