March 10, 2008 — Municipal government and what it would do for St. John was the dominant topic Monday at a meeting of the Constitutional Convention's Committee on Government.
"Most St. Johnians want and need to have control of our own destiny," said St. John resident Paul Devine.
Devine was one of five people who spoke out. The meeting drew about 15 residents to the St. John Legislature building for the Constitutional Convention's second meeting of the day. Earlier the Committee of the Whole met.
From 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, the Committee on Suffrage, Election, Initiative, Referendum, and Recall will meet at the Legislature building.
The territory will still need a central government, but local issues will be handled locally, Devine pointed out.
Despite difficulties in getting information about St. John's financial picture separated from the St. Thomas/St. John District figures, he estimates that St. John's property taxes will generate about 45 percent of the money needed to run the island. The rest will be disbursed from the central government, which would collect other taxes, including income and gross-receipts taxes.
"They would be distributed based on population," Devine said.
People who fear municipal government don't understand its benefits, said St. John resident Ronnie Jones. There is a perception by some black people on St. John that white people are running the island and have all the money, he said. They fear that if the territory has municipal government, white people on St. John will control the government, he said.
"There are numerous races, numerous cultures on St. John," Jones said. "We all have to come together."
And he said the notion that senators represent St. Thomas/St. John is misleading.
"We only see them for 4th of July," he said.
Former Sen. Clement "Cain" Magras, a committee member, explained that with municipal government, members of a local council would make the decisions that are now made by boards and commissions, among others.
"There is no reason the Legislature should deal with zoning issues," he said.
The Legislature's refusal to hold a Committee of the Whole meeting on St. John about the property-tax issue was a slap in the face, said St. John resident Myrtle Barry, who serves on the Unity Day Group's Property Tax Committee.
After the recent property revaluation, St. John property owners will pay taxes much higher than people on other islands.
"But where are our services?" she said, ticking off a list of problems that need solving.
In some cases St. John property owners face tax bills six to 10 times higher than their previous bill, said former Sen. Craig Barshinger, who serves as vice chairman of the Committee on Government.
Barry called on the National Park Service to give land within the V.I. National Park boundaries to the local government for a much-needed school. While a lease proposal is currently in the works, she called for an outright donation of land.
"It's for education," she said.
St. John residents are tired, exasperated and frustrated, said resident Bonnie Corbeil, her voice rising in frustration.
"We can't go to meeting after meeting and not be heard," she said.
St. John residents came out in force to oppose the Sirenusa condominium rezoning, Corbeil said, but the Legislature approved it anyway.
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