As we gear up for the 2024 Senate elections, it’s crucial to know where each candidate stands on issues that matter most to our community. To keep you informed, The Source has compiled a list of key questions on pressing topics affecting the Virgin Islands. The answers below are from St. Crox District incumbent Samuel Carrion.
Why are you running for office, what are your qualifications, and why should voters choose you?
I am running for office as it is one of the ways I can most effectively serve the people of St. Croix. I am a lifelong entrepreneur and I’ve worked in all three branches of our Government, most recently as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Mapp Administration. I hold Bachelor’s degrees in Business and Theology and I’m a certified language interpreter. Additionally, I have been very active in many St. Croix community organizations. I would ask voters to choose me as I work hard to represent all members of our community and strive to be your voice of compassion, commitment, and hope.
How would you address the high cost of living in the territory and the lack of affordable housing?
I have continued to work to address issues at the Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority as the high cost of power and water drives up the cost of all goods and services. I do believe there is much more we can do to make housing more affordable. I am currently reviewing the Virgin Islands government’s inventory of both buildings and land to see what may be suitable for housing. We must look at what we have that can be rehabilitated for either Government offices or affordable housing. This Government should invest in transforming all of its abandoned buildings. I don’t see large housing developments as the answer, but rather creating more opportunities for first time home buyers and builders. I am a co-sponsor of Act# 8465, which provides downpayment grants through the V.I. Housing Finance Authority.
How would you improve the territory’s electrical grid and implementation of renewable energy?
WAPA has major organizational and infrastructure problems. I supported legislation for both an additional audit of its operations and for a “turn around” management firm to be hired to help address some of the ongoing internal issues. WAPA announced that a firm had been hired just last week. While neither of these measures will fix WAPA, we can’t justify pouring additional money into what is presently a failing operation without a new plan. As just one example, WAPA recently announced that it would have Customer Service employees work on Saturdays to address the billing problems created over the summer, when people began receiving double or triple their usual bill. I immediately wrote to WAPA urging them to instead reissue the incorrect bills rather than paying overtime and forcing customers to come into their offices. WAPA continues to be plagued by poor decision making. On the infrastructure side, I have recently called on the Administration to take advantage of the knowledge and resources of the Army Corps of Engineers, which was previously willing to conduct a full review of our power grid. We clearly need greater expertise in order to improve the generation and distribution of power. Further, I continue to support green and alternative energy projects to include the wind turbines and new solar farm planned for St. Croix. I am hopeful that these projects will have a positive impact on WAPA’s ability to generate reliable and affordable power, but we must remain vigilant in our oversight until real change is enacted.
What would you do to expedite or improve the territory’s disaster recovery, which has dragged on for seven years now?
I am exceptionally disappointed by the pace of our recovery and this remains one of the reasons why I decided to run for office. Senators have appropriated a line of credit to provide the matching funds necessary to get these projects off the ground, but continued and extensive oversight remains necessary. While there are problems locally, the process for accessing these federal funds is exceedingly complicated. Going forward, we must also be more assertive with our federal partners if we are to get the schools, hospitals, and other facilities that we so desperately need.
What reforms would you propose to ensure our children are receiving the public education that they deserve?
I have four children – all of whom attended our public schools. First and foremost, we must get proper facilities in place for both students and staff. Senators recently legislated a School Building Authority to improve maintenance, but there is no question that most of our schools require rebuild or renovation. Too many instruction days have been lost to infrastructural issues, not to mention the many months lost to COVID and storms. Further, we must continue to update our policies as they relate to education, many of which have been in place more than 50 years. I am the sponsor of Act 8555, the Bilingual Education Act, which helps ensure that all Virgin Islands students have the tools for success. But more reforms are needed, starting with early childhood education, which has been proven as vital to future outcomes. Finally, we must better support our educators through improved salaries and training, while acknowledging that the students of the 2020s require more dynamic teaching methods.
What are your solutions to address violent crime in the territory, especially among young men?
