Dear Source,
The proposed bill that Senators White and Pickard-Samuels are sponsoring sounds as if it is an incredibly bad idea. I am a naval architect, practicing on St. Croix, so I have some idea of the size of boats and the number of passengers involved. Now, I have only read the report in the Source, not the actual bill, I'm not sure where I would obtain a copy of that. Having read the piece, I had several reactions. On one level, I detect a thinly veiled undercurrent of racism. On St. Croix at least many, but not all, of the companies are run by whites, frequently from the mainland. Perhaps there is some resentment against people seen as coming from away taking business away from the taxi van drivers.
The argument about leveling the playing field is completely bogus. Right now, the playing field is level. Passengers coming off of the ships can make a choice: take a taxi van and get a land-based tour, or get on a boat and take a tour from the water. Not allowing the water tour operators to pick up people at the piers is unleveling the playing field, not leveling it.
On St. Croix, there is one sailboat carrying 49 passengers maximum that picks up people at the Ann Abramson pier. As far as I know the Scuba West boat is a six-pack boat, so at most that is six more people the taxi van drivers won't necessarily be carrying. A typical modern cruise ship has upwards of 2,000 passengers. The remaining 1,945 passengers will most likely need taxi van rides somewhere on St. Croix. All of the rest of the dive shops and water tour operators are located in Salt River, Cane Bay, Christiansted, or Green Cay. The taxi van drivers will get all of those rides. Even the people going on the sail or diving in the morning might want a ride somewhere in the afternoon. Obviously there are more water tour operators in St. Thomas but there are far more ships, also.
It is stupid and unsafe to suggest that water tour operators pick up passengers from the ship rather than the pier. The piers are designed to allow people to safely embark and disembark from both cruise ships and smaller vessels. The high-sided ship presents a potential danger to the rigging of any of the sailing tour boats; also, a small boat will react to the swell completely differently from the large ship. Can you imagine the hue and cry if a law was passed not allowing taxi vans to pick up passengers anywhere but at two or three designated spots?
The claim that taxi van drivers would be eased out of their livelihood if the tours expanded to include water taxis is a farce. Many people are going to want to see what St. Thomas and St. Croix look like inland, you can't do that with a boat. Some people are afraid of small boats, but will still get on a large ship, or have no interest in diving or sailing. These people are still going to need rides to some location. Then, there are the people who live here who still need rides on a daily basis.
As far as getting up at 2 a.m. to get in line down at the pier in the "hope of getting passengers" – give me a break. The ships rarely, if ever, discharge passengers before 8 a.m., if not 9 a.m. Certainly many passengers will take a short walk to the waiting boats, but let's do some simple math. Underwater Safaris says that on a busy day they take 125 passengers diving. The Kon Tiki barge holds maybe 150 passengers (frequently 149 is used as a cutoff point due to a change in Coast Guard classification at 150 passengers and above). I don't know how big the Leyland Sneed motor vessel is, nor the Island Girl or Wild Thing catamarans, but let's say 200 each to be safe. That totals 600 passengers for the three of them. The 30 sailboats are almost certainly six-pack boats (6 passengers maximum), so that is 180 people. Total: 125+150+600+180 = 1,055 in round numbers. That is still less than half of a typical large cruise ship's passenger capacity, and if there was only one of those in port in St. Thomas it would not be considered a busy day. Even the Monday after the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania plane there were two cruise ships in St. Thomas with a total of 3,640 passengers on board between them.
If there is any group that is directly competing with the taxi van drivers it is the buses operated by Ann Abramson's bus service. Just one of those buses carries more passengers than the lone sailboat operating out of Frederiksted, and the bus only employs one driver for maybe 60 passengers as opposed to one driver for 15 passengers in a typical taxi van. I do not know if there is a similar large tour bus service on St. Thomas but I would not be surprised if there was.
The final point I have is: Why are the senators even getting involved with this? Having obtained my business license last year I have learned quite a bit about licensing and zoning. As I understand it, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources decides if a business is appropriate for the zoning at a particular location. The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs then issues a business license for that particular type of business, based upon DPNR's recommendation and other considerations. Where is the need for the Senate to gum up the works? Where is Senator Alicia Hansen who just months ago was blowing her own horn about revitalizing the marine industry in the U.S. Virgin Islands? This is a direct attack on that very industry. Has it occurred to anyone that actions like this might be a big part of the reason that the charter yacht industry in the Virgin Islands is now almost exclusively located in the British Virgin Islands?
David Walworth
St. Croix

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.

