Oct. 26, 2006 — As expected, Public Services Commission members were a no-show at Thursday's Committee of the Whole hearing, which was called to investigate the PSC's alleged secret support of a $470 million bankruptcy settlement involving V.I. Telephone Co. (Vitelco) assets. Angered by the commission's absence, senators immediately voted to subpoena all voting members of the PSC to attend another Committee of the Whole hearing scheduled for Nov. 2.
A majority of senators petitioned Senate President Lorraine L. Berry to call the hearing after Berry denied two requests by Sen. Louis P. Hill to bring PSC members before the Legislature to discuss the matter (See "Entire Senate Will Investigate Connections Between PSC, ICC Bankruptcy").
Holland Redfield and attorney J'Ada Finch-Sheen, both representing Innovative Communication Corp., did attend Thursday's meeting, but did not have the opportunity to testify on the issue since senators spent nearly two hours decrying the actions of the PSC, stating that its members "had no respect for the Legislature."
In a Wednesday letter to Berry, PSC legal counsel Jeffrey Moorhead wrote that he had advised commission members not to attend Thursday's meeting, citing that the "requested testimony raises numerous constitutional issues" (See "PSC Members Expected to Be No-Shows During Hearing on ICC Bankruptcy").
Moorhead's letter was read into the record during the meeting, along with correspondence sent by PSC board members Verne C. David and M. Thomas Jackson. In his letter to Berry, David writes, "As a self-employed, private enterprise business owner, I cannot on such short notice, sacrifice being away from my business and neglecting my responsibility to my clients I will be forfeiting, at a minimum, at least one full day of income as a result of being out of my office."
Senators said they took exception to the letters sent by Moorhead and David, and brought Yvonne Tharpes, the Legislature's chief legal counsel to the floor to determine whether any testimony provided by PSC members would be "unconstitutional."
"The excuses presented in attorney Moorhead's letter are not supported by any information or law," Tharpes said.
She then reiterated, "There is no support for any of the allegations he's made."
Tharpes added that "all offices of the government, its employees, or other persons are required to appear and give testimony or furnish information before the Legislature upon its request."
"If there were issues with respect to attorney-client privilege, Moorhead would not be required to answer, but I don't think the Legislature has required that kind of information," she said.
Addressing reports that the PSC had pledged its support to ICC principal Jeffery Prosser during a secret meeting, Hill said Thursday's hearing was called to investigate possible violations of the Sunshine Act and the territory's disclosure laws.
"When members nominated for boards, commissions and other institutions come before the Senate for confirmation, we go through the process of determining whether they'll be good representatives for the people, uphold the public trust and make transparent decisions," Hill said.
He added that the PSC's decision not to attend Thursday's meeting "speaks volumes."
"It says to me that there is much that the PSC does not wish the public to know, much that they don't wish to be aired and much that they wish to hide. If every member of the commission had nothing to hide, if they had done everything legally, openly and in a transparent way, then there would be no reason for them not to appear here and answer some simple questions," Hill said.
While each senator had a message to give PSC members, Sen. Ronald E. Russell took a more radical approach. "As senators, we have to take a stand when the fundamental democratic process of the people we represent is challenged," he said. "And the respect of this institution has been challenged by this administration on many occasions. This is another challenge. And it's partly our fault, because if we had the balls, we would rise into session right now and dismantle the PSC, or cut their budget in half — take some kind of punitive action to demonstrate that we have the authority to act."
Senators instead voted to subpoena all voting members of the commission to appear at another Committee of the Whole hearing scheduled for Nov. 2.
Voting in favor of the motion to bring PSC members forward were Berry and Sens. Craig W. Barshinger, Liston Davis, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Pedro "Pete" Encarnacion, Juan Figueroa-Serville, Hill, Norman Jn Baptiste, Terrence "Positive" Nelson, Usie R. Richards, Russell and Celestino A. White Sr.
Sen. Neville James voted against the motion.
Sens. Roosevelt C. David and Shawn-Michael Malone were absent at voting time.
Redfield and Finch-Sheen were also subpoenaed to appear and give testimony at the Nov. 2 meeting.
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