On this episode of Comes With the Territory.

We'll sit with the director of Love City Strong, a Saint John nonprofit that has repaired more than three dozen damaged homes since the 2017 hurricanes.

Stay tuned to learn more about the group's planned Cruise Bay initiative.

Plus, the amount of abandoned properties you see isn't safe.

The governor's released his first official draft of a plan to address abandoned and derelict properties across the territory.

Will delve into it.

And later well over 100 residents across the territory united their voices on November 4th with the nationwide call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

We'll have more from the pro-Palestinian marches on St Thomas and St Croix joining this week's panel discussion to analyze these issues and more are former Senate President Usie Richards, Historic Preservation Commission chair Kurt Marsh Jr and St Corey hotelier and community activist for Ryan Flegal Comes with the territory starts now.

Hello and thank you for joining us on comes with the territory I'm Leslie commission.

It began as a volunteer effort of St John residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Maria in 2017.

Love City Strong was recognized early on by federal and local government responders and brought in on various recovery projects, most notably Love City Strong Launch The resilient housing Initiative in 2018, in partnership with the Saint John Community Foundation.

All Hands and Hearts and three Saint John based construction companies.

The program continued under the stewardship of Love City Strong with the support of Saint John Contractors, and from September 2018 through the present, the program rebuilt 37 homes on Saint John, completing 32 homes within an 18 month period at the program's peak.

Joining us today, we have the executive director of Love City Strong, Megan Enright.

Thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

So tell me a little bit about Love City Strong, a little more other than what we just said and how it has regained traction on the island of Saint Croix Saint John.

Scuse me.

Well, you know, as you mentioned, we started in the aftermath of the storms.

And so the first concerns we really had were really to identify the unmet needs on Saint John.

And I think one of the challenges for the federal response was identifying the parts of the community that really had needs and then making sure that resources were getting to those folks.

And so over the course of the last six years, our programing has really grown from just a preparedness and response focus to include mitigation and recovery as well.

So you think that the needs that you guys met that weren't being met after the storms continue to develop and you guys just kept on finding little niches that, you know, where our government and other systems are failing, we can fit the niche.

Yeah, I think that's, you know, it was a pretty organic process.

And as we saw the sort of leading edge of our work is what we call our go team.

And that's a full time team that's always in the field.

They're always talking to residents and kind of identifying what what's next, what's the evolving need.

And then we take that data back into the office and we develop our next round of programs.

That sounds really interesting.

So you guys, right now, the big push is Plan Cruise Bay.

Tell us a little bit about that.

So last summer, summer of 2022, we started talking a little bit with property and procurement just about what is the process when a lot is up for development in Cruz Bay or when a building is up for redeveloping?

And what plan is that based on?

You know, how do you decide what it's going to be and and what that RFP is going to look like?

And what we found was that there wasn't really a plan.

And and that was troubling for a lot of reasons.

And so that's when we started to look into what it would take to do a really thorough planning process.

A proper charrette in Cruz Bay.

Hmm.

So who gets involved when you guys start to think about these issues?

The data, like when you found out, hey, there is no plan.

How does the organization bring together the individuals with the proper expertise to address the fact that we should be looking at this a different way?

And let's talk about your partnerships with the government of the Virgin Islands.

So one of the first things that was really important about community planning is to understand what DPNR was doing with comprehensive land and water use plan, because it actually was an ideal time to start about a community plan for Cruz Bay, because at a territorial level we were just beginning the process of what the future of development might look like in the Territory.

So we reached out to DENR.

We reached out to Port Authority.

We reached out to the senators.

And over the course of the year, we talked to everybody from the executive branch all the way down to community engagement one on one in Cruz Bay during the charrette last June.

And so what point is the plan?

Cruz Bay at right now at this next meeting you guys are getting ready to have next week, I believe.

What is that meeting going to be like and what port, you know, step along the process.

Are you out?

So in June, the teams came down and hosted the charrette and we're working with Horsely and then Dover Cole, who are the two organizations that are working with DPNR as well.

We wanted to make sure that our planning dovetailed as nicely as possible with the territorial planning.

And then after the charrette was over, they they took all the feedback and have been working on renderings and a more cohesive presentation since then.

And so on Tuesday in Cruz Bay, they'll be presenting those renderings and that sort of updated report to the community, and then we'll be soliciting feedback from them.

So the community will see the plans and give their feedback, Hey, this works, this doesn't work.

We think you should move this, move that that shouldn't be there.

But that type of feedback is what you're expecting to get.

Yes, we certainly hope that that's the feedback we're going to get.

We had a really remarkable, remarkable experience in at the end of the charrette when we asked for some feedback and the community positive feedback rate was like 96%, really.

And everybody that we spoke to in the room who does this regularly said that that's really unusual, that there's usually a pretty pretty normal high negative feedback rate just because you would think that was low.

