The Virgin Islands Association of Atlanta monthly meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, at The Zone, 4979 Old National Hwy., College Park, Georgia.
At this month's meeting, in celebration of National Homeowner's Month, the VIAA will host a home buying seminar featuring Virgin Islands Experts in the industry.
Also, the Tradewinds Newsletter submission deadline is on meeting days, so members are reminded to bring articles, shoutouts, advertisements, recipes, poems, hymns and inspirational thoughts to the meeting.
The VIAA youth group invites children ages six to 16 to join at this meeting.
For more information call 404-681-6395, or contact Josephine Aaron at 770-322-7429, or log onto the VIAA website.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

The Virgin Islands Association of Atlanta Fourth of July picnic and Member Appreciation Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, July 4, at Wade Walker Park, located at 5585 Rockbridge Rd., Stone Mountain, Georgia.
For more information call 404-681-6395, or contact Josephine Aaron at 770-322-7429, or log onto the VIAA website.

The Virgin Islands Association of Atlanta monthly meeting will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, at The Zone, 4979 Old National Hwy., College Park, Georgia.
At this month's meeting, in celebration of National Homeowner's Month, the VIAA will host a home buying seminar featuring Virgin Islands Experts in the industry.
Also, the Tradewinds Newsletter submission deadline is on meeting days, so members are reminded to bring articles, shoutouts, advertisements, recipes, poems, hymns and inspirational thoughts to the meeting.
The VIAA youth group invites children ages six to 16 to join at this meeting.
For more information call 404-681-6395, or contact Josephine Aaron at 770-322-7429, or log onto the VIAA website.

June 16, 2003 – Rotary East members are invited to bring friends, family and Rotarians from other clubs to the Rotary East dinner meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the Ritz Carlton.
Included on the evening's program are Jo Sandra James and the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Singers.
Dinner will be $20 for adults and $10 for children.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.

Rotary East members are invited to bring friends, family and Rotarians from other clubs to the Rotary East dinner meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, at the Ritz Carlton.
Included on the evening's program are Jo Sandra James and the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Singers.
Dinner will be $20 for adults and $10 for children.

June 15, 2003 – Transparency, ethics, teamwork, performance-based budgeting and customer service are key to any government's fiscal recovery and stability, according to the deputy mayor of Washington D.C.
The business of the government should be conducted in a way that no one would mind having it published on the front page of St. Thomas Source, Herbert R. Tillery told a public-private sector group at a forum on "Leadership and Management Requirements for Effective Government" on Saturday morning.
The forum was organized and sponsored by Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone, chairman of the Government Operations Committee, who also acted as master of ceremonies.
In order to avoid "betraying the public's trust," Tillery said, those in government must avoid even "the appearance of impropriety."
Tillery, deputy mayor for operations for the government of the District of Columbia, said it is "very important that you have the objective to adhere to the highest standards" and go about the business of conducting the people's business with honest intentions, and therefore "facilitate positive ethical behavior" in the entire workforce. He went so far as to suggest hiring an "ethics counselor" to that end.
In the D.C. government, Tillery said, there is a policy to provide the news media with any information they could otherwise obtain with a Freedom of Information request, without their having to do so. "Why make them go through that?" he said. "We give it to them."
That policy is a far cry from Virgin Islands practice. The local news media are routinely stonewalled when seeking public documents and information. Even the Legislature is unable to obtain financial records from executive branch agencies and departments without a struggle sometimes.
Tillery also said competitive bidding must be done in the open. Everyone should know who gets the contracts and be able to monitor whether the same companies keep winning the bids. Contracts should be set aside for small businesses, too, he said.
The District of Columbia has a chief financial officer who does not work for either the mayor's office or the city council. "He is independent … and very vocal and will go to the press" about matters that he feels need to be exposed, Tillery said.
Teamwork, cooperation and accountability
Tillery repeatedly emphasized the need for all entities, public and private, along with the citizenry to get on the same page and have the same vision. He said this was accomplished in D.C. by conducting "citizen summits." After one such summit — attended by 2,000 people — the government's fiscal managers were able to "arrange the budget around what citizens wanted." At another summit two years later, the attendees were asked to assess the success of the arrangement.
