May 4, 2006 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has sent several names to the Legislature as nominations to two boards and one commission. The most pressing are the four nominations to the Public Services Commission.
The PSC has been hog tied for months – unable to get a quorum because out of the seven members on the commission, only four were active members – barely a quorum, and two of them newly appointed.
Yvette Canegatta-Jones resigned in August. Jerris T. Browne was tapped in February to head the newly formed independent Motor Vehicle Bureau, and the governor's assistant Alric Simmonds – who has served two terms and who the governor had sought to reappoint – withdrew his name after being rejected by the full Senate once and forwarded on to the full body a second time with an unfavorable recommendation.
On Thursday, Turnbull nominated former Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole to replace Simmonds. Cole served as a nonvoting member of the PSC during his time as a senator. The board includes two such senatorial members who are appointed by the Senate president.
The governor also nominated Sirri I. Hamad, president and general manager of Speedy Gas Inc., to replace Canegatta-Jones and Thomas Jackson, a retired police lieutenant to replace Browne.
Turnbull also re-nominated Verne C. David, who is a tax consultant. This will be David's second term.
Members serve three-year terms and may serve until a successor is sworn in.
Turnbull offered the name of Wesley Samuel Williams Jr. to serve on the Board of Trustees of the University of the Virgin Islands. Williams is the co-chairman of the board of directors of the Lockhart Companies and serves on numerous national boards including the National Bank of Washington D.C. board.
The 17 members on UVI's board of trustees serve five-year terms. Each member may serve until the appointment of their successor. Ten of the members must be residents of the Virgin Islands and seven do not need to be residents.
Turnbull also nominated Nereida Rivera-O 'Reilly to fill the current vacancy on the St. Croix Board of Education. She was elected to the board in 2004 and subsequently resigned for personal and work-related reasons. Later she sought reappointment and was recommended by the board at a recent meeting, a release from Government House said.
All of the nominees must be approved by the Legislature.
In each case, Turnbull urged the senators to act promptly and favorably on all of the nominations.
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