Who Made The Decision To Spend The Money On Mafolie?
Mafolie documents raise questions about process, intent and communication regarding Act 6917 funds
Sen. Carlton "Ital" Dowe
If you want to understand the game you’ve got to focus on the players.
The central issue in the Mafolie matter is whether the Legislature intended that funds from Act 6917 could be used to renovate Governor John P. deJongh’s private Estate Mafolie home. It is from that issue that all the other issues, including conflict, collusion and fraud, emerge.
Sometime between March, 2007, when the 27th Legislature authorized the road repair funds in Act 6917 and April 16 of that year, someone made that determination, and we’re trying to discover who that was. That determination has resulted in $490,000 in public funds being spent on the Governor’s private property. The exact language from Act 6917 is that the reprogrammed funds were to be used for “engineering designs, construction, repairs and resurfacing of roads.”
Let us return to the documents we have access to.
April 16 – Director of Finance and Administration Julito Francis sends a letter on Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority (PFA) letterhead to Property and Procurement (P and P) Commissioner Lynn Millin. The first page of this letter is dated April 16; the second page is dated April 30.* It is in this letter, that the use of funds from Act 6917 is specified to include the “Security Booth and Road Improvements at the Governor’s residence – STT.” The only senator copied on this letter is Sen. Carlton “Ital” Dowe.
April 25 – Then Commissioner Designee Darryl Smalls, Department of Public Works, sent a letter to Francis asking him (Francis) to send a letter to Millin informing her that the funds from Act 6917 “ are to be used for” several projects, including “Security Booth and Road Improvements at the Governor’s residence – STT.”  The only senator copied on this letter is Sen. Carlton “Ital” Dowe.
May 17, 2007 - Smalls wrote to Debra Gottlieb, then Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In this letter, he requested the release of funds from Acts 6868 and 6917 for five projects, including the $1.305 million for “engineering designs, construction, repairs or resurfacing of roads.”(attached p. 2 dpw/omb below)
May 30, 2007 – Gottlieb, now Director Designate of OMB, sent a memo to Smalls releasing the $1.305 million from Act 6917, again, for the “engineering designs, construction, repairs and resurfacing of roads.”  (attached p. 1 dpw/omb below)
Who told Francis that those funds were to be used for security enhancements at the Governor’s home? Why was Dowe copied on his April 16 letter? Why did Smalls copy Dowe on his April 25 memo to Francis? Did Dowe have information from other members of the 27th Legislature that they intended these funds be used for Mafolie? Some have stated publicly that they did not.
Why didn’t Gottlieb question the use of funds for something other than what was outlined in the amendment language? It is our understanding once money is appropriated for a specific purpose, that can only be changed through additional legislation. In her position as OMB Director, was Gottlieb unaware of this?
It is also important to note that before funds appropriated by the Legislature can be legally expended, those funds must be ratified by the PFA. The 6917 funds, appropriated in March, 2007, were not ratified until a meeting in October, 2009. Â
Gov. deJongh is the Chairman, Angel Dawson is the Executive Director and Gottlieb is the secretary of the PFA. Dawson,  and Gottlieb both testified at a recent Legislative hearing that the 30-month delay in ratifying these funds was an “oversight”. How did the deJongh, Dawson and Gottlieb all overlook the fact that these funds had not been ratified?
The US Inspector General has issued a report finding that the use of these funds at Mafolie was unauthorized. The Governor has until February 16 to respond to the IG’s report.
(*Editors note: You will note there are two different attachments of the same letter from Francis to Millin. One of them is dated April 16 on the front page and April 30 on page 2. (Attachment titled April 16 letter). A second, nearly identical letter is also attached, where the date on both pages is April 30. (April 25 Smalls/April 30 Francis). We can’t explain the discrepancy – we are simply pointing it out.)    Â
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I agree “Clock”.
I am sick of hearing about Mafoliegate. I think we should stop talking about it and start talking about IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS!!!
From “DOWE NOW” to “DOWE NO MORE”!
Tired and Fed Up, I’m with you. An example has to be set so that all will know that we don’t tolerate this kind of blatant curruption!
Empty threats, cowards.
