On this episode of comes with the Territory, a green light for cruise port expansion on Saint Thomas and Saint Croix, a groundbreaking for the territory's first new hotel in more than 30 years, and a proposed public private partnership to modernize and improve the Territory's two airports.

We'll go one on one with the man who's helping to make it all happen, Port Authority executive director Carlton Dowe From the time the hurricane hit.

None of these homes are touched yet.

Less than 30 homes have been completed through a federally funded program that was supposed to help hundreds of local homeowners rebuild after the 2017 hurricanes.

What's causing the delay?

We'll have more.

Plus, the U.S. House of Representatives has a new speaker after 22 days of chaos.

We'll tell you what that means for the territory.

Joining our panel discussion to analyze these and other political issues are attorney Kye Walker and former Senators Usie Richards and Roosevelt.

David.

Comes with the territory.

Starts now.

Hello thank you for joining us on comes with the territory.

I'm Lesley Comissiong.

Officials have announced significant developments in recent weeks, all aimed at enhancing the territory's primary industry.

Let's delve into the details.

We're looking forward to the continued expansion of our tourism product.

The Board of Governors for the Virgin Islands Port Authority recently gave the green light for expanding the cruise ports in Frederick, said St Croix and Crown Bay Saint Thomas.

The main goal of these projects is to accommodate larger cruise ships and upgrade the port facilities to enhance the overall infrastructure on Saint Thomas.

The development project includes a major revitalization of the sub base and Crown Bay area and the potential expansion of the Austin Babe Monsanto Marine Terminal.

At a recent press event.

Royal Caribbean Group and Cruise Terminals International joined the Port Authority in announcing a $250 million plan to transform Crown Bay into a world class cruise destination, while boosting the Territory's reputation as one of the best places to visit in the Caribbean.

Local officials recently gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Hampton by Hilton at havensite, marking the first new hotel in the territory in over three decades.

This five story 126 room hotel will include a nearby welcome center, greenspace and a parking area.

Haven Developments in collaboration with Hilton is Spearheading this project, which was introduced to the GRC by Virgin Islands Port Authority executive Director Carlton Dowe.

The Hampton by Hilton is slated to open its doors in the first quarter of 2025.

In working with Hilton, they shared research showing what a major impact the hotel will have on the Havensite Mall I'm excited to bring new visitors to the area and engage with all tenants.

A special thanks to executive director Dowe.

I sincerely appreciate his friendship and his guidance in navigating the various legislative and permitting requirements involved with this project.

And we are pleased to have with us the man behind all that you just saw.

The executive director of the Virgin Islands Port Authority, Carlton Dowe, Thank you for joining us.

Thank you, Lesley.

Let's get down to it.

A new hotel for the first time in 30 years in the territory.

That's a hell of a development.

Tell me about how that all came about.

Well, Mr. Shaun Miller had contacted me and told me during COVID he have the big hanger at the airport.

He brings in a lot of private jets and passengers, and he was stuck because he had nowhere for his pilots or folks that come in to state.

And he walks up to me and told me one day, hey, I want to build a hotel.

Now, that was like, just like that.

So you're like, yeah, I want to build a hotel.

Do you have any land?

I said, No, but over to Wico, They have property and you should check them out.

So called me up on a Saturday, says you know what's going on?

What are you doing?

Well, I just home cooling out Meet me by havensite Wow, that's okay, cool.

And we drove around the havensite area and the first place where he really wanted to put the hotel originally was done by the area by the butterfly farm back down in there he told me right away that he have the folks from Hilton coming into the territory with this.

Within a two week period.

He had made that connection.

And hey, I have the foresight to develop a Hilton Hampton Inn, the Virgin.

That's impressive, right?

And I was like, very quickly.

And after he told me he had the guys come in from Hilton, I contacted Governor Albert Bryan just to let him know that this is happening.

And they came in and went straight to Government House, ended up presentation for the government.

Midway through this presentation, the governor said, Stop right here.

I want this to happen.

So at that point, they said, well, you want it to happen.

You're going to have to try to figure out the pieces, the people you want engage with Shaun Miller, because they know it's going to be a lot of, you know, the permitting process, like you mentioned, you know, the back and forth.

So he says, I said he's not on board property.

You know, I've been front, not on port property.

You're going to have to get folks who you want to navigate it.

He says, Yeah, if I'm the person to navigate it, that's you.

Wow.

So with that, I went to work and shaun miller and I have an excellent relationship and we continued to project.

Interestingly, we set up a meeting and the folks from WICO was not present to that meeting, but GERS came to the meeting and that was the switch from WICO to GERC and he went forward.

Mr. Nibbs came to me and Ms.. Clendenning and said, Hey, they have property up there too, that they pretty much wouldn't want to do something to diversify their income and their portfolio says, Great.

So we went to work and right away GERS board they authorized it, they approved it and I thought I was done with it then.

But Mr. Miller continued to call me for every well, the permitting DPNR and just navigating the process.

Sure, the fire department, everything.

So he's you know, he's a good friend and have done business with us.

And I know he's going to do exactly what he said he's going to do.

Let's talk about some of the opposition in the community.

