Despite being one of six elected members who withdrew support for Mayor Sutherland Madeiros only a few weeks ago, Hamilton's new deputy mayor William Black does not foresee any problem working in partnership with the recently elected mayor.

And with two years' experience serving on the Corporation as a councillor and latterly as an alderman, Mr. Black has a good idea about what projects are most urgently needed for the city.

Finding solutions to traffic congestion and limited parking are key areas that need to be addressed, according to the new deputy, and keeping Hamilton an attractive place with a planned month-long clean-up drive next April is also on the agenda.

The question of who would fill the city's deputy mayor role has been an issue since November's city hall election, which sparked a rebellion by two aldermen and four councillors over claims the election rules had been altered to favour the winner Mr. Madeiros.

The new mayor denies he played any part in the rule changes. Following a letter signed by all but one of the city's councillors and aldermen withdrawing support for the mayor over the issue ? which made front page news at the start of December ? an agreement has been reached for all elected members to work together while the matter is looked into and resolved.

Retired former detective sergeant Mr. Black, who as a businessman owned and operated Wide Security Services and Bermuda Central Station (now The Bermuda Security Group) for 33 years before retiring in 2002, sees no difficulty in working with the new mayor.

Asked what projects are going to be high on the agenda, he said: "We have some major problems in the city. One is the huge traffic problem we have to come to terms with and deal with. There are these large cars on the Island and the parking bays are not big enough to accommodate them, so they end up using one and a half parking bays each."

Mr. Black also mentioned an intended clean-up of the city in April when members of the public will be encouraged to join in and help give Hamilton a spring clean.

The appointment of Mr. Black ends a second stint this year as acting deputy for David Dunkley, who also signed the letter critical of the mayor following the election.

Announcing the deputy appointment, Mr. Madeiros said: "I am delighted to welcome Bill on board as deputy mayor. As a retired businessman, I know he will have the time to devote to this very busy and important position and I am looking forward to working more closely with him.

"At the same time I would like to thank David Dunkley who was acting deputy mayor for the city during the late Mayor Bluck's tenure and over the last six weeks since I have taken office. He made a valuable contribution to the city."

Mr. Dunkley will remain as an alderman of the Corporation.