Sept. 25, 2001 – Distribution of last season's trophies will mark the opening of the 2001-2002 season of the Susthens Vialet Over Forty Modified Pitch Softball League. The ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Emile Griffith Ball Park on St. Thomas, and games will begin at 1 p.m.
The first game will be a rematch between last season's champion team, the Movements, and the division runner-up, the Bapos. The rest of the schedule includes Ambassadors vs. Ninjars at 3 p.m., Roughnecks vs. Dynamics at 5 p.m., and Silver Bullets vs. Oilers at 7 p.m., according to a release. The league has a total of 10 teams. The two teams not playing at the opener are Savages and Royals.
The Ambassadors is a St. John team, and the slate of games on three Sundays will be played at Winston Wells Ball Park in Cruz Bay. Those scheduled dates are Nov. 18, Jan. 13, and Feb. 3.
The season is expected to finish before Carnival season. Regular play is scheduled through February, with playoffs in March, according to spokesperson Karl Callwood.
The season is foreshortened, said Callwood, due to the pullout of a group that had formerly organized the league. Three weeks ago the V.I. Amateur Sports Association stepped in and quickly got the season set. The full schedule of games will be released shortly.

Sept. 24, 2001 – For the first time in its 14-year history, St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church has a permanent minister. The Rev. Phillip Schulman arrived Aug. 16 to lead the flock of 22 Unitarians and about 30 non-members who regularly attend services.
"We've been working for this for years," member Ken Damon said.
Schulman, 41, comes to St. John after a career in community-based ministries, where he worked with homeless people and others needing social services.
"I tried to bring spirituality as a holistic part of mental health," he said.
With a bachelor's degree in English and social science from Rutgers University under his belt, he started his working life teaching at Passaic County Vocational School in his hometown of Wayne, N.J.
He was studying for his master's degree in counseling when his life led him to the Unitarians. He had attended anti-antiapartheid and nuclear freeze campaigns that met at the local church when he realized the Unitarian ministry appealed to him. He decided to change directions.
"I fit right in," he said.
The son of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, Schulman was raised in the Jewish faith, but saw that the Unitarians allowed him to draw from both religions as well as other spiritual ideas.
After dropping out of the master's program at William Paterson University, he went off to the Thomas Starr King School for the Ministry, associated with the University of California at Berkley. He graduated in 1989. This is his first permanent job heading up a congregation.
While still getting the lay of the land, he faces his first major task — helping the Unitarians deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He said that with a congregation that leans toward pacifism, it's been hard for the members to deal with a government plan that involves violence as the solution.
"It's not black and white. How do we respond to this? We will shape the answer together," Schulman said.
He has other tasks in front of him. He said the Unitarians want to expand the size of their congregation and to become more of a presence in the community.
"They want to be a force for tolerance and religious pluralism," he said.
Schulman has no plans to change the members' extensive involvement in church activities. Except for a few brief stints by visiting ministers, the local Unitarians have always had members of the congregation lead services.
He has nothing but praise for the members, a group he said thrives on discussion as well as song.
Since his arrival, Schulman has been trying to get settled. He has temporary housing until Dec. 1 but, like all newcomers to St. John, faces the daunting task of finding a place to live at a price he can afford.
"I'm on a tight budget," he acknowledged, noting that he needs to factor office space into the financial equation.
He's spent time meeting his fellow clergy in both St. Thomas and St. John and has put in a few hours exploring the islands' undersea life through a snorkel mask.
"I swam with the turtles at Lameshur," he said, as enthusiastic about this side of St. John life as he is about ministering to his congregation.
Unitarian services are held at the Pine Peace School Community Room at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays. Members will pick up anyone coming from St. Thomas at the Cruz Bay ferry dock. Call 693-7572 in advance to arrange for a ride.

The All Saints Cathedral School varsity volleyball temas will hold a car from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Mandahl Market.
The price is $10 regardless of car size. Come out and support the teams.

Sept. 24, 2001 – Attorney General Iver A. Stridiron was appointed by Gov. Charles Turnbull on Sept. 19 to the Water and Power Authority Board. He fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett.
The governor said that the appointment does not require approval by the Legislature.
Turnbull also said that Stridiron will not receive any additional pay for serving on the board except for a per diem rate for travel expenses

The All Saints Cathedral School varsity volleyball teams will have a car wash from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Mandahl Market. The price is $10 regardless of car size.

