March 11, 2003 – Since 2000, the Police Department has made arrests in 56 of the 128 homicides in the territory, according to Police Commissioner Franz Christian.
Christian told senators at the first hearing of the Legislature's new Public Safety, Judiciary, Homeland Security and Justice Committee on Tuesday that several problems contribute to the high percentage of unsolved crimes. Among them, he said, are a dearth of community assistance in fingering suspects, the lack of a territorial crime lab and inadequate funding of the department.
"It is a community issue," he said. "Once we continue to build confidence in the Police Department, I think citizens will come forward with information. Crimes are incidents of opportunity."
The hearing, on St. Croix, was called to discuss crime and homeland security in the territory.
Christian said several projects are coming down the pike to help improve police capabilities. One, he said, is the implementation of an automatic fingerprinting system on St. Croix that will be linked to the one already in use on St. Thomas and St. John.
Also being implemented or planned, he said, are a ballistics program to help officers more readily identify firearms and link them to crimes; an upgraded communication system on St. Croix including police radios and the erection of a 150-foot tower; the establishment of a crime lab and computerizing of criminal record keeping.
Sen. Louis Hill called the unsolved killings a "major concern" and asked why police have been unable to solve the cases. "The response is simple," Christian said. "We did not have the funding in order to correct the problem. Funding has been, and continues to be, our greatest setback."
Good news, Christian said, is that the Public Finance Authority recently provided some supplemental financial assistance to complete several projects, including the installation of surveillance cameras in the territory's downtown areas.
The committee's St. Croix hearing will continue on Wednesday afternoon and will deal with cruise ship industry officials' concerns about crime on the island, cited as the primary reason that Carnival Cruise Lines stopped visits by two of its vessels to St. Croix last spring.
"No tourist on the planet travels to an unsafe, unhealthy, unwelcoming destination," Sen. Lorraine Berry, the committee chair, told police officials Tuesday. "Tourism and crime, like oil and water, do not mix."
Berry cited recent media headlines about two police officers under scrutiny in shooting incidents. Last week, an officer shot a man in the back at Times Square as he ran from police. Another officer who allegedly killed a man during the commission of a crime in 2001 is under investigation for shooting at a man recently following a car accident.
"Some officers have been linked to criminal activity, but no police officers have been fired," Berry said. She noted that police policy prevents the public from knowing the names of officers accused of wrongdoing. "This does not bear well with the community," she said, "especially when people are concerned with the safety of their own lives."
Hill said the Police Department appears to be "under attack by the press and other members of the community."
"I think it might be out of frustration of your inability to solve these heinous crimes," he said. "Rather than focusing on the criminal element in society, they're turning around and focusing on the police and accusing them of shooting people and whatnot."
Christian, when asked specifically about the two recent shooting incidents involving police officers, would say only that the matter is under investigation and that more information will be disclosed at the "appropriate time."
More police officers are badly needed, Christian said. He said there are 23 positions open on St. Croix and 17 openings in the St. Thomas-St. John district. But it has been hard to recruit new officers, he said, and the government is considering importing officers from Puerto Rico to alleviate the shortage. Puerto Rico has agreed to assist the Virgin Islands in setting up a program modeled on a successful one there.
Sen. Carlton Dowe said that bringing police officers in from Puerto Rico could introduce a new set of problems to St. Croix. Even if new officers are added, he said, a restructuring of the Police Department is needed to comply with a federal mandate to step up homeland security and emergency response preparedness.
Adj. Gen. Cleave McBean, commanding officer of the V.I. National Guard and also executive director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said Christian might consider adding an anti-terrorism unit. He noted that the local National Guard is not a first-response unit in case of a terrorist attack.
In addressing homeland security, McBean also voiced the familiar complaint of low funding. VITEMA oversees the territory's all-hazards emergency management program. Despite the attention on homeland security issues after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he said, very little federal money has made its way to the territory for that purpose.
"The reality is that there is a lack of financial and new technological resources provided to the states and territories to assist with emergency preparedness," McBean said. "This body needs to put money on the side for eventualities, although that's probably a hard concept at this time to grasp."
The Legislature appropriated $300,000 to fund homeland security initiatives, but only $90,000 of that has been released so far, McBean said. The situation, he said, could have an impact on whether the federal government will dole out additional dollars.
