It's a far cry and three decades since Sen. Roosevelt David was doing Elvis Presley impersonations in his native Nevis, but he says that's how he got his start in politics. Sort of.
In high school, the third-term senator says, at the age of about 16, he got together with some other students and organized talent shows for the school and the community. "We wrote our own plays," he recalls, pausing to remove his glasses. "Actually, I did an Elvis Presley imitation," he admits, putting the specs back on and becoming more senatorial.
"Maybe I was always in politics but didn't know it," he reflects. "I always wanted to know what was happening around me. After Nevis, I organized other groups when I moved to St. John."
David made that move when he was 20 years old, after the death of his mother and on the advice of his older brother John, who helped him get a job at the local drugstore, the V.I. Apothecary, which he eventually bought. But that came years later.
Soon after settling on St. John, he took part in forming the Pioneers Benevolent Society, a group which raised money for scholarships, recognized local people for their contributions to the community, bought toys at Christmas, and had fun at a big picnic at Thanksgiving. "At the time," David says, "I didn't view that effort as politics. I didn't have a clue."
David is serious about his lawmaking job and about the community getting a fair shake economically. He credits this perspective to his banking background, which started inauspiciously one day on St. John through the efforts of Valentino McBean.
One day McBean walked into the drugstore "and invited me out to lunch," David remembers. "I'd never seen him before … I didn't know a thing about banking – I was planning to become a pharmacist."
McBean, it turned out, had other plans. He had heard of David through friends and decided the bright young man could go far in the banking industry. His hunch proved right, and David went on to have a 20-year career in banking, earning several accounting and banking certificates. He and McBean, now president of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico's regional operations, remain close friends.
Addressing an under-represented constituency
Before making his first, and successful, run for the legislature, David served as Gov. Roy L. Schneider's special assistant for business affairs. In that post, he says, he came across some eye-opening situations that prompted him to run for a Senate seat.
"I recognized a cross-section of the community that I didn't think was well represented. I saw Eastern Caribbean people and grass-roots people I believed to be trampled, so I decided to do something about that."
David had been involved earlier been in the St. Thomas Association of Caribbean Organizations. "At the time, I couldn't understand why so many candidates with excellent qualities for senators, but not born here, weren't getting elected," he says. "A lot of naturalized people just didn't realize how powerful their vote was."
A secretary comes in with a friendly greeting, bringing David interview material. "We have a short staff now, but they are very, very good," the now-minority bloc senator says. Suggesting the admiration is mutual, a Valentine balloon and fuzzy toy, presents from his staff, are prominently displayed in the office, which has a lived-in look with lots of plants and family photographs.
David the family man, as opposed to David the politician, has been married for 30 years to the former Ileta Penn of Tortola, with whom he has two children, Lisa and Roosevelt Jr. His wife runs the family-owned St. John Drug Center in Cruz Bay, Roosevelt Jr. runs the family rental-car business on St. John, and Lisa is finishing college on the U.S. mainland.
In August of 1999, David the politician announced his intention to cut his staff back to a four-day week and to reduce his own salary in response to the government's financial squeeze. He did cut some of the staff to part-time, he says, but his request to the Finance Department to reduce his salary was ignored. Last month, when Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg said publicly that he wished to take a pay cut, Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd responded that it would be illegal.
For David as a minority senator, reducing his staff in the 24th Legislature to four involved terminating his former chief of staff, Tom Dunn. It was an action he didn't want to take, David says, but in terms of funds he had no choice.
Leading the way to ‘creative financing'
One of David's greatest sources of pride is having spearheaded efforts in the 23rd Legislature for the territory to access multi-millions of dollars in federal GARVEE (grant anticipation revenue vehicle) bonds. It's "creative financing" at its best, he says. The bond funds should be available sometime in March, he says, and will provide $75 million and not cost the V.I. government a dime. The bonds are leveraged by the territory's annual allocation of $12.7 million in federal highway funds.
For three decades, David notes, he has "recognized the need for St. John's Enighed Pond project. Now, this year, we will see it begin." Bond money will go to fund a Red Hook Dock terminal, the Christiansted bypass and Mon Bijou projects, and road work throughout the territory – all of which have been awaiting funding for years. All that's required is "federal monitoring to make sure it gets done," David says.
David also takes pride in having co-sponsored the V.I. Economic Summit of 1999, along with Sens. Lorraine Berry and David Jones. About 150 proposals that emerged from that gathering found their way into the administration's Five Year Operating and Strategic Financial Plan. "It was a lot of hard work," David says, adding that he is "encouraged by the governor's recent appointment of Nathan Simmonds to manage the plan. I know it will go ahead."
He considers the Financial Accountability Act, which he co-sponsored, another high point in his career. "The act created an attrition program called Two for One which mandates the executive branch to fill only 50 percent of the positions left vacant by retirees," he notes. "It has saved the government $33 million in payroll over one year."
While not a member of the Senate majority, David, was appointed to majority Sen. Adelbert Bryan's Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. "To his credit," David says, "Bryan recognized I could make a contribution."
However, he was not pleased by Bryan's Feb. 16 press conference called to discuss the hiring by Bryan and Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen of radio talk-show host Mario Moorhead. "I have no respect for that press conference," David states, "It was a smokescreen."
High hopes for micro-credit business loans
Leaning across his desk, David informs his interviewer: "I have a major, major announcement for small business people. I have gotten a commitment from a world-class institution to come up with the funds for small loans to help small businesses – what we call micro-credit."
The loans, he says, "will be for people who have a good banking proposal and would like to get into business but simply don't have the capital." With "a commitment to work it out with an institution here," he says, "I'm working with the administration to get the Government Development Bank up and running, because this would be the ideal vehicle from which loans could be originated and generated. If not, we would have to use a commercial bank."
The Government Development Bank is foundering at the moment, he says: "It was designed to help small local business through public funds, but it isn't pro
perly structured; it doesn't have a full complement of board members."
Under his micro-credit plan, the agency would make loans of $25,000 to $150,000 without all the red tape and paperwork normally required. "As a banker, I was always frustrated by the paperwork and the collateral expected," he says. With low interest rates, "We want to be able to help business people who are hanging on by a hair." He says he will announce the plan publicly as soon as details are finalized with officers of the lending institution.
David has an upbeat attitude about being a part of the Senate minority this term, after previously having been in the majority. "The issue at hand is what determines how the vote goes," he says. "I think the community is becoming more aware of what's taking place. The minority has an aggressive agenda that surrounds economic development; even though we don't have the number of votes to get legislation passed, we are going to be reaching out to the community to make sure its influence is felt in the Senate."