"If you share the vision," Tillery said, "then everything will be about moving the island forward." In order to share the vision, he said, "you have to get rid of obstacles … that undermine the change." And one way of doing that is through performance based employment and budgeting.
"You have to have a way of measuring performance," according to Tillery.
On the employment side, specific objectives are developed for every employee, starting with management. "If they don't meet the objectives, they are dismissed," he said.
Providing training and higher salaries for those employees who don't have "protective rights," as in labor unions, can be an incentive to rise to meet the goals set for managers, Tillery said. "If you are doing a good job, you have no fear of being released."
Tillery admitted this approach wouldn't work with some employees: "There is a certain layer of people who do just enough to get by."
But labor leaders also bought into the D.C. coalition, Tillery said, because they understood the expectations and importance of working together. He said they were told that "we need your support to move us to the next level of service delivery."
He said the labor leaders had to prepare their union members to make sacrifices.
"You can't have part of the population demanding raises" while another part is taking the cuts. "It can't always be labor asking management to make sacrifices," he said.
Performance-based budgeting
Performance should also be the benchmark for appropriations. "Instead of cutting people, cut programs" that are not meeting their goals, or that are unnecessary, Tillery said.
The process of assessing performance was started in D.C. with a few pilot programs in a few of the agencies that were easiest to assess, he said. But after five years, nearly all of the agencies and departments have fallen in line with performance-based budgeting.
One way to start a pilot performance-evaluation program is with departments such as Public Works that are easy to assess, Tillery said.
And in fact Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in his presentation as one of the forum panelists that his office is "moving in the direction of modifying its budget process by implementing performance-based budgeting."
Mills called performance-based budgeting an "investment management approach to budgeting" with a premise that "departments consume resources through activities" which in turn "produce outputs that are either positive or negative."
Therefore, Mills said, "Since these outputs are measurable, funds are invested in those activities that offer the best return on the investment."
He said the long-term results of such budget management is "better control over resources and accountability for results."
Again, Tillery noted the importance of transparency in the process. "We published the results" of the D.C. performance evaluations, he said.
Speaking of appropriations, Tillery said, once a balanced budget is established, it doesn't work to re-appropriate funds that aren't there.
Senate President David Jones, another panel participant, agreed, saying the Legislature's tendency to "appropriate the same money over and over" must stop.
Taxpayers as paying customers
Customer service was another area evaluated closely in the D.C. process. Employees were monitored for how quickly they answered the telephone, how pleasant they were with callers and how promptly and effectively problems got resolved.
Tillery said part of the challenge in customer service is to understand that the role of government is to serve the people. It's what the private sector contributes through taxes that keeps the government afloat, he said, and therefore the government's responsibility is to provide the services needed by the people who are paying the taxes — which, he noted, includes government workers themselves.
Tillery could not say what the ratio of government workers to private sector workers is in the District of Columbia, but "we have a huge private sector," he said.
In the Virgin Islands, government workers make up about 25 percent of the work force.
Prior to being appointed to his present position in April of last year, Tillery was involved in government from an outside perspective — as a consultant/adviser to the appointed federal board that temporarily took control of the Washington, D.C., local government in the 1995 and oversaw the reform of its financial operations.
One attendee at Saturday's forum said that was the key: "Nothing ever changes without a crisis."
It was certainly true of D.C., which has now stood on its own two feet — meaning having a balanced budget — for the last five years.
Tillery said that the minute the budget isn't balanced, the control board stands ready to return.
The V.I. crisis could come at the end of June when, according to the execu tive branch, there won't be enough money to make the payroll of about $14 million — unless the Senate approves more borrowing and more taxes as proposed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month.
Administration officials also said last week that they now expect the deficit for 2003 to reach $155 million. The shortfall was placed at $100 million in April, then $115 million, then $144 million before the latest adjustment.