In spite of underfunding, McBean said, VITEMA has established a Homeland Security Council, a strategy and an advisory system and has updated the Territorial Emergency Operations Plan.
Sen. Ronald Russell asked how a U.S. war with Iraq could threaten the security of the Virgin Islands.
McBean said the risk of an attack on the territory is minimal, but the Hovensa oil refinery on St. Croix is of "great interest to the Department of Defense." He said Hovensa has its own contingency plan that includes the utilization of active-duty military personnel, rather than the National Guard.
Committee members present at Tuesday's proceedings were Sens. Berry, Dowe, Emmett Hansen II, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Russell. Non-member also present were Sens. Norman Jn Baptiste, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Hill, Raymond "Usie" Richards and Celestino A. White Sr.

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March 11, 2003 – Since 2000, the Police Department has made arrests in 56 of the 128 homicides in the territory, according to Police Commissioner Franz Christian.
Christian told senators at the first hearing of the Legislature's new Public Safety, Judiciary, Homeland Security and Justice Committee on Tuesday that several problems contribute to the high percentage of unsolved crimes. Among them, he said, are a dearth of community assistance in fingering suspects, the lack of a territorial crime lab and inadequate funding of the department.
"It is a community issue," he said. "Once we continue to build confidence in the Police Department, I think citizens will come forward with information. Crimes are incidents of opportunity."
The hearing, on St. Croix, was called to discuss crime and homeland security in the territory.
Christian said several projects are coming down the pike to help improve police capabilities. One, he said, is the implementation of an automatic fingerprinting system on St. Croix that will be linked to the one already in use on St. Thomas and St. John.
Also being implemented or planned, he said, are a ballistics program to help officers more readily identify firearms and link them to crimes; an upgraded communication system on St. Croix including police radios and the erection of a 150-foot tower; the establishment of a crime lab and computerizing of criminal record keeping.
Sen. Louis Hill called the unsolved killings a "major concern" and asked why police have been unable to solve the cases. "The response is simple," Christian said. "We did not have the funding in order to correct the problem. Funding has been, and continues to be, our greatest setback."
Good news, Christian said, is that the Public Finance Authority recently provided some supplemental financial assistance to complete several projects, including the installation of surveillance cameras in the territory's downtown areas.
The committee's St. Croix hearing will continue on Wednesday afternoon and will deal with cruise ship industry officials' concerns about crime on the island, cited as the primary reason that Carnival Cruise Lines stopped visits by two of its vessels to St. Croix last spring.
"No tourist on the planet travels to an unsafe, unhealthy, unwelcoming destination," Sen. Lorraine Berry, the committee chair, told police officials Tuesday. "Tourism and crime, like oil and water, do not mix."
Berry cited recent media headlines about two police officers under scrutiny in shooting incidents. Last week, an officer shot a man in the back at Times Square as he ran from police. Another officer who allegedly killed a man during the commission of a crime in 2001 is under investigation for shooting at a man recently following a car accident.
"Some officers have been linked to criminal activity, but no police officers have been fired," Berry said. She noted that police policy prevents the public from knowing the names of officers accused of wrongdoing. "This does not bear well with the community," she said, "especially when people are concerned with the safety of their own lives."
Hill said the Police Department appears to be "under attack by the press and other members of the community."
"I think it might be out of frustration of your inability to solve these heinous crimes," he said. "Rather than focusing on the criminal element in society, they're turning around and focusing on the police and accusing them of shooting people and whatnot."
Christian, when asked specifically about the two recent shooting incidents involving police officers, would say only that the matter is under investigation and that more information will be disclosed at the "appropriate time."
More police officers are badly needed, Christian said. He said there are 23 positions open on St. Croix and 17 openings in the St. Thomas-St. John district. But it has been hard to recruit new officers, he said, and the government is considering importing officers from Puerto Rico to alleviate the shortage. Puerto Rico has agreed to assist the Virgin Islands in setting up a program modeled on a successful one there.
Sen. Carlton Dowe said that bringing police officers in from Puerto Rico could introduce a new set of problems to St. Croix. Even if new officers are added, he said, a restructuring of the Police Department is needed to comply with a federal mandate to step up homeland security and emergency response preparedness.
Adj. Gen. Cleave McBean, commanding officer of the V.I. National Guard and also executive director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, said Christian might consider adding an anti-terrorism unit. He noted that the local National Guard is not a first-response unit in case of a terrorist attack.