Now, especially for the island of Saint John, I think that it's because we did a really thorough job seeking community engagement.

And I think that, you know, we we had a lot of time and energy invested on the front end to explain to people what we were doing, to talk about the process, to really talk about how this benefits Cruz Bay in the long run, which is to ensure that major parcels are developed in accordance with the community's wishes as opposed to just being developed kind of haphazardly or with an eye towards just tourism and just visitors.

You know, obviously Saint John is really limited space wise and a lot of Cruise Bay has been sort of retasked from the day to day life responsibilities and like habits of folks and retail towards a more like tourism oriented product.

But there's a lot of government property and not much of it is being used to its peak utility.

And so we want to make sure that as that property is coming up and being reevaluated, that it's being targeted at what residents need.

A perfect example is the Sprout School site.

Okay.

So the plan encompasses just government property and private property or how would you know which parcels?

Because you mentioned, for instance, Sprouse School, which is government owned and a large portion of land in the heart of Cruz Bay.

But are you also looking at the utility of some private parcels as well?

So the plan talks about primarily government owned property because that is the biggest swath of land that you can kind of like easily drive change on.

It's a little harder to influence private insurers to do any particular thing.

But given the proximity of government property to private property in the context of community engagement, we came up against a lot of conversations where private property was discussed as well.

And so some of the renderings are both.

There's one particular section that's that involves steps from down by the Port Authority barge parking up through two different pieces of private property to the library.

So it would just be easier access to the library.

It's not a huge project.

It would just be a small, you know, addition and and like a beautification project, really.

But it would make a huge difference to the flow of people from that area down by the tennis courts up to the newly opened library, which, you know, the community so excited about.

So you guys have worked on resilient housing of Resilient Housing initiative.

Let's talk a little bit about that, because housing, especially in light of the storms, has become of critical need in the territory on all three islands and with Saint John being, you know, close to 75% National Park, we can only imagine that the issues are exasperated over there.

Let's talk about that initiative and how the organization got into doing resilient housing.

So we got into resilient housing because our first one of our first projects was mold, sanitation and remediation.

Really?

Yeah.

We were having a lot of trouble finding anyone to handle the mold problems that Saint John fans were facing.

And, you know, typically in the states that would be subcontracted out.

Sure.

To to a company that handles that.

But we didn't have a company on Saint John that was doing mold remediation at the time.

And, you know, we got a lot there were a lot of naysayers who thought, you know, you're not going to be able to do this.

It's really complicated.

You guys don't know anything about this.

But we found a company in the States that does this training professionally.

They flew down.

They trained a whole team of people that we hired on Saint John's.

So, you know, that's a big part of what we do is building a skill sets that are going to be useful in future situations like this.

So we got into mold, remediation and sanitation, and then one of our board members was down and we were sort of showing him the work that we'd been doing.

And he was like, Well, why is the house fixed?

And we're like, Well, you know, those programs haven't started yet.

There's government money.

There is.

And he was he was just not having it.

It was like people should be.

There should be repairs happening there.

You know, we shouldn't sanitize, molder and remediate mold in somebody's house and then have them just sit waiting for a roof for months.

That's impractical.

And so we met with the Saint John Community Foundation and some other private, private businesses on Saint John who were feeling the same way.

And that's how the Resilient Housing Initiative was born in the summer of 2018.

And then that grew into you guys rebuilding houses.

So we go from immediately after the storms filling needs to now we're building houses.

It's really a pretty good analogy for everything we do.

Love City strong, it starts very small and target it and then inevitably it grows.

But you guys have rebuilt 37 homes.

Yes.

After since the hurricanes, which, you know, in recent legislative hearings I saw you before the legislature and in the media people have been talking about this now.

And that's actually more than the actual government of the Virgin Islands.

So how does a small nonprofit on Saint John manage to do that?

I mean, so there's there's a couple of points.

One is our program is funded by private philanthropic dollars.

And so there is not a lot of limitation on how we use or spend that money.

But it also is a limited pool of funding.

You know, we've spent less than $10 million to date on this program.

So we are capped sort of at what we can do because we have to fundraise for any further repair.

But I think being small and being a nonprofit has actually worked to our advantage because we are able to be flexible.

We're able to sort of pivot as we learn what processes are working and what processes aren't.

But honestly, the biggest advantage, I think, is transparency and clarity of communication with our clients.

So many people have gone through so much and it's very stressful and traumatic to go through housing recovery after you've already been through a disaster.

I mean, so many of us know that the stresses of that experience and I think the fact that we are a community led organization makes it easier for people to be comfortable and to open up with their recovery, their housing recovery process.

So one of the things you just mentioned I thought was very impressive.

Impressive is you guys found a company in the States to come to the Virgin Islands and train individuals to do the work that we knew Saint Johnians need.

Have you done similar things with the housing rebuilds that you've done because I know you guys like created your own warehouse.

You guys had trained people with certain skills that I'm sure were marketable for them even after working with you guys.

