Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros insisted last night he would not resign and did not lie over the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) controversy or his power of veto.

The Mayor sat down for a lengthy interview with The Royal Gazette a day after it was revealed that some Corporation of Hamilton members are holding private talks about how to oust him. He declared: "I have been honest."

Mr. Madeiros publicly distanced himself from a December 11 decision by the Corporation to evict BSoA from City Hall but this newspaper revealed he voted in favour of it, despite having the power of veto.

He later expressed his regret at not using that power in a statement which said "no other Mayor" had ever vetoed a proposal. We later revealed that the 62-year-old elected Mayor has used his veto three times — twice successfully.

He admitted yesterday that he had used the veto over "sensitive issues". Asked if that meant he had lied or deliberately tried to mislead voters in his statement, he said it was "very carefully worded".

"I said 'no other mayor'," he insisted. "I never ever lied. I take exception to being accused of that."

He said he did regret making the statement. "If I knew the reaction was going to be what it was, I would have completely thought about how to word it. I have said I could have been a better communicator."

Mr. Madeiros, a retired businessman and father-of-two, said he passionately fought against the BSoA resolution on December 11 but eventually realised he could not change members' minds so went with the majority. He claimed he did this believing public pressure would force the decision to be reversed.

Quizzed again about why he failed to simply veto the plan in the first place, he said: "I thought I could get the end result without having to do that. I made a mistake. Hindsight is 20/20 vision. In that meeting I used the best persuasive powers that I had which were not good enough."

Mr. Madeiros admitted the Corporation had had a tumultuous start to 2008 but said he had no plans to step down, even if some members — including common councillor Graeme Outerbridge and alderman David Dunkley — have lost confidence in him.

He claimed those two members were against him before he stood for election as Mayor, had attempted unsuccessfully (with four other members) to force him out in 2006 and would not be successful now.

"I wouldn't be here since 2006 if I wanted to step down when Graeme Outerbridge didn't want me here," said Mr. Madeiros, who beat former Deputy Mayor Sonia Grant by 161 votes to 124 in the 2006 mayoral election.

"I would not step down for a number of reasons and one reason in particular is that I was actually voted into office. Somebody challenged me; I was the preferred candidate at the polls."

He added: "Most of the members of the Corporation, except the last two (Kathryn Gibbons and Pamela Ferreira), have never been voted into office. I don't want that to be derogatory because we have a couple of good members who weren't voted in.

"But when I was asked to step down in 2006 I agreed that I would on the condition that we all step down and go out to the polls. If we all went to the polls I'm not so sure that all the members would be elected. I'd take my chances."

To claims by Mr. Outerbridge that he lacks leadership skills, he countered: "I would say what is Mr. Outerbridge's style of leadership? What has he led? What are his credentials that make him the authority on leadership?

"I believe he ran for Mayor once and I don't think he got more than a dozen votes." Mr. Outerbridge picked up 14 votes versus 104 for Lawson Mapp in the 2003 mayoral election.

Mr. Madeiros pointed out that Corporation members are unpaid and said his only reason for being Mayor was to do good for the city. But he said all the members, including him, were perhaps too "hands on" and that he should probably spend less time at City Hall.

He admitted the recent criticism of him over BSoA and the industrial dispute which led to a walkout of city workers had been tough on him and his family but said he could handle it. "If I didn't think we could move forward positively and do a good job in running this city, I wouldn't be here."

Mr. Outerbridge said last night there was no fixed date yet for a resolution to be put forward asking for the Mayor to resign. Any such move would be purely symbolic anyway, as resolutions cannot be passed without the Mayor's approval.

"It really is not going to change anything, it just underlines the schism that exists in the functioning of the Corporation and it really is hurting the Corporation," said Mr. Outerbridge.

Mr. Dunkley denied having a personal vendetta against the Mayor earlier this week.