The St. Croix Environmental Association and the new St. Croix Coalition for Comprehensive Development invites the community to a pot luck lunch and fun day from noon to 3 p.m. at the Bethlehem Sugar Factory Ruins.
Bring a lawn chair and a dish to share (in recyclable containers). Drinks provided by S.E.A.
Call 773-1989 for more information or directions.
WNET ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSES EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS
This month's WNET Roundtable will discuss the importance of employee handbooks for businesses both large and small at the UVI-Small Business Development Center Training Facility in Nisky Center.
Sponsored by New Image Foundation Corp. and UVI-SBDC, the training session will demonstrate how to prepare an employee handbook for one's business.
Call 777-8883 for more information.
Sponsored by New Image Foundation Corp. and UVI-SBDC, the training session will demonstrate how to prepare an employee handbook for one's business.
Call 777-8883 for more information.
CARIBBEAN CHORALE PRESENTS VOCAL MUSIC OF THE V.I.
The Caribbean Chorale presents Vocal Music of the Virgin Islands, a free concert of folk songs, calypsos and popular West Indian standards.
The renowned choir will perform songs composed or collected by V.I. music maestros including Hugo Bornn, Alton A. Adams Sr., Cyril Creque, Bill and Raymond LaMotta, Irving Burgie, Mark Williams, Frankie Jarvis and Junior Wallace.
The concert celebrates Arts & Humanities Month and will be held at Bethania Hall at the Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charlotte Amalie.
Call 774-9537 for more information.
The renowned choir will perform songs composed or collected by V.I. music maestros including Hugo Bornn, Alton A. Adams Sr., Cyril Creque, Bill and Raymond LaMotta, Irving Burgie, Mark Williams, Frankie Jarvis and Junior Wallace.
The concert celebrates Arts & Humanities Month and will be held at Bethania Hall at the Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church in Charlotte Amalie.
Call 774-9537 for more information.
JAM BULL PERFORMERS DISCUSS ART FORM
Jam Bull master masqueraders George "Pope" Farrell and Glen "Trini" Pierre will talk about the art form at the V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Jam Bull or "Dancing" Bull performers wear costumes of crocus bags, banana leaves and masks crowned with bull horns. The art form orginated in Africa and came to the Caribbean more than a century ago, but the fierce competitions were shunned in the Virgin Islands.
Farrell and Pierre have formed a new Jam Bull troupe and are working to bring this masquerade form back to the V.I. Carnivals. They will talk about the dance's history and demonstrate the craft of Jam Bull.
Call 774-9537 for more information.
Jam Bull or "Dancing" Bull performers wear costumes of crocus bags, banana leaves and masks crowned with bull horns. The art form orginated in Africa and came to the Caribbean more than a century ago, but the fierce competitions were shunned in the Virgin Islands.
Farrell and Pierre have formed a new Jam Bull troupe and are working to bring this masquerade form back to the V.I. Carnivals. They will talk about the dance's history and demonstrate the craft of Jam Bull.
Call 774-9537 for more information.
ROTARY CLUB TO HOLD ROAD RALLY
The Rotary Club of St. Thomas will hold a Road Rally for charity on Nov. 10. The race is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. There will be awards for winners as well as a beach party and scavenger hunt. Registration for the Road Rally is $50. Call 777-9996 for more details.
PARK SAYS MERCHANTS VITAL TO SALT RIVER MARINA
Oct. 12, 2002 – The National Park Service's proposed eco-tourism project for the Salt River Marina would not be a lucrative venture if revenue generating concessions are not a part of the park's plan.
At a Wednesday forum at the National Park Service administrative office, Superintendent Joel Tutein assured two water sport concessions that proposed plans for the marina site will include specified services and attractions for visitors to a world class museum. He welcomed the public to meet with him and discuss issues relevant to Park Service properties.
Anchor Dive Center and Caribbean Adventure Tours operators voiced their concerns during the session. David Wyrzykowski of Anchor asked, "What will happen to vendors in Salt River?"
Tutein said, "We are always interested in sustaining revenue. It would be nonsense going into Salt River and shutting everything down. We intend to buy it and use it as a marina. It is a revenue stream. Why would we kick out paying tenants?"
Marinas are also operated at Green Cay, the Yacht Club and St. Croix Marina in Gallows Bay.
Tutein offered a historical perspective on the Park Service in the Virgin Islands and its mission to protect and preserve the architectural and cultural relics of the territory. Prior to Oct. 1, 1999, St. Croix park properties were managed through the St. Thomas office.
He said a recent global positioning satellite mapping indicates that the Salt River property totals over 1,000 acres of land and sea.
Tutein said five parcels were identified for acquisition in the early 90s, but the marina was the No. 1 choice because it already had a bulk head and moorings, and gave access to Columbus Landing.
He also said another proposed acquisition was the 73-acre Allen River property to the east of the Salt River inlet that is home to mangroves and various marine and bird life. This was acquired in 1999 for $1.5 million from a Texas-based investment group that had purchased the property in a land auction.