Crime must be addressed holistically and I believe our Government must do better to provide more educational, recreational and career opportunities for young people in particular. Here on St. Croix, we still await the completion of the Paul E. Joseph Stadium, the reopening of the Vincent Mason Pool, and the real repair of our schools. It is easy to see why criminal activity would thrive under the current circumstances. I have continued to work to establish more for our youth, recently sponsoring a bill to cover all of St. Croix’s outdoor basketball courts with a roof, as just one example. On the law enforcement side, I will continue to support hiring more officers and measures that better control illegal firearms, such as the legislation I co-sponsored this term to enforce the declaration of firearm components coming in through the mail (Act 8547).
How can the territory improve upon its tourism product while addressing growing concerns about over-tourism? Are we too reliant on cruise tourism and what can be done to bring more overnight visitors?
I believe that there is much room for growth on St. Croix in terms of tourism, but we must take steps to protect our islands from overdevelopment. I am the sponsor of Act 8609, which reestablishes the Territorial Park System and we must add more land under its protection. While St. Thomas may be too reliant on cruise ship visits, I don’t think we are near that point here on St. Croix. In order to attract overnight visitors, we need to make St. Croix more accessible. I have sat in on meetings with the airlines, who indicate the best way to add more flights to St. Croix is to attract a major hotel chain to the island and I believe our Tourism Department should be pushed harder to help make this a reality. More frequent and more affordable flights will bring us more overnight visitors and improve the quality of life for residents.
What would you propose to better support people dealing with mental illness, alcoholism, addiction, and homelessness?
The current state of our mentally ill, addicted, and homeless populations greatly saddens me. Mental health care remains extremely limited here in the Virgin Islands, even for those with the resources to obtain such care. That’s why my colleagues and I worked on Act 8688 – the VI Behavioral Health Act. This legislation establishes a comprehensive framework to address mental health and homelessness in our community and appropriates $3 million for the initial design and architectural work on the mental health facility at Anna’s Hope, as well as $1 million for each district to have a mobile health van to take services to the community, and, most recently we appropriated $18 million from the Epstein Settlement Agreement for the construction of the mental health facility at Anna’s Hope. We desperately need these new facilities to house and treat these individuals.
What plans do you have to reestablish the libraries in the territory?
Our libraries should be thriving centers of community life and most of them, sadly, remain closed. I support the proposed removal of libraries from under the control Department of Planning & Natural Resources as I believe they need much greater attention.
How can we provide access to affordable healthcare for individuals and small businesses?
This is an ongoing problem and I believe we must explore what would be necessary to allow individuals and small businesses to possibly buy into the existing Government health insurance program, as a larger membership pool may benefit everyone. Further, we must better support our public clinics so that they can provide low cost services to those that most need them.
Please tell us about any of your other priorities for the territory that are not addressed in the questions above.
Supporting local non-profit organizations, pushing for greater Government accountability and efficiency, and advocating for youth and families will remain my priorities. However, I have three pieces of legislation I’ve been working hard on:
- Public Building Authority – this measure will consolidate and organize the maintenance of all Government properties through one central agency, which will save money, speed up repairs, and bring greater overall accountability to the process.
- Rideshare – to create an efficient digital alternative for both residents and visitors to engage vehicles for hire throughout the Territory. The Virgin Islands is greatly behind other destinations in this regard and it will also help residents address the lack of reliable public transportation.
- Environmental Impact Fee – To designate a portion of cruise ship passenger head taxes and hotel occupancy taxes to address the waste stream created by visitors. These new fees will be utilized for waste management and community beautification projects. Our islands are far too dirty and we must take action to clean them up for residents and acknowledge the impact of visitors.
And finally, if you could have one superpower to move the V.I. forward, what would it be and why?
It is hard to choose just one, but I would end all violent crime here in the Virgin Islands. The impacts of violence are devastating and far reaching. Too many senior citizens, women and children are presently living in fear. We hear much about gun violence, but domestic violence is far too prevalent and school violence is seemingly on the rise. I truly wish for a community where everyone has a sense of safety and security.