Along with Malone and Jones, Sens. Lorraine Berry, Douglas Canton Jr., Roosevelt David and Louis Hill were present for Saturday's forum.
Also on the panel were Cassan Pancham, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce; Edouard DeLagarde from Delegate Donna M. Christensen's office; Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, University of the Virgin Islands provost; and Kevin Rodriguez, Personnel Division acting director. Although listed on the roster of panelists, neither the governor nor union representatives were present.
Economist Richard Moore moderated the discussion.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

June 15, 2003 – Transparency, ethics, teamwork, performance-based budgeting and customer service are key to any government's fiscal recovery and stability, according to the deputy mayor of Washington D.C.
The business of the government should be conducted in a way that no one would mind having it published on the front page of St. Thomas Source, Herbert R. Tillery told a public-private sector group at a forum on "Leadership and Management Requirements for Effective Government" on Saturday morning.
The forum was organized and sponsored by Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone, chairman of the Government Operations Committee, who also acted as master of ceremonies.
In order to avoid "betraying the public's trust," Tillery said, those in government must avoid even "the appearance of impropriety."
Tillery, deputy mayor for operations for the government of the District of Columbia, said it is "very important that you have the objective to adhere to the highest standards" and go about the business of conducting the people's business with honest intentions, and therefore "facilitate positive ethical behavior" in the entire workforce. He went so far as to suggest hiring an "ethics counselor" to that end.
In the D.C. government, Tillery said, there is a policy to provide the news media with any information they could otherwise obtain with a Freedom of Information request, without their having to do so. "Why make them go through that?" he said. "We give it to them."
That policy is a far cry from Virgin Islands practice. The local news media are routinely stonewalled when seeking public documents and information. Even the Legislature is unable to obtain financial records from executive branch agencies and departments without a struggle sometimes.
Tillery also said competitive bidding must be done in the open. Everyone should know who gets the contracts and be able to monitor whether the same companies keep winning the bids. Contracts should be set aside for small businesses, too, he said.
The District of Columbia has a chief financial officer who does not work for either the mayor's office or the city council. "He is independent … and very vocal and will go to the press" about matters that he feels need to be exposed, Tillery said.
Teamwork, cooperation and accountability
Tillery repeatedly emphasized the need for all entities, public and private, along with the citizenry to get on the same page and have the same vision. He said this was accomplished in D.C. by conducting "citizen summits." After one such summit — attended by 2,000 people — the government's fiscal managers were able to "arrange the budget around what citizens wanted." At another summit two years later, the attendees were asked to assess the success of the arrangement.
"If you share the vision," Tillery said, "then everything will be about moving the island forward." In order to share the vision, he said, "you have to get rid of obstacles … that undermine the change." And one way of doing that is through performance based employment and budgeting.
"You have to have a way of measuring performance," according to Tillery.
On the employment side, specific objectives are developed for every employee, starting with management. "If they don't meet the objectives, they are dismissed," he said.
Providing training and higher salaries for those employees who don't have "protective rights," as in labor unions, can be an incentive to rise to meet the goals set for managers, Tillery said. "If you are doing a good job, you have no fear of being released."
Tillery admitted this approach wouldn't work with some employees: "There is a certain layer of people who do just enough to get by."
But labor leaders also bought into the D.C. coalition, Tillery said, because they understood the expectations and importance of working together. He said they were told that "we need your support to move us to the next level of service delivery."
He said the labor leaders had to prepare their union members to make sacrifices.
"You can't have part of the population demanding raises" while another part is taking the cuts. "It can't always be labor asking management to make sacrifices," he said.
Performance-based budgeting
Performance should also be the benchmark for appropriations. "Instead of cutting people, cut programs" that are not meeting their goals, or that are unnecessary, Tillery said.
The process of assessing performance was started in D.C. with a few pilot programs in a few of the agencies that were easiest to assess, he said. But after five years, nearly all of the agencies and departments have fallen in line with performance-based budgeting.
One way to start a pilot performance-evaluation program is with departments such as Public Works that are easy to assess, Tillery said.
