Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. mused about his administration’s abandoned and derelict plan to rehabilitate abandoned and derelict properties during a V.I. Public Finance Authority Board meeting Wednesday and said electoral candidates need to address the problem in 2026.
“I keep saying it: these are the election year issues that we need to be talking about — not people’s personalities and stuff,” he said. “And you know, the candidates have to address like, what are you going to do? Because I thought in this … last four years, we could have gotten something on the books, and then we tweak it. It wouldn’t be perfect, but we tweak it until we get it to the point where we can get something done.”
The comment came amid a discussion about government-owned properties and leases during which board member Keith O’Neale referenced a collapsing building in Frederiksted.
“Where does eminent domain come in to say, ‘well okay, the owners are not taking care of this place … not only is that an eyesore, but it’s a hazard,’” he asked. “Where can the government step in and say, ‘okay, for the public good, we’re going to take over this building, fix it up and use it for something?’”
First proposed during a Government House press briefing nearly three years ago, the V.I. Abandoned and Derelict Real Property Conservatorship Act would have allowed Superior Court judges to declare buildings abandoned or derelict if they met certain criteria. A court-appointed conservator would then rehabilitate or rebuild the property with input from the property’s owner. Some residents voiced concerns about the proposed legislation in opinion articles and town hall meetings.
“The people them don’t want to do nothing,” Bryan said during Wednesday’s meeting. “Again, we submitted our legislation. We had town hall meetings. People showed up and were rude and disrespectful. We sent it to the Legislature for comment — never see the light of day, because everybody afraid to do anything. And you know, doing nothing is an action, and that’s what we have chosen.”
Bryan acknowledged revitalization efforts from residents, nonprofits and businesses but said more has to be done.
“They didn’t have to pass my legislation, but they could have passed some legislation,” he said. “It’s like we don’t want to do anything. We like to talk but … it takes conviction and bravery, and apparently we don’t have the kind of commitment to keeping our towns in place.”
The PFA Board approved a pair of leases during Wednesday’s meeting, including a three-year, $430,000 rental agreement with the West Indian Company for viNGN office space and a three-year, $320,255 rental agreement with Banco Popular for offices for V.I. Disaster Recovery Office staff. An earlier $80,000 authorization for two turf soccer fields — developed in partnership with FIFA for the Ezra Fredericks Park on St. Thomas — was also increased to $150,826. The board approved $132,778,880 to fund the next phase of construction for the Donna M. Christian Christensen MD Health Center on St. Croix.
The board spent more time discussing millions of dollars in funding for consultant services after board member Dorothy Isaacs noted that a two-year, $25.6 million contract extension to Ernst and Young sounded “like a lot of money.”
“I wish I had stock in Ernst and Young. I mean, they really get a lot of money from us,” she said. “I hope they’re worth it.”
The board then approved an additional $5.7 million to Ernst and Young for reconciliation and cash flow analysis services and a two-year, $21.2 million extension to the government’s contract with disaster recovery consultants Witt O’Brien’s.