Explain to the community how innovative you guys have got when it came to retooling people with the skills that were needed on Saint John.

I think that, you know, we really believe that building these skills locally is is the only way forward for the Virgin Islands, not just for Saint John, that we have to be self-sufficient in as many ways as possible, because it really did impact the territory in a lot of negative ways to bring in.

So much help from outside, not least in exacerbating the housing crisis.

I would say with the construction project that the biggest impact on capacity has been with the construction companies that we partner with.

So we work with Saint John construction companies, and a lot of them started with us quite a bit smaller than they are now.

But by working on this program for a long time, it's given them different types of experience.

And I think you know, some of them have even gone so far as to do the training with Mulder mediation, that's the same team.

And then during COVID, some of them did sanitation training for for COVID.

So, you know, I think there's been a lot of it's really just a growth mindset, right?

Like everybody who works on these programs, everybody who works with us is thinking about what can I learn, what can how can I grow, you know, what are we providing to the community and how can we kind of level that up?

And that's just a nice environment to be in The smallest island in the territory is seeing this level of innovation.

Do you think that the practices that are employed by Love City Strong can be scaled across the territory in some way or the other?

I think in many ways they can.

You know, one of the things that I always try to be very clear about is our strengths at Love City Strong are rooted in our knowledge of and connection to the community.

So, you know, we couldn't go to Saint Croix or Saint Thomas and do the same thing that we do there.

But the work that we do could be mirrored and and is to a great extent, right.

Like Saint Thomas in Saint Croix have both seen really successful community led housing efforts.

It's just that we all were sort of unclear in 2019 or so about what the future of housing recovery was going to look like in the territory.

And so I don't think that what we do is particularly special.

I think we're a great example of the fact that if we can do it, anybody can do it.

One of the things that came up on the show a couple weeks ago in a recent episode is the fact that you guys don't have the regulatory loopholes to have to jump through that the you know, the local government does.

And so things aren't as easy as they may seem, but you two have had to fill out some FEMA forms in, you know, done the gone through the bureaucracy of applying for federal funding.

Talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, So we do have a a FEMA hazard mitigation grant program that is the residential wind retrofit program so that in the end touch 97 more homes on Saint John and that's roof doors, windows resiliently sort of reinstalled or upgraded And that's a that's as I mentioned, of FEMA has their mitigation grant.

So there's quite a bit of federal reporting there.

The application for that money was actually made by the Saint John Community Foundation.

And then between the time that they applied, were granted the funding and the funding was obligated, there, staffing sort of shifted and didn't have the bandwidth to manage it.

So we stepped in to help.

And I think that's another great example of how nonprofits are really flexible, right?

Like one nonprofit wrote this amazing grant that really is going to benefit the community.

And rather than let that fail, another nonprofit stepped in to help.

And I think we see that kind of support from nonprofits territory wide all the time.

And it's a really underutilized resource, I think, in the recovery.

We just have a couple of minutes left.

Let me ask you this.

Is there a possibility or scenario in which Love City Strong could work with the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority to utilize the funding that they have available to rebuild houses across the territory?

And if there is, how do you see that relationship working?

I would love for that to be a possibility and it's certainly a conversation we continue to have with the VIHFA.

I think we're open to many solutions and, you know, we're happy to be nimble and adapt to whatever we can do to help serve that purpose.

You know, we really believe that this is a big pool of funding that can help a lot of Virgin Islands families, a lot of Saint John families.

And we're happy to help that move forward in any way that we can.

Thank you for joining us on comes with the territory meagan great interview Thank you for having me.

Coming up, this week's power panel joins the conversation.

But first, a rundown of other important news in the territory.

The Senate's Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance has given the green light to a bill aimed at addressing the century water crisis.

This is just a start.

So let's make sure that we're clear and that some level of relief.

The lawmakers on November 7th approved Bill number 350190, which allocates $350,000 from the St. Croix Capital Improvement Fund to supply bottled drinking water to residents living in areas identified by WAPA as most affected by elevated levels of copper and lead in a potable water system.

The Department of Health will be the lead on this initiative and collaborate with WAPA as well as appropriate.

Procurement has been recommended by right team to serve these households Saint Croix, residents have grappled with discolored and sometimes foul smelling tap water for some time.

However, on September 30th, tests conducted at 35 out of 66 sites, revealed worrisome levels of lead and copper, leading to an advisory against drinking the water.

On October 30th, Governor Albert Bryan Junior issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in the District of Saint Croix.

Fast forward to November 3rd during a Senate committee of the whole hearing addressing the crisis, WAPA CEO Andrew Smith disclosed plans to provide residents affected by the water emergency in Saint Croix with a bill credit.

Credits will be retroactive to October when the initial press release announcing the elevated levels of copper and lead in some of the water testing on Saint Croix was released.

So we retroactive to October.

