One of two V.I. Civil Rights Commission members singled-out Tuesday in Senate testimony for absenteeism—which resulted in hundreds of civil rights complaints to languish for lack of a quorum—has rejected blame, saying she resigned in January and that the other absentee member has been very ill.
But regardless of where the fault lies, no one disputes the commission cannot make a quorum and cannot act.
"The commission has been unable to effectively complete or close out any of the 437 complaints filed within the territory because of a lack of a responsive quorum," commission case worker Rudisha Rabsatt testified Tuesday. The commission has four members, but two have not been attending meetings "for over six years," she said, naming members Christoph Massac and Anne Golden as the truants.
"I am frankly shocked that the Civil Rights Commission would have me on their roster when I resigned my position via letter to the governor, who makes all appointments to the commission, in January 2011," Golden told the Source Wednesday by email, when asked about the allegation.
In her resignation letter, which she supplied a copy of to the Source, Golden says she is resigning to avoid any possible conflict of interest with her current full-time salaried position on the Casino Control Commission. She mentions the commission’s difficulties in forming a quorum and says it is her "hope that a complement of appointees can be named soon so that the commission can begin to dispose of its substantial caseload …."
Massac has been unable to attend for a long time due to serious illness, according to Golden.
Reached for comment Thursday, Rabsatt stood by her testimony to the Senate. She said she was aware of Massac’s illness, but neither Massac nor Golden had submitted any notice of resignation to the committee, and there had been no forwarded notice from Government House.
"If you were submitting a resignation letter, wouldn’t you submit it to the place you worked?" she asked, rhetorically.
While Golden and Rabsatt may dispute where fault lies, both agree more appointees are needed. In her testimony to the Senate Tuesday, Rabsatt said "it would certainly help" if the governor can appoint three individuals—two from St. Croix and one from St. Thomas.
An email request for comment from Government House sent Thursday afternoon had not been responded to as of 10 p.m. Thursday.
Last July, Gov. John deJongh nominated Mario Francis to serve on the commission. Asked what happened to that nomination, Rabsatt said the 28th Legislature never confirmed Francis before adjourning at the end of last year, and she believed the process needed to start anew in the 29th Legislature.