In addressing homeland security, McBean also voiced the familiar complaint of low funding. VITEMA oversees the territory's all-hazards emergency management program. Despite the attention on homeland security issues after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he said, very little federal money has made its way to the territory for that purpose.
"The reality is that there is a lack of financial and new technological resources provided to the states and territories to assist with emergency preparedness," McBean said. "This body needs to put money on the side for eventualities, although that's probably a hard concept at this time to grasp."
The Legislature appropriated $300,000 to fund homeland security initiatives, but only $90,000 of that has been released so far, McBean said. The situation, he said, could have an impact on whether the federal government will dole out additional dollars.
In spite of underfunding, McBean said, VITEMA has established a Homeland Security Council, a strategy and an advisory system and has updated the Territorial Emergency Operations Plan.
Sen. Ronald Russell asked how a U.S. war with Iraq could threaten the security of the Virgin Islands.
McBean said the risk of an attack on the territory is minimal, but the Hovensa oil refinery on St. Croix is of "great interest to the Department of Defense." He said Hovensa has its own contingency plan that includes the utilization of active-duty military personnel, rather than the National Guard.
Committee members present at Tuesday's proceedings were Sens. Berry, Dowe, Emmett Hansen II, Almando "Rocky" Liburd and Russell. Non-member also present were Sens. Norman Jn Baptiste, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, Hill, Raymond "Usie" Richards and Celestino A. White Sr.

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March 11, 2003 – About 20 longtime Bordeaux homeowners made no bones Tuesday about their feelings concerning the idea of a gas station and convenience store invading their tranquil neck of the woods on St. Thomas's West End.
They do not want the commercial enterprise — not now, not ever.
Members of the Carrillo family and several others voiced their many concerns — ranging from safety and noise factors to environmental drawbacks — at a rezoning hearing on Tuesday before the Planning and Natural Resources Department's Comprehensive and Coastal Zone Planning Division.
The rezoning is being sought by Michael Dixon, from R-2 (residential – low density, one- and two-family) to B-3 (business – scattered), to allow for the operation of a gas station, convenience store and small office at No. 10 Estate Hope. Dixon, owner of Courtesy Garage in Sub Base, said he owns a storm-damaged house in Estate Hope which he wants to turn into the convenience store and office, with the gas station outside.
Dixon told the panel he simply wanted to "help residents of Fortuna" whom he said had told him they would welcome the enterprises. No supporters of his plans were at the hearing. None of those testifying favored Dixon's idea.
When asked by the CZM officers about drainage, he deferred to his engineer, who was not present. He said the entrance to the property from the main road would not present a traffic hazard, something those in opposition challenged.
When asked if he had consulted his neighbors, Dixon said: "Those immediately affected didn't care to have [such an operation] in the area." He said the building would have two gas pumps adjacent to it, and that he planned no further construction at the site.
Senior planner Sue Higgins asked Dixon if he would accept a zoning variance in place of rezoning. "Whatever is available, I'll settle for," he replied. A variance restricts the use of property to the exact purpose specified, whereas rezoning allows for any use that falls within the zoning category.
Zolayma Belle, a member of the Carrillo family, said: "My grandparents built here more than 30 years ago. It is a quiet area where I want to raise my children."
Her husband, Kibwe Belle, echoed his wife's concerns, saying that "Mr. Dixon didn't build a strong enough case in my view. He wasn't prepared." However, even if he had been, Belle said, the project would invade the "calm, peaceful way people live their lives" in the area. He said there are five Carrillo siblings, and they all have homes in the immediate area where Dixon wants to create the businesses.
All of the homeowners spoke of how they cherish the calm, quiet and peaceful neighborhood they live in. They suggested to Dixon that if he wants extra income, he build homes instead of a commercial property. When Dixon asked if they would approve a convenience store alone, a chorus of voices responded with a resounding "No!"
Jose Torres, a former narcotics officer, said he has lived in the area for 24 years. "There is no way to see from west to east on that road," he said. "When they come down that area," where the turnoff would be, he said, "they speed up."
Summing up the homeowners' concerns, Torres added: "Everybody is so nice here; we help each other. A lot of people like to live in peace."
Iris Dotten, aunt of Zolayma Belle, said she had recently moved back to the property she has owned for 40 years. "It's a terrible idea," she said of Dixon's proposal. "More families, yes, but no businesses."