A few people were very vocal about the location, about obstructing views.

Let's dispel some of the rumors that have been out there about this property, the fact that it's not a good location, I think it's actually a prime location.

But let's talk about why havensite Other than availability of land.

Well, one one of the big things we must understand is that he's going to set this up as not a resort.

This is a business type hotel.

Sure.

Where people are doing business transaction could come into all those restaurants in the area that is walking distance.

He's not puting a restaurant per say in the in the building so that people could be accommodated in the vicinity.

By the time you get to the five story and you go up.

You're not going to really be obstructing anyone.

But what we have to be mindful of in this community is that our our basic product, we could, you know, ship it however we want is that of tourism.

And I tell people all the time, I'll do Florida, have orange, tangerine, grapefruit.

That's not what they're known for.

So if the tourism is what drives this place here I think that I look at the legislature and the had of the 15 senators, 14 of them supported it.

So at the end of the day, we had real good support.

And I think as one of the things in our community, people don't believe that people do what they say they're going to do.

And that's a big.

So when people saw that, hey, this man is serious, he didn't start to drive all these papers by the end of January.

The first slab, the first floor slab should be here in the territory and ready to to be laid down So he told us that he expect to do this in two years.

Shaun Miller will do that.

Excellent.

Another big partnership, Royal Caribbean.

You just signed an agreement with them for the cruise port expansion.

Tell us about economically how that's going to impact our tourism product.

Well, what we have to look at to the guest that we hope to attract is also that overnight visitor, your cruise passenger today becomes later on your overnight guests.

But more than that, when we bring millions of people to the territory, these people are eating the drink in the taxi drivers.

And we don't appreciate the fact that a lot of these people are small businesses that benefit the water tour operators, the dive shops, and we could go on and on.

And so we were able to forge the relationship with Royal Caribbean that grew over several years and we still have some more work to do.

The last when we were here just recently what we did really was agree to our new peers usage agreement because now I simply mean is that we have an agreement that we signed with them and we extended the agreement that a ten year agreement, we extended that a little further.

And with that came the fees that they have to pay us.

And if all of us know that when you're talking about the cruise industry, you don't they don't want pay ten cent more.

No, they don't.

But in dealing with Royal Caribbean, a partnership that we have forged, they have agreed with us that they're going to start to charge additional come January, not years down the road come this genre, they're going to start to charge an additional $5.

That has nothing to do with the current time of the payment.

And how does a $5 end up in our coffers or what portion of it do we?

Well, the $5 is for the pre-development of the entire crumby and some work.

And Fredricks did that do the pre-development is millions of dollars mind you one of the things come quickly to mind is the mechanics and all these folks are going to area.

I was don't get to see it discussed in no volume.

I should like always look are we going to do something about it?

So several years ago the Port Authority, we purchased some three plus acres and we expect to relocate to mechanics and other small businesses over there because we don't want to put them just out on the street.

Sure.

But the money to do that, the upfront money to do that is coming from Royal Caribbean and their partner, which is a company called CTI.

CTI is a part a company called Cruise Terminal International.

They are the development arm know for a lot of Royal Caribbean is doing when COVID hit and all the cool they had financial challenges.

CTA became a partner, extending our kind of capital to them and capital to develop other ports over the what in the world.

Interestingly and we can't underscore that we in the Virgin Islands, the the major development that CTI is doing, we are ahead of any other place that they are doing a development.

They're doing one right now in Italy as we speak.

But we for our head, there is none in the Caribbean that they're doing right now.

We are the first that our port that they would be doing this big, big project with.

We don't move a ton of $50 million of investment means construction, you know, expanding our dock.

We expect to build up toward Pier Dong in that area.

It'll go up on the hillside.

And so it's a lot that we're doing with Royal Caribbean by probably by the first week of December, we expect to be visit, visiting them again.

The board, our governing body, myself and some of the other staff so that we could finally some other arrangement that we're doing.

But this has been moving relatively quick.

And the good thing is that partners I like always see partnership and in a cool knowing they can be fair with our friends.

Yeah when the chips are down they have to be there for us as well.

And what we said to them, you wanted development.

Some of this money, this $5 off of going to dredging of me because dredging will be necessary and dredging and frederiksted because right now to take the vessel that the car into fabric said is slightly under tree tolls.

And passengers do want to take up the freedom class, which is like 3005, just under 4000 passengers.

They expect to do that.

You know, they expect to do that.

You mentioned earlier people doing what they see and the community not believing people when they say that the airport expansions both at Henry Wilson and Cyril E. King what's the status of those projects and how long can the community expect for the construction to continue.

And I like to begin this by saying the rest of the world and the Caribbean isn't sitting by waiting for the US Virgin Islands.

We've got to get engaged.

And that project is a public private partnership on the part.

I like to underscore it's not a privatization.

Privatization is when you change the asset, becomes ownership by a private entity.

In this case, the ownership everything remains with the Port Authority and by virtue of the government of the Virgin, that's one.

But we went out quite some time and looking for people who would want to develop this this airport.

We went out and we had a big forum here in Saint Thomas and St. Croix folks came in.

We had nine people.

