March 30, 2007 — Col. Timothy Lake, the nominee for V.I. adjutant general, has requested his name be withdrawn from consideration for the post, according to a Government House release issued Friday.
In his place, Gov. John deJongh Jr. has nominated Col. Renaldo Rivera to fill the top position at the V.I. National Guard. Rivera had been originally selected as state director of VITEMA, the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency.
According to the release, Lake, after having accepted the position, still found the compensation inadequate. The adjutant general of the V.I. National Guard earns $97,000 a year, the same salary as the highest paid commissioner in the executive branch. Lake is presently assigned to the Pentagon.
Retired from the V.I. National Guard, Rivera comes to the position of adjutant general with considerable military experience. During his 20-year-plus military career, Rivera developed and provided technical advice on military strategies, tactical and operations control to both military and civilian personnel.
Prior to his years in the National Guard, Rivera served as a police officer for 10 years on St. Thomas. His training includes: anti-terrorism, incident management, homeland security assessment and emergency preparedness. Rivera was also employed for a four-year-period with the Water and Power Authority, where he served as facility security officer, a position which allowed Rivera to address all aspects of responding to and avoiding terrorism acts against any of the territory’s two power-generating plants.
Rivera is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. In addition, he holds a bachelor's degree in applied science from Youngstown State University. Rivera is married to the former Diane Walcott and is the father of 11 children. Rivera has ten grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
With Rivera’s appointment as adjutant general, VITEMA's deputy director on St. Thomas, Stevelyn A. Parris, will now serve as acting state director.
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