And in fact Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in his presentation as one of the forum panelists that his office is "moving in the direction of modifying its budget process by implementing performance-based budgeting."
Mills called performance-based budgeting an "investment management approach to budgeting" with a premise that "departments consume resources through activities" which in turn "produce outputs that are either positive or negative."
Therefore, Mills said, "Since these outputs are measurable, funds are invested in those activities that offer the best return on the investment."
He said the long-term results of such budget management is "better control over resources and accountability for results."
Again, Tillery noted the importance of transparency in the process. "We published the results" of the D.C. performance evaluations, he said.
Speaking of appropriations, Tillery said, once a balanced budget is established, it doesn't work to re-appropriate funds that aren't there.
Senate President David Jones, another panel participant, agreed, saying the Legislature's tendency to "appropriate the same money over and over" must stop.
Taxpayers as paying customers
Customer service was another area evaluated closely in the D.C. process. Employees were monitored for how quickly they answered the telephone, how pleasant they were with callers and how promptly and effectively problems got resolved.
Tillery said part of the challenge in customer service is to understand that the role of government is to serve the people. It's what the private sector contributes through taxes that keeps the government afloat, he said, and therefore the government's responsibility is to provide the services needed by the people who are paying the taxes — which, he noted, includes government workers themselves.
Tillery could not say what the ratio of government workers to private sector workers is in the District of Columbia, but "we have a huge private sector," he said.
In the Virgin Islands, government workers make up about 25 percent of the work force.
Prior to being appointed to his present position in April of last year, Tillery was involved in government from an outside perspective — as a consultant/adviser to the appointed federal board that temporarily took control of the Washington, D.C., local government in the 1995 and oversaw the reform of its financial operations.
One attendee at Saturday's forum said that was the key: "Nothing ever changes without a crisis."
It was certainly true of D.C., which has now stood on its own two feet — meaning having a balanced budget — for the last five years.
Tillery said that the minute the budget isn't balanced, the control board stands ready to return.
The V.I. crisis could come at the end of June when, according to the execu tive branch, there won't be enough money to make the payroll of about $14 million — unless the Senate approves more borrowing and more taxes as proposed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month.
Administration officials also said last week that they now expect the deficit for 2003 to reach $155 million. The shortfall was placed at $100 million in April, then $115 million, then $144 million before the latest adjustment.
Along with Malone and Jones, Sens. Lorraine Berry, Douglas Canton Jr., Roosevelt David and Louis Hill were present for Saturday's forum.
Also on the panel were Cassan Pancham, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce; Edouard DeLagarde from Delegate Donna M. Christensen's office; Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, University of the Virgin Islands provost; and Kevin Rodriguez, Personnel Division acting director. Although listed on the roster of panelists, neither the governor nor union representatives were present.
Economist Richard Moore moderated the discussion.

Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

June 15, 2003 – Transparency, ethics, teamwork, performance-based budgeting and customer service are key to any government's fiscal recovery and stability, according to the deputy mayor of Washington D.C.
The business of the government should be conducted in a way that no one would mind having it published on the front page of St. Thomas Source, Herbert R. Tillery told a public-private sector group at a forum on "Leadership and Management Requirements for Effective Government" on Saturday morning.
The forum was organized and sponsored by Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone, chairman of the Government Operations Committee, who also acted as master of ceremonies.
In order to avoid "betraying the public's trust," Tillery said, those in government must avoid even "the appearance of impropriety."
Tillery, deputy mayor for operations for the government of the District of Columbia, said it is "very important that you have the objective to adhere to the highest standards" and go about the business of conducting the people's business with honest intentions, and therefore "facilitate positive ethical behavior" in the entire workforce. He went so far as to suggest hiring an "ethics counselor" to that end.
In the D.C. government, Tillery said, there is a policy to provide the news media with any information they could otherwise obtain with a Freedom of Information request, without their having to do so. "Why make them go through that?" he said. "We give it to them."
