As Virgin Islanders prepare to vote in Saturday’s Democratic primary, the Source is airing a wide-ranging conversation with Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach and Sen. Novelle Francis Jr., recorded earlier this month, in which the gubernatorial team lays out what it would keep, what it would change and where it believes government has fallen short.
The gubernatorial team spoke about WAPA, public safety, health care, transparency and the territory’s ongoing disaster recovery, framing their campaign around a balance of continuity and change. Roach, now completing his second term as lieutenant governor, argued that projects already years in the making should continue where they are working, while Francis summed up the approach they would bring to Government House in three words: “accountability, accessibility and execution.”
On WAPA, Roach said the first measure of success is straightforward: reliable power. He proposed expanding solar generation across government buildings and schools, including systems capable of feeding power back into the grid, while continuing investments in underground infrastructure, composite poles and propane and exploring wind energy. Building additional capacity, he said, would also allow WAPA to take generating units offline for preventive maintenance without jeopardizing service. Francis emphasized the everyday cost of outages to residents and businesses and said the territory should continue pursuing federal technical assistance and alternative energy sources.
Health care also produced one of the ticket’s more specific proposals. Francis said an administration should bring doctors, hospitals and other providers together early to identify why equipment, medications and other resources remain unavailable locally. Roach said the territory should consider subsidizing individual health insurance for residents who lack employer or government coverage, pointing to the absence of an individual insurance product as a major gap in the current system.
On public safety, Francis said VIPD’s shrinking manpower makes greater use of technology essential, while Roach discussed stronger screening at the territory’s ports as part of efforts to curb illegal firearms. Francis also tied public safety to employment and opportunities for young people, while saying government must rebuild confidence that police will respond and crimes will be solved.
Both candidates said restoring trust also requires government to communicate more openly when things go wrong. Roach called for regular ethics and conflict-of-interest training for government leaders and additional resources for the V.I. Inspector General’s Office. Francis, meanwhile, accepted responsibility for what occurred during his tenure as Senate president in the controversy surrounding the Public Officials Compensation Commission report, saying the episode demonstrated the need for stronger systems for transmitting and tracking important government information.
And on disaster recovery, the pair argued against a new administration starting over on projects that have already taken years to move through federal requirements. Roach pointed to hospitals, schools and Head Start facilities already in the pipeline, saying projects that are working should continue while problems are identified and corrected.
“I don’t want to see us go back to the beginning with some of these projects that we’ve waited so long to see happen,” Roach said.
Francis said much of the difficult work of securing federal resources has already been done. What comes next, he said, is execution.
The argument is central to the ticket’s pitch heading into Saturday’s primary: that their years inside the executive and legislative branches give them both an understanding of what has worked and a clearer view of what still needs to change.
“The pledge is to make people’s lives better,” Roach said. “That’s it.”