The hearing also witnessed a tense exchange between Smith and Synchro Senator Franklin Johnson.

You recall saying to us that this water was safe to drink.

Do you want to try minds and taste it with me?

I'm not sure where you got that, Senator.

This is your water.

That's your water.

That's what water.

We've not talked about that at all today.

But brown water is different than lead in copper and water.

Right?

Leading copper section to tell them that it's safe for drinking and you won't drink it.

That's my question.

I'm not No doctor, No scientist.

And don't get me chewed out like name if you won't drink it.

Why tell my people they should drink it?

Why Tell them that it is safe?

When we look at the EPA, copper is not.

Is not a harmful contaminant in water.

Right.

That's.

That was my only statement, Senator.

I did not say people should drink it.

I said that the water was safe and is safe for you to drink it.

Would you drink it?

I would drink it.

I would choose not to drink it.

But I understand it's safe to drink.

You would choose not to drink?

That's correct.

Take a look back at these folks face back here.

These are the people that suffering in Glen.

Understood.

So these are the people that cannot use the water.

You will choose not to drink it.

Some of them don't have a choice.

The amount of abandoned properties you see is insane.

Governor Albert Bryan Jr has released the initial draft of the Virgin Islands Abandoned and derelict Real Property Conservatorship Act.

The governor said his proposed legislation takes into account feedback received from residents who participated in public town hall meetings on Saint Thomas and Sing Croix in August.

The proposed legislation will introduce a new chapter into the VI code, offering a clear definition of abandoned property concerning real estate and allowing for third party conservatorships to manage the restoration of abandoned and derelict real property.

The governor welcomes community input during a 30 day comment period that began on October 23rd and concludes on November 24th.

Free Free Palestine holding signs with slogans like Stand with Palestine and Free Palestine and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Cease Fire.

Now.

Well over 100 residents on Saint Thomas march from Emile Griffith Ballpark to the police station recently to unite their voices with the nationwide call for an end to the ongoing Hamas Israel conflict.

allah akbar My name is Palestine.

I have been under occupation since 1948.

I stand in unity with you regardless of the color of my skin.

Our people.

You'll see in a day.

Minute by minute.

Day.

We want to raise awareness for the Palestinian people and what's happening to them in the Middle East.

We know for sure that the power the United States government has.

They can perform a cease fire right now on Gaza Strip.

They can stop the war if they want.

I hope right here that we get the senators, especially Stacey Plaskett, because she's our delegate to Congress and she can send our message to the US government to stop the genocide and our thousands in our millions.

And we are Palestinians.

Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett attended a similar event hosted by Saint Croix Palestinian Community, saying, How did this happen?

Not a conflict, not a war, but it is important for me that I can help them.

Hamas also condemned Netanyahu, but they are not easily excuses of one another.

That I can support Israel's right to exist and support Palestine's right to be a nation as well, that they are not mutually exclusive of one another.

Did I acknowledge what Israel's right to protect itself while also condemning them for their overreach and for their brutality as well?

And I want you all to know that I have done that and I will continue to do that.

Joining our panel discussion for this episode, we have former Senate President Usie Richards and local hotelier and community activist Ryan Flegal on St Croix.

On set with me is Kurt Marsh, Junior licensed architect, woodworker, designer and owner of Marsh Studio.

On Saint John and Kurt.

We're going to throw the first question for you.

Welcome back to the show and glad you're here.

Glad to be here.

So we just talked about Plan Saint John and as an architect, a designer.

Tell us, have you attended any of the meetings and what do you think about plan Saint John overall?

Fortunately, actually, my studio has been one of the several arms of the project, so I've been heavily involved in the process.

I helped host the charrette, the studios and the community town halls.

It's been a really exciting process because these are the kinds of things I've engaged in professional league before returning back to the territory after grad school.

And it's one of the things that I've really wanted to see take root since being home.

So to be able to be a part of that right at home in Saint John.

But I'm also one of the members of the team for the territorial comprehensive land and water use planning effort as well.

It's really great to be engaged in that at the territory level and very specifically at the level of Saint John and to be able to engage professionals from abroad, but also bringing the community along with those processes.

A lot of people are unfamiliar with how those kinds of practices happen.

And so to be able to be, you know, born and bred, rooted in union and help bring this to the rest of the community, friends and family, it's been really exciting.

You know, the comprehensive land and water use plan is something I've heard about ever since I was a kid.

Like, people have been talking.

We need it.

We need it.

We need it.

We seem to be getting, you know, going in the right direction.

Finally having been intimately involved.

What could you tell the community as to the progress that's being made now that perhaps we haven't made in the future?

And what confidences can you give to the people that, A, you should show up and have a say and be There really is being a genuine effort made to try to make this thing work for a better Virgin Island so we don't end up with, you know, a garage in the middle of a neighborhood, a residential neighborhood or a gas company next to homes.

What given your experience, can you say that we're finally heading in the right direction and you think we're going to yield a positive product?

