April 18, 2007 – Although there was a quorum for the monthly board meeting of the V.I. Port Authority, due to a technicality, it was not a legal quorum and so business could be conducted.
After waiting 75 minutes for a quorum to be present, Chairman Robert O’Connor said, “I have no choice, this meeting is over.”
In addition to O’Connor, those present included Eleanor Thraen, Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty, acting Commissioner of Public Works Derek Smalls, Gordon Finch and Hector Peguero. Attorney General Vincent Frazer was absent.
Both Finch and Peguero were recently nominated by the Gov. John deJongh Jr. and confirmed by the Legislature. However, because they had not been formally certified, which required the governor’s signature, they were deemed not to be official members of the board.
O’Connor wanted to proceed with business, but deferred to legal counsel Don Mills’ opinion that the two were not yet members and so a quorum was not present.
Mills argued that the dates of tenure began upon certification and ran for three years. “In a few years, if someone were to look at today’s business and then notice that certification was not in place, we could be called on it.”
It was Finch who initially raised the formal point of inquiry into the matter. As a former VIPA executive director, he said, "I have always acted in concert with legal opinion."
There was some debate on the issue, but it was decided that the meeting would be postponed.
O’Connor closed the meeting, “We will get all the proper documents in place and try to reschedule some time next week.
The board had a full agenda, which included financial reports, property leases, project reports and grant applications.
According to the agenda, the year-to-date operating figures represent an operating loss of $783,887, a decrease from last year's loss of $1.56 million. While there had been a 9.2 percent increase in revenues, operating expenses increased by 4.6 percent.
According to the agenda, the Red Hook Transit Terminal project is 97 percent complete and the Crown Bay dredging project is 95 percent complete.
Before the controversy arose, the board recognized one of its employees, Alvin Francis, a custodian at Cyril E. King Airport. A formal letter of thanks was read into the record by Executive Director Darlan Brin.
After finding an address book left at the terminal by a passenger, Francis, at his own expense and initiative, returned the book, which contained “over 10 years of valuable data, addresses and information.”
The passenger sent a letter to VIPA thanking Francis and commending him as “a kind, decent and honest man, and an employee of whom to be proud.”
Francis said, “I never get anything like this and I am actually nervous.’ The entire board joined Brin in congratulating him with a rousing round of applause.
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