Dear Source:
How sad. That really was my first reaction to hearing that Commissioner Pam Richards would not be attending CTO's Caribbean Week Conference. No matter what your opinion is of the Commissioner or the job she has done; she is the Chair of CTO for goodness sake. It is beyond comprehension as to why she would have been denied. It is a volunteer leadership position and we can assume that she was given permission to accept it (and I can tell you that in both the public and private sectors; it is not uncommon for someone to be told by their employer, that they can't serve in leadership roles).
So it's really the entire USVI that looks so strange to all of our partners. Thousands of people in this region are all saying the same thing, "Huh? What? Are you kidding me?"
I hope that we find out that there was some administrative miscue or communication snafu. The bulk of the meetings are Wednesday through Friday and hopefully we will read tomorrow that Pamela Richards is where she is supposed to be; in New York City with her peers and is allowed to lead the organization that she is the Chairperson of.
Richard J. Doumeng
St. Thomas
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