The main objections the opponents raised were:
– Invasion of privacy.
– Quality of life — noise and traffic hazards.
– Negative impact on real estate values.
– Lack of an environmental study has been done. Critics noted that underground gasoline tanks can leak into aquifer.
– The potential fire hazard of gasoline storage tanks.
– Fear of crime with a cash register on the premises.
One objection came from St. Thomas's North Side. Valencia Berry Krause, who owns property adjacent to the Friendly Grocery and gas station on Crown Mountain Road, told of the myriad difficulties of living a hundred feet from a gas station. She said traffic in the area "increased 1,000 percent" after the convenience store and gas station opened.
Krause said she could hear the conversations from cars parked nearby, car radios were loud, and she could hear all conversations from the nearby phone. "My husband could hear the conversations even with his hearing aid on," she said.
Another problem was noise from Texaco tanker trucks and other delivery trucks, she said. The area has been "destroyed by outsiders," she said.
Raul Carrillo, host of WVWI Radio's early morning show, wrote the committee that he was "in total opposition to the project," citing all the reasons listed above. Carrillo was ill and couldn't attend in person.
After everyone who wished to testify had spoken, Marge Emanuel Hendrickson, acting division director, told Dixon that public responses would be forwarded to the Senate along with the division's recommendation.
Dixon said he would persevere. "I will try again," he said, "or someone else will try, because it will be developed in the future." If he doesn't do it, he added, "someone else will."
Should the rezoning request be approved by the Senate, it would still require the governor's signature.
Four other rezoning requests also were heard on Tuesday, all without objection. They are:
– By Old Wireless and Telegraph, from R-3 (residential – low density, one- and two-family) to B-3 (business – secondary, neighborhood) for Parcel No. 36, Estate Nisky.
– By the Estate of Robert Joseph Questel, from R-1 (residential – low density) to R-2 (residential – low density, one- and two-family) for Parcel No. 7, Estate Agnes' Fancy.
– By Lloyd Norford, from B-4 (business – residential) to B-3 (business – scattered) for Parcel No. 32-B, Estate Frydendahl.
– By Spencer L. Browne, from R-2 (residential – low density, one- and two-family) to B-3 (business – scattered) for Parcel No. 2-1, Estate Mariendahl.
Higgins said copies of the applications are available for review at the DPNR planning division office on the second floor of the Cyril E. King Airport terminal.

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March 11, 2003 – In spite of stern words of warning from a federal judge, the V.I. government's commercial property tax bills for 2001 will soon be in the mail.
Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards announced on Tuesday that, empowered by a law passed by the Legislature in a Feb. 12 special session called by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month and signed by the governor on Feb. 27, the tax assessor "has released all commercial real property tax bills for 2001, with the exception of those in litigation."
The new law provides that taxes for 2001 through 2004 be assessed on the basis of 1999 appraisals. The Tax Assessor's Office falls within the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
"It's important for the business community to receive the bills so that commercial transactions can move forward," Richards said in a release. "Obviously, it is also important for the government to receive the revenues."
Richards also said that all residential property tax bills for 2002 have "been released."
In recent years a number of commercial property owners have taken the V.I. government to court, challenging the assessing of taxes based on replacement value rather than market value of properties. In the benchmark case, the V.I. government and owners of two St. Thomas firms, Byrne Corp. and 21 Queens Quarter, agreed on a settlement in December of 2000.
The agreement called for the District Court to appoint a "special master" to oversee a major overhaul of the Office of Tax Collector, including changing the way commercial properties are appraised for tax purposes. Tax Assessor Roy Martin has said he does not have the budget necessary to put the indicated changes into effect.
There have been several subsequent court challenges of 2000 tax assessments by individual commercial property owners. One was brought by Equivest St. Thomas, owner of Bluebeard's Castle, Bluebeard's Beach Club and Elysian Beach Resort. Equivest is one of the plaintiffs who won a District Court injunction last June preventing the V.I. government from issuing any further tax bills until their case is settled.
The Equivest case was the subject of an appeal by the V.I. government claiming the federal court lack jurisdiction. A 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges disagreed on Feb. 28, sending the case back to District Court.
Meanwhile a total of 11 property owners have mounted a collective challenge that is currently also being heard in District Court, also of the 2000 assessments.
