So what should they do behind that closed door on Monday? Here’s our platform. We welcome your additions.

1.     Revoke the provisions of Act 6905 as they relate to the salaries of elected and appointed officials – immediately

2.   The arbitrary process outlined by the governor for the termination of 2,600 government workers will not make a dent in the $67 million dollar deficit we are allegedly facing. And the reason is simple – the right people won’t be fired. The Governor was very specific that it won’t be “last hired, first fired”: which means that all the mindless political hires, and the layers upon layers of unneeded “administrative” staff will remain in place with the lower paid “worker bees” left on the street.  Recommendation: Any initial cuts should be from the top down including managers, supervisors and their support staff with this population reduced by at least one-third right off the top. In addition, a real “hiring freeze” should be effective immediately, and should be retroactive for one full year to assure that the last to be hired are the first to go.

3.     All government contractors should be harshly scrutinized to determine whether they are truly providing skills that do not exist in the government workforce, or if they are providing services that are duplicates of what government employees should be doing to earn their pay. Recommendation: Those contractors who are truly filling a skill gap may remain, but their contributions should be reviewed frequently and their duties should begin to include training of local workers to eventually take on their responsibilities. All others should have their contracts terminated when current obligations are met.

4.     How much money is stalled in unexpended appropriations for projects that have not begun? Recommendation: Identify and release into the General Fund all appropriated but unexpended funds earmarked for “projects” that have not been initiated. Read more »

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It’s long past time to declare a State of Emergency on St. Thomas as residents start the New Year in the incomprehensible position of being out of water.

Pay no attention to all the statements from the Water and Power Authority about projected resumption of the most basic of human necessities – we spent most of Saturday talking to St. Thomas residents who are helplessly furious about the inaccurate public statements about “rolling” water availability and even more outraged that the situation exists in the first place.

And Government House through spokesperson Jean Greaux says it’s an issue for the Water and Power Authority to address and doesn’t see any reason for the Governor to get involved until WAPA tells him they can’t solve the problem without outside assistance.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the response of the Chief Executive of the United States Virgin Islands. Read more »

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At least 1,000 government employees are going home by January 31, but it won’t be last hired, first fired.

In his press conference this morning, Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr., announced the first two waves of staff reductions that he says are required to address the $67 million deficit he says exists in the FY2012 budget.

On December 30, 143 temporary, per diem and part-time employees will be sent home. On January 5, 350 full time employees will go home. And by the end of January, deJongh said, a “conservative estimate” is that a total of 1,000 employees will be out of work. Read more »

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You will have to dig deep to find joy in this Holiday Season but  if nothing else, cherish family and friends.

Whatever it is you celebrate this time of year,  remember that people of all faiths share the fundamental belief that good will ultimately triumph over evil and that truth and justice will prevail in the end. Read more »

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On Thursday the St. Croix Board of Elections (BOE) voted 4-1 to officially declare that Alicia Hansen was eligible to vote at the time of the November, 2010, election.

The 4-1 vote came after what was described as a “contentious” hearing held to address a complaint filed by Crucians In Focus challenging Hansen’s ability to run for public office as she is on probation for failure to file three years of tax returns.

CIF President Michael Springer was given five minutes to restate the complaint, filed in October, that has since been deferred from the Board, to the Attorney General, (AG)  back to the Board and on to the Legislature – who the AG says now has jurisdiction.

The Board did not conduct an investigation as requested, and failed to produce the documentation obtained during Hansen’s certification process for review. The decision seems to rest solely on the statements from Supervisor of Elections John Abramson, who said that it is the duty of the court to inform the Board if an individual’s voting rights have been revoked and that he received no such notification about Hansen. Read more »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 29^th 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 »

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