We have now narrowed it down to four.

And that's the Cyril E. KING You're talking about both airports, Olson And King.

And I glad you mentioned that, because one of the things we've made abundantly clear to the folks that we speaking to, this is a package deal like Miss Sandy used to say, you can't buy bananas.

That's my I so I know you can't buy banana leave, Tanya And they say you've got to buy banana good At least one ton.

Yeah yeah.

So it's a package deal And so we said that whoever is coming there must be prepared to rebuild both airports and start construction at the same time.

So we're not talking about some fly by night company.

I don't have capacity.

In order to do such a large project, they must have good financial capacity and backing.

We've narrowed down now to four and we expect by late February, the first week of March, to select that partner that we want to go forward with.

And again, I just want to make it clear we've been in constant communication over two years now with the administration Governor Albert Bryan has been a board of a governing body.

These are things that our governing body is actively involved in.

And so we have been going through this process for quite some time now.

Up to next week.

I have staff that will be leaving again to do some meetings out of the Territory.

So it's active.

There was a request for additional funding for the completion of the parking area at Cyril E. King What's the timeline?

The community can expect that project will be finished.

The parking garage.

Yeah, well, we call the transportation center.

We expect that no later than January we should open 50% of it.

The plan depends on supplies and all these things that come in.

The canopy has to be built.

But we believe by January that that's the old site did for me.

It's DOWE.

Now, I don't have a lot of patience with stuff like that.

But as you can, if you go down, the anybody travels in that area would see the progress that we have made in that facility.

So we want to do 50% by way, sometime January.

And then by Carnival, we'd like to do the entire parking Facility That facility would be able to hold over 565 cars.

That's that's good news.

We know that there have been some FAA fines that have taken place actually over the last 5 to 6 years.

They've been more than that actually going back a few years now.

Why are we finding ourselves in a situation where we're being fined for airport runway maintenance, those kinds of things?

What's what's making that?

I glad you mentioned that.

But let me just say that this week we had a informal meeting with the attorneys and the legal people from FEMA just to for the record, just this week, Monday, we did that.

We continue to talk to them.

We continue we have to provide some information for them.

One of the major problems we have in the territory, unlike most states and even go to Puerto Rico when they have to maintain their runway, they can close down entire section of that runway and just closed it down for months and work.

We are unique in of our because we could only close on a very small piece of it to try to keep the traffic open.

And as we speaking to you tonight, all into the morning, we have people at the airport working when people are sleeping.

So that poses challenges for us.

Some of the things like in our discussions with them, we still we have after the meeting Monday, we have to present them with certain documentation.

For example, if you go to the airport now, you'll see a whole big project taking place, a whole new area that we don't.

We are pouring concrete, thousands of yards of concrete.

Well, that's normally the area that the planes would line up to depart.

One of the things they were fining us for is hey, it has to be striped, it has to be marked.

But then you reflect, how could it be striped and marked when in fact this can't be being put out there right now?

And earmarking that is used in the airport is not what you see in the street.

Yes.

So I want to make that clear.

So there's a company called Highlight we were able to present to FAA the contract showing that we are ready, engage, highlight, but it cannot come into market until that concrete portion is done.

It's a lot of small thing, but over time they accumulate.

But, you know, hey, the irony of this for me, I always look at the bright side.

There are things that we have to own, and I'll be the first to say that the challenges, that's the way we get to deal with the challenges.

But hey, the thing, while all of that is going on, the FAA make available to the Port Authority $28 million to do runway work that we're doing currently.

So while they give us $28 million to do all sort of work and other issues that we run into from time to time with with the FAA is that this inspector that came recently, he was just on the job in this district like two years.

You mentioned Puerto Rico.

There's been word that new airline in the territory, a lot of people are excited about the commuter airline fly the whale The will possibly moving to Puerto Rico.

True or not, we've been talking to them, not moving to Puerto Rico, but starting to do flights from the territory.

They're not moving to Puerto Rico.

That will be if all goes well in short order, they might be having some service to and from the Virgin Islands to to Puerto Rico, which means it extends people capacity to travel around, you know, whoever they might want to go.

But that was no easy task.

It was our governing body, our staff, reaching out going back and forth.

We knew for many years, most of us in the business knew Amma or Irma.

I wouldn't call his last name, but but anyhow, we knew warm up pretty good.

So we started dialog with him.

They were doing some charter flights down to the Bahamas.

We were able to, you know, talk to him and give them a, you know, arrangement, you know, give them some arrangement that they would come.

One of the things we were able to do is any new airline is not not flight will alone, but any new airline that come in into the territory with a new route.

We are prepared to give them landing fees.

Discount 50% on operational fees.

This is just commuter or anyone, any airline.

Okay, got it.

But it has to be a new route or, you know, additional road or a new service all together.

Okay.

And I believe, you know, you should there should be some good things happening before the end of the year.

Excellent.

At the beginning of the conversation, we started off with talking about the Hampton Inn and how you had to work with WICO Now GERS, the forever there's been conversations about merging the two bodies.

How do you feel like that?

Still a possibility, still a good idea.

What's your take on the merger of the Port Authority and Virgin Islands?