That policy is a far cry from Virgin Islands practice. The local news media are routinely stonewalled when seeking public documents and information. Even the Legislature is unable to obtain financial records from executive branch agencies and departments without a struggle sometimes.
Tillery also said competitive bidding must be done in the open. Everyone should know who gets the contracts and be able to monitor whether the same companies keep winning the bids. Contracts should be set aside for small businesses, too, he said.
The District of Columbia has a chief financial officer who does not work for either the mayor's office or the city council. "He is independent … and very vocal and will go to the press" about matters that he feels need to be exposed, Tillery said.
Teamwork, cooperation and accountability
Tillery repeatedly emphasized the need for all entities, public and private, along with the citizenry to get on the same page and have the same vision. He said this was accomplished in D.C. by conducting "citizen summits." After one such summit — attended by 2,000 people — the government's fiscal managers were able to "arrange the budget around what citizens wanted." At another summit two years later, the attendees were asked to assess the success of the arrangement.
"If you share the vision," Tillery said, "then everything will be about moving the island forward." In order to share the vision, he said, "you have to get rid of obstacles … that undermine the change." And one way of doing that is through performance based employment and budgeting.
"You have to have a way of measuring performance," according to Tillery.
On the employment side, specific objectives are developed for every employee, starting with management. "If they don't meet the objectives, they are dismissed," he said.
Providing training and higher salaries for those employees who don't have "protective rights," as in labor unions, can be an incentive to rise to meet the goals set for managers, Tillery said. "If you are doing a good job, you have no fear of being released."
Tillery admitted this approach wouldn't work with some employees: "There is a certain layer of people who do just enough to get by."
But labor leaders also bought into the D.C. coalition, Tillery said, because they understood the expectations and importance of working together. He said they were told that "we need your support to move us to the next level of service delivery."
He said the labor leaders had to prepare their union members to make sacrifices.
"You can't have part of the population demanding raises" while another part is taking the cuts. "It can't always be labor asking management to make sacrifices," he said.
Performance-based budgeting
Performance should also be the benchmark for appropriations. "Instead of cutting people, cut programs" that are not meeting their goals, or that are unnecessary, Tillery said.
The process of assessing performance was started in D.C. with a few pilot programs in a few of the agencies that were easiest to assess, he said. But after five years, nearly all of the agencies and departments have fallen in line with performance-based budgeting.
One way to start a pilot performance-evaluation program is with departments such as Public Works that are easy to assess, Tillery said.
And in fact Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in his presentation as one of the forum panelists that his office is "moving in the direction of modifying its budget process by implementing performance-based budgeting."
Mills called performance-based budgeting an "investment management approach to budgeting" with a premise that "departments consume resources through activities" which in turn "produce outputs that are either positive or negative."
Therefore, Mills said, "Since these outputs are measurable, funds are invested in those activities that offer the best return on the investment."
He said the long-term results of such budget management is "better control over resources and accountability for results."
Again, Tillery noted the importance of transparency in the process. "We published the results" of the D.C. performance evaluations, he said.
Speaking of appropriations, Tillery said, once a balanced budget is established, it doesn't work to re-appropriate funds that aren't there.
Senate President David Jones, another panel participant, agreed, saying the Legislature's tendency to "appropriate the same money over and over" must stop.
Taxpayers as paying customers
Customer service was another area evaluated closely in the D.C. process. Employees were monitored for how quickly they answered the telephone, how pleasant they were with callers and how promptly and effectively problems got resolved.
Tillery said part of the challenge in customer service is to understand that the role of government is to serve the people. It's what the private sector contributes through taxes that keeps the government afloat, he said, and therefore the government's responsibility is to provide the services needed by the people who are paying the taxes — which, he noted, includes government workers themselves.
Tillery could not say what the ratio of government workers to private sector workers is in the District of Columbia, but "we have a huge private sector," he said.
In the Virgin Islands, government workers make up about 25 percent of the work force.
Prior to being appointed to his present position in April of last year, Tillery was involved in government from an outside perspective — as a consultant/adviser to the appointed federal board that temporarily took control of the Washington, D.C., local government in the 1995 and oversaw the reform of its financial operations.