It takes 2/3 of the Senate to impeach the Governor. The numbers are not sufficient. The five senators who hate the Governor can not put him out of office.A recall is not practical, either. The number of all the bloggers to this site who hate the Governor is not great enough to make a difference in a general election. The haters just make more noise. Those who support the deGreat are quietly meeting and planning the campaign. Those who appear neutral are waiting to see how things unfold during the next few months. The opposition force will get more desperate when it is realized the IG Report is a worthless piece of paper that lacks enforcement powers. Meanwhile, I will read and laugh at the ridiculous comments here.
Anonymous,
Now, you know you are playing with fire!
I am certain you still recall that old saying, ” who plays with fire, gets burned.”
Did you read and laugh before you threw Senator Dowe under the bus this weekend? Was that one of the official talking points? Curious minds want to know.
This is not about hating the Governor. This is about right and wrong. How do we look our children in their face and try to teach them how to be honorable men and women when we ourselves are not.
If we were any place else, this Governor would have been impeached and incarcerated. What bothers me the most is to hear people justify his actions. What frightens me even more is that the youths of this terriorty are watching and listening how we justify not only this Governor’s action, but everyone else involved.
I attended the fundraiser/telethon last night and to me it was a flop. Even when I got home the calls weren’t coming in with pledges. Did you see Roosevelt”Touching wives” Davis he reminds of a wolf always snickering and drooling at the mouth. You can look at him and see he is up to no good. What is this new organization ” People for Progress”, have they change the name “VI Restore Hope” to this now?
Yup! I guess they think it’ll take away the negative connotation of the name V.I. Restore Hope. Someone needs to let him know he’s not fooling anyone!!!
I’m sorry that we seem to think that others, threw Senator Dowe under the bus. By making the concious decision to do what he did, alegidly, he threw himself under the bus.
It’s hard for me and may others to understand how blame can be give to anyone else other than the alegid perpetrators of this deceptive scheme. Time will surely tell.
So why wasn’t Dowe subpoenaed when James had his ‘hearing/investigation?’
Seems it would be a logical move to start with the flow of the money. Or is it because the almighty majority would have ousted James if he went against them and showed the corruption in the legislature?
Webber, Russell and Serville testified as to what they voted on, why not bring in Dowe to testify under oath and purger himself?
A majority that sides with the gov. can do a lot of harm right now. The constituants need to let senators like Thurland, Sanes,and W. James know that their actions (votes) in the senate are being watched and will determine how they fare in the election.
The Majority is weak. It needs Sen.Dowe. That’s the reason for Dowe not being placed in the position to self-incriminate. The Majority leader is protecting Dowe. You just do not get it. All the senators are playing a political game and are winning. The electorate are being fooled.
Dowe can always get his old job back…..you know, the one that paid an additional $75,200 deposited into his bank account that he was acquitted on?
From the Daily News:
‘Former Sen. Carlton Dowe, who was indicted and charged with two counts of wire fraud in August 2004, was acquitted after an eight-day trial in District Court in October. Investigators said that Dowe stole $75,200 from the V.I. government in 2000 by tricking the government into paying him twice for a back-pay settlement from when he was Fire Service director’.
We need to remember who steals from us and who deceives us that ARE ELECTED OVER AND OVER EACH YEAR to continue to steal.
The only reason Dowe got reelected after the wire fraud trail is that people had the perception that the case what politically motivated to ruin his reputation and keep him ou of thw Senate. However, it is not looking good for him second time around.
I see that Rossevelt Touch wives was at the telehon where money is Touch Wives love to be. Ask touch wives why the bank where he use to work send hime home.
Wasn’t Cecile deJongh the one that helped send him home? What hypocrites these people are.
Did Mr.Dowe pay back the money? I mean, wasn’t his defense that he got the money by mistake and did not realize? Even if he got off by mistake He SHOULD have paid pack the money he didn’t deserve. So does anyone know if he paid back the money? I would like to know.
Dowe is going to get the last laugh. He knew what the bill was intended for, but was not interviewed by the IG. Why? The truth is evident.The IG deliberately neglected to probe into the matter, because the IG did not what the truth to be told. The acting AG ‘s legal opinion made Dowe draft the language to make it legal to use public funds for security enhancement at Mafolie. The reprogramming took place after the opinion was was issued. Connect the dots.Did you ever hear Dowe say that the funds were only for road projects?