April 18, 2004 — The League of Women Voters Saturday decided to put off for a month a decision whether to give the Chief Financial Officer bill thumbs up or thumbs down. The debate over Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen's bill took place at the League's 35th Annual meeting.
Everyone seemed to agree that the League had a role to play in educating the public about the bill, but there was concern, expressed by some, that it might not be good if the league appeared to be an advocate of the bill.
Some see the bill as another form of federal receivership. But Christensen has received public support for the bill, particularly from Crucians, according to League member Ana Anita Davila.
League member Lydia Lettsome suggested a more broad-range approach. She said the best thing to do was to inform the public on all the proposals to help ease the financial crisis.
This proposal received a motion and approval from the group.
The group then decided that it could take a position on the CFO bill at a May 22 meeting.
League President Rosalie Simmonds-Ballentine told the group that a determination on May 22 would work because Christensen plans to bring the bill before the House at the end of May.
"We do owe it to the public to educate them on the ramifications of this bill," she said.
But she was cautious, she added that if the group endorsed the CFO bill that might "further alienate" the league from the community.
Alex Randall, league member, said the bill should be "explained" to the public, which has a "massive misconception" on what it entails. He offered his radio station WSTA as a forum for that debate.
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