What?

WICO You know, I was looking at the stuff going on with Israel and Hamas.

I want I want to tell you, but one of the generals said, that's above my pay grade.

That's above my pay grade.

But as I said, that I support I support the merger.

And I mean, the record is clear.

When was I said it that I would want to sponsor the legislation?

I couldn't get the support way back then, but I think it would be in the best interests of the territory.

I still feel strongly that we but is how we put those pieces together.

That's my my view.

But you know what?

What do you think has been the major obstacle to actually making it happen?

Because you haven't been in the legislature for over ten years now.

So what has been holding us back?

I don't know.

I think strong differences of opinion.

That's why I would put the strong differences.

But if if if a governor let's just say Governor Brian, I know you're not speaking on his behalf, but if he were to make it happen, what are the actual steps?

Help the community understand what we would need to do.

And from logistical point of view, the consolidation of the operations, what do you think his approach should be?

Well, that's a tough one, because how we go to that battle all the time.

But I believe that, first of all, the Port Authority, the Port Authority, WICO have a pier inside the port for me, I'm not egotists where it'll matter to me tomorrow who will end up being that entity.

But if it's the Port Authority, I suspect the way it should happen in my eyes is that that cruise ship, the cruise ship segment be division under the Port Authority.

To me, that's the simplest way.

And where they could keep it has nothing to do with Mr. Attlee.

Mind you, I've got anybody.

He could still be the person managing the industry if that's what they want.

But it ought to be filled in to the Port Authority.

But I must also say that the other challenges that one wouldn't see or don't know is all of us have various debt.

Yes.

And I know we're going to ask you about the financial aspect of it.

All of you know, how does that all play out?

Because both entities have the ability to do financing.

You mentioned that.

And how would we save money as a territory by doing so?

Well, I think so many things that we duplicate, but we stronger together.

That was a slogan.

But then, you know, we are we are in fact stronger in our politicians.

We are we are stronger together when we because one of the things that the cruise lines had successfully been able to do for a long time during the de Jongh Administration we were fortunate that WICO and ourselves able to get together and say, You know what, no more bidding.

And St. Thomas in other words, you can come on, come on to crown bay and say, you can divide it by $10.

Yeah.

Then you got to WICO and say they getting ten down there So yeah.

one of the Good things in all of what has happened over the years with Wike, one report is that we have agreed to a common tariff.

So any cruise line coming into the Territory, paying the same fee, whether they go up to Wico, would it come down to Crown Bay But if $5 thing is something completely different, I just want to be clear.

Yes, that's just for the development part of it.

But that was a strategic thing that happened.

So when we go to have discussions with the cruise lines, no one would think that.

And that never forget when that happened.

See, when we went there and it was the WICO folks and the Port Authority folks, we went to a meeting with to cool things together and meeting.

And the President Arroyo said at that time, wow, this is a new day.

The Virgin Islands that was shock, that both of us came together together.

Well, that's good.

That's what should happen, to be honest with you.

We've ran out of time.

It was a pleasure having you on the show.

The time goes quickly.

I know, but great conversation.

Thank you for joining us.

Executive director Carlton Dowe Coming up, this week's power panel joins the conversation.

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

27 homes completed in seven totally completed, right?

So help us understand what are the challenges, complex policies and procedures and issues related to soliciting bids have been major roadblocks for the Virgin Islands Housing finance authorities in Vision tomorrow Home Repair Program.

During a recent Senate hearing, the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority's leadership told lawmakers that they were working hard to address the backlog of home repairs and touted their progress for the last year, including more than 400 homes now in various stages of the designed to rehabilitation process.

But Stephen Thibeault of Synergy Construction pointed out that there was minimal communication from the village HFA to contractors, and the agency's practices were not contract or friendly, causing wasted time and resources.

Several lawmakers stressed that the program's delays were hurting residents who need the help most.

I know that this young lady is 80 years old, but living with her neighbor from the time the hurricane hit and none of these homes are touched yet these things drive me crazy.

Listen to my constituent.

There's a lot of funding that's there, and we need to make sure we utilize the funding.

If our job is to go for people.

There's only been 12.5% expended of the total funds since 2019.

So that's a very, very slow moving wheel and we really need to speed it up because there are people out there that really, really need help.

That's any anything that's a court date of December 8th has been set for Stephanie Barnes nearly two years after she was convicted of conspiring with former Casino Control Commission chairwoman Violet and Gold into to steal money from programs receiving government funds.

The scheme included Golden hiring Barnes as a certified problem gambling specialist, even though Barnes lacked the certificate position at the time, commission funds were used to help Barnes acquire her certification.

Master's and Ph.D. evidence at her jury trial established that Barnes received salary and benefits from the Casino Commission totaling over $600,000 in three years.

The duo also misused funds for spending sprees in lavish vacations, including a chartered flight with VIP passes to the Saint Kitts Music Festival in December of 2021.

Barnes was convicted of three federal and local criminal charges, and she has been jailed in Puerto Rico since then.

Her sentencing hearing has been repeatedly delayed due to conflicts she's had with multiple attorneys.

At a court hearing last month, the judge ordered Barnes to represent herself.

