Feb. 4, 2003 – Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards announced his appointment of Deverita Carty Sturdivant as director of the Division of Banking and Insurance at a press conference on Tuesday where he also had welcome news about insurance for the territory's homeowners.
Making good on campaign promises to retain the present insurance carriers operating in the territory and to attract new ones, Richards said Royal & SunAlliance Insurance will not abandon the Virgin Islands, as had previously been announced.
He said he had met with Royal & SunAlliance officials and "I am pleased to report that we have reached an agreement which will take us into perpetuity."
The Puerto Rico-based company had announced last May that it was pulling out of the territory and would stop writing insurance effective Dec. 31, 2002. (See "Royal & SunAlliance pulling out of territory".)
Richards also said he met with local members of the American Association of Retired Persons on Saturday and told them he had been able to preserve a section of the agreement with Royal & SunAlliance offering discounted property coverage for local AARP members.
He also said the company would initiate a "modest increase" in rates.
Sturdivant, speaking briefly, noted that she is a veteran of the Banking and Insurance Division. A lawyer, she held the same office under Lt. Gov. Derek Hodge in the Farrelly administration and has been general counsel to the division for the last eight years.
Richards noted that she also has served as counsel for the Legislature and as assistant general counsel for Territorial Court.
Gerard Luz James II, lieutenant governor in the first term of Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, had a contentious relationship with the insurance industry, claiming companies' requests for rate increases were unjustified and that they were gouging the territory.
Royal & SunAlliance is the second-largest property insurance carrier in the territory, writing more than 11 percent of the coverage in the Virgin Islands. NEMWIL and Lloyd's Underwriters are the other two largest property insurers, with 7.67 percent and 49.53 percent of the business, respectively, according to an affidavit signed by then-division director Maryleen Thomas in January 2002.
A smiling Richards, all but rubbing his palms together, announced his agenda for the next four years at the press conference, his first as lieutenant governor. Noting "we cannot afford to lose any more revenues or any more potential clients," he said he intends to change the divisions of the Lieutenant Governor's Office from "functioning only adequately" to providing "world-class service and delivery."
Governing through technology
Describing the divisions as "woefully lacking and behind the times," he said his focus will be on technology in order to make full automation the driving force for efficiency and effectiveness.
"I believe we must join the cadres of administrations nationwide who have adopted the philosophy of 'governing through technology,'" Richards said. He said the Internal Revenue Bureau has taken a "leap" in this regard and is, as a result, "experiencing great gains."
Further, Richards said, his divisions "will be customer driven," with staff that understands the value of "friendly, courteous and prompt service."
A sign of that service was shown Tuesday afternoon when a telephone inquiry to the Insurance and Banking Division was promptly returned by Elmo Roebuck, chief assistant examiner. The son of veteran politician Elmo D. Roebuck commented that his office was turning out insurance carrier licenses "like you wouldn't believe."
Richards has made no changes in the top managers of the Office of Lieutenant Governor; to the contrary, he has listened to their voices of experience and is building on what each has told him. "Their ideas are at the core of my restructuring plan," he said.
He provided brief descriptions of planned automation and improvements in the following divisions:
Tax Assessor — The tax manual, last updated in 1970, will be overhauled to integrate technical characteristics associated with property assessment and income appraisal needs and two computer-assisted systems. Geographic Information Systems will be completed to help in determining variables of real property characteristics (Asked about the ongoing case in District Court challenging the government's process of assessing real property for tax purposes, Richards said that because of its sensitive nature, "it is impossible for me to comment at this time.")
Recorder of Deeds — Landscan and Landscan Cash Register systems which allow a clerk to cashier a document while the system applies preset fees will be installed. The document imaging system will allow documents to be processed within three days. A spokesperson in the office said it currently takes a week, and the deed must be accompanied by a tax letter from the Finance Department.
Corporations and Trademarks — Full automation will allow for revenue reports at the end of each day, balancing of revenues with the Finance Department and interfacing with the Licensing and Consumer Affairs Office. Corporate laws will be revised for clarity. On St. Croix, the division will become a one-stop process, ending the need to send documents to St. Thomas for approval.
Banking and Insurance — Full automation will allow for interfacing with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and its national database program Uniform Regulation through Technology and for utilizing the Uniform Certificate of Authority Application which lets foreign insurers file an application for simultaneous admission to do business in multiple states. Title 22 of the V.I. Code will be reviewed with an eye to enhancing the territory's insurance statutes. Also, Richards said he will activate the banking board and will attend a banking commissioners conference in Washington, D.C., soon.
Richards stressed that his automation plans are not limited to the points he covered. He said collective revenues of the divisions in Fiscal Year 2002 totaled $81.5 million, and "there is room for increase with full automation." He said the automation process should take from 18 months to two years and cost about $1 million.
Special attention to St. Croix
Focusing on the St. Croix economy, Richards said he will be meeting soon with the mayor of Washington, D.C., to examine the model used to turn the federal district's economy around.
He also said he is meeting with St. Croix stakeholders, including outreach to the Chamber of Commerce, Our Town Frederiksted, and the Hotel and Tourism Association for ideas on the design and development of an economic recovery plan. He has met with Public Works and Planning and Natural Resources Department officials to discuss capital projects such as improving the Melvin Evans Highway and completing the Christiansted boardwalk
Finally, Richards said he will be addressing the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association at a meeting in March. There, he hopes to succeed where others have failed in trying to convince the cruise lines to put St. Croix back on their itineraries.
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