I'm confident that unlike many times in the past where we've done the comprehensive planning exercise, we do have the opportunity to codify it this time around.

And that's because from what I've seen so far in the public town hall meetings and also in offline sessions, there's a lot of legislative support up to this point.

And so in order to get a comprehensive plan to be the governing doctrine for development, it would need to be codified.

And so the legislature would need to be very supportive of it so that they could then institute and institutionalize it so that then the central government could implement it.

And the exciting thing about that, too, is we get to get around spot zoning.

We get to not have the legislature vetting projects for zoning whereby there aren't, you know, planning and development professionals usually.

And so we have an opportunity now where those kinds of persons are doing this plan.

The community is fully engaged via town hall meetings, via surveys that go out online and through email.

And so there's a really great opportunity to have to gather all that input from the community, deliver it to the team and to the central government, and have everyone sort of on the same page so that, again, it can be the governing doctrine moving forward for development, so we can identify where development in a particular way is happening differently than it may have in the past in a particular area.

And we can plan for that kind of continued development.

On Saint John, for example, the Suzannah Burke area, which is near the market in Smith Clinic.

Yes, there were several industrial type developments in that area in the past.

You know, heavy materials that Majestic had plans.

They've been shut down for some time.

But now we're starting to see where there's zoning changes happening.

And so the persons who own the properties are developing small businesses.

A handful of restaurants have popped up since the Hurricanes And so what I've tried to encourage the team to do as we plan for the Saint John component of the Territorial Master plan is in that area in particular, let's think about how we can envision future infrastructure in that space to accommodate that continued development, because it will continue.

But there's no infrastructure for life safety.

So no sidewalks, no crosswalks, correct, things like that.

So how do we imagine making that space, that corridor, so to speak, safe for travelers as we continue to see businesses pop up in one way or the other, make space for people to move from the clinic to a business or from a business to another business in the vicinity and things like that.

So we're trying to future we're trying to have some future in as we move through the process.

But a lot of it has been really trying to fix a lot of the wrongs in development that we've seen as well.

So how do we repurpose infrastructure, which is one of the most exciting parts of the plan Cruise Bay Project because a lot of cruise be is largely private ownership and developed.

And so how do we reimagine how we use this space, so to speak, is what's happening in a lot of these conversations.

Let me jump over to the island of Saint Croix, and we're going to start first with former Senate President Usie Richards.

You have been intricately involved in, you know, zoning as a member of the legislature.

And you've probably heard some of the issues that have been raised and the attempts now to fix some of those issues.

Have you had a chance to attend any of the meetings or town halls surrounding the current of land and comprehensive land and water use plan?

And if so, what is your opinion of the process and how it has been proceeding forward?

Well, good evening to both of you.

Mr. Marsh, on your cell phone with comments.

You're going to specifically respond to your question.

I've had the opportunity to attend at least two of the town hall meetings, one as recently as this week and for me, I am looking at it in a completely different light.

I've also had the opportunity to to serve on the then in the past, the Comprehensive Planning Council that had representatives from all departments and agencies in government, from public safety to the department, elder representative department held on that particular council and also from it from a planning background, one who have worked as a planner for for more than 20 years.

And when I say I have a different perspective of it, my understanding of what the land and water use should bring about should be the opportunity to set aside what should be the zoning priorities for each of the the land masses from saint croix saint thomas That's Saint John.

What I can note interestingly enough even up to last Tuesday evening or what I am seeing being presented to the public is some propose uses for certain spaces in comparison to sit in for a policy and what should actually preempt or come before the development of a land and water use plan should be a comprehensive policy that states that the purpose the goals, the objectives that we would like to achieve as a territory, and in this case as a people in the Virgin Islands, I am looking forward to the time when that final document is send it to the legislature when it comes to to the public to try to get a better understanding and how this planning process is being driven.

And from a spectator's point of view, I see the process being driven as a response to two problems perceived or real that we see physically in the community in comparison to us having a government that has set forward a policy for for for education, for health care, for agriculture, that encompasses the development of plans and zoning and changes that would be able to accomplish what our goals are.

Thank you for that.

We're going to shift from the comprehensive Land and Water Use program and go to what plan and go to a cousin abandoned and derelict properties.

And we have Ryan Flegal joining us on the island of Saint Croix.

And Ryan has been on the show before to talk about the plan and his some of his opposition.

And Ryan, I want to ask you the new proposal has finally been sent down to the governor.

In fact, I believe it actually happened while you were on the last show.

We got the news that the legislation had been sent down.

And I don't know if you've had a chance to review it as yet.

If you had had a chance to review it.

There is a comment period that has been opened that I believe ends on November 24th.

What recommended changes do you see?

And if you had the opportunity to submit comments on what should be changed, what comments would you suggest to the Governor?

Good day.

Thanks for that question.

