Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros voted in favour of evicting Bermuda Society of Arts from City Hall and even suggested some of its space should be given to Bermuda National Gallery — despite saying publicly that he would do all he could to reverse the decision.

Minutes from a December 11 meeting of the Corporation of Hamilton leaked to The Royal Gazette show that it was unanimously agreed to terminate the society's lease with six months notice.

Corporation members are understood to be angry at the apparent contradiction between what the Mayor said at the behind-closed-doors meeting and his public comments since.

The leak comes just a week after The Royal Gazette launched its A Right to Know: Giving People Power campaign, aimed at getting the meetings of publicly funded bodies like the Corporation opened up to the public.

A source said: "Most members were dismayed by the way the Mayor handled this situation because it damaged the reputation of the Corporation."

The minutes from December 11 — a meeting at which all members were present except Councillor W. Carvel Van Putten — state that there was a detailed discussion about the Corporation's urgent need for office space and whether City Hall could continue to accommodate two art galleries.

"Members did not support the idea of a quick fix by building a small extension onto the east side of City Hall, which would be shared by the Corporation and the Bermuda National Gallery," read the minutes.

"They were in agreement that the Bermuda Society of Arts' (BSoA) lease could and should be terminated with six months notice.

"This would free up a significant amount of space on the third floor to house additional office and meeting space for the Corporation."

The decision to evict BSoA, which has been at City Hall since 1960, sparked an outcry in the community and the lease has since been extended to the end of this year.

Mr. Madeiros told The Royal Gazette on January 10 that Corporation members were reluctant to spend $700,000 of taxpayers' money on an extension when there was already space available in City Hall.

Asked if he thought the decision to evict BoSA from the third floor of City Hall was not in the best interests of taxpayers, he replied: "I would say I tend to agree with this, but it was a majority decision of the Corporation."

In a speech on Sunday evening, the Mayor said: "I will do everything in my power to ensure that the Bermuda Society of Arts, the Bermuda National Gallery, and City Hall Theatre will continue to call City Hall their home."

The minutes from December 11 reveal that Mr. Madeiros "felt strongly that some of the space on the third floor should be offered to the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG), at least in the short term, as their space requirements were as urgent as those of the Corporation".

The minutes continue: "The secretary did not see the purpose. Councillor (Pamela) Ferreira was strongly opposed to terminating one art gallery's lease in order to give that space to the other art gallery.

"She felt that the Corporation should meet its own requirements first and that the needs of the BNG should be discussed at another meeting. The Mayor was adamant that he wanted to help out the BNG."

Mr. Madeiros said yesterday: "I don't speak on any leaked information. It's regrettable that we have people in our community, that we have people who meet behind closed doors, who go out and leak information.

"I am very disappointed that minutes were leaked. I think there are some things in the minutes that are sensitive issues. I'm really upset that somebody betrayed the trust of the Corporation of Hamilton and has gone to the press."

Earlier in the conversation he promised to raise the issue of opening up Corporation meetings and publishing minutes with his aldermen and councillors. "Should we do a better job of disseminating information to the public?" he said. "Absolutely."