Dear Source:
The manner in which the vote on the St. John Sirenusa Project went to the floor of the senate was, at best, highly unethical. Here's an idea for those senators who discussed the potential revenue to the territory Sirenusa might generate; shut down the DPNR and fire the attorney whom you hired to advise you. You aren't listening to their legal and regulatory advice any way, and it would free up some funds to be used here on St. John for its actual residents.
The governor has not signed this bill yet. Before he was voted in to office, and on numerous occasions he promised to honor the wishes of the citizens of St. John. This is the exact opposite intent of the VI Senate leadership, who chose to sneak the vote in (I don't know what else you could call it!) using suspect tactics to be certain the residents of St. John could not express an opinion prior to the vote. The Governor's phone number is listed in the directory and on his web site. St. Johnians should certainly free to call that number and leave a message asking him not to sign the bill, and stating the reasons for your request. Hopefully, St. Croix and St. Thomas residents may heed this suggestion, as well. Since the VI Senate did this to the residents of St. John, they would probably have no qualms about following suite regarding our other island home communities.
Thank you Senator Louis Hill, for being the only VI Senator willing to take the advice of the Senate counsel, the DPNR, and to also mention the wishes of the residents of the majority of St John residents when refusing to vote for this measure! Your actions will be remembered come election…as will those of the other senators. Former Senator- at- Large Craig Barshinger would never have considered voting for this bill, given the manner in which it came to the floor. As a matter of public record, one of his last official acts in office was to insist that a hearing relating to a significant piece of St. John business be held in the St. John Legislative Building. Of course, the meeting was then canceled!
I mean no ill will toward any one. I was once employed by the Sirenusa developer, as well as having voted for several of the Senators who passed this bill. However, if we are going to continue to be critical of those off-island people who might have a harmful impact to the future of St. John, shouldn't we clean up our own way of doing official Virgin Islands business first? Shouldn't the VI Senate follow it's own "best practice" protocol?
The final outcome of this political travesty is now in the Governor's hands. A member of the St. John Coalition,
Susan Mann
St. John
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