During the upcoming court hearing.

The judge will considered Barnes motion for acquittal and, if necessary, her sentencing to the gentleman from the great state of Louisiana and the 56 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Honorable Mike Johnson.

After a turbulent three weeks, the Republican led House of Representatives elected Trump ally Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House.

On October 25th, the vote tally stood at 220 in favor and 209 against.

Johnson is in his fourth House term, having represented Louisiana's fourth Congressional District since 2017.

He is the first House speaker from Louisiana and the most junior representative to assume the role since 1883.

The House had been without a speaker since October 3rd, when Kevin McCarthy was ousted after failing to get enough votes to retain his leadership position in the vote.

Eight Republicans and all Democrats supported the motion to remove McCarthy.

The first time in House history members had voted to remove the speaker.

Republicans struggle to find a Speaker nominee who could secure a majority vote without relying on Democratic support.

Some may remember Johnson for his viral exchange he had with VII delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in March.

Another thing we can examine, because he's not here.

There you go.

You can examine.

It's a document he's going to know, examine him for what he wrote and the intent behind what he said.

Well, I would just I would I would just point out that that's that's unanimous consent for documents.

And we got the documents right here, Chairman.

HANNITY Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent now recognizes, Mr. Chairman, I have a unanimous consent request.

Mr. Chairman, I have a unanimous.

With us now to dissect these hot topics are former Senate President Usie Richards and prominent local attorney Kye Walker, owner of the Walker Legal Group.

Both are joining us in state quarry virtually from our studio there.

And joining me on set is former Senator Roosevelt David, who served five terms undefeated in the Virgin Islands legislature.

But before we get to that, we just had Liberty Day in C Croix celebrating D, Hamilton, Jackson and Grove Place.

And there was a bit of a protest there.

We have some footage that we want to go to.

So let's talk about what we saw with people confronting the lieutenant governor.

And let's look at take a look at it.

The exchange over the water crisis on st. croix My thing is you are made to pay for water for us.

Okay.

So how come walk up here and pay for water for us?

Please don't fuck me.

That's what I'm about to step up and do for your people.

You have a mouth of your own, Chucky gone Chucky gone so ayo You have no backbone.

you undersantd so One of your own.

Please.

Okay, so I think you're absolutely correct to do the job.

Yes, I think you're absolutely correct.

It's a very difficult place to be in with regard to power.

The territory, if we correct these problems at one point, and I really have questions about the management, I mean, I have questions about the spending.

And when we have meetings, I raise those questions.

I don't come out and speak against the government.

That's not something that I'm supposed to do as a lieutenant.

But we have meetings, we have discussions about various points of view with regard to what we should do to help.

And I think what we need to do is a subsidy across the board to underwrite the high cost of it to residents of the territory.

Then that was a very interesting exchange just now, and it's good to see democracy is alive and well in the Virgin Islands.

But I understand Senate President Richards, you were at the event in Grove Place on the first.

Tell us a little bit about what you just saw, some of what you heard Lieutenant governor say.

Well, good evening.

Let me come and see on Good evening to Senator Roosevelt David Well, since he did it in a pleasant good evening to the person that is joining me here, attorney Kye Walker from the island of Saint Croix Let me just quickly say, I think the most important point to take from the discussion is the ability and the willingness of our citizens to express their concerns regarding things that in their mind that only in their minds, but based on the experiences that are in fact going on within their community.

I think more importantly, outside of what I've heard, I think the the crux of the issue is how best do a group of citizens be able to motivate the implementers, the administrators, in being able to effect change on this situation that they're experiencing?

And so that that was an appropriate forum to to vocalize what's been experienced by the citizens, particularly here on the island of St. Croix I think the next step that will concern me is on how best should they be able to mobilize themselves to actually get some action out of the things that they are vocalizing.

And so that in regards to getting the message across and that was not the only forum or medium that they've been able to look at and exercise the ability to speak on the issues that affect them.

But more importantly, I think that there's some other mediums and forum that they will have to take to get some positive results in regards to the concerns and the suggestions that they are bringing about.

I want to go to Attorney Walker.

What are you hearing on the island of Saint Croix from residents in regards to their feelings?

Obviously, emotions are running high.

There's a lot of fear about, you know, what's taking place with the water situation and still some unknowns there.

You know, individuals that are wondering whether it's the entire island, whether it's just restricted to the four neighborhoods that have been mentioned thus far, and what are potential health issues for people in the future.

What first off, how do you grade how the administration has dealt with the issue and to people's fears that they're having?

What do you think residents can do to the senators?

The senator's point about mobilizing to see something actually being done about this issue on St. Croix Well, I think, you know, what's significant is that where the events were held this week as one of the affected areas, and because we live in a territory where we have challenges when it comes to health care, I think any situation that potentially threatens the health of the residents is taken very, very seriously.

With that, I would say that the administration has really committed to fixing the issues at WAPA.

I mean, I don't think we've really ever seen a governor support or even align himself so much with with the utility that's constantly under attack and to some extent even tying his reputation and legacy to that of of the leadership of WAPA.

With that said, I do think that education is important.