I think your question is really the same thing that was lacking from the town hall meetings, which is why bother gathering community input if we're not going to put it into the plan?

And so the this most recent draft of the proposed legislation on abandoned and derelict properties came out at the end of October.

But the previous version that I read was in July.

And in between those times we had the two town hall meetings that discussions that the governor's office had with local non-profits and very little changed.

So I predicate the that I say that, that it makes people feel like why bother speaking up and adding more suggestions if the suggestions they've already made aren't incorporated into a new draft of this proposed legislation?

So specifically, I think one, anything that this new plan does with abandon properties needs to look at overall effects, and those effects include gentrification, they include housing affordability and what's going to happen with the community as this this happens.

So if we're going to take government time and resources, we should look at what are the anticipated side effects of of acting in this way.

And it's something that I think the governor's proposal so falls short on and something that the community voiced very loudly during the town hall meetings.

Secondly, I'm really concerned that we are putting more on the plate on an overburdened court system without first fixing that court system.

So the probate system, everybody in the Virgin Islands knows the probate system is broken, that the probate court is backed up with cases.

And the governor often cites that probate is a big issue as to why we have abandoned the derelict properties, because we have many heirs and they haven't been given the authority to take action.

Well, let's fix that first.

The governor's proposal is more of a stick than a carrot, and the stick is saying we want to have the right to empower the court to take your property and instead put it in the hands of a conservator and an investor from somewhere else to come in and say, we now have the right to control the fate of your property.

We have the right to accrue debt on that property that goes the homeowner against their will and their consent.

And this is a problem with the new proposed legislation.

So rather than taking this and putting it on the burden of the court system, again, a court system that hasn't been able to get out from underneath the backlog of cases it has on probate, I encourage the governor to work with these local nonprofits that it's our input from.

This is a Saint Croix Foundation chant Our town, Fredericksted here in And I'm in the Love City in Saint John would be a great organization to work with and and to take all of that and say, organizations, how should we work with you to come up with solutions for our abandoned properties in Saint Croix, Saint Thomas and Saint John?

Have you had a chance to review the new proposal, and if so, what comments would you push forward or what do you think would need to be changed to improve?

What do you think is good with it?

I can't speak in detail of legislation.

I have not had the chance to review it.

I remember when the first draft came out, HBC had received a copy before our review.

I don't believe that that happened the second time around, so I can't speak about the details of the plan, but I am familiar enough to respond to a lot of things that you said just now, and I believe it was on the last show that I was on here with you.

I did mention probate, and as someone who now is, you know, closing out a few probate within my family, that one of them was, you know, 25 years.

Well, I know I intimately am familiar with the real problem that our probate system is in the territory.

And so I continue to believe that we find opportunities to sort of skirt around the real the real, real core of a lot of the problems that we face.

And so to Mark's point, if we back up a little bit, look at the reasons why and in many, many instances it is probably go backwards, try to get the probate system fixed and then we can come forward and talk about, well, what does that do after the fact?

What how can we empower the families to then take control of their space rather than offer the space up to persons outside of the family, totally disconnected from it, and then possibly run into all of the ramifications that Mark mentioned with finance, debt and all of these things.

I just want an opportunity for the court system to help me and my collective family get through deciding who's in charge.

I might have my own funding that I could release.

I could release to to develop this space or redevelop this space.

But I haven't had that opportunity because I can't get a document signed by a judge.

And even before the probate process, teaching Virgin Islanders and helping assist in good estate planning so we don't have to go through the approval process.

I want to go back to Saint Croix and to Senator Richards.

Have you had a chance to review the legislation?

And similarly, if so, what do you think is good in it?

What do you think needs to be changed?

And if you had the opportunity to submit comments on it, what would those be?

The to answer your question directly, yes, I've I've read it.

I have a copy of it in front of me.

I read it a couple of times.

I'm here smiling on the screen, taking into consideration the comments of both Mr. Marshand Mr. Flegal, and I share with him an example earlier, and this is specifically in regards to the government of the Virgin Islands.

I was encouraging him that if he has a whole mouthful of hamburger in his mouth, I encourage him not to take a second bite until he finished chewing so he can swallow whatever is in his mouth.

And that was in reference to the fact that currently the and one of the major key items in the legislation speaks to the government issuing citations in regard to the property owners.

Currently the government the government lacks enforcement in a number of areas.

If the government has not been in fact enforcing building codes, zoning codes, properties and the structure, why are we now moving ahead talking about probate when in fact we know that we have a big probate issue and more importantly, probate proposal that puts into the hands of individuals that would be identify as conservators to go through a court system that is already over logged with different type of cases, much less overlap with permit cases.

So my concern and I have a couple example the government is now want to proceed to to deal with private citizens and residents that are property owners and the government in and of itself is one of the major violators of these existing laws you go to the tongue of, Fraser said.

We have a couple of government properties that are sitting there that the former Engelberg Nesbit Clinic, the former elders will center for for senior citizens.

