Dec. 9, 2008 — The process of creating a local constitution needs to be backed by appropriate funding from the government, otherwise, delegates to the Fifth Constitutional Convention are going to accomplish nothing and keep "meeting up and down like a bunch of prostitutes waiting on the corner for a call in the night," according to delegate Adelbert M. Bryan.
But as delegates wait for the governor to sign into law a $150,000 appropriation recently made by the Senate to cover some of their operating expenses, efforts are also being made to lobby members of the incoming legislative majority and the Department of the Interior for the extra $1.5 million needed to take the convention through the end of May. Funding has consistently been an issue for the convention, which will only have a little over $2,700 left in its account after money is shelled out to pay for Tuesday's plenary session on St. Thomas, according to the convention's treasurer, delegate Mario A. Francis. The convention had approximately $83,540 in its account prior to the two-day session held in September, but since then had racked up about $74,687 in charges ranging from transportation to legal services.
Another $5,000 needs to be paid out for the convention's stenographers, along with $555 for lunch provided during Tuesday's session and $550 for the meeting space, Francis explained.
Though an attempt to waive one of the convention's rules — mandating the hiring of certain staff members, such as an executive director, chief stenographer and chief legal counsel — failed Tuesday, the delegation did vote to write a letter to the federal government asking for additional assistance, and planned to ask members of the incoming Senate majority to use the Legislature's facilities as the meeting place for upcoming sessions.
Delegates Craig W. Barshinger and Michael Thurland, who will be sworn in as members of the 28th Legislature in January, have pledged to take the convention's concerns to the Senate, and will also help to push for the extra cash, according to delegate Gerard Luz James II.
The statute that sets up the Constitutional Convention also states the Legislature, along with the commissioner of Property and Procurement "shall provide assistance" to the convention by allowing delegates to use "property and supplies" when available, added delegate Douglas Brady. Sessions held in government buildings should be complimentary, he said.
"At some other point in the future, we shouldn't be paying for space," Brady said.
Contracts for many of the convention's employees expired in October, the original deadline set for the convention, but many, such as their legal counsels and public information officer, have stayed on as volunteers, James added.
Delegates voted Tuesday to appoint delegate Claire Roker as the convention's executive director — a paid position that James said should not present a conflict of interest.
"Delegate Roker has been working with us from the beginning, assisting in a number of other duties, including secretary and working with the former executive director," he said after Tuesday's session. "I don't want to get intertwined in the minute details — I'm looking at the bigger picture, and that's making sure we get these things accomplished. Somebody has to take the initiative and because she has been assisting us while serving as a delegate, she knows the kind of work we have to do and knows what we want."
Delegates plan to hold their last plenary session at the end of February and have a first draft ready by March 6. The document will then be presented to local schools, community and civic organizations at the end of March. After the delegates have gotten input from the public and made subsequent amendments to the proposed constitution, a final draft should be in hand by April 3, James said.
Launching an aggressive public information campaign for most of April is the next task — one that will require the most funding, James added.
Delegates will also ask senators to making some amendments to the statute setting up the convention — including lowering the amount of delegates required to make up a quorum, which is currently set at 21.
Present during Tuesday's session were James, Barshinger, Thurland, Bryan, Myron Jackson, Francis Jackson, Mary Moorhead, Roker, Kendall Petersen, Alecia Wells, Arnold Golden, Francis, Lawrence Sewer, Elsie Thomas-Trotman, Lois Hassell-Habtes, Gerard Emanuel, Thomas Moore, Lisa Williams, Brady, Douglas Capdeville, Wilma Marsh-Monsanto, Robert Schuster, Charles W. Turnbull, and Stedmann Hodge Jr.
Absent from the session were delegates Violet Anne Golden, Rena Brodhurst, Eugene "Doc" Petersen, Richard Schrader and Arturo Watlington Jr.
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