One attendee at Saturday's forum said that was the key: "Nothing ever changes without a crisis."
It was certainly true of D.C., which has now stood on its own two feet — meaning having a balanced budget — for the last five years.
Tillery said that the minute the budget isn't balanced, the control board stands ready to return.
The V.I. crisis could come at the end of June when, according to the execu tive branch, there won't be enough money to make the payroll of about $14 million — unless the Senate approves more borrowing and more taxes as proposed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month.
Administration officials also said last week that they now expect the deficit for 2003 to reach $155 million. The shortfall was placed at $100 million in April, then $115 million, then $144 million before the latest adjustment.
Along with Malone and Jones, Sens. Lorraine Berry, Douglas Canton Jr., Roosevelt David and Louis Hill were present for Saturday's forum.
Also on the panel were Cassan Pancham, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce; Edouard DeLagarde from Delegate Donna M. Christensen's office; Gwen-Marie Moolenaar, University of the Virgin Islands provost; and Kevin Rodriguez, Personnel Division acting director. Although listed on the roster of panelists, neither the governor nor union representatives were present.
Economist Richard Moore moderated the discussion.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

June 15, 2003 – The Jack Petersen Quartet takes to the stage for Friday's Sunset Jazz in Frederiksted concert, unabashedly promoting saxophonist Petersen's new album, "Jazz Play."
The concert, one in a monthly series presented by the Frederiksted Economic Development Association, takes place in Veterans Park on the waterfront, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Joining Petersen for the gig will be Benjamin Jacobs-El on piano, Mario Thomas on bass and Ken "Afra" Dailey on drums.
And, yes, you'll be able to buy a copy of the CD in the park — and get it autographed by Jack.
Sunset Jazz concerts, held the third Friday of each month, are free and family oriented. Jazz fans in the know turn out with folding chairs and blankets to sit on while enjoying the music, the sunset and the fellowship of family and friends. FEDA operates a cash bar, and Hispanos Unidos will be selling food.
FEDA encourages concertgoers to stay in town for a while afterward to take in dinner or some of the local nightlife.
Rounding out the summer's Sunset Jazz offerings will be The Caribbean Jazz Quintet on July 18 and Rhythmix on Aug. 15. For more information send an e-mail to Sunset Jazz or call 719-3672.
Here's some biographical information on the Jack Petersen Quartet:
Sax man Petersen started out playing clarinet in the eighth grade at Christiansted High School. He got his bachelor's degree in music education at Miami University of Ohio. His day job is as assistant principal at John H. Woodson Junior High School. He also serves as chair of the V.I. Council on the Arts and owns Say It With A Song, a jingle development business. (He composed the first Brow Soda jingles for the new owners.) One of the more successful working musicians on St. Croix, he has led a jazz quartet for the better part 20 years
Pianist Jacobs-El played trombone with the Newport Youth Band and moved from there to its spinoff, The New York Jazz Septet. He studied for three years at the Juilliard School, then went on the road with Slide Hampton and Lloyd Price, then joined the Coker Camble Band, which backed such Motown singers as Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and The Temptations. He first set foot on St. Croix in 1963 while touring with Lionel Hampton's band, then returned to settle permanently in 1974. He took up piano after moving to the island.
Bassist Thomas founded the band Rhythmix in 1990. The son of St. Croix band leader Scypio Thomas, he started playing at the age of 10, tapping into calypso, reggae and whatever was popular on the radio. He formed his first group, Together Root, in the ninth grade. He studied at the Military School of Music in Washington, D.C., and at Howard University, touring Africa with Howard's Jazz Septet. He has played with John Faddis, Louie Belson and Wynton Marsalis and was a mainstay in saxman Dave Yarborough's Jazz Band.