District Judge Thomas K. Moore, who is hearing the various cases, asked the V.I. government to delay issuing new tax bills and not to penalize taxpayers when the bills were issued late.
Faced with falling revenues, Turnbull sent his bill to the Legislature rolling back the 2002 assessment rate to that of 1999, which would be prior to the first legal challenge.
At a Feb. 19 hearing in the collective litigants' case, Moore chastised the governor for signing his bill into law. The judge said the governor was wasting the time of the Legislature and that the time would be better spent correcting the tax assessment system.
When attorney Chad Messier, who is representing Equivest, learned Tuesday of the lieutenant governor's announcement that tax bills were going out, he commented: "I think that pegging the basis of the assessments to 1999 is not fixing the problem of the tax bills."
Messier said a ruling on the consolidated portion of the case representing all 11 plaintiffs and 45 properties is expected at any time.
Attorney Jim Derr filed a motion asking the court to bar the government from issuing tax bills. He called the release of the 2002 bills an attempt by the government to collect as much money as possible before the judge issues a ruling. If the ruling goes against the government, the taxpayers would be left in a position of having to apply for refunds.
Messier's view, however, is that the V.I. government was within its rights to send out the commercial tax bills, and he said that those taxpayers who have no objections could go ahead and pay their taxes. "It does give people the opportunity, if they think their tax bills are fair, to pay them," he said.
However, he added, those who find themselves dissatisfied with the method of assessment, are free to join the list of plaintiffs suing the government over the fairness of their tax bills.

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March 11, 2003 – In spite of stern words of warning from a federal judge, the V.I. government's commercial property tax bills for 2001 will soon be in the mail.
Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards announced on Tuesday that, empowered by a law passed by the Legislature in a Feb. 12 special session called by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month and signed by the governor on Feb. 27, the tax assessor "has released all commercial real property tax bills for 2001, with the exception of those in litigation."
The new law provides that taxes for 2001 through 2004 be assessed on the basis of 1999 appraisals. The Tax Assessor's Office falls within the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
"It's important for the business community to receive the bills so that commercial transactions can move forward," Richards said in a release. "Obviously, it is also important for the government to receive the revenues."
Richards also said that all residential property tax bills for 2002 have "been released."
In recent years a number of commercial property owners have taken the V.I. government to court, challenging the assessing of taxes based on replacement value rather than market value of properties. In the benchmark case, the V.I. government and owners of two St. Thomas firms, Byrne Corp. and 21 Queens Quarter, agreed on a settlement in December of 2000.
The agreement called for the District Court to appoint a "special master" to oversee a major overhaul of the Office of Tax Collector, including changing the way commercial properties are appraised for tax purposes. Tax Assessor Roy Martin has said he does not have the budget necessary to put the indicated changes into effect.
There have been several subsequent court challenges of 2000 tax assessments by individual commercial property owners. One was brought by Equivest St. Thomas, owner of Bluebeard's Castle, Bluebeard's Beach Club and Elysian Beach Resort. Equivest is one of the plaintiffs who won a District Court injunction last June preventing the V.I. government from issuing any further tax bills until their case is settled.
The Equivest case was the subject of an appeal by the V.I. government claiming the federal court lack jurisdiction. A 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges disagreed on Feb. 28, sending the case back to District Court.
Meanwhile a total of 11 property owners have mounted a collective challenge that is currently also being heard in District Court, also of the 2000 assessments.
District Judge Thomas K. Moore, who is hearing the various cases, asked the V.I. government to delay issuing new tax bills and not to penalize taxpayers when the bills were issued late.
Faced with falling revenues, Turnbull sent his bill to the Legislature rolling back the 2002 assessment rate to that of 1999, which would be prior to the first legal challenge.
At a Feb. 19 hearing in the collective litigants' case, Moore chastised the governor for signing his bill into law. The judge said the governor was wasting the time of the Legislature and that the time would be better spent correcting the tax assessment system.
When attorney Chad Messier, who is representing Equivest, learned Tuesday of the lieutenant governor's announcement that tax bills were going out, he commented: "I think that pegging the basis of the assessments to 1999 is not fixing the problem of the tax bills."
Messier said a ruling on the consolidated portion of the case representing all 11 plaintiffs and 45 properties is expected at any time.
