Question For The PFA: Whose Money Are You Spending?
The "Eye of Horus" or "All Seeing Eye", displayed on the letterhead of the VIPFA, has an interesting history. See link at the end of the article.
For the past few months we have watched members of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority (PFA) repeatedly defy requests from the Legislature on the nature and form of their activities.
The most recent example was last Monday, when PFA Executive Director Julito Francis refused to answer a question from Sen. Adlah “Foncie” Donastorg related to reports that the PFA has authorized the use of public funds to defend government officials in a civil suit filed in the Mafoliegate matter.
But since the beginning of the hearings into the Mafolie matter, everyone from the PFA Executive Director down to operatives like Cherrie Wallace-Cole have refused to answer questions from the Legislature and have been allowed to walk away without sanction of any kind.
So is it any wonder they feel empowered to do it?
As early as last August, following yet another contentious meeting between the Senate and members of the Finance team, deJongh issued a statement that authorized representatives of his Administration to walk out of hearings if they felt they were being “abused.”
The so-called abuse was triggered by the team’s evasive and defensive responses to Senate inquires about financial obligations owed to vendors. Much of the information that should have been available for review was not, and responses were dismissive and indirect.
We said then, and we repeat, that the Governor’s action gave them his authority to walk out when they feel the heat is too high. “It will be the new “Fifth Amendment” for these officials, who will feel free to say “I decline to answer based on the Authorization of the Governor” before they walk out of a hearing,” we wrote.
And as recently as last Monday, Senate President Louis Patrick Hill told Francis he was entitled to “take the Fifth” rather than answer Donastorg’s question about the PFA funds and their reported use for legal defense. And when Donastorg pushed a motion to subpoena the relevant documents, only four Senators voted yes, not enough to pass the motion, when there were enough senators there to represent a quorum, including Sen. Neville James, whose committee has held two hearings investigating the Mafolie matter.
If these people aren’t going to be forced to testify, and the Senate won’t support a subpoena, then we may not learn the answer to this question until the matter goes to court.
According to the PFA website, the last scheduled meeting was to be held on March 8 and a document labeled “Agenda” was available on the site. (attached below). But it’s not an agenda – it is simply a press release announcing the meeting and no agenda items are listed. So we don’t have any way of knowing whether the matter of legal defense funds was discussed. And, as no minutes of these meetings are attached to the site, there’s no way to check on whether action was taken if they were.
The PFA is a public corporation charged with the management of public money. How is it possible that its members have the option of refusing to disclose what they are doing with it?
Why would the Senate president reinforce this behavior by stating that Francis could “take the Fifth?” Why wouldn’t the Senators who did not vote, particularly Sen. James, get back to their seats to support the motion to subpoena the documents? Don’t they want to know whether this use of funds has taken place?
If it did happen, and the rationale (as we’ve been hearing although no one wants to admit that it happened) is that the defendants in the case are being sued because of their government roles and that’s why the defense money is being appropriated, then why not admit it? The suit names them as private individuals, but an explanation would at least have offered some insight into why they felt those funds would be dispersed in that way.
And if it didn’t happen, why not shut it all down by just saying no?
As it stands, we know of $490,000 in public funds, issued through the PFA and ratified months after they were expended, that were used to renovate the Governors Estate Mafolie private residence. If it is determined that additional PFA funds have been appropriated for legal fees, reportedly as much as another $190,000 in total, then the bill for this malfeasance is getting extremely high.
This would be egregious in any case – but what does it say that even in an election year, some members of the Senate will not insist that these questions are answered and use whatever means are at their disposal to make it happen?
We guess we’ll see them in court.
You better believe it. We voting for Positive for Governor and Usie, Neville and Nellie for St. Croix senators. Who got a problem with that better find other people to vote for.
Donastorg for gover and neville and usie for senate.
I’m sorry, but I keep coming back to the same question over and over again on this Mafoliegate scandal. If the legislative hearings forced Governor DeJongh to agree to pay back the money and then the US IG’s office found that the expenditure of public funds were illegal, then what is taking the U.S. Attorney’s office so long to convene a grand jury to consider if there are indictable cahrges or not?
