Where Oh Where Has The Stimulus Gone?
On February 19, 2009, Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh, Jr. announced at a press conference that the Virgin Islands “will receive more than $244 million in economic benefits over a two-year period.” These funds were the allocation to the Virgin Islands from President Obama’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).
We were assured that there would be “transparency” in how these funds would be used and were invited to keep track of the Stimulus progress on designated websites – The Governor’s Recovery Website and the website of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the agency created within the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority charged with oversight and administration of the Stimulus Program.
So, out of curiosity, we visited these sites and guess what we found?
Not so much.
So far, on the Governor’s site, we see approximately $13.6 million allocated over the Department of Energy, the ferry boat between St. Thomas and St. John, the Council on the Arts, child care and two health centers.
A look under the Transparency section of the OEO website (right hand column of the home page) shows a surprisingly low number of projects submitted from governmental agencies for these funds. Some have submitted none at all. Can it be in this time of fiscal pain that they don’t need the money?
And when you click on the tab designated as “VI ARRA Progress” you see this message:
“Thank you for visiting this area of the Office of Economic Opportunity website. We are working diligently to make all recovery information available to you. Please continue to visit the site for updates.”
What is the status of the remaining $230 million?
We understand that the funds will be distributed over a two year period but we, and at least one Senator, are looking for a detailed report on the projects designated to use the stimulus funds, the timelines for completion of those projects, and the amounts allocated for those projects from the ARRA funds.
Everywhere we look we see uses for this money; our crumbling infrastructure; the educational system; public safety staffing and issues; the list is endless. Yet we see few defined projects for the stimulus funds while bonds are being floated that add to our collective debt.
What are we doing with the rest of this money?
(Note: We did note that a Marian Prescod, of 3P Incorporated, is listed on the OEO site as the OEO primary contact and also as the contact for the PFA. A visit to 3P’s website noted its clients included the Government of the US Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority and the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority)Â
http://www.governordejongh.com/recovery/index.html
These folks can not be of any help with tracking down where the remaining stimulus money is being stashed. They all were caught on camera, sleeping on the job, during the the governor’s Economic Stimulus Bill meeting.
http://picasaweb.google.com/usvigovhousephotos.com/GOVERNMENT1292009GOVERNORMEETSONECONOMICSTIMULUSBILL#5298260542380608722
You see the one of the OMB Director? You know everytime her mouth open…’tory jump out! Who knows what other Lie she manage to tell…after all it even in her name…got”lie”b.
caught on camera doing as usual…
http://picasaweb.google.com/usvigovhousephotos.com/GOVERNMENT1292009GOVERNORMEETSONECONOMICSTIMULUSBILL#5298260589182312738
I am a locally owned alternative energy dealer here on St. Croix. My company, Solar Solutions, LLC, is the only company that can convert existing electric water heaters to solar water heaters. Below, is a letter I wrote to the Governor.
Dear Governor deJonge
So…show me the money! I am a partner in Solar Solutions, LLC. We are a locally owned business here on St. Croix. We sell and convert electric water heaters to solar. This has been the slowest sales season. The VIEO has closed again, as normal, for their two month house cleaning. They do this every year. There are no rebates given during this period, so no sales. We were PROMISED that the stimulus money would have kicked in by this time, but no one tells us what has happened to the money. Energy has supposedly received more than $8M…where is the money? My business is in dire straights because of the lack of action and inaction of the Energy Office. We need to know what is in the works so we can plan our business. We are told nothing.
I do not feel the Energy Office has any Empathy toward the energy business’. Our income is gone during this 2 month hiatus. We still have employees to pay when there is no work and fixed costs that never change. The staff at the VIEO is all on salary. They do not appear to care about the private sector, as long as they are getting paid. Our families still need to eat during this time. Our rent still has to be paid. However, no business can be conducted because no rebates are available.
We add to this the supposed inclusion of some stimulus money. We were promised during public hearings that this exact situation which I brought to everyone’s attention, would not happen. We would have programs in place so there would not be interruptions in sales. This obviously did not happen.
We are treated like children. Keep the local business’ in the loop during discussions with the Feds. Keep us aware of the process so we can plan for our future. When we are kept in the dark, as we are now, the future looks bleak. We can’t keep our employees and installers, so they will also be out of work for the next 2 months. We need to negotiate with our landlord because we can’t pay the rent. We have no clue what the future holds.
So much for transparency!
Governor, you have an obligation to us as citizens. Where is this $8M that went to energy on July 6? What was it used for? Where are all these programs that were supposed to benefit from the ARRA money? WHY IS THERE NO INFORMATION?