Attorney Jim Derr filed a motion asking the court to bar the government from issuing tax bills. He called the release of the 2002 bills an attempt by the government to collect as much money as possible before the judge issues a ruling. If the ruling goes against the government, the taxpayers would be left in a position of having to apply for refunds.
Messier's view, however, is that the V.I. government was within its rights to send out the commercial tax bills, and he said that those taxpayers who have no objections could go ahead and pay their taxes. "It does give people the opportunity, if they think their tax bills are fair, to pay them," he said.
However, he added, those who find themselves dissatisfied with the method of assessment, are free to join the list of plaintiffs suing the government over the fairness of their tax bills.

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.

March 11, 2003 – In spite of stern words of warning from a federal judge, the V.I. government's commercial property tax bills for 2001 will soon be in the mail.
Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards announced on Tuesday that, empowered by a law passed by the Legislature in a Feb. 12 special session called by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull last month and signed by the governor on Feb. 27, the tax assessor "has released all commercial real property tax bills for 2001, with the exception of those in litigation."
The new law provides that taxes for 2001 through 2004 be assessed on the basis of 1999 appraisals. The Tax Assessor's Office falls within the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
"It's important for the business community to receive the bills so that commercial transactions can move forward," Richards said in a release. "Obviously, it is also important for the government to receive the revenues."
Richards also said that all residential property tax bills for 2002 have "been released."
In recent years a number of commercial property owners have taken the V.I. government to court, challenging the assessing of taxes based on replacement value rather than market value of properties. In the benchmark case, the V.I. government and owners of two St. Thomas firms, Byrne Corp. and 21 Queens Quarter, agreed on a settlement in December of 2000.
The agreement called for the District Court to appoint a "special master" to oversee a major overhaul of the Office of Tax Collector, including changing the way commercial properties are appraised for tax purposes. Tax Assessor Roy Martin has said he does not have the budget necessary to put the indicated changes into effect.
There have been several subsequent court challenges of 2000 tax assessments by individual commercial property owners. One was brought by Equivest St. Thomas, owner of Bluebeard's Castle, Bluebeard's Beach Club and Elysian Beach Resort. Equivest is one of the plaintiffs who won a District Court injunction last June preventing the V.I. government from issuing any further tax bills until their case is settled.
The Equivest case was the subject of an appeal by the V.I. government claiming the federal court lack jurisdiction. A 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges disagreed on Feb. 28, sending the case back to District Court.
Meanwhile a total of 11 property owners have mounted a collective challenge that is currently also being heard in District Court, also of the 2000 assessments.
District Judge Thomas K. Moore, who is hearing the various cases, asked the V.I. government to delay issuing new tax bills and not to penalize taxpayers when the bills were issued late.
Faced with falling revenues, Turnbull sent his bill to the Legislature rolling back the 2002 assessment rate to that of 1999, which would be prior to the first legal challenge.
At a Feb. 19 hearing in the collective litigants' case, Moore chastised the governor for signing his bill into law. The judge said the governor was wasting the time of the Legislature and that the time would be better spent correcting the tax assessment system.
When attorney Chad Messier, who is representing Equivest, learned Tuesday of the lieutenant governor's announcement that tax bills were going out, he commented: "I think that pegging the basis of the assessments to 1999 is not fixing the problem of the tax bills."
Messier said a ruling on the consolidated portion of the case representing all 11 plaintiffs and 45 properties is expected at any time.
Attorney Jim Derr filed a motion asking the court to bar the government from issuing tax bills. He called the release of the 2002 bills an attempt by the government to collect as much money as possible before the judge issues a ruling. If the ruling goes against the government, the taxpayers would be left in a position of having to apply for refunds.
Messier's view, however, is that the V.I. government was within its rights to send out the commercial tax bills, and he said that those taxpayers who have no objections could go ahead and pay their taxes. "It does give people the opportunity, if they think their tax bills are fair, to pay them," he said.
However, he added, those who find themselves dissatisfied with the method of assessment, are free to join the list of plaintiffs suing the government over the fairness of their tax bills.

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March 11, 2003 – Only one year out of law school, 23-year-old attorney Fred Gray took on a case that would forever change the landscape of America. Almost half a century later, he shared his experience with the people of the Virgin Islands Monday night.
Gray, addressing a full house on the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix campus, gave an account of the circumstances surrounding the 1955 arrest of his friend Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama; his subsequent role as the first attorney for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; and the influences in his life that set him on that path.