The report was scathing on mulitple fronts to which the governor responded by wanting to tell the feds how to interpret the English language and renege on his promise to pay back the money. Now we have allegations that PFA monies are being used to defend the governor. I wish the legislature had impeachment powers so that we could have seen who would have voted to impeach if it was determined that the offenses had reached that level.
Hopefully, the next hearing will wrap up the legislature’s role in this matter and maybe justice can be served once and for all.
And if anyone believe Kenneth Mapp can do better than Governor de Jongh, think again. See below and find out why it is a well established fact that Mapp/de Jongh are twins.
PFA under Mapp gave lease to man with long criminal record
By TIM FIELDS
Monday, October 30th 2006
ST. THOMAS – Toward the end of Kenneth Mapp’s tenure as head of the V.I. Public Finance Authority, he OK’d leasing the restaurant at the government-owned Sea Island Hotel – formerly King’s Alley – to a Florida-based business man with a long criminal history of arrests and convictions.
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article?id=17598948
WE CAN DO BETTER AND NEITHER MAPP DE JONGH IS THE ANSWER!
and now the restaurant and hotel are owned by the government. The restaurant has never been occupied. Didn’t this project go MILLIONS over budget? Who got the extra millions? Who is Mapps biggest financial supporter?
WE CAN DO BETTER THAN MAPP/DE JONGH!
@ Anonymous
Just typical of you to give information that has no revelatory connection to him being corrupted. The restaurant has never been lease to this person for that reason. Dig and dig because you can never find anything significant enough to prove your point. Very weak appeal to casting doubts on the voters minds. Good luck, but you will come up with nothing, but what you have found so far “NOTHING”.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:PhNAY19ZToEJ:www.zoominfo.com/people/Pollara_Frank_322499918.aspx+license+%22pollara%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=vi
As an investor of the restaurant at Kings Alley Hotel the are numerous reason why the restaurant never opened. The permit for the entire building, hotel and restaurant, have never passed code. The hotel is open with a conditional occupancy. The electrical and plumbing in the restaurant as well as the fire inspection have all failed. The new elevator installed at a cost of over 45 thousand dollars does not meet ADA code, and has not been complete. There was over 880 thousand spent by Julito Francis and the current PFA on the hotel after Mapp and it is still not up to code. The existing doors on every hotel room do not meet fire code.
who did the renovations? It wasn’t Pollara?
Why is the government operating a hotel that does not meet fire safety standards?
See there the twins are at it again. Mapp gives a convicted criminal a contract to construct his criminal enterprise and his twin de Jongh keep the doors of this mob penhouse open even though it violates fire codes.
Mapp de Jongh are the same in one…CORRUPT TO THE BONE!
Maybe Nelson will be smoking indoors and Foncie will be beating his girlfriends in one of the rooms, now that’s one in the same. low lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mapp de Jongh 2010!
Keep corruption alive!
The voters will decide.
Donastorg wouldnt hurt a fly.
DONASTORG will be OUR Governor.
Pollara was not the contractor of the hotel in Kings Alley. The contractor was Best Construction who was totally under the direction of owners rep Hortensia Laino, who in fact, was the one who personally bought the doors and had them installed. Most of all the downfalls in the consruction were fully under her direction. She was dismissed by Mr Francis. Mr Francis in all honesty inherited a mess from the interim Director of the PFA Mr Kent Bernier. In point of fact, Pollara stepped in at times to assist Best Construction to expidite the project free of charge.After the discharge of Best, who offered to finish for 25 thousand, the Pollara Group offered to finish the entire building and secure the certificate of occupancy for 75 thousand dollars. They were turned down by the PFA and the balance of construction and supervision were turned over to Laino, Brian Turnbull and Lionel Jacobs. Remember Mapp had beem gone for 1 1/2 years….read daily news thurs june 8th-2006, friday nov9th-2007….It’s very possible Mr Francis and Gov Dejongh misplacced their trust on those 3…this is much easier to figure out than it looks.always follow the $$$$$$$$ Pollara has already spent over 100 thousand to correct,build -out, and facilitate a certificate of occupancy.