Sept. 24, 2001 – Attorney General Iver A. Stridiron was appointed by Gov. Charles Turnbull on Sept. 19 to the V.I. Water and Power Authority Board. He fills the vacancy left by the resignation of Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett.
The governor said that the appointment does not require approval by the Legislature.
Turnbull also said that Stridiron will not receive any additional money for serving on the board except for a per diem rate for travel expenses.

Sept. 25, 2001 — While the U.S. General Accounting Office continues to review the legality of recently designated national monuments in the territory, the National Park Service is proceeding with the development of interim management plans for the areas.
Last month, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen said she had spoken with the GAO officials who are charged with issuing a legal opinion on the disagreement over ownership of the submerged monument lands, which were established in the waning days of the Clinton administration to protect reefs and fisheries. Christensen said that an answer will come sometime in October.
In the meantime, Joel Tutein, superintendent of the National Park Service units on St. Croix, said that his staff has sent interim management plans to NPS administrators on the mainland for approval. NPS authorities at the V.I. National Park on St. John have done the same thing.
In the last days of his administration, President Bill Clinton created the 12,700-acre V.I. Coral Reef National Monument off St. John and expanded the Buck Island Reef National Monument off St. Croix by 18,000 acres. The designation and expansion ban fishing, anchoring and other activities in the area in order to conserve and restore reef ecosystems and marine life. This has raised the ire of local politicians who claim the submerged lands in question belong to the people of the Virgin Islands.
According to Clinton's proclamation, the National Park Service has two years to prepare a management plan for Buck Island and three years to do so for the St. John monument.
Before that, however, Tutein said, interim plans will be reviewed by NPS officials and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and then placed in the National Register. The plans will be in effect during a 30-day public comment period and then "stay in place as interim regulations until a management plan is completed," Tutein said.
The regulations will address prohibitions in the monument areas of such things as anchoring, fishing and collecting shells or artifacts, Tutein said.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has asked that U.S. Interior Secretary Gail Norton, who oversees the National Park Service, not declare the monuments valid, because of what he termed the "questionable" manner in which her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt, delineated the submerged lands. Also to be resolved is the debate over who owns the areas in question.
According to former V.I. senator Virdin Brown, who now chairs the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, all submerged lands within three miles of the territory's land masses were transferred to the Virgin Islands government by an act of Congress in 1974. Thus, he said, only that body can change the ownership of the lands.
Tutein, meanwhile, said that meeting the management plan timeline established in the monument designations will be difficult, even with the $350,000 each earmarked for the Buck Island and St. John efforts.
"The clock has been ticking" since the designations were declared, Tutein said. "I hope to start the general management plan by the end of the calendar year." Even so, he said, he will be "surprised if we can get through the process in two years."
If the GAO review of the ownership issue gives the NPS the go-ahead, Norton has said, local residents will be able to voice any concerns during the management plan development process, which will entail town meetings and public comment periods. Tutein said the process will include the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.
"The general management plan process itself calls for all stakeholders to comment on the plan," Tutein said.
At the V.I. National Park on St. John, Supt. John King also made it clear it would take congressional legislation to change the parameters of the designation. He has said the designation around St. John means no fishing in the waters of the Coral Reef National Monument except for bait fishing in Hurricane Hole and hard-nose fishing on the south shore of St. John, both by permit.
No anchoring will be allowed, King said, but moorings will be installed in Hurricane Hole for hurricane damage mitigation and in areas within the monument off St. John's south shore for recreational use.

Sept. 25, 2001 – Government House issued a press release Monday afternoon saying the governor's financial advisers "have been meeting regularly" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the mainland "to assess the financial impact of the crisis and to develop plans to counter an expected economic downturn."
But the release also stated that the administration "intends to move forward plans to place unionized government employees on their negotiated step increases."
The release came hours after a senator said on the floor of the 24th Legislature earlier Monday that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull wanted the lawmakers to "stop the step increases" scheduled to begin taking effect with the current pay period.
There was no mention in the release of Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen's comment in a full Senate session Monday that the governor "has been calling all morning to get us to stop the step increases." Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd subsequently told colleagues he had just telephoned Gov. Charles W. Turnbull about the matter — and that Turnbull's words to him were "I said no such thing."
The release stated: "There should be no retreat from the course this administration has set to provide some degree of economic relief to government employees."
The Legislature approved the step increases earlier this year after the administration announced a projected $100 million windfall in revenues for the current fiscal year. Talk of a possible retreat on the move came up in the Senate Monday in connection with debate over the state of the territory's economy.
In the Government House release, Turnbull referred to an "initial economic downturn as a result of the terrorist attacks" two weeks ago on the mainland. But it stated: "While there are sound reasons to proceed with caution and to curtail all unnecessary spending … there are no plans or intentions to roll back the salary increases that are the result of the administration's careful strategy to bring the territory from fiscal debts to recovery."
However, Turnbull was quoted as saying, "This is clearly not the time to engage in an unrestrained spending flurry until there has been a proper assessment of the long-term economic impact of the ongoing crisis."
Given the losses in revenue already being felt in the territory with tourist arrivals down to a trickle, at least five senators have called for a re-examination of the record $550 million budget now undergoing a final vote. There has been no response from the administration, and Sens. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and Norma Pickard-Samuel have said nothing is going to stop the budget worked out over two months by the Finance Committee and the majority bloc from being passed.
Government House also announced that Turnbull left the territory Monday afternoon to go to New York City. The purpose of the trip, it said, is to attend the funeral of a family member. The governor is expected to return to the territory "later this week," the release stated.

