Well, 21 minutes into the hearing we’ve already heard Senate President Ronald Russell say that only items “germane” to the Governor’s financial bill can be discussed.
We wonder what he’s worried about somebody bringing up today?
In any case, we’re getting ready to hear the usual suspects tell the same old story about why after record setting borrowing, we are still broke. Read more »
In case you’re wondering, we heard about the Attorney General’s (AG) response to the Board of Elections about our complaint challenging the eligibility of Alicia Hansen to run for public office.
And, like so many other actions from AG Vincent Frazer’s office, the response passed the buck, but didn’t resolve the issues CIF raised.
The AG’s response said that since the election results that indicated that Hansen had been duly elected had been certified by the Board, transmitted to Supervisor of Elections John Abramson and subsequently declared as final, that the responsibility for any further action in her case rests with the Legislature. The BOE, according to the AG, no longer has jurisdiction.
That’s all great, and we’ll watch with interest to see what the Legislature does about this. We hear through reliable sources that Senate President Ronald Russell has, upon receipt of the AG’s opinion, (finally) sought an opinion from the Legislative counsel on the matter.
But we still don’t have an answer to the questions we asked of the Board of Elections – and whatever action the Senate takes has nothing to do with that. Read more »
One of the great mysteries in the Board of Elections saga has been the curious invisibility of a letter sent by Senate President Ronald Russell to BOE Chairman Rupert Ross asking for clarification on the Alicia Hansen eligibility issue.
The letter, sent one day after CIF filed its complaint with the board, was the best kept secret in this episode so far until its existence was revealed last week here on CIF.
Why, we wondered, had we not heard of this letter before? Why had no one mentioned this as the controversy around Hansen continued to swirl? Russell said he had the letter hand delivered to his fellow Senators, to the news media and to Ross. Ross said he never received it, it was never published in any media outlet we’re aware of, and the mystery grew. Not one senator acknowledged receipt. Read more »
Q. Why should the Legislature reject the Alpine Energy Group (AEG) proposal on Monday?
A. Because based on documents we’ve read, Alpine should never have been allowed to bid on the project in the first place.
Q. Why else should the Legislature reject the Alpine Energy Group proposal on Monday?
A. Because if they don’t, the Diageo deal may never provide the return on our investment that was promised.
Stay with us. Read more »
Okay readers, we have a golden opportunity to get the answers we’re looking for on the newest proposal from the Alpine Energy Group for a waste-to-energy plant.
Andy Hixon, Vice President of Environmental and Permitting for AEG, has chosen to come to this site to answer some of the questions that have erupted since the Governor sent yet another “gotta sign it” agreement to the Legislature for urgent action.
Unlike Alpine’s previous attempt to bring its services to the Virgin Islands, this rush to action move on the part of the Administration has deprived the public of the opportunity for public hearings and detailed information that were available the last time around. Crucians In Focus sponsored a Town Hall meeting during that time, and had then, as apparently we have now, the participation of Alpine representatives, to answer some of the pressing questions the community had about their operation and its environmental and health related impact.
What we did not have, until now, were any detailed documents on the particulars of the current proposal.
Well, now we do. Read more »
Well no wonder they’re trying to get rid of him!
The day after Crucians In Focus filed a complaint with the Virgin Islands Board of Elections challenging Sen. Alicia Hansen’s eligibility to run for office due to her probationary status, Sen. Ronald Russell sent a letter of his own to the BOE asking for verification on the same issue.
It is truly the season for miracles!
Crucians In Focus has obtained Russell’s October 26th letter and press release to Joint Election Systems Board Chairman, Rupert Ross, pertaining to Hansen’s eligibility to serve as a member of the 29th Legislature.
At issue is the fact that in order to be eligible to run for office, candidates must be qualified voters at the time of the election. Probationers are not eligible to vote.
Hansen, who was then and is still on probation after her conviction on failure to file three years of income taxes, could not be a qualified voter under Virgin Islands law at the time of the election and therefore, we contend, was ineligible to run and is wrongfully holding a seat in the Legislature.
Russell, in his correspondence, is apparently questioning Hansen’s eligibility as well. Read more »
It seems that no agency in this government is functioning so all of them are blaming the others for their lack of action.
The latest example is Wednesdays Board of Elections meeting where no action was taken on the complaint Crucians In Focus filed challenging Sen. Alicia Hansen’s eligibility for candidacy in last November’s election.
A month after our complaint was presented to the BOE, who deferred a decision until receiving an opinion from the Attorney General, there is still no ruling on Hansen’s candidacy because the AG has not responded.
