Dear Source:
In an Op Ed piece that ran in the St. Thomas Source on May 19, 2014, Tony Shepard, CEO of Choice Communications, states “…it appears that Mr. Cassinelli and Ms. Dudley are using their positions to express their personal views and not necessarily views that are reflective of the Chamber membership. “ in reference to the RT Park controvery.
The Chamber Board of Directors, who represent the membership, voted unanimously on April 29 and April 30, 2014 to oppose the Malone Amendment and to express that opposition in a letter to Senator Malone, to his fourteen colleagues, and in subsequent communications such as Letters to the Editor and an Op Ed piece.
The President of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of the Legislative Committee do not use their positions as officers of the Board to express personal opinions. In fact, the Chamber Board of Directors followed its customary practice, described above, in voting to support the Hovensa Amendment, oppose the CFO Bill, support Coral World’s Dolphinarium, oppose the Gross Receipts Tax increase, support the Peace Officer Bill and support WAPA’s Propane Initiative, to name just a few issues that have been important to the community.
For almost two years, the Chamber worked tirelessly and openly to help develop comprehensive economic development legislation by assembling all stakeholders involved in the EDA and RT Park programs through its Chamber EDC/RT Park Committee. It was only discovered, after the fact, that promoters of the Malone Amendment, who were also members of the above mentioned Chamber Committee (and without so much as a word) secretly pushed a midnight amendment that was passed without any public discussion. We, at this point, and, in accordance with Board policy, practice and procedure, strongly support the position taken by the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce – there should be open and public hearings on these matters. Sincerely,
St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors: Sebastiano Paiewonsky Cassinelli, Cecile deJongh, Adriane Dudley, Tom Brunt, Steven Morton, Dexter Freeman, John Woods, Cerene Johnson, Ansen Sliger, Judy Watson, Judi Nagelberg, Mulo Alwani, Don Porter, Mike Daswani, Monesh Mohanani, Shaine Gaspard
