May 22, 2003 — There's a new face in the new place where Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen has her St. Thomas/St. John office: Edouard T. de Lagarde has joined the staff at the Nisky Center office as district manager.
De Lagarde, retired from the Virgin Islands government, where he served in a number of capacities, is finding his new job "a lot of work," he said, during a quick lunch-hour interview in his office. The job means "keeping constituents happy," and this translates into any number of services, not least of which is liaison to each federal agency and research in many fields, utilizing at times the assistance of the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C.
He and office staff member Joyce Jackson represent the Delegate at Virgin Islands functions that she cannot attend, write messages (for example, in printed programs honoring residents), and prepare speeches.
It's a two-way street all the time: keeping Delegate Christensen aware of what's going on here while she's occupied in Washington, and keeping residents aware of what she's doing in Washington for the Virgin Islands. The information was flowing to Washington today when de Lagarde was found in his office: He had taken advantage of the lunch break of the V.I. Legislature's session to come back to the office and fax materials from the morning session to the delegate. He would then return to the Senate for a session which he expected to last "far into the night." Then once again he will update the Delegate.
De Lagarde, a graduate of Sts. Peter and Paul School on St. Thomas, has a bachelor's from West Virginia College and a master's from Atlantic State University in Georgia.
He is married to Vernelle S. de Lagarde, president of Local 1825 St. Thomas St. John, American Federation of Teachers, and has two adult sons and a daughter, Khadija, who's a senior at Charlotte Amalie High School.
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