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David Silverman, St. John
Dear Editor,
Earlier this month Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. called the 35th Legislature into special session to consider a bill authorizing a $150 million line of credit to be used by him, however he wishes, without legislative oversight or approval. The Legislature vociferously objected to the minimal notice provided by the Governor, and unanimously refused to consider a bill which they had been given no opportunity to thoughtfully review.
So how could this same Legislature in their regular session of April 14, introduce their own replacement bill, not show it to us — their constituents — then approve a motion to halt the reading of the bill and vote on the new measure with no opportunity for debate?
The public had absolutely no opportunity to see, read, hear or comment on a critical piece of financial legislation. The Legislature’s website mysteriously was taken offline immediately after the bill’s passage, so as of today we still do not know what the Legislature passed behind our collective backs.
Kudos to the four senators who voted against the measure — Kenneth Gittens, Dwayne DeGraff, Alma Francis-Heyliger, and Franklin Johnson. Shame on the 10 hypocrites, who bitterly objected to only having a day to review the Governor’s bill and then turned around and approved their own bill with absolutely no opportunity for the public to even know what was being voted on.
With this latest bailout installment, WAPA will have received $150 million of our money. Another $100 million will be needed to satisfy VITOL. A quarter of a billion dollars in an attempt to erase a corrupt deal from the WAPA history books with zero benefit to rate-paying customers — this is the financial burden that the Bryan administration is placing on our shoulders.
And to the Senate President who claimed that those who object to the VITOL bailout are the residents who are privileged enough to have solar power, leaving seniors in darkness, all I can say is get your facts straight Mr. Senate President. If you are honestly concerned about rolling blackouts affecting senior citizens, then use that $45 million to place solar panels on 5,000 homes.
And to the Senator who apparently wants to be our next Governor, who did not vote on a contentious St Croix zoning matter for fear of alienating someone, and who introduced the motion to stop the reading of the secret bill, all I can say is Madame ex-president, you’ve shown your true colors.
And for the other eight, now that you’ve made your bed, you’ll have to sleep on it. VITOL may get $45 million from this ill-conceived measure and unless the federal government is willing to give WAPA $150 million to pay off VITOL, the next ask will be for another $100 million to complete the ransom payments.
We can do better. We must.
— David Silverman, St. John
