Sept. 24, 2008 — Unable to get through everything on their proposed two-day agenda, delegates to the Fifth Constitutional Convention decided Wednesday to have two more days of plenary session — scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week — in hopes of finalizing language for a draft document.
Efforts will still be made to lobby senators to approve the March 2009 deadline decided on by delegates during a previous session, according to Convention President Gerard Luz James II. (See "Deadline Extension Sought for Constitution.")
"Sept. 30 is the last possible day for that amendment to come to the floor," he told delegates during the afternoon portion of Wednesday's plenary session, held at the UVI Business and Administration Center on St. Thomas. "So let's do our lobbying now and get that extension."
Meanwhile, most of the discussion for the rest of the afternoon centered on the establishment of municipal governments — a move that most delegates agreed would put more power in the hands of residents living and working in each district. Several delegates balked, however, at language proposed by Government Committee Chairwoman Violet Anne Golden that limits the power of the Legislature in helping to shape these municipalities.
"The way this works is that there is a state level and a local level," Golden explained. "At the state level, there are still three branches, the executive, judicial and legislative. Those three branches will still be present at the local level, but instead we will have elected officers that become city councilmen — or mayors — in each district. The governor will still be the overseer of all the districts, and if you have dysfunctional government on the local or city level, the state can intervene. So while it seems like we're creating a whole new layer, all we're really doing is taking your state government and localizing it."
Each of the three major islands — St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, with Water Island being considered a part of the St. Thomas district — will become what is called a political subdivision, with its own mayor and city council. Created within those subdivisions would be smaller municipalities, or cities, such as Christiansted and Frederiksted on St. Croix. Each municipality would have the ability to create its own charter, or a quasi-constitution, laying out specific rules and ordinances.
"It's like when you go to the states, and in one town there's a specific ordinance that doesn't allow for the consumption of alcohol past 2 p.m., or has specific speed limits that don't apply to the town next to it," said Delegate Stedmann Hodge Jr. "That's what we're talking about when we say municipalities."
Approving zoning requests or changes and levying certain types of taxes would be the responsibility of each city council and mayor instead of the Legislature, Golden said.
"Can we see our money being spent on St. Croix?" Golden asked. "That's the big question. When the city manager, or mayor, prepares a budget for schools, roads, etc., it will say exactly what St. Croix needs to operate within a fiscal year."
But many delegates had a problem with limiting the Legislature's role in approving each municipality's charter, a responsibility that Golden placed in the hands of local residents from each island.
"This is reminding me of 1950s South Africa with townships," said Delegate Michael Thurland. "We can't stand aside and look at the island of St. John, for example, where it doesn't even depend on color right now, it depends on money. And if a billionaire, or a group of billionaires, jump in their private yacht, go to St. John and decide with their money they could influence the small population of that island to put together a charter, they could cut the rest of us here from coming to that island. Territorial officials need to make the decision on how these charters are going to be drawn up."
Marginalizing the powers of the executive branch is not a good idea, added Delegate Charles W. Turnbull.
While Golden suggested that charter commissions be set up on each island to help make the process more balanced, Delegate Craig W. Barshinger said that most of the draft language proposed by Golden had not been approved by the other members of the Government Committee.
"We decided that the Legislature has to approve the charters by review, and that each charter should not be inconsistent with this constitution and laws of the V.I.," said Barshinger, the committee's vice chairman. "We just want to allow people who can do things locally to do them locally — we don't have someone from St. Thomas rezoning something from Estate Profit on St. Croix. We're moving some aspects of the government closer to the people."
Golden asked the delegates to allow the committee to meet one more time to approve its section of the document before coming back to the entire convention for a final presentation.
Hodge also struck out with the majority of delegates Wednesday as he presented draft language from the convention's Labor and Economic Development Committee. Most of what was proposed will go back to the convention's legal counsel for review, he said, and the sections dealing with labor issues will be incorporated into the constitution's preamble.
Present during Wednesday's plenary session were delegates Barshinger, Douglas Brady, Rena Brodhurst, Adelbert Bryan, Douglas Capdeville, Gerard Emanuel, Mario A. Francis, Golden, Lois Hassell-Habtes, Hodge, Francis Jackson, Myron Jackson, James, Clement "Cain" Magras, Wilma Marsh Monsanto, Thomas Moore, Mary Moorhead, Eugene Petersen, Kendall Petersen, Claire Roker, Richard Schrader Jr., Robert Schuster, Lawrence "Larry" Sewer, Turnbull, Alecia Wells and Lisa Williams.
Absent were delegates Arnold Golden, Elsie Thomas-Trotman and Arturo Watlington Jr.
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