Robert Schuster No. 51 on the ballot, St. Croix District
May 30, 2007 – If elected as a delegate to the Fifth Constitutional Convention my goal would be to help write a document that establishes our fundamental laws and rights and represent the interest of the entire community. It must be a document that takes into consideration Virgin Islands culture and diversity without infringing on anyone's rights; a document that describes the structure of our government and outlines the principals and values that we want to be governed by, and can be amended.
I am committed to represent the community's interests, therefore, I have created an online survey to get the public's input and will add additional surveys to get more input on specific issues. The survey can be completed by going to the following website http://www.schustervi.com
While many of the concerns of our community cannot be addressed by the constitution, the constitution will create basic laws that are fundamental for the governing of our society. Simply put the constitution lays the legal foundation, provides the platform and sets the framework that allows all ensuing legislation. Specific laws that address communal issues can then be enacted by the Legislature, approved by the Governor and supported by the fundamental laws of a constitution.
For too many years the citizens of this territory have been limited in the degree in which we can govern ourselves by the constraints imposed by the Revised Organic Act. We are at a crossroad in our history where we need to be able to decide on how we govern ourselves.
The inability to reach a consensus on each of the four previous constitutional drafts has lead to the continued abuse of power, malfeasance, and a government that lacks transparency and does not meet the needs of the people. The last four constitutional drafts failed because they contained several sections that were considered to be items of special interest and delegates tried to write legislation rather than fundamental laws.
If we are to truly govern ourselves the right to Initiative, Recall and Referendum is the most important along with autonomy, and electoral reform.