I think there needs to be more of an outreach in the community to explain what the challenges are facing the water, what the threat, if any, there is with with the the the status of the water and what can be done to alleviate it.

I do believe the administration has done a good job of putting that information out in its press briefings, as in its press statements.

But for some segments of our community, they actually want that audience front and center in their face like the lieutenant governor was was there this.

So I think we probably need more forms like that to the end, you know, outreach to the communities that are most affected.

And I think that will help improve hopefully the the the situation and the response and alleviate some of the fears that some members of our community have.

Roosevelt You heard what the lieutenant governor said, and there were a couple of things that I thought was very interesting.

One, he said in meetings, he has questions about the leadership of what WAPA hearing from the lieutenant governor.

I got to tell you, as a resident, that's not very reassuring.

The second thing he said is and I don't ever I wouldn't read anything into it, but he says I don't publicly disagree with the governor.

And I think any lieutenant governor or vice president that with what they would say publicly, I have no issues with that.

But hearing that from him, what do you pick up, You know, being as politically seasoned as you are regarding this issue that's actually going on behind the scenes?

Well, I have to commend the lieutenant governor.

He handled that issue very well indeed, because he could have gotten shaken as that lady made some very strong comments about him.

And it took time to say, I agree with you.

You are absolutely correct.

And they are things that are happening that the commitment has been made and is going to get fixed.

And he talked about a subsidy which is a very, very good point to help the people who are suffering during this period.

But in addition to that, the governor has taken a position state of emergency, which means he could take action much quicker than he normally would have.

And so with respect to the leadership, I myself have concerns about the leadership there.

So I don't have a problem when a lieutenant governor is going to say, yes, I have these discussions with the governor and nonetheless, I'm going to support his initiatives.

But the governor is committed, and I know that.

And I said it here before that WAPA is fixable.

It's on its way to be fixed and it's going to be fixed under this administration.

So I do believe that the governor is committed, the administration is committed, and we are going to see a big change coming forward.

Let's go back to the island of St. Croix to attorney Walker, we had in our round up the issue and this case is now it's hard to believe it's been two years, but the sentencing and conviction of Ms.. Barnes and the fact that a judge has now said, listen, I'm tired of the shenanigans.

You have to represent yourself.

Let's talk a little bit about this and how the justice system is being.

Most people would say manipulated in this case.

And where does things stand right now with Ms.. Barnes legally and right now?

Well, you know, honestly, I believe that Ms.. Barnes is in a good position.

One of the reasons for the last delay of her sentencing was an amendment to the US sentencing guidelines, which more than likely will benefit her.

The judge's decision to not appoint yet another attorney to represent her is an unusual one.

But there's precedent for it and there's precedent for it in the Third Circuit.

I wouldn't say that she's been able to manipulate the system.

I think she has tried.

She's made attempts to manipulate the system.

But honestly, I think the judge has exercised great judicial temperament with her.

I think all of his his positions, his opinions, his orders with regards to what we're referring to as her shenanigans have been balanced and thorough, even when she's attacked him personally.

And I think the last decision that was made to say, listen, I can't appoint another counsel to you was was made after he had warned her on several occasions that if you're not going to cooperate with your attorney, I can't keep appointing new counsel.

I do believe this sentencing is going to move forward.

I do believe that the change in the sentencing guidelines is actually helpful to her.

And hopefully we can see some closure to this case by the end of the year.

It's interesting getting a legal perspective, but Senator Richards, this issue, is it right in your backyard, having served on serving on the casino commission or the other defendant in the case has literally served her time, the former chair, and is out of prison at this point.

Most people are saying, why are we still talking about this?

Why can't we just get this over?

What's your take on the issue?

Well, just for the record, I'm more than a year removed from being a member of the casino commission.

I believe high from April of this year would have would have made a year since I've left the commission.

I want to concur with part of the statement that Attorney Walker shared with you.

I think as a person that in her case was a defendant.

I know that has been convicted of a particular charge.

She's found a way to exercise her greatest capacity.

Her concern not only in regards to the decision of being found guilty of a certain number of charges, but being able to put some pressure on on the court system.

And I would not call it a manipulation.

I will call it an opportunity for her to find ways to continue to exert pressure in a case that was due to come at this point for her sentencing.

I also believe that given the fact that it has been such a prolonged and protracted case, that at some point the judge will be able to schedule the hearing and make a determination of whether or not her concerns are, in fact, valid and go ahead and set the sentence.

And by the time the sentence has been said, she would have already served so much time within the prison system, at least more than a year, that she would be able to have that under consideration when the final sentence is being made.

So that is one of the rights that is given to an individual in the system that she she's properly exercising.

Roosevelt Recently in the Virgin Islands legislature, we had officials from the Virgin Islands housing finance Authority before the legislation, nonprofit organizations, contractors.

The VA envisioned program for all intents and purposes, from a public perspective, has not been a success.

The progress that we anticipated happening after the storms in 2017 just isn't there.

There are literally Virgin Islanders still living with blue tarps that when it rains, they have to either change them or have a portion of their house or their entire home leaking.

Why do you think, other than what was presented before the legislation has been holding this up?

