The murder of Asami Nagakiya, a Japanese national who joined a storied Port-of-Spain steel band in 2012, could forever tarnish Trinidad Carnival as it may signal to some female masqueraders, both local and foreign, that they are not safe playing mas in T&T.
Yesterday's decision by Raymond Tim Kee, the embattled Port-of-Spain mayor, to step down in the face of a growing backlash over his grossly insensitive and insulting remarks should be seen as the first step in a package of damage-control measures aimed at retrieving T&T's reputation as a country where good sense prevails.
The mayor's initial response to a journalist's questions at an Ash Wednesday news conference at his City Hall office was bad enough.
Asked to comment on the discovery of the body of a costumed female masquerader in the Queen's Park Savannah, Mayor Tim Kee quite regrettably spoke about the "vulgarity and lewdness" of women's conduct at Carnival and that women have a "responsibility to ensure that they are not abused."
That the mayor of T&T's capital city could make such a statement even before an autopsy was conducted and a cause of death determined demonstrated a total lack of sensitivity, tact and respect for a victim of a terrible crime.
But what made the mayor's initial statement even worse was the follow-up statement on Thursday.
Having had 24 hours to consider the danger and damage inherent in his initial comment, Mr Tim Kee did not stop at issuing an unequivocal apology for the offence that comment had caused.
He added to his apology that he had "received calls of support from several women agreeing with him on the lack of modesty displayed by women and girls on the streets during Carnival."
Again, this statement, which the mayor must have reflected on and drafted carefully, was made without any idea, it must be assumed, of Asami Nagakiya's conduct or clothing during Carnival Tuesday before she was killed.
The news release from the mayor's office was also issued without trace of contrition or the traditional and civilised expression of regret to the friends and family of the murder victim.
Having been given an opportunity to redeem himself, the mayor compounded his initial offence by appearing to blame the victim of a crime that may have destroyed Trinidad Carnival as a source of tourism, even from returning locals living in the diaspora.
Obviously, all right-thinking residents of T&T–and thousands of people outside of the country–condemned Mayor Tim Kee's verbal and written assault on the public's sensibilities.
In a real sense, Mr Tim Kee's tactlessness was even worse than former MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin's traumatising and disgraceful diatribe on the heredity of then Leader of the Opposition Keith Rowley in Parliament last March.
The weight of public opinion was so strongly against Mr Tim Kee that it became clear that for him to continue in office for even one more day would have brought shame and opprobrium on the country.
It is preferable, therefore, that the mayor did the honourable thing by resigning, even if Dr Rowley, who is now the country's Prime Minister, balked at expressing a lack of confidence in him.
It was clear that a considerable section of the population of T&T had pre-empted the Prime Minister and the Port-of-Spain City Council, which was legally responsible for selecting Mr Tim Kee, in losing confidence in him.
His position might have been retrievable had he issued a swift, fulsome and unambiguous apology, but his reaction to the furore his statement caused showed that he did not understand the public's fury.
The capital deserves a chief executive who is properly in tune with the sentiments and values of its populace. Clearly, on the evidence of his statement last week, Raymond Tim Kee was not that person.
On the other hand, it is appropriate to recognise Mr Tim Kee's contribution and service to the burgesses of the capital city and to applaud the fact that he came to his senses or that his "senses" came to him.
It is hoped that the Port-of-Spain City Council appoints a new mayor who is more in touch with the country's zeitgeist and hesitates before pushing his foot so far down his throat that it disturbs his stomach.