Hamilton Mayor Graeme Outerbridge has acknowledged that the Corporation of Hamilton may have acted prematurely when it paid out $50,000 to a group planning to hold a convention on the Island.

Mr Outerbridge yesterday agreed that fresh questions needed to be asked over who was behind the Conference of Black Mayors (CBM) — a recently formed non-membership charity. Last month the municipality signed a contract with the CBM, committing the city to host a five-day conference for the Atlanta-based group later this year. In addition, the Corporation has agreed to pay CBM at least $100,000 to host the convention. $50,000 of ratepayer funds were wired to a CBM bank account after the contract was inked.

Speaking after returning from a two-week vacation, Mr Outerbridge last night told The Royal Gazette that, following developments last week, the municipality was no longer comfortable with CBM as a legitimate organisation.

“We’re going to have a special meeting where everyone can sit down and share all the information we have,” Mr Outerbridge said.

“We need to find out about name changes and membership. We have not got to a final decision on what we’re going to do because we need to go over all the information. Basically we need to find out more information about who we’re dealing with and what exactly is going on.”

Deputy Mayor Donal Smith is believed to have first put forward a convention proposal last summer after attending an event hosted by another Atlanta-based group — the National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) — where he met with NCBM’s then-executive director Vanessa Williams.

The Deputy Mayor met with Ms Williams at another conference in Colombia in September. But by then she had been sacked by NCBM President Kevin Johnson after it was discovered that the group was $1 million in debt and that Ms Williams had spent more than $600,000 of NCBM funds on personal expenses in three years. She also failed to cooperate with an internal audit of NCBM.

Mr Johnson filed a writ against Ms Williams demanding that she hand over NCBM accounts. She issued a counter claim, arguing that Mr Johnson’s election as president was not valid. An Atlanta judge gave his ruling on the case two weeks ago, declaring that Mr Johnson’s election was valid and he therefore had the authority to dismiss Ms Williams from the organisation.

Following that ruling it emerged that Ms Williams had set up a splinter group — the CBM — and had continued negotiations with City Hall. The Corporation’s convention contract with CBM was signed by Ms Williams and Mr Smith — and a $50,000 payment made to CBM — on March 21 — ten days before an Atlanta judge had ruled in favour of Kevin Johnson and against Ms Williams.

That ruling prompted Hamilton councillor Larry Scott to claim that the Corporation had “backed the wrong horse” and had been possibly duped by Ms Williams.

Last night Mr Outerbridge accepted that the ruling had come as a surprise and put Ms Williams credibility into question.

“We didn’t feel the case was relevant to where we were, but new things have come to light and that changes things” he said.

Among the Corporation’s concerns is the fact that, according to Georgia State records, Ms Williams incorporated the CBM in April 2013 as a charity that does not have any members. Yet she persuaded the Corporation to “join” the group for an annual fee of $2,500 and has also claimed that hundreds of CBM members will attend the Hamilton conference.

The records show Ms Williams listed as president, CEO and COO of the organisation and there are discrepancies in addresses and phone numbers for CBM.

And the records also show that, four months after she formed CBM, Ms Williams changed the name of her company from ‘Conference of Black Mayors’ to ‘Conference For Black Mayors’. The Corporation’s contract is with the Conference of Black Mayors, which, technically no longer exists.

Mr Outerbridge was first alerted to divisions in the NCBM and concerns over the credibility of Ms Williams at the start of the year. At the time, he insisted that the municipality would conduct due diligence before signing a contract or paying funds to any organisation.

“We will do everything we can to contact the organisation and find out what’s going on,” he told The Royal Gazette in January.

Yesterday Mr Outerbridge said that the Corporation — through Deputy Mayor Smith — had been satisfied with information provided by Ms Williams. He added that Mr Johnson had never “reached out” to the Corporation.

But last night Mr Scott refuted that claim, and said that he had raised concerns about NCBM infighting and Ms Williams months ago.

And lawyers for Mr Johnson also questioned why the Corporation had signed a contract with CBM.

“The bottom line is that whatever information Ms Williams presented to your Deputy [Donal Smith] was highly questionable,” attorney Valarie Allen said.

“Your Deputy, as you know, decided to limit his due diligence to hearing only one side of a well-publicised governance dispute. Of course, CBM has absolutely no affiliation with NCBM or its Board.”

And in a personal message to the Corporation, NCBM president Mr Johnson said: “The National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) is in no way affiliated with the CBM. Ms Williams was terminated from NCBM in September 2013 for misconduct, and as such, we recommend that none of our members support or be involved with the purported CBM or the conference being organised for October.”