Dear Source:
“Is this the St. Croix District Board of Elections or the Board of Adelbert Bryan?”
“…just me talking…”
This is one of my many thoughts and comments on the current situation taking place at the St. Croix District Board as a member elected and serving in my third term.
Yesterday, I sat in on what I considered an unnecessary “Special Meeting” to discuss the “emergency need” to fill the vacancy left by James Webber III, the former Deputy Supervisor for the St. Croix District Board. Just a quick chronology based on my observations and involvement at yesterday’s meeting; first and foremost I viewed it as yet still another waste of taxpayer’s money to pay us for an activity that could have been vetted at our “regularly” scheduled meeting next week Wednesday, April 3, 2013. No action to hire a Supervisor or Deputy Supervisor could legally take place until the next Joint Board meeting, which is scheduled for April 24, 2013, or unless the Chair of the Joint Board calls a special meeting. Neither member Bryan nor any other Board member can unilaterally make a decision to hire or appoint any candidate or current employee to assume an immediate role of Deputy Supervisor.
Secondly, I read with interest this morning in the V.I. Source online newspaper where member Webster was quoted as saying that “we approached her about the position.” Her being Caroline Adams-Fawkes. It is obviously clear that this was pre-staged by member Bryan and at least member Webster and I would dare to imagine one or two more members of his majority caucus. I want to interject here that Mrs. Adams-Fawkes is someone that I have the utmost respect for but she too has to apply via the process set forth by the Joint Boards Personnel committee. I hope that Mrs. Adams-Fawkes recognizes that any representations made to her were done outside the confines of the Board and without the input of the Joint Board. I dare not assume that she knows what this process is since it hasn’t been formally presented yet.
We have several competent staffers in the Office of the Supervisor that could have been nominated to temporarily fill this vacancy, but he chose to circumvent the Board and give no consideration to the possible concerns or recommendations of any other member. In the last meeting of the Joint Board on Friday, March 15, 2013, a Personnel committee was formed for purposes of advertising the vacancies, vetting the applicants and making recommendations to the Joint Board for final disposition, among other items. The idea that member Bryan would suggest that “we needed to have a reputable person with experience for this position…..” as he is so quoted in the Daily News, is a slap in the face of the ladies in the office.
This again goes to my reason for reducing my thoughts to writing; this Election System is spiraling in a downward free fall because of member Bryan’s lack of leadership. We have had at least four meetings of the St. Croix District, of which two of the agenda’s were basically the same and replete with administrative items that required no board action and no items that showed his road map to move the Board forward from this district. Member Bryan is lost in his determination to prove to the community by spewing the same old rhetoric about what the current Supervisor, staff and other members past and present have done, or not done over his past two years on the board, and his allegations of supposed corruption, that the community will not look to the substance of his own in actions. Do you remember how many times he took us to court as a non-member and lost! I challenge the community to ask him what does his record of accomplishments show for his first two years. Ask him why besides his lame excuses, he didn’t participate in the real work of the Board as it relates to voter registration, and executing the functions of administering the past primary and general elections of 2012 outside of his “observer status”. He literally spent all of his time at meetings being disruptive and filibustering because he didn’t have a majority to support his agenda. He now has such a majority and what does he do other than continue to do more of the same. He continues to take credit for the new scanning and tabulating devices that the former Joint Board approved albeit the equipment was not fully EAC certified at the time of approval even though he and other Board member(s) from the other District affirmed they were; another misrepresentation of facts. This equipment wasn’t fully certified until recently let the record reflect.
A real leader leads but this leader is a figment of his own imagination that tells him he is a superman with more powers than the Board. He stated in the meeting that he was going to change locks on doors in the office and the vehicle that is the property of the Elections System without permission from the requisite entities or even as much as the consensus of the Board. The Election System has a contract with Sunny Isles Development LLC. I hope that they recognize that this is an action of his and not the Elections System or the St. Croix District Board and deal with that accordingly. Once again his over reaching abuse of authority. He adjourned yesterday’s meeting abruptly without any motion to adjourn or second to such motion from the Board members present because he was being challenged and instead of debating the matters being discussed in a constructive fashion, he found it more convenient to act illegally again. He even went so far as to fail to recognize member Lisa Harris-Moorhead because in his view, she was not at the meeting that he illegally adjourned and he further instructed member Webster not to record her as present because she was not in the room at roll call. His agenda called for personnel matters and legal matters that were never brought before the body. Is this the St. Croix District Board of Elections or the Board of Adelbert Bryan!
It is my continued intention to speak out against the atrocities of his lack of leadership and maintain the transparency this community has asked for and deserves. I refuse to be lumped into an organization that takes no responsibility for the lack of competent planning as we move into our next full term elections; especially when we will have to host such an election that will determine the next Governor, Delegate to Congress, Senators and Boards.
Member Bryan has a following that takes exception to any other member that dare to challenge him. They considered us everything under the sun but upstanding citizens and elected officials. They continue to be lead blindly and do not care to understand the real purpose of the Board. To them I say “start reading and comprehending title 18 of the V.I. Code, the purpose of the board and just maybe ask questions and stop being lead into his abyss.” I maintain my position that none of you will deter my deliberations and thought processes with your continued insults and lack of respect. My parents didn’t raise a fool. A former Board member always told me from her wisdom that “… when fool a talk nah fool a listen…” Is this the St. Croix District Board of Elections or the Board of Adelbert Bryan!
Respectfully submitted by
Raymond J. Williams
Member, St. Croix District Board
