It has been a stormy few years for the Corporation of Hamilton. The Royal Gazette looks back at some of the controversies to have hit the municipality under Mayor Sutherland Madeiros.

• October 2006 — Mr. Madeiros becomes Mayor following an election being called after the unexpected death of his friend and predecessor Jay Bluck.

• December 2006 — A rebel group of councillors and aldermen demand Mr. Madeiros' resignation. He refuses.

• February 2007 — Former Deputy Mayor Sonia Grant drops her claim in court that Mr. Madeiros was involved in election interference.

• April 2007 — Nineteen people are injured after a horse stampede at Harbour Nights, which prompts CoH to say it will consider the future of horse tours.

• December 2007 — The Corporation agrees to terminate Bermuda Society of Arts' (BSoA) lease at City Hall after almost 50 years, sparking criticism from across the community, including from Culture Minister Dale Butler, when it is revealed at the start of 2008.

• January 2008 — Industrial staff stage a two-day walk out, gaining union recognition soon afterwards. The Royal Gazette's A Right To Know campaign calls for the Corporation to be more transparent and hold its meetings in public. We reveal that Mr. Madeiros could have used his power of veto to stop the BSoA eviction — but didn't.

• February 2008 — Government says in its Throne Speech it plans to modernise the municipalities of both Hamilton and St. George's. Graeme Outerbridge claims that members of CoH are holding secret talks on how to oust Mr. Madeiros. The Mayor says again that he will not resign. The same month, an inquiry is launched into claims that Mr. Outerbridge and alderman David Dunkley are ineligible to serve

• March 2008 — Bill Black is deposed as Deputy Mayor, saying he feels "betrayed" by fellow members.

• April 2008 — Mr. Dunkley pays back thousands of dollars to the Corporation of Hamilton for personal overseas calls made on his Corporation cell phone. Junior Tourism and Transport Minister Wayne Caines chastises the Mayor for "overstepping his authority" by imposing a ban on horse-drawn carriages during Harbour Nights.

• June 2008 — Mr. Outerbridge resigns as councillor. Later that month, councillor W. Carvel VanPutten also leaves. Mr. Dunkley, meanwhile, is told he is ineligible to serve but appeals the decision. That appeal has yet to be heard in court. Also in June, a leaked resignation letter from outgoing treasurer Geoffrey Bell blames Corporation secretary Kelly Miller for many of the municipality's problems.

• July 2008 — Mr. Black is removed as alderman, after it is discovered that he is ineligible to serve. It is also announced this month that Ms Miller has left the Corporation — with no explanation of why or when.

• August 2008 — Mr. Outerbridge blows the whistle on behind-the-scenes feuding at City Hall with a dossier revealing the extent of internal strife. Mr. Madeiros defends his record but admits he has struggled to get consensus.

• October 2008 — The Corporation begins making its decisions public for the first time in 213 years.

• November 2008 — New councillor Anne Kast steps down to avoid controversy about her right to be on the city's electoral roll. The Mayor refuses to have a statue of slave Sally Bassett erected in the grounds of City Hall outside his office.