Dr. Manny da Motta,
Partner, Solar Solutions, LLC
St. Croix
Dr. da Motta,
What a striking example of the gross negligence being exercised by the pivotal agencies of this Administration.
I went to that Governor’s website and I saw that energy grant. If they’re not using those funds to assist businesses like yours that are so directly tied to the so called “priority” goal of alternative energy, then what are they going to use it for???
They’ve got hundreds of millions of dollars for Diageo, an enterprise that won’t bring any return for years – and that’s presuming that the project actually goes forward – and will always be on the winning side because of the breaks they got to come here and the loopholes in the contracts that allow them to bail if anything changes on the cover-over. All that for the promise of giving jobs to 40 people.
Contrast that situation to yours – a local enterprise employing local people in a business that is central to the ability of the VI to move away from the paralyzing financial noose that is the dependence on fossil fuels.
With the proper support, your business would thrive, resulting in more employment, more revenue and less reliance on the costly energy sources we are using today.
But the lack of forethought and serious intent demonstrated by this government has left you in a two month desert with no way to meet essential expenses or any concrete information so that you can move forward in your business plan.
I tell you – I remember all the elation about finally having someone in the Governor’s seat who had a “business” background. Someone who would run the government like a high level manager and would eliminate the ridiculous, traditional practices that have placed the VI in the perilous position it now occupies.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
God help us if we allow ourselves to be fooled again. Good luck to you and your employees Doctor. I hope someone who can help sees your post.
Dr. da Motta, we feel your pain. Hang in there, help is already in the territory. Just hang in there… God bless…
I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the stimulus funds. Access to these funds are being held up by the desire of this administration to spend the funds outside of the stated guidelines. Their application has been rejected due to their desire to use most of the funds for overhead as is the standard practice of the VI Gov’t. Nothing has changed with the fundamentals of our government as was promised during the campaign. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
I am really sorry for all those who believed in this Governor. I knew he was always just a figurehead for special interest. We need a real person in there.
Click on demmansay.com. They conducted a survey about how unpopular the governor has become especially on St. Croix. There are also rumors that Lt. Gov. Francis is Considering running against the Gov. next year. Here is the article:
“Franco” Seeking 2010 Runningmate
Just as the Governor had an Arizona firm conducting a telephone survey of his popularity, we
conducted our own survey and DeWolf’s approval rating is 6% on the Big Island of St. Croix!
If this article is true, it is over for John deJough. He spent most of his time catering to the Crucians by appointing people from the big island and paying frequent visit there. For them to turn on him like this is a real blow to his campaign.
Virgin Islands Code
TITLE EIGHTEEN Elections
Chapter 27. Offenses and Penalties
Subchapter III. Election Offenses
§ 793. Undue influence by gift of money or valuable thing
Whoever gives or promises to give, or offers any money or valuable thing, to any person with the intent to induce him to vote for or refrain from voting for any candidate at any election, shall be fined not more than $500 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
—Added Apr. 2, 1964, No. 1163, § 25, Sess. L. 1964, p. 170.
It is time for all of us to e-mail the Vice President, Joe Biden, who is responsible for over site on ALL stimulus money.
The stimulus money is not being used for what it was intended for. How many more government offices are we refurbishing? How much more is being spent on the governor’s personal home? How many more personnel is the administration hiring during a hiring freeze? Are we using the stimulus money to meet the ever bloated and growing payroll? Are you getting $2.3million per day of benefits out of the DAILY cost of our government?
The e-mail link is listed below to contact Joe Biden. The time is NOW for this administration to be investigated by the Federal Government for re-directing money.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ContactUs
Why isn’t the Virgin Islands Daily News, Avis, Source, reporting on this missing Federal stimulus fund money?
There are so much more public corruptions in the VI that’s going unreported to the community.
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.”
A.J. Liebling
This is accountability and transparency? If the Governor is not being transparent about the construction worker bieng done at his private residence, how can we expect to be transparent about what is happening to the stimulus money?
The website of governor de Jongh is under construction that’s why information is missing.
doc your out of luck
jerk is back
yeah, his private estate was also under contruction that’s why public funds were missing.
who knows what else is under contruction with the missing stimulus funds
Crucian4life, the previous website worked well. If they wanted to improve it, they should have completed the new and improved site before going live. It’s quite simple to do. His new website is as incomplete as the website recently launched by the Department of Motor Vehicles at http://www.usvibmv.org/ and the PFA’s Office of Economic Recovery website at http://oeo.usvipfa.com/ . They either have broken links or messages that the site is under construction.
That sounds about right for the de jongh administration. Nothing seems to work.