‘It’s not worth it’ - Councillor’s wife irked by nasty comments after his shaky speech

Hurt by the throng of disparaging and vile comments directed at her husband since his forgettable speech at a graduation last week, the wife of Councillor Steve Graham said she would not be unhappy if he decides to walk away from representational politics.

"If I have a choice, I would take my husband out of politics," Rosemeade Graham told THE STAR yesterday."Five million dollars nuh worth it," she said in reference to the annual salary now earned by councillors.

"Some things that I see my husband go through, it just don't worth it," she insisted

Graham, councillor for the Old Harbour Central Division in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, has been the butt of the jokes after stumbling repeatedly as he delivered greetings at a school-leaving exercise for a primary school in his division. However, Councillor Graham's wife said he has demonstrated his capacity to lead and represent his people time and time again, and it is unfortunate that he is being so harshly judged by the public. She said that the unpleasant comments have been taking a toll on her husband.

"Right now, mi husband has lost weight. He feels stressed out! Persons are ungrateful, and the other side is using this incident to judge him. He can't even roll up his windows while driving through the community because it is claimed he is hiding," the distraught spouse said.

Rosemeade, who was at the event, admitted that her husband was off the mark. She, however, said that he did not have enough time to review the text that he was asked to deliver.

"He was given a two-page speech to read, and he is not a public speaker. He has made speeches elsewhere and has distinguished himself, this is the one time he faltered, and people are ready to crucify him," Rosemeade said.

Rosemeade, an educator, said that her husband was nervous and this played a role in his delivery.

"I am saying if I had got it to read I would be nervous too, this should not be a defining moment for him because he is a quality representative of the people, however, I must say when I looked at the video, I think he could do better," she stated.