Sept. 24, 2001 – After a poignant voicing of "America the Beautiful" by senators and gallery alike Monday morning, the 24th Legislature began a final vote on the Fiscal Year 2002 budget bills, a process expected to take another two days to complete.
Before they got to the bills, however, lengthy debate arose over whether there is a need to review the record $551 million budget in light of the effects the mainland terrorist attacks are having on the Virgin Islands' economy.
Sen. Vargrave Richards asked, "How are we going to sustain this economy? Are we in la-la land? This is going to affect us for two to five years." He pointed out that other tourism locations — Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico — already are taking action. "They are concerned about the impact of the airline cutbacks on tourism," he said. He pointed out that Florida is considering waiving the state aviation fuel tax, and Hawaii has removed airport landing fees.
"The U.S. Congress came together to work on this problem," Richards said. "We aren't an entity unto ourselves."
Sens. Lorraine Berry, Emmett Hansen II and Richards have contacted Gov. Charles Turnbull since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, asking him to readdress his optimistic FY 2002 revenue projections. Berry urged the governor to call a meeting of the executive and legislative branches and his national financial advisers to go over the FY 2002 budget.
On Monday, Sen. David Jones agreed with their concerns. "If the budget is not revisited, we are giving the governor and Ira Mills [Office of Management and Budget director] free license to determine our priorities," Jones said. He said property and casualty insurance will be adversely affected, and "without a good insurance program, no investor will have confidence in coming here."
Jones asked the post auditor for the current balance in the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund. "I have an idea that will help protect people on welfare after the federal Welfare Reform Act goes into effect next year, by putting them to work on the anti-litter program," he said. "There are four times as many welfare recipients on St. Croix than on St. Thomas; we have to protect them."
Sen Norma Pickard-Samuel objected. "There are some very talented people on welfare," she said. "We can't have them working for anti-litter."
Jones said the work would not be demeaning. "What I am suggesting is an interim program to give them a form of sustenance to feed their families," he said. "We have to think ahead."
Returning to the impact of the recent terrorism, Sen. Roosevelt David said, "The effects are catastrophic. How can we use the hotel occupancy tax when the hotels aren't occupied? Gross receipts taxes won't be there with no sales. With people on unemployment, who will pay income tax?" He, too, said the governor needs to call a meeting on the budget projections.
Liburd: Turnbull will meet on fiscal concerns
Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd told the body he had heard from the governor. "He will meet with all of us, his cabinet, and the business sector to discuss the whole picture," Liburd said. He added that the governor didn't say when the meeting would take place.
The leadership of the territory's hotel associations and chambers of commerce presented a series of agreed-upon recommendations for dealing with the current economic crisis to administration aides on Friday. They are awaiting a meeting with the governor and top financial officers to talk about implementing their ideas.
Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen said she had heard from the governor, too, on another subject. "He has been calling all morning to get us to stop the step increases," she said, to the obvious surprise of some of the senators.
Richards said after a brief recess that he had called the governor, who had told him, "I said no such thing."
(In mid-afternoon, Government House issued a release stating that "despite the initial economic downturn as a result of the terrorist attacks," the Turnbull administration "intends to move forward plans to place unionized government employees on their negotiated step increases.")
Zoning variance to stay
Before breaking for lunch, the Senate voted down a proposal sponsored by Pickard-Samuel seeking to repeal legislation passed in the 23rd Legislature granting a zoning variance for the food wholesaler Merchant's Market to construct and operate a warehouse in an otherwise residential Smith Bay neighborhood. Several Smith Bay residents seeking to halt the construction were in the gallery.
Several senators said they understood the residents' concerns, but they already had cast their votes in favor of the measure. The variance was approved a year ago and work on the property began last February. Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg warned that the matter would wind up incourt if the variance were repealed. He said he would seek an alternative site for the facility, perhaps some government-owned land in the area.