Gray, who attended Alabama State University, said he realized while still a junior there the pervasiveness of segregation in the South.
"I decided while I was a student that we needed at least one lawyer who would handle civil rights cases, and because I couldn't attend the University of Alabama [law school] because of my race, I would return to Alabama, pass the bar exam, and destroy everything segregated that I could find," he said.
Gray, born in an Alabama ghetto, said that even to entertain such an idea then was unheard of. "At least I had enough sense not to tell anybody," he said.
While studying law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, he said, he began preparing for the Alabama state bar exam. Three years later he passed it as well as the Ohio exam, and he began practicing law in Montgomery on Sept. 8, 1954.
While Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man on Dec. 1, 1955, is widely recognized as the incident that led to the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, Gray said a teen-age girl had played a major role nine months earlier.
Gray also represented the girl, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who was dragged off a bus and arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. It was Claudette who "planted the seeds of change in the minds of a lot of people in Montgomery," the attorney said.
The day Parks was arrested, Gray said, he had eaten lunch with her. He then went out of town, only to return and learn of the incident. "We were determined not to let what happened to Claudette happen to Rosa Parks," he related.
He said few people know about the teen-ager's part in the story. "If there had been no Claudette, there may very well have been no Ms. Rosa Parks as we know her today," he said. "There may very well never have been a Dr. Martin Luther King as we know him today."
King — who was then a pastor at a Montgomery church — and Parks, Gray and several others formed an impromptu group that helped organize the bus boycott that would extend for 381 days and dominate news media across the nation and beyond. The move propelled King to the forefront of the civil rights movement and ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court decision outlawing bus segregation.
Hundreds of people of varying backgrounds, races and ethnicity are "unsung heroes" in the fight for civil rights, Gray said. "They are the ones who made it possible."
He paralleled the momentum of that movement with the possibilities for social change in the Virgin Islands and encouraged the students in his audience to find their "niche in history."
"You can make a big difference in more ways than you know," he said. "People in the community can play a real role in helping change conditions."
He said students on the campus of the Tuskeegee Institute were instrumental in seeing the first blacks elected into the Alabama State Legislature, one of whom was Gray.
"They are the ones who went into the voting areas and worked as poll watchers" to ensure the legitimacy of the elections, he said. He added that Alabama State College students were an integral part of the bus boycott. "You can have a role in helping change things in these beautiful islands," he said.
"I want to address the young people," he said. "Don't be too eager to leave the island and develop somebody else. Bring that training back home and help others."

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March 11, 2003 – Only one year out of law school, 23-year-old attorney Fred Gray took on a case that would forever change the landscape of America. Almost half a century later, he shared his experience with the people of the Virgin Islands on Monday night.
Gray, addressing a full house on the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix campus, gave an account of the circumstances surrounding the 1955 arrest of his friend Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama; his subsequent role as the first attorney for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; and the influences in his life that set him on that path.
Gray, who attended Alabama State University, said he realized while still a junior there the pervasiveness of segregation in the South.
"I decided while I was a student that we needed at least one lawyer who would handle civil rights cases, and because I couldn't attend the University of Alabama [law school] because of my race, I would return to Alabama, pass the bar exam, and destroy everything segregated that I could find," he said.
Gray, born in an Alabama ghetto, said that even to entertain such an idea then was unheard of. "At least I had enough sense not to tell anybody," he said.
While studying law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, he said, he began preparing for the Alabama state bar exam. Three years later he passed it as well as the Ohio exam, and he began practicing law in Montgomery on Sept. 8, 1954.
While Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man on Dec. 1, 1955, is widely recognized as the incident that led to the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, Gray said a teen-age girl had played a major role nine months earlier.
Gray also represented the girl, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who was dragged off a bus and arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. It was Claudette who "planted the seeds of change in the minds of a lot of people in Montgomery," the attorney said.
The day Parks was arrested, Gray said, he had eaten lunch with her. He then went out of town, only to return and learn of the incident. "We were determined not to let what happened to Claudette happen to Rosa Parks," he related.
He said few people know about the teen-ager's part in the story. "If there had been no Claudette, there may very well have been no Ms. Rosa Parks as we know her today," he said. "There may very well never have been a Dr. Martin Luther King as we know him today."