I mean, that is a great eyesore on the main street and supposedly the welcome mat of tourism for four cruise ship passengers that come into the tongue of France.

And so they they are now putting the cart before the horse in comparison to making sure that they deal with the things that they have the authority to address, the things that are within their purview, the things that they have on government, department and agencies and personnel in an authority to handle.

What are you talking about?

You know, you have the fire department, the health department, These things exist and we are not doing any enforcement, much less issuing citation for compliance.

If you look at some of the neighbors that live next to you in the manner in which they are their property, that the structures that exist on the property.

So I am more so more focused on dealing with the things that are on the table in front of us in comparison to dealing with the establishment of conservators and individuals who can be able to take over and have access and manage properties that are in probate among some large families or individuals that don't have the financial wherewithal to make changes to the properties that they own.

We have a water crisis on Saint Croix, and that has been a topic that's been talked about on all three islands, because, of course, we instinctually feel that some of the issues that are being experienced on Saint Croix, if they're going to be there, they're probably in St Thomas and Saint John as well, given the age of our water distribution system.

I'm going to go back to the island of Saint Croix.

First of all, Mr. Flegal, do you live in any of the affected areas?

I believe there is the diamond estate colquohoun Mon Bijou and Castle Burke are the four areas.

What part of the island do you live in?

Do you use wapa water?

And if so, how do you feel right now about using waffle water to bathe, brush your teeth, all consuming you here?

Lesley It appears that we had a technical issue.

and Ryan couldn't hear us, but I'm going to ask if you could hear us.

Mr. Richards, could you give us comments on where you live in proximity to the issues that are being experienced in neighborhoods that have been identified as having lead and copper in the water on scene?

Croix And what do you think about the proposed bottled water initiative and the build credit that's being offered by water from from the tap?

I do not live in an area where potable water is provided in that particular community.

I am like Mr. Marsh, I have at least two properties as the administrator visited that are within the areas where potable water is being provided.

I think the most important thing is some there's a need for some immediate relief.

The and the relief that's being discussed in regards to providing some financial assistance to individuals to to purchase water for for for drinking and cooking purposes.

Given the conditions of the potable water needs, it needs to be streamlined.

And finally, I listened to some commentary made in the legislature and one of the members of the of the body was pointing out that there is hard and fast decision needs to be made in comparison to the three or four alternatives that are being given infrastructure.

And I believe Mr. Marsh touched on that in regards to the financing, the infrastructure in Nevada, that is is something that is has age over a long period of time.

We've been doing a number of changes to the infrastructure in regards to the distribution of water, but we have some old systems that are require some priority and so that I am in support of some immediate assistance to the residents that are being affected, particularly some these communities where they don't have an alternative like cistern water to provide for the necessities for their daily needs in their community and in their households.

Well, international law has come to the territory.

We saw this weekend that there were pro-Palestinian marches on Saint Croix and on Saint Thomas.

Organizers played a speech from Malcolm X as they gathered for the pro-Palestinian march on Saint Croix.

Let's play a clip from that speech.

Now, let's be unequivocally clear.

Advocating for the rights of the Palestinian people is not synonymous with denying the rights and security of the Jewish people.

The fight for justice in Palestine is not an assault on any particular group, but an unwavering stand against the policies of a Zionist state that has for far too long stripped Palestinians of their rights.

We must remember that numerous Jewish voices also resound in the calls for justice and peace in Palestine, and their voices must not be silenced in our relentless pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people.

We must also acknowledge that it is in the best interest of the entire world to seek a just and enduring solution to the Israeli conflict.

It is a pursuit in the name of peace, stability and the dignity of all mankind.

in the name of peace, stability and the dignity of all mankind.

I don't know if you had a chance or if you're familiar with that clip, but oftentimes in these debates, Kurt, it becomes if we have or if you solve our issues, that means you have to take away.

And I think what Malcolm X is saying is that by advocating for the rights of one, it doesn't mean that you have to deny rights to the other, basically.

And it's interesting that the groups demonstrated this weekend demonstrating chose that particular portion of one of his speeches to play.

What are your thoughts on and I know we're not going to solve Middle Eastern the Middle Eastern crisis on this particular show, but considering that in the Virgin Islands, we have individuals from of Jewish heritage that have been here for hundreds of years.

We have the second oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere here in Saint Thomas, and we have Palestinians and here in the Virgin Islands, at least, we seem to coexist.

We support each other's businesses, but there are Virgin Islanders and they have connections to their homelands.

They were Virgin Islanders in Gaza, from what I understand, and the West Bank when these attacks happen.

And so it has kind of hit home.

What do you think about the marches that took place this weekend and just your thoughts on what we're seeing unfold in Israel and in Gaza right now?

So you you mentioned a few sentences ago that this is a middle Eastern crisis, but it really is a crisis of humanity.