When you have a nonprofit organization that was just opposed against the officials from the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, love City Strong, saying, hey, we've literally rebuilt more homes than the government of the Virgin Islands.

That's kind of paradoxical to us from a layman's point of view, explained to us what you think is happening there.

Well, first of all, I tried to find out living here for 56 years.

I tried to find out exactly what's going on around me.

And as I studied this, I was very unhappy because I have family members who suffered during the hurricane and get their homes rebuilt.

Nonetheless, we had to program the step program that was a failure.

And one of the reasons I think it failed is that contractors were brought from the states.

They didn't know where to find plywood.

We had to find nails and screws and what have you.

And that created a big problem.

And it was not the the the fault of the local government.

Federal government had a lot to do with FEMA.

And so that failed.

But it has transitioned the envisioned program.

And about a year and a half now, almost 40 homes have been built.

And so I think that's a significant improvement.

You I think on their testimony, they said it was 26, 27, 27, 27 homes, 711 under construction, and 400 in the design or some phase of the program, they're saying.

But with the track record, I don't think a lot of people have a lot of confidence in hearing those kinds of numbers right now.

I think in a situation like this, people want results, and that is true.

But I'm saying to you now that it has been retooled and local engineers have been hired, local contractors, you are seeing a movement going forward.

27 homes plus another 11 under construction.

It tells you that this movement, the envision program.

So I can't put all the blame on invasion.

Most of the blame has go to the step program, which was a failure.

And so I think the combination of bringing local contractors, local engineers, one to stand the complete control of the Virgin Islands, the construction industry, that's why we are seeing movement now.

But I understand that that is going to be moving in vision to another entity.

So maybe we are going to see hastening up of this project going to sanctuary.

Senator Richards, Secretary Marcia Fudge, the HUD secretary, was in the territory last year and literally said that these funds are not going to be available forever on the floor of the Senate.

I heard the executive director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, Dana Clendenin, say we're not currently at risk of losing any funds.

But I don't anticipate that to be the case forever.

And the Secretary brought a message from the presidency use it or lose it.

And with a Republican led House that is entirely a possibility.

What's your perspective on how the VI envisioned program has been going?

I have to outwardly disagree with one of the statements that Senator David made that the Envision program has been showing some success.

If they have a certain amount of homes, some 27 that they have and some other 40 that may be on the drawing board.

And then the ending part of his statement was they are now transitioning into a new entity, a new name or whatever.

I think what we need is someone in the housing finance authority that knows how to in fact ensure that action can be taken is far too many people throughout this community.

We are here in 2023 and the hurricanes that came through it.

Amen.

Maria, as has been somewhere somewhat that's somewhat definitely in the past in regards to the problem that these people are experiencing.

And more importantly, I think that we need to look at how best to do we serve the community.

You have contractors working under the housing, the housing finance, and whether or not it would be more worthwhile to get some private control of a group of individuals to manage the construction of what to rebuild and the reconstruction of some of their homes in the territory.

So it is actually on two sides of the coin.

But the underscoring point of my concern is that very little has been done for a very long time and people are actually experiencing the consequences of it.

One of the things, Attorney Walker, that we heard on the floor of the legislature is that nonprofit organizations don't have the loopholes, which to a certain extent is correct.

But we have love city strong on St. Croix Saint John excuse me, with a proven track record of rebuilding homes.

What do you think is stopping from a legal perspective?

Since we have an attorney we're going to use your expertise is stopping Verge, the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority from partnering with some of those organizations and perhaps redirecting some of the resources to an organization with a proven track record to get things.

I mean, ultimately, they are subjected to these federal guidelines and are subjected to rules that apply to the receiving of those funds.

I don't believe it's just as easy as delegating that authority to a private company or a nonprofit.

They may not have the controls in place that the government has.

Unfortunately, some of those controls, you know, are bureaucratic and result in delay.

But it's not as simple as just handing over funds to a nonprofit.

That's not something they can do.

Specifically when you're talking about the HUD funds, because we have to remember that there is a GA appointed, there is an executive order.

There's an authority that's been delegated to the VA, HFA and based on what I understand and know, that authority is not something that can then be delegated outside of the structure of the government.

So I don't think it's as simple as, you know, the nonprofit may make it sound and I agreed with interim executive Director Clendenin that it's not a fair comparison.

But I do think there is some room for government and private sector to work together more closely.

And I agree with former Senator David.

I do think we're going to see improvement and increased numbers under the program to kind of quickly add to, I think, the comparison that this commission is is making.

And we probably need to clarify that for for the record, when she makes reference to the group of cities, San John that's doing the work on the homes over there.

It is my understanding they are not receiving federal funds for the work that they're doing over there that are under the same constraints of the of the money that under the Housing finance authority.

And I think we we need to at least see what we got.

Clarify that particular point.

And I'm glad you took the opportunity to do so, because I was going to clarify it because I was at the meeting with the HUD secretary where she instructed Virgin, the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, to partner with them, and that those partnerships were available.

So my implication wasn't just giving.

It wasn't just to give them the money to make the construction happen, but to utilize the processes and partner with them to get things done because they have managed to not only streamline the process, but to be able to rebuild at rates per square foot cheaper than construction costs with contractors.