Drummer Dailey first studied flute and clarinet. He came by his first drum gig — with The Modern Ink Spots — after the group's producer heard him practicing at his mother's house in Philadelphia and knocked on the door and asked Mom if he could join the group. He has worked at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, where the "Philly" sound originated, and has toured with Grover Washington Jr., Betty Carter and The Dells. He's one of the most sought-after drummers on St. Croix.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

June 15, 2003 – No appeal has been filed by the Long Bay Coalition contesting the Coastal Zone Management permits and lease of IN-USVI LLC, the company planning to redevelop and expand the derelict Yacht Haven property. Though Helen Gjessing, the coalition's president, said Saturday that the move is still "under consideration," time is growing short. An appeal must be filed within 45 days after ratification by the Legislature, which would make it about July 11.
Andrew Farkas, chief executive officer of Insignia Nautica, (IN-USVILLC is a subsidiary of Insignia Nautica), said in a release late in the week that "any delay at this point could jeopardize the Yacht Haven redevelopment project in its entirety, and the property could remain vacant indefinitely."
Getting this far has not been easy. The legislative and administrative processes in obtaining the lease and permits have been fraught with controversy. (See "Senate approves submerged lands lease").
One thing every stakeholder shares in common is the desire to demolish the unsightly Yacht Haven property, a major eyesore. It is the first thing the millions of cruise ship passengers see upon docking, and they pass it as they stroll or taxi to Charlotte Amalie.
The problems arise about the legality of the process, and questions have arisen about the anticipated acquisition of Insignia by CB Richard Ellis, which Farkas has said would not affect the acquisition.
(See "Insignia acquisition would affect Yacht Haven").
Farkas said in his release, "All leases and permits associated with the Yacht Haven redevelopment are in full compliance with local and federal laws and have been thoroughly reviewed by the Attorney General's Office and CZM attorneys." Farkas said.
"We crossed every 'T' and dotted every 'I'," he said, "as this project represents a very significant investment of our resources. We simply would not have gone forward if there were any legal considerations."
Gjessing said that the lease and CZM permits approved by the Legislature and signed into law May 28 by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull are illegal and violate the existing CZM laws set forth in the CZM Act of 1978. Several issues the coalition brought up were sticking points in the legislative process, as well.
The coalition's statement says:
– The CZM act doesn't give any committee of the CZM commission the right to grant a lease for occupancy and development of submerged lands.
– A lease may be granted for a specific parcel of filled land, but only for a period not to exceed 20 years. IN-USVI'S lease is for 90 years.
– The permit issued is a revocable license, and the permit in question attempts to incorporate in its entirely the terms and conditions of the illegal lease.
Gjessing said the waterfront property should have been developed as a "waterfront cultural and recreational park, and instead will be filled with non-marine retail and office space, four restaurants and an exotic water attraction." Gjessing said the coalition wants something that will provide "recreational opportunities" with shoreline access available to all.
"The deep seated desire of us all to improve the economy of the V. I., and specifically to restore the hotel and marina at Long Bay, cannot justify the approval of a project that is fraught with terms and conditions that violate a law that has protected the public interest for 25 years."
Farkas said the development "will provide a safe, educational, entertaining and beautiful venue."
He said the project has "taken nearly three years and millions of dollars to put together, and the company carefully scrutinized every detail before proceeding."
He defended the project's legality citing an opinion issued by the Attorney General on April 19, which stated the lease of submerged lands is "wholly legal and allows for the needed structure to maintain the financing and viability of the project as a whole." IN-USVI has leased bout 20 acres of submerged land from the V.I. government in order to build a world-class marina, and will pay more than $8 million in fees over the first 30 years of the lease, Farkas said, with millions more to follow.
He said the $150 million project will "pave the way for the re-emergence of the USVI as the yachting capital of the Eastern Caribbean." Aside from the hotel and marina, Farkas said IN-USVI will "pay for a public park, complete with a tot lot, picnic areas and an outdoor amphitheater for local performers."
As for the local economy, Farkas said, "More than 500 jobs are expected to be created during the initial 18-month construction phase, and 600 permanent jobs on completion."
Barring complications, he said, "Demolition of the hurricane ravaged Yacht Haven hotel could begin in a matter of weeks."

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