And so I think at the very core of all of our being is the least the very least we can do is stand in solidarity with the people who are suffering the egregious occurrences that are happening over in that region.

And so while I was unable to attend the march over the weekend here in the St Thomas and John district, I have been in contact with, you know, friends that I have made from the region in university and persons here who are from this.

And, you know, it gets really hard to try to sometimes level with people experience in that kind of gravity of impact because you never really know what it's like to sit here on the other side of the world and be totally disconnected from your family and loved ones who are so far removed but in such a danger.

And I can't imagine what the anxiety is for persons who are here or anywhere outside of that space that can't run to that building and try to dig somebody out of rubble or collect you beforehand and move to safety.

You know, remember what it was like going through the hurricanes a few years ago and being the man of the house and having to protect my family.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to be that far removed from them and unable to help and assist.

So I think it is a humanitarian crisis and at the very least, the rest of the world, because we are watching at the very least we can stand up for justice.

Mr. Richards on Saint Croix, what do you think about the mobilization of the Palestinian communities to you know, have organized these marches this weekend and have good attendance at both of them?

They had individuals outside of the Palestinian community show up in support of their efforts this weekend.

How do you think what do you think about how that all came about?

Well, I wanted to begin my my commentary about this particular issue, particularly the responses of of political leaders.

I know one of the first political statement that I heard in regards to this crisis in the Middle East with Israel and Palestine was a statement issued by delegates.

Stacey Plaskett.

Her very first statement in response to what was happening in that particular area of the world, a statement that particularly concerned me and somewhat I was perturbed about because it did not demonstrate an initial consciousness of exactly what is happening historically within the region.

I noticed that in the ad that has been played here on on this particular program that delegate plaskett, like many other politicians, the United States now have now pivoted to understanding the historical origin of what is have actually been happening within the region over a long period of time.

I think it's important that members of a community can stand up and in this case, the the march that was held in both St Thomas and Saint Croix and displayed some sort of consciousness of exactly what has been happening.

And in this particular case, what is currently happening to destroy individuals on both side of the island and regards to the humanity of the issue.

And so I, I completely side with the statements made by all by Mr. Marsh is that it is important for us to have a better understanding of all, not only the historical aspect of it, but its impact on the world and more importantly, the impact on humankind within the region and impact throughout the world with some of these sort of actions that are happening on a daily basis, not only in Palestine and Israel, but what choked Africa and in some cases in some instances are they are here in the Caribbean in not such a forceful manner, but it exists the inhumane response to the concerns of basic necessities food, shelter, clothing, land so that individuals can survive and live.

Mr. Flegal, I think that in looking at what took place on October seven, I don't think there's any reasonable individual that would not say that a country has a right to defend their citizens when attacked.

However, in the ethics of war, so to say if that actually exists, there has to be a reaction to what took place.

You don't.

Not because, you know, for instance, you might slap me, I go and I grab a gun and then, you know, kill you and the rest of your family.

There should be some type of proportional response.

And I think the international community has said that, you know, the response that we're seeing is just not proportional to what actually took place.

What are your thoughts about that?

And what do you also feel about the lesson of co-existence that exists here in the territory with both Jews and Palestinians living without it, at least to my knowledge, any outward conflict?

How could we possibly export that message to the rest of the world and be an example of it?

These individuals coexist thing in a small community like ours.

Well, first, I don't think we need to look at people as Jews or Palestinians.

I think we need to see them as people and what's happening right now halfway around the world is is an absolute humanitarian crisis.

And it's it's awful.

I have a tremendous amount of empathy for all of the people that are affected by this.

I mean, you talk about proportional response and and and I think this is this is what we hear from our political leaders.

It's like a chess game.

And and these are people's lives that we're talking about.

So when we know that over 10,000 people have died since the escalation of this war, that's that's a lot of people and I want to put this in perspective as well for people here in the United States, Virgin Islands, the Gaza Strip is only about 140 square miles.

That is very close to the size of the US VI.

We have a little over 130 square miles in the USVI, but there's over 20 times as many people packed in there.

And I know that in the press there have been comparisons to an open air prison as to the way that people are living in the Gaza Strip.

It's not so much a question in my mind of how do we have a proportional reaction.

It's a question of how do we react today to grow the society we want to live in tomorrow?

And if we are killing people, we are creating new enemies and a pattern that's going to go forward into the future of retaliation and retribution.

And so this is going to be a problem for a long time in the future until we can get our hands on a cease fire and a peaceful solution to this.

Mr.. Mr.. FLEGAL.

Mr.. Richards, Thank you all for joining us.

That's all the show we have for today for you, But be sure to tune in next Sunday at 1 p.m. for an all new episode of Comes With the Territory for your news update.

Tune in to WTJX█s News Feed every weekday at 5 p.m. on 93.1 FM or by downloading the W TJX app.

I'm Lesley Comissiong For all of us here at WTJX Channel 12.

Have a great Sunday.