June 11, 2003 – St. John residents will be seeing more than the usual complement of senators on island next week.
– The Legislature's Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, which had been scheduled to meet Wednesday on St. John, will instead convene at 10 a.m. on June 20 in the Legislative Conference Room in Cruz Bay.
– Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone will be available to meet with constituents from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 19 at the Legislature Building.
The committee, chaired by Sen. Louis Hill, is scheduled to hear testimony on two Coastal Zone Management permits. One is for the Gallows Point Condominium Association on St. John to build a pedestrian walkway and continue using a wooden swim platform. The other is for Red Hook Marina Inc. on St. Thomas's East End to continue using its dock, moorings and buildings and to replace dock pilings.
The meeting was rescheduled because senators traveled to St. Croix on Wednesday for an afternoon meeting with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and his financial team to discuss options for addressing the territory's financial crisis.
Malone said he has decided to hold office hours on St. John from time to time because residents may be discouraged from taking concerns to their elected representatives by the "burden of two-fared transportation costs."
He said several St. John constituents have telephoned his office, "and I believe the number of calls warrants making myself available on the island to listen, discuss and ascertain the concerns of my St. Johnian constituency."
While the island has a de facto representative in the senator-at-large, who must be a St. John resident, all seven senators elected from the St. Thomas-St. John district also represent the island's residents.
Malone asked that anyone wishing to schedule an appointment to meet with him on St. John call his office at 639-3529. Or, he said, folks may just stop by the Legislative Building between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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