On the verge of potentially being disbanded and layered under another agency, representatives of the long-troubled Virgin Islands Taxicab Commission said Monday many of their problems could be solved with more money.
Testifying at the Legislature’s Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection, Loretta Lloyd, the commission’s chairwoman, said she’d read a proposed bill that would return taxi oversight to the Licensing and Consumer Affairs Department and was against it.
“Everything the bill has in it, we are doing. The only thing we do not have is appropriations,” Lloyd said.
The commission was only partially funded in June because of complaints from drivers and a general sense of chaos within the organization. It went through three executive directors in as many years, frequently failed to reach a quorum for board meetings, and lacks a website and digitized records — doing business with pencil and paper, senators said.
Sen. Milton Potter called taxis the gateway to the territory’s tourism-dependent economy, saying a troubled taxi system held the economy hostage. The goal was not to blame anyone, he said, but to get the Taxi Commission going in the right direction.
“The commission was defunded because of a lack of productivity,” Potter said, “and because you are defunded you are unable to be productive. It’s sort of like a vicious cycle.”
Sen. Marvin Blyden said dysfunction in the taxi industry was evident and troubling.
“I’m going to call it what it is. It’s a problem. And I need you guys to be on point. It’s not right to the drivers. It’s not right to the industry and it’s not right to the territory. If it fails, I feel we all fail,” Blyden said.
Vernice Gumbs, the commission’s executive director, said she’d identified an agency to digitize records and help steer operations online, but she lacked funding. She also lacked necessary employees and money for basic office supplies like lamination equipment for driver’s badges. The commission owes vendors roughly $100,000, she said.
“Allow the process to work before taking it over to DLCA or any other agency,” Gumbs said. “How can we pay our vendors if we don’t have enough to purchase supplies?”
Lloyd and Gumbs said the COVID pandemic knocked the commission off course, but several times during the meetings acknowledged pre-COVID dysfunction.
Gumbs said she didn’t know why the commission hasn’t paid rent on its office space since 2016. And Lloyd said the new rules and regulations governing taxis were the same as those used in 2010 but that they had been resubmitted to Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. for approval. She seemed to not know if they had been updated.
Two seats of the nine-member board are vacant and the terms of six of the current board members, including Lloyd, have expired.
Sen. Alma Francis Heyliger questioned why Bryan had not acted to appoint new members or reinstate former members. Francis Heyliger said she hoped Lloyd, who appears at many Senate hearings about the commission, would leave the board.
“I personally think it’s time for you to retire and step down. That’s just my opinion. It’s not anything personal. I don’t blame you for this because you’re consistently showing up because there’s nobody else there to replace you. Because the governor has not sent anyone. So as much as we sometimes get frustrated with you, you’re always here. You always show up. And I can’t say the same for the other eight members,” she said. “Where are the rest of them? That’s part of the problem,” she said.
Lloyd, appearing virtually with her head partially obscured from the camera angle, spoke over doors slamming and other background noises.
“Many things have been said but I work around the clock for the Taxicab Commission. I bought a computer just a couple of days ago just to attend this meeting,” she said.
Earlier in the session, the committee advanced a bill that would codify guidelines for commercial investment in government projects. These public-private partnerships were most visible at the Port Authority, where the territory has negotiated with Royal Caribbean International and other entities for infrastructure improvements.
The committee also advanced a resolution honoring Lieutenant Colonel Leayle Gerard Galiber for his leadership in the Virgin Islands National Guard and his dedication to his country and to the people of the Virgin Islands.
