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Constitutional Convention Brings Helpers on Board

Aug. 21, 2008 — A slate of newly hired employees was introduced at an all-day plenary session of the Constitutional Convention, held Thursday at the Charlotte Kimmelman Cancer Center on St. Thomas.
Delegates were introduced to the convention's summer intern, Keya Canaii, as well as to newly hired convention personnel: Sonia Jacobs Dow, executive director; Gregory Davila, director of public information; and Carlyle Corbin, political consultant.
In addition, Lloyd Jordan, an attorney based in Washington, D.C. with the firm Holland Knight LLP, has been hired to oversee the drafting of the final document in conjunction with two local attorneys, Lisa Moorhead and Paulette Alexis. The team is charged with taking draft language submitted by each of the convention's committees and crafting it into a final document in hopes it passes U.S. constitutional muster, as required.
Delegate Mario A. Francis, the convention's treasurer, said $90,000 has been set aside to pay the new hires through the convention's October deadline. Convention President Gerard Luz James II said an additional $90,000 is on hold in the event the legislature approves an extension of the convention through March 31.
Asked how an additional $90,000 could support the hires for six months, he replied, "It doesn't click, I know. That would only carry us for another month and a half."
Delegates were unclear on the status of a motion they approved weeks ago to seek legislative approval for an extension of their convention, which got a late start in the fall due to legal wrangling over delegate selection.
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