But we're going to move on because.

We I'd like to make a call real quickly back to the the grant that was given to the Housing Finance Authority.

I don't think it's at risk because we have up until 2026 to spend this money.

In addition to that, the Housing Finance Authority has the ability to go forward to us.

One extension, even though the money is not risk right now, to make sure when 2026 comes that they have an extension and the money would still be available.

Real quickly, we saw the clip earlier with our delegate, Stacey Plaskett, and the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

That that was quite an interesting direction that both of them had earlier this year on.

I understand from the delegate that after that interaction, apologies were made and, you know, they smooth things over.

But with the new House speaker, what do you think the ramifications for the Virgin Islands are?

Well, whether that incident happened or not, I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the new speaker.

He is one of those people who wrote letters wanting the election to be overturned and Trump become president.

How could you think this way?

And then you could be bipartisan.

That's not going to happen.

So I see him holding a hard line going down the road.

And it is my hope that, in fact, there were some making up that are taken place.

But some point in time they are going to need the Democrats and the Democrats are going to have to play a hard line.

And so the speaker would have to be in the Times.

Senate President Richard's in the same rule that was in place to help remove Kevin McCarthy is still in place for Mike Johnson.

Do you think he sticks around?

Well, I don't know whether or not Mike Johnson sticks around that I am more concerned with the initial point you raise with Senator David about what effect would it have on the Virgin Islands as a territory within new leadership.

I think the most important concern that I would have is the ability of not only the delegate to Congress, but the authorities that represent the government of the Virgin Islands on the mainland, in the Capitol, in Washington, D.C., being able to work some of the concerns through the legislative process from the House to the Senate.

And one of the big issues I believe that the delegates spoke about and touched on was the the rum cover over revenues.

How would that impact the concerned that we have looking forward to trying to get it raised in comparison to the standard limit, as has been said for four years?

Well, it's interesting that you bring up the rum cover because we had the delegate on the show a few weeks ago who mentioned that for us to get that pass, a new omnibus tax bill basically has to be passed by the House of and the Senate.

And when the next tax bill goes forward, those provisions should be there to expand, extend our 1350 rate from what it is now.

But we only have a few more minutes left.

And recently the community suffered a great loss with the death of Darryl George, who was close to me.

I know Roosevelt.

You have a few words that you could definitely talk about.

A fierce advocate for the community and somebody who lived was the embodiment of his role that he played.

Let's talk about Darryl George, as a matter of fact.

Darryl George was on radio with me just two weeks before he died, and he exercised that commitment that he has had to serve the people of the Virgin Islands and didn't matter where he was, whether he was a volunteer, whether he was a firefighter, no matter what, whether it was politics, he gave it his on.

And this community is going to miss him because he was dedicated.

He was committed.

And you didn't want a better, stronger fighter, a soldier for the people of the Virgin Islands than mostly Darryl.

Most George Attorney Walker, any remembrances of Mr. George?

I did not know him as long of course, as as Senator David did.

But the the transition team or the portion of the transition team that was led by myself and and Maurice James Mousey served on it.

So I spent a good deal of time with him, and I was involved in several meetings with him.

And I can say this he was very loyal and committed to the Virgin Islands.

He he gave countless hours.

He worked hard and he was very passionate.

He was passionate about fire.

He was passionate about M.S.

He was definitely instrumental in the merger of the two.

And for someone to just dedicate all of that time, all of that energy, all of that passion, uncompensated, because all of this was leading up to him becoming the director.

I just found him to be one of the most committed people that I had ever encountered.

And, you know, I was very sad and I still am very sad about the loss of Nancy.

Real quickly said it, President, because we have about 30 seconds.

If you could just share a few words, I could quickly speak on Director George on and I heard the earlier portion of the program when Senator Dole was speaking to the fact that he was the one that was responsible for introducing the legislation to bring about a merger between the Port Authority and Waco.

And so similarly, more than that, in a decade and a half ago, I had the legislation to merge the emergency medical services with the fire department and the person that was standing next to me and pushing that he wasn't even the director then.

He was in his position of assistant director, and he couldn't believe that the individuals in the community, and particularly our legislators, couldn't understand the importance of providing emergency services in an expedited manner to the fire department.

And so I was glad to see that come to pass.

I was glad to see that he was successful and continued to push that type of services for a community and as a committed person, not only to fire and EMS, but more importantly to the the junior members that work with the fire department that he be able to bring along as young individuals, young men and women that grow up to be contributors to this community.

So I am particularly pleased with his accomplishments and also sudden of his passing.

Well, thank you for that.

And he certainly left a legacy that will be hard to hard to fill.

Those were some big shoes, although they called him mousy.

In no way.

That was an indicator of who he was.

That's all that we have for the show today.

Be sure to tune in next Sunday at 1 p.m. for an all new episode of Comes With the Territory.

For your news updates, tune into W TJ Access News Feed every weekday at 5 p.m. on 93.1 FM or by downloading the W TJX app.

I'm Lesley commissioned for all of us here at W TJX.

Have a great Sunday.