April 2, 2007 — With Transfer Day ceremonies celebrating the Virgin Islands' Danish history wrapping up last week, another chapter in V.I. history is about to begin.
Extensive plans for next year's Constitutional Convention were announced Monday morning at a joint press briefing by University of the Virgin Islands President LaVerne Ragster, John Abramson Jr., Supervisor of Elections, and attorney Tregenza Roach, 2008 Constitutional Convention organizer.
They announced the schedule for the upcoming elections for delegates to the convention, detailed a dynamic public-education campaign, answered questions about the particulars of running as a delegate and discussed offshoots of the coming convention.
As of Monday, residents interested in qualifying as delegates to the 2008 Constitutional Convention can pick up petitions to support their candidacy from any Board of Elections office, Abramson said.
Originally scheduled for 2006, Sen. Louis Hill sponsored legislation last year to move the event to 2007 for two reasons: 2006 was an election year, which Hill said would divert attention from the process, and the public needed more time to learn about the significance of the convention, he said.
Ragster, Abramson and Roach heartily agreed. The added time has allowed them to hold the public forums needed to let people know the importance of taking a hand in their own future, the organizers said.
Hill told a story about an encounter he had in a St. Croix supermarket: "This gentleman came up to me. He said, 'Senator Hill, I was your biggest opponent when you passed that legislation last year. I cursed you on the radio.' He apologized to me and told me he realizes now what a mistake it would have been to have done it last year, with an uninformed public."
"It's an incredible challenge to get people to understand the process," Roach said. "I've had people come up to me and ask if the constitution was finished."
Hill said he will run for delegate to the convention. No other senators have announced their intentions.
Since last July, UVI has run an ambitious campaign. In September, the project began a series of weekly half-hour shows on WTJX public television. The convention was part of UVI's September Fest, a student-government activity.
Roach and Ragster recounted the forums they have addressed, which ranged in attendance from a few to more than 200. "One of the most rewarding groups we addressed was an assembly at Charlotte Amalie High School," Roach said. "The students were really well informed, and asked pertinent questions."
They have held public forums with farmers' groups on both islands, PTAs, school groups, Rotary Clubs and radio programs. In fact, for months the WVWI "Afternoon Mix" show has held protracted public call-in shows on the convention with Sen. Basil Ottley, UVI professor Malik Sekou, senate aide Luis Sylvester and former host Raul Carrillo.
By now the forums have reached a wide swath of the public. "We would always want more, but the response has been good," Ragster said. She and Roach noted one sign of the meetings' success: "Most of the time we have trouble getting everybody to leave. They still have questions."
A fringe benefit of the meetings has been the ideas picked up from the public. "We are having a calypso contest now for the best song to use in our radio and TV spots," Roach said. Entries have to be in before April 20. "This is an idea brought to us at one of our meetings."
There is a slight restriction on the calypsos, Ragster announced. "They can't be as broad as some at Carnival," she said with a laugh.
Roach showed a DVD of a couple of television spots slated to begin soon. Called "It's Time to Change Our Act," the spots feature a wide cross-section of the community: young old, black, white, Hispanic, Asian. "You never realize how diverse our community is," Ragster said, calling the diversity "our strength."
The convention has a comprehensive website. It gets thousands of hits each month, Roach said, including 6,400 in February. Abramson and Ragster shared a complaint about the delegate petition forms, which require 25 signatures of registered voters.
"Some people have more family than that," Ragster said. In past elections, Abramson said, he has watched people at the Sunny Isle Shopping Center on St. Croix pick up a petition at the office there, go to a few of the neighboring stores and "come back a little later with the petitions filled."
Abramson said he feels very strongly that to be "electable," a candidate should have 500 signatures across the board for any election. But for this election, he said, the law requires 25 signatures. Without new legislation, it can't be changed.
But Abramson does have some control over the deadline. He laid down the law about turning in convention documents on time, urging people to adhere to the schedule. "The last day on which nomination-petition papers may be filed is May 16, but 5 p.m.," he said. "I don't mean 5:01 p.m. There is one clock, and that is the clock in my office."
The Board of Elections offices on all three islands have forms and information about filing. Candidates cannot start filling in the petitions until April 16, however.
All petitions must be filed by May 16, and the election will take place on June 12, according to officials. For complete deadline information, see the Source's "Calendar for Special Election of Delegates to the Constitutional Convention."
The Source has a series of articles on the development of this and past year's conventions which can be accessed by entering "Constitutional Convention" in the search engine under Local news.
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