Talks are under way for the purchase of the Peter Kumpitch estate, which is perched on a hill between Columbus Landing to the east and Gentle Winds Condominiums on the west side, to be used as a ranger station and temporary home of the museum.
"The marina will be developed to a world-class business center and heritage site that is going to explode when eco-tourism comes to St. Croix," Tutein said.
He said Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen was instrumental in securing the funding through Congressional legislation. "She saw it as critical and introduced $1.5 million for land acquisition at Salt River."
Other properties on St. Croix include the recent purchase of the Danish West Indies & Guinea Company Warehouse Complex on the Christiansted waterfront for the sum of $800,000 based on two federal appraisals. The Postal Service's asking price was $1.2 million.
Questions raised included the safety of visitors to the Columbus Landing beach area, the removal of a dumpster placed on the site, illegal dumping of large items, a managed campsite for residents and towing of vehicles parked in the NPS lot after 5 p.m.
Tutein said the Park Service has no jurisdiction over the five-acre beach recreational area. It is solely under the management of the V.I. government.
"We recognized very early that we needed a presence at Salt River," he said. "We hope the public recognizes that we cannot enforce any violation on Territorial property."
He said four proposals have been submitted to the local government for joint management of the site. "We welcome them at any juncture to step in and merge with us."
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.
At a Wednesday forum at the National Park Service administrative office, Superintendent Joel Tutein assured two water sport concessions that proposed plans for the marina site will include specified services and attractions for visitors to a world class museum. He welcomed the public to meet with him and discuss issues relevant to Park Service properties.
Anchor Dive Center and Caribbean Adventure Tours operators voiced their concerns during the session. David Wyrzykowski of Anchor asked, "What will happen to vendors in Salt River?"
Tutein said, "We are always interested in sustaining revenue. It would be nonsense going into Salt River and shutting everything down. We intend to buy it and use it as a marina. It is a revenue stream. Why would we kick out paying tenants?"
Marinas are also operated at Green Cay, the Yacht Club and St. Croix Marina in Gallows Bay.
Tutein offered a historical perspective on the Park Service in the Virgin Islands and its mission to protect and preserve the architectural and cultural relics of the territory. Prior to Oct. 1, 1999, St. Croix park properties were managed through the St. Thomas office.
He said a recent global positioning satellite mapping indicates that the Salt River property totals over 1,000 acres of land and sea.
Tutein said five parcels were identified for acquisition in the early 90s, but the marina was the No. 1 choice because it already had a bulk head and moorings, and gave access to Columbus Landing.
He also said another proposed acquisition was the 73-acre Allen River property to the east of the Salt River inlet that is home to mangroves and various marine and bird life. This was acquired in 1999 for $1.5 million from a Texas-based investment group that had purchased the property in a land auction.
Talks are under way for the purchase of the Peter Kumpitch estate, which is perched on a hill between Columbus Landing to the east and Gentle Winds Condominiums on the west side, to be used as a ranger station and temporary home of the museum.
"The marina will be developed to a world-class business center and heritage site that is going to explode when eco-tourism comes to St. Croix," Tutein said.
He said Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen was instrumental in securing the funding through Congressional legislation. "She saw it as critical and introduced $1.5 million for land acquisition at Salt River."
Other properties on St. Croix include the recent purchase of the Danish West Indies & Guinea Company Warehouse Complex on the Christiansted waterfront for the sum of $800,000 based on two federal appraisals. The Postal Service's asking price was $1.2 million.
Questions raised included the safety of visitors to the Columbus Landing beach area, the removal of a dumpster placed on the site, illegal dumping of large items, a managed campsite for residents and towing of vehicles parked in the NPS lot after 5 p.m.
Tutein said the Park Service has no jurisdiction over the five-acre beach recreational area. It is solely under the management of the V.I. government.
"We recognized very early that we needed a presence at Salt River," he said. "We hope the public recognizes that we cannot enforce any violation on Territorial property."
He said four proposals have been submitted to the local government for joint management of the site. "We welcome them at any juncture to step in and merge with us."
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.
GERS UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY A 'MONSTER'
Dear Source:
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
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.
GERS UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY A 'MONSTER'
Dear Source:
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
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.
GERS UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY A 'MONSTER'
Dear Source:
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
I cannot help but draw the comparison with the pension plan issue of striking ICC employees and the GERS. On the Mainland, a stock market meltdown has been occurring for the past three months. Pension plans are being destroyed as the once valuable stocks selected for 401(K) plans are tumbling. Just in July alone, 1 trillion dollars "disappeared" due to falling stock values.
Not one elected official or even aspirant (gubernatorial,
senatorial, or delegate to Congress) has offered any analysis on how
these falling stocks affect us. I must inform you that whatever economic crises emerge in the Mainland, our "metropole," must affect us one way or the other. If pension funds are in crisis in the "States," pension plans will be in crisis in the Territories. The striking ICC employees are among the first workers to feel the impact of a corporate sector reaction to the pension plan crisis that is external to our territory but affects us just the same. Our local pension fund for public sector employees – the Government Employees Retirement System/GERS faces a serious crisis.