Jones said repealing the variance would send a bad message to investors in general and to Merchant's Market in particular, noting that the firm has already invested $1 million in the project.
The repeal measure was defeated, 11-3, with Sens. Pickard-Samuel, Celestino White and Alicia Hansen casting the "yes" votes.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole expressed his continuing frustration at the administration's dragging its feet on a solution to the territory's solid-waste disposal problem. He pointed out that even a short-term solution isn't on the table. Caribe Waste Technologies has been hired to build a gasification plant, Cole said, but it hasn't even come before the Legislature, and the project will take years.
Caribe Waste Technologies won a competitive bidding process last year to build a plant to end the territory's need to use the Bovoni and Anguilla landfills. But the proposed deal depends on the Water and Power Authority ageeing to purchase water and electricity from CWT. WAPA announced last week that its board would not vote on the matter until at least the start of October. The Federal Aviation Administration has threatened to close the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport on St. Croix at the end of 2002 if the Anguilla landfill isn't closed.
Cole also said the administration's financial agencies should get Delegate Donna Christian Christensen to address Congress about a financial aid package for the Virgin Islands, an issue brought up at a Rules Committee meeting last week. Liburd said Dutko, the Washington, D.C., lobbying group the majority hired earlier this year, will be addressing the problem.
In addition to the budget bills, the committee approved legislation sponsored by Cole and Pickard-Samuel revising the V.I. Safe Water Act to make it consistent with national drinking water standards. It authorizes the regulation of materials used in rainwater catchment systems, including water hauled by trucks to cisterns as part of the public water system.
Budget measures approved
The FY 2002 budget bills passed on Monday were:
Bill No 24-0112 – $1.7 million for operating expenses of the Business and Commercial Properties Revolving Fund.
Bill No. 24-0113 – $24.6 million for University of the Virgin Islands salaries and expenses, and for other purposes.
Bill No. 24-0114 – $2.6 million from the Government Insurance Fund for Finance Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0115 – $2.7 million from the Health Revolving Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0116 – $5 million from the Insurance Guaranty Fund to theGeneral Fund.
Bill No. 24-0117 – $3.2 million from the Indirect Cost Fund for Office of Management and Budget, Personnel Division, Property and Procurement Department, and Finance Department salaries and operating expenses, and for other purpos es.
Bill No. 24-0118 – $3.5 million from the Interest Revenue Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0119 – $70.2 million from the Internal Revenue Matching Fund, with $25.2 million to go into the General Fund and $44.7 million to pay debt service on outstanding government bonds.
Bill No. 24-0120 – $3.1 million from the Caribbean Basin Initiative Fund to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0121 – $6.4 million from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Fund to the Public Works Department, and for other purposes.
Bill No. 24-0122 – $306,881 for V.I. Taxicab Commission operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0123 – $169,174 from the Transportation Revolving Fund for Property and Procurement Department salaries, fringe benefits, supplies and other services and charges.
Bill No. 24-0124 – $750,000 from the Sewage System Fund for Public Works Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0125 – $514,322 for Public Services Commission operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0126 – $1.9 million from the interest earned on bond proceeds to the General Fund.
Bill No. 24-0127 – $1.5 million from the St. John Capital Improvement Fund for Public Works Department operating expenses.
Bill No. 24-0128 – $479.7 million for executive branch operations.
Bill No. 24-0130 – $400,000 for Public Employees Relations Board operating expenses and $103,473 for the Labor Management Committee.
Bill No. 24-0133 To establish the the Disaster Recovery Contingency Revolving Fund.
Bill No. 24-0135 – amending the V.I. Code to increase to $25,000 from the current $5,000 the amount of prior fiscal-year obligations that can be paid by departments and agencies from current-year appropriations.
At the start of the session, Liburd announced it would recess at 5:30 p.m. However, after a two-hour lunch break, the meeting reconvened at 4 p.m. and recessed at 7 p.m. Liburd said the Senate's St. Thomas telephone system was entirely down and this had caused the long lunch break.
Thirteen senators were present for the morning proceedings, with Sen. Adelbert Bryan absent and Sen. Douglas Canton Jr. excused. In the afternoon, all were present except Bryan. The session is to resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday on St. Thomas.