Oct. 24, 2001 – Sen. Adelbert Bryan, who resigned as vice president of the 24th Legislature and as chair of the Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Committee last month after his colleagues declined to pass a bill he submitted, has apparently had a change of heart.
He has called two meetings of the committee this week.
When asked on Tuesday if Bryan had changed his mind, Hortense Rowe, Bryan's chief of staff, said, "His resignation was not accepted." That applied to the vice presidency as well as the chairmanship.
Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
In a Sept. 25 meeting of the full body, following his bill's defeat, Bryan announced, "I would have thought that I had some trust and some respect and some commitment from this body … This has made it very clear to my conscience that this body needs to find a new vice president. I'm not willing to play games with no intellectual masturbation with nobody."
Bryan's bill would have created a commission headed by himself, with the other members being a Senate colleague of his choosing, the chair of the Economic Development Authority, and two individuals from the private sector who participated in Bryan's 2001 Economic Development Summit in July.
He said such the commission was necessary to address the territory's economic condition after the terrorist attacks on the mainland. Its purpose would have been to prepare a final draft of an economic, social and political plan that would be submitted to the Legislature and then the governor, after which it would be implemented "immediately." The commission was to have been funded by a $650,000 appropriation from the General Fund for FY 2002, Bryan said at the time.
Sens. Bryan, Liburd, Donald "Ducks" Cole, Emmett Hansen II and Vargrave Richards voted for the bill. Voting against were Sens. Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Carlton Dowe, Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and David Jones.
Bryan's committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday on St. Croix to consider one bill requiring businesses that receive tax exemptions under the Industrial Development Program to provide retirement plans for employees and another establishing the "V.I. Economic and Employment Recovery Act." The panel also is to take testimony regarding the planned University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park.
On Friday, on St. Thomas, the committee is to consider a bill to create an Aquaculture Commission and to hear testimony on clarification of policies regarding public-access telecommunication facilities.
For more details on the hearings, see the "Legislative Calendar" entry on the Local Government page.
