After questioning whether the governor should have used public funds to secure his home in Estate Mafolie, senators found themselves in the hot seat Tuesday after accusations that they knowingly approved money for the project surfaced during an all day hearing on St. Thomas.
Testifying before the Financial Services, Infrastructure and Consumer Affairs Committee, a couple of former senators said they’ve been hounded by residents who have "implicated" them in the recent controversy that’s been brewing over the security measures, which were proposed in 2007 and completed in 2008.
Senators old and new said they were under the impression the money — $1.3 million reprogrammed to Public Works from the Nadir Bridge Project — were for road repairs alone. Some, such as Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson, said they had been "thrown under the bus" by Sen. Carlton "Ital" Dowe, who was responsible for introducing the amendment that appropriated the money. They also referenced a recent opinion handed down by legislative legal counsel Yvonne Tharpes condemning the government’s actions as "illegal."
Dowe said later that an omnibus bill passed during the 27th Legislature incorporated several appropriations made by senators for a wide range of projects. When senators met to discuss the bill and its proposed contents, no concerns or issues were raised about the appropriation, he added.
And while senators repeatedly parsed the language in the original bill, dissecting its grammatical structure and intent, some of the territory’s top government officials — including Attorney General Vincent Frazer, Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls and Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin Maduro — spent all day in the Earle B. Ottley Legislative Chambers, waiting until after 10 p.m. for the hearing to finish.
Smalls, Frazer and Maduro are among the group of government officials being sued by St. Thomas resident Lawrence Olive over what’s been referenced as "questionable expenditures" for the governor’s private residence. The suit prevented the officials from giving testimony Tuesday, leaving the governor’s head of security and the territory’s deputy solicitor general to field questions for the first eight or so hours.
At issue was the validity of an opinion rendered in 2007 by then acting Attorney General Elliot M. Davis stating that the use of "public funds is permissible, even if a private individual derives a special benefit, as long as a public purpose is served and that public purpose is the primary reason for the expenditure."
The bottom line was making sure the governor was safe at his home, testifiers said. Meanwhile, previous governors have had similar security measures installed at their private residences and Catherineberg, which would have cost more than $2 million to renovate if Gov. John deJongh Jr. and his family had moved in as opposed to the almost $500,000 that was spent on security at his home, they added.
Administration sources said Tuesday it is unknown what was spent on prior guard shacks because there was no financial paper trail left behind.
No work was done inside the governor’s house — it was limited to "solely security work" done outside, and that’s what was paid for, contractors said Tuesday.
Further, recent repairs made to the fence were made "without any cost to the government of the Virgin Islands," according to Nicole Turner-Wilkinson, Public Works chief engineer.
Before a guardhouse was installed on the property, security was stationed under a "push-up" tent, which had to be abandoned when the guard was making his rounds or had to leave to use the bathroom, according to Henry Thomas Jr., the governor’s chief of security. Thomas said he made a decision to conduct a security survey of the residence when the governor opted to live at home instead of moving into Catherineberg.
The survey’s recommendations were based on the need to secure the governor of the Virgin Islands to ensure the continuity of government, Thomas said. While there has been an increased level of bomb threats, anthrax scares and threatening letters to deJongh and his wife, the neighborhood in which the governor lives is prone to robberies and home invasions, he added.
James said later that another hearing on the matter would be held, and during the meeting, senators voted to subpoena the governor’s chief counsel and chief of staff to appear before the Legislature, along with the members of the Public Finance Authority Board. Senators also requested a copy of the transcript of this month’s PFA meeting in which the payment of funds to Public Works was ratified.
Senators said they hope, by the end of the process, to put in place some internal controls or alternative living options for the governor that would ensure "this situation doesn’t happen again."
Present during Tuesday’s meeting were Dowe, Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, James, Nelson, Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly, Michael Thurland, Celestino A. White Sr. and Alvin L. Williams.