Despite what many incumbent politicians state, we have pension plan problems of our own. Unfortunately, the GERS did not fully benefit from the Bull Market of the 1990s and many local politicians have been infected with the same shortsightedness, reckless spirit, and moral turpitude of corporate CEO’s whom we are today condemning. A pension plan monster has emerged; it is called the Unfunded Accrued Liability of the GERS. Based on the most recent actuarial valuation as of September 30, 1999, as prepared by The Segal Company, the Unfunded Accrued Liability is $518,081,040. Three years ago! Today, it is estimated to be 800 million dollars.
The GERS has a Plan Net Assets of $1,330,089,822. In fiscal year 2001, the GERS received $70,141,363 in employer and employee contributions and paid out $90,014,483 in benefits. The net difference is a negative figure: -$19,873,120. In fiscal year 2002, the GERS had to liquidate $30,000,000 in assets to fund the annuity payroll. We have reached the critical point where benefits paid out have exceeded contributions. Our unfunded liability monster is alive!
Many of the incumbent politicians have nourished this unfunded liability monster. They pander to a minority of workers by offering extremely generous retirement packages, but they fail to adjust the contribution deficit. Some senators perceive the GERS as a big slush fund that they can use at will to fund any pet project while the lives of our senior citizens and retirees are gambled away. Worse, by creating the unfunded liability debt, our political leaders are doing the same thing that the corporate leaders of Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom have done; they have created an unmanageable debt that may very well overwhelm the system. Very few of our incumbent and aspiring "leaders" will approach this unfunded liability monster, and most will deny it even exists.
Any day now, a "qualified opinion" can be presented by the fund managers of the GERS. Will public sector/government employees strike similar to ICC employees? Will the voters return the same senators who have begun the destruction of the GERS back into the Legislature so they can finish the job and empty the cash pan? Perhaps, it is easier for private sector employees to pick sense from nonsense because the choices tend to be sharply drawn. But the government sector will have to eventually smell the coffee and end the GERS madness. If not, we will as our elders say, "find out how much salt butter cost ah' pound."
Malik Sekou
Senate candidate
St. Thomas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
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.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SILENT ON GRYBOWKSI
As I read the stirring remarks from Lou Jordon, an EMT from the mainland, about the man that Kirk Grybowski was, about what Kirk gave to the world but more specifically to these islands, I was struck by the deafening silence from government officials.
Normally when a dedicated public servant of Kirk's ilk dies, the politicos are falling all over each other, trying to get their condolences and their names published.
Not this time. Why is that?
Kirk Grybowski gave 37 years of his life – more than half of it – to the Virgin Islands. He and his wife Judy spent those 37 years in service – mostly government service – to the people of these islands that they loved.
Those who knew Kirk knew the blows he was dealt in trying to offer Virgin Islanders a better quality of life. And to many who needed emergency services, he provided the very gift of life itself.
But after the blows ended, Kirk always got up, dusted himself off, grumbled a bit and went on to serve another day.
As those who have read Jordan's remarks can see, much of what he gave was on his own nickel and his own time.
Kirk didn't do it for the reward of driving a brand new government-issue SUV, or to get his name on a plaque or a parking space. He didn't do it to "get credit" – good thing, too, because he rarely got credit for much of what he did.
He did it because he loved people and life and these islands.
So, why the silence? Is it because he wasn't born here? Is it because he was a vocal opponent of nepotism, apathy, mediocrity, over-development and corruption?
Whatever the reason, a great cross-section of people here and abroad have voiced their great sorrow at the loss of this good man. We at the Source join them in that expression of grief over Kirk's death.
Normally when a dedicated public servant of Kirk's ilk dies, the politicos are falling all over each other, trying to get their condolences and their names published.
Not this time. Why is that?
Kirk Grybowski gave 37 years of his life – more than half of it – to the Virgin Islands. He and his wife Judy spent those 37 years in service – mostly government service – to the people of these islands that they loved.
Those who knew Kirk knew the blows he was dealt in trying to offer Virgin Islanders a better quality of life. And to many who needed emergency services, he provided the very gift of life itself.
But after the blows ended, Kirk always got up, dusted himself off, grumbled a bit and went on to serve another day.
As those who have read Jordan's remarks can see, much of what he gave was on his own nickel and his own time.
Kirk didn't do it for the reward of driving a brand new government-issue SUV, or to get his name on a plaque or a parking space. He didn't do it to "get credit" – good thing, too, because he rarely got credit for much of what he did.
He did it because he loved people and life and these islands.
So, why the silence? Is it because he wasn't born here? Is it because he was a vocal opponent of nepotism, apathy, mediocrity, over-development and corruption?
Whatever the reason, a great cross-section of people here and abroad have voiced their great sorrow at the loss of this good man. We at the Source join them in that expression of grief over Kirk's death.
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