King — who was then a pastor at a Montgomery church — and Parks, Gray and several others formed an impromptu group that helped organize the bus boycott that would extend for 381 days and dominate news media across the nation and beyond. The move propelled King to the forefront of the civil rights movement and ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court decision outlawing bus segregation.
Hundreds of people of varying backgrounds, races and ethnicity are "unsung heroes" in the fight for civil rights, Gray said. "They are the ones who made it possible."
He paralleled the momentum of that movement with the possibilities for social change in the Virgin Islands and encouraged the students in his audience to find their "niche in history."
"You can make a big difference in more ways than you know," he said. "People in the community can play a real role in helping change conditions."
He said students on the campus of the Tuskeegee Institute were instrumental in seeing the first blacks elected into the Alabama State Legislature, one of whom was Gray.
"They are the ones who went into the voting areas and worked as poll watchers" to ensure the legitimacy of the elections, he said. He added that Alabama State College students were an integral part of the bus boycott. "You can have a role in helping change things in these beautiful islands," he said.
"I want to address the young people," he said. "Don't be too eager to leave the island and develop somebody else. Bring that training back home and help others."

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.

March 11, 2003 – Only one year out of law school, 23-year-old attorney Fred Gray took on a case that would forever change the landscape of America. Almost half a century later, he shared his experience with the people of the Virgin Islands Monday night.
Gray, addressing a full house on the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix campus, gave an account of the circumstances surrounding the 1955 arrest of his friend Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama; his subsequent role as the first attorney for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; and the influences in his life that set him on that path.
Gray, who attended Alabama State University, said he realized while still a junior there the pervasiveness of segregation in the South.
"I decided while I was a student that we needed at least one lawyer who would handle civil rights cases, and because I couldn't attend the University of Alabama [law school] because of my race, I would return to Alabama, pass the bar exam, and destroy everything segregated that I could find," he said.
Gray, born in an Alabama ghetto, said that even to entertain such an idea then was unheard of. "At least I had enough sense not to tell anybody," he said.
While studying law at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, he said, he began preparing for the Alabama state bar exam. Three years later he passed it as well as the Ohio exam, and he began practicing law in Montgomery on Sept. 8, 1954.
While Rosa Parks' arrest for refusing to relinquish her bus seat to a white man on Dec. 1, 1955, is widely recognized as the incident that led to the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, Gray said a teen-age girl had played a major role nine months earlier.
Gray also represented the girl, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who was dragged off a bus and arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. It was Claudette who "planted the seeds of change in the minds of a lot of people in Montgomery," the attorney said.
The day Parks was arrested, Gray said, he had eaten lunch with her. He then went out of town, only to return and learn of the incident. "We were determined not to let what happened to Claudette happen to Rosa Parks," he related.
He said few people know about the teen-ager's part in the story. "If there had been no Claudette, there may very well have been no Ms. Rosa Parks as we know her today," he said. "There may very well never have been a Dr. Martin Luther King as we know him today."
King — who was then a pastor at a Montgomery church — and Parks, Gray and several others formed an impromptu group that helped organize the bus boycott that would extend for 381 days and dominate news media across the nation and beyond. The move propelled King to the forefront of the civil rights movement and ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court decision outlawing bus segregation.
Hundreds of people of varying backgrounds, races and ethnicity are "unsung heroes" in the fight for civil rights, Gray said. "They are the ones who made it possible."
He paralleled the momentum of that movement with the possibilities for social change in the Virgin Islands and encouraged the students in his audience to find their "niche in history."
"You can make a big difference in more ways than you know," he said. "People in the community can play a real role in helping change conditions."
He said students on the campus of the Tuskeegee Institute were instrumental in seeing the first blacks elected into the Alabama State Legislature, one of whom was Gray.
"They are the ones who went into the voting areas and worked as poll watchers" to ensure the legitimacy of the elections, he said. He added that Alabama State College students were an integral part of the bus boycott. "You can have a role in helping change things in these beautiful islands," he said.
"I want to address the young people," he said. "Don't be too eager to leave the island and develop somebody else. Bring that training back home and help others."

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 University of the Virgin Islands' Small Business Development Center will conduct a Spanish language version of its seminar on developing a business plan from 5:45 to 8 p.m. at the SBDC training center in the Sunshine Mall.
The seminar is entitled "Small Business Fundamentals: Developing A Business Plan."
For details and to pre-register by Friday, March 14, call 513-3405 or 692-5270.