What are they waiting for?
By a vote of 3-2, the board refused to rule on the complaint because they haven’t heard from the AG. The Legislature won’t take any action until they hear from the Board. And none of them are required by law to wait for any of the rest to say one way or the other whether Hansen should be there or not. Read more »
Edwin “Things Good” Callwood died suddenly in his sleep Tuesday night. Callwood had traveled to Cleveland, OH, for a medical procedure but had been in touch with friends on St. Croix Tuesday evening.
Crucians In Focus President Michael Springer said Wednesday that he sends his sincere condolences to the Callwood family.
“I just spoke with him and he seemed fine,” Springer said. “He was always so full of life and energetic – it’s is just such a shock how fast this can happen.” Read more »
For the past week we’ve been watching and listening as the community reacts to the now audited revelations of the theft and misuse of public funds by as yet unnamed members of the Legislature.
Much of the public focus has been on the matter of the travel expenses and cash advance misuse in the 28th Legislature. Sen. Shawn Malone is “dismayed”: Sen. Usie Richards wants us all to know this never happened when he was President of the Legislature – clean as a whistle it was; Sen. Nellie O’Reilly has been vocal about the need for consequences for those who are involved in the misuse of funds.
Meanwhile, current Sen. President Ronald Russell has refused to commit to codifying – or making law – policies that would prevent this type of abuse from happening again without the consequence of criminal prosecution.
And Sen. Louis Hill, who was president of the 28th version of this lawbreaking body, simply doesn’t feel the matter warrants his comment.
But while our attention is being focused on the travel scandal and equally on the completely arbitrary awarding of bonuses to selected Legislative employees, let us not overlook the area where perhaps the greatest misuse of funds has occurred – the money that passed through various hands in the scores of non-competitive contracts that were awarded during the audit period – and some say continuing in some quarters in the present day – is where the real story lies in this fiasco. Read more »
With these words, and further facts that dispute any defamatory or slanderous behavior, Atty. Emile Henderson has petitioned the court to dismiss the complaint filed by Sen. Alicia Hansen against Jamila Russell, Reef Broadcasting and its owner Hugh Pemberton.
In a Motion to Dismiss filed Thursday in Superior Court, Henderson stated that the allegations of defamation and slander that formed the basis of the complaint filed last month by Hansen failed to meet the legal standards of defamation and should therefore be summarily dismissed.
In his motion, attached below, Henderson says that that Hansen’s complaint, which alleges that slanderous statements were made by the Defendants and that as such they should be held liable, do not meet the legal requirement for the charge.
Henderson counters the allegations by asserting that the alleged “slanderous” statements do not specifically state when the statements were made, by whom or what information they contained and that in fact, defendant Pemberton is not accused of making any defamatory statement at all.
But the heart of the defense rests with the historic Supreme Court Ruling in New York Times Co. v Sullivan, which sets forth the “public figure” doctrine. That ruling stated that public officials, of which Hansen is certainly one, “must prove actual malice to recover damages in a defamation case” and that the defendant “makes the defamatory remarks with knowledge that (the statement) was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” Read more »
A number of “highly questionable” practices seem to be standard operating procedure in the Virgin Islands Legislature based on the findings of a long-overdue audit of the Senate.
Calling it a “culture with almost no accountability or transparency especially in the areas such as the improper use of allotted funds, arbitrary procurement of goods and services and inadequately secured sensitive equipment,” the audit paints a picture of negligence at best and outright fraud at worst.
The audit is attached below and contains the detail behind these significant findings: Read more »
As the Chairperson for the Committee on Education, Youth and Culture, first-term Senator Janette Millin-Young has received more notoriety for her travel preferences than for any substantive actions to address the glaring issues in our educational system.
Thought of initially as one who would quietly follow, Millin-Young has shown recent faint glimmers of enlightenment, but our jury is still out on where she will fall as we enter a phase where all elected officials will be called upon to take a stand – on one side of the line or the other.
But for now, it’s your opinion we’re interested in. If the election was held today…
As many of you heard recently, CIF President Michael Springer, at left, delivered the first in a series of radio announcements that will target specific issues and offer analysis on our most pressing concerns.
The feedback on the comments was extremely positive, so CIF will sponsor then as often as possible, and we thank those of you who have already donated! But airtime costs money and we're seeking your help.
If you'd like to help keep our voices on the air, please donate whatever you can using the PayPal button below. We thank you in advance for your support.
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