Didn't the American people stage a revolution based on the principle of no taxation without representation? Gov. Charles W. Turnbull seems to have ignored that lesson — at least in regard to the tourism industry — when he increased the hotel room tax from 8 percent to 10 percent and vetoed the proposed Tourism Authority.
By his short-sighted, unfortunate decisions, he has, in effect, saddled the territory’s struggling hotel industry with another financial burden without benefit of any significant input into its own destiny.
The governor apparently believes that the only obstacle to increasing the number of visitors to the territory is a lack of money to advertise the destination. This is wildly inaccurate.
The destination itself has a plethora of problems that the government has failed to solve. In fact, in many instances the government’s ineffectiveness in dealing with the issues affecting tourism — including traffic, litter and environmental degradation — remains the crux of the problem.
The governor's latest moves send a negative message to the entire travel industry — and they come at a time when, ironically, the 24th Legislature seems to be working to reverse the "tourism-unfriendly" reputation of the Virgin Islands government. Additionally, Gov. Turnbull is again in direct conflict with his own Five-Year Economic Recovery Plan.
As Richard Doumeng said, the governor has just added to the burden of the few tourists who are still willing to pay the astronomical airfares to get to the Virgin Islands.
How long will it be before our remaining overnight guests throw up their hands in disgust and go to competing destinations such as Aruba, where there is a Tourism Authority – and an official government tourism website?
We hope the 24th Legislature can and will undo the damage that the governor has inflicted on our No. 1 industry, both by repealing the 2 percent hike in the hotel room tax and approving a Tourism Authority. These are issues of such importance to our economic well-being that both the majority and minority blocs should agree on a common course that will help — not harm — our ability to attract more visitors to our beautiful islands.

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The death of a woman Saturday whose body was found in a vehicle at Lindqvist Beach is being investigated as murder. Police sources confirmed Monday that the investigation had taken a new direction after an autopsy revealed that the woman, 51-year-old Ernestine Vanterpool, died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Deputy Police Chief Theodore Carty said Monday evening that homicide detectives are unsure whether Vanterpool was shot by an assailant or was attempting suicide when she was shot.
Carty said police believe Vanterpool had been living in the car. Items found in the vehicle included a television set, video cassette recorder and clothing. He said she also had a history of mental illness.
Detectives are attempting to determine whether Vanterpool was shot before she arrived at the beach. Carty said bullet holes found in the vehicle may have been older holes.
Witnesses at the beach saw Vanterpool sitting in the car, apparently sleeping. When some beach-goers noticed she was not breathing, they called the police. Vanterpool's death was classified as dead on arrival.
Vanterpool's death is the second homicide on St. Thomas this year and the fourth in the territory.

A nasty headwind as much as other riders challenged participants in the V.I. Cycling Federation’s first competitive race of the year on Sunday.
More than 20 riders took on the airport loop course, with Jamie Keys, last year’s V.I. champ, leading about 10 advanced racers on a four-lap, 25 mile race of cat and mouse. Racers not up for the wind and distance also had the choice of doing two or three laps.
The lead group of riders stayed together at an 18-minute-per-lap pace, which slowed slightly as the wind and tactics came into play. A steady easterly wind kept the pace slow on the Airport Road as the riders headed toward the Randall "Doc" James Horse Track.
A the beginning of the second lap heading west on the Melvin Evans Highway, Keys made a break from the group. But the pack, hitting speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, was able to stay on his wheel.
An unknown factor in the race was Puerto Rico’s Kuky Barrios, who is temporarily living on St. Croix. Barrios, an experienced racer, was consistently in the thick of the pack and on Keys’ wheel.
The third lap was a matter of keeping Keys in check. And while the strategy worked to some extent, that focus allowed Barrios and Kent Bradbury, arguably St. Croix’s strongest triathlete, to tuck themselves away in the pack and away from the nasty wind.
On the final lap along the highway, Bradbury made a break, followed by Keys and Barrios. The trio opened up a gap on the pack and never looked back.
Keys came across the finish line first at 1:10:30, a bike length ahead of Barrios, who was just ahead of Bradbury.
The V.I. Cycling Federation’s next race is the North Shore Road Race on Feb. 24. The race starts at 7 a.m. from Gentle Winds and goes to Carambola and back, twice. Each lap is 12 miles. For more information, contact Mike McQueston at 772-2343.

The 15th Annual Toast-To-The-Captain Road Race will be held on Feb. 10 at 6:00 a.m.
The 8.4 mile race celebrates Captain Teddy Seymour, the first Black man to sail around the world alone. The St. Croix sailor and former elementary school teacher in the Virgin Islands public school system set sail on Feb. 24, 1986 from the pier in Frederiksted, where he returned on June 19, 1987.
The race begins and ends near the Post Office in Christiansted. Following the race, awards will be presented by Seymour near where his boat is anchored.
Race entry form and more information is available at 777-0258 or online by clicking here.

"Illogical," a "mistake" and an "affront" are just a few of the words being used to describe Gov. Charles W. Turnbull’s decision to veto the proposed tourism authority and approval of a 2 percent increase in the hotel occupancy tax.
Hoteliers and business organizations in the territory lobbied Turnbull last week hoping that he would approve the tourism authority idea and veto the tax increase. Instead,he did the opposite. And that has the private sector asking where the governor’s "business-friendly" mantra has gone.
What has many people in an uproar is Turnbull’s veto of a proposal that would have replaced the V.I. Tourism Department with a semi-autonomous agency in charge of the territory’s tourism product. They also are upset that Turnbull, against the advice of hoteliers, increased the hotel occupancy tax from 8 percent to 10 percent.
"It’s a crime. It’s a tragedy. It’s illogical," said Wendell Snider, president of the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association. "The governor turned his back on the hotel industry."
Richard Doumeng, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association, said Turnbull’s decisions were an "affront" to the tourism industry. He said that when a proposal to hike the cruise passenger head tax by $2.50 was proposed, there was significant outcry. The 2 percent room tax, he said, would average about $10 per stay and came without a single public hearing.
Beverly Nicholson, executive director of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association, and St. Croix Chamber of Commerce President Carmelo Rivera said that increasing the occupancy tax at a time when airfares into the Virgin Islands are expensive is just another step in pricing the destination out of the tourism market.
"We are increasing the cost of a Virgin Islands vacation when impending airline consolidations will only raise already high airfares to the territory," Nicholson said.
Another aspect of the tax increase that has hoteliers fuming is that they have contracts with travel wholesalers that offer rooms at certain rates. When the occupancy tax was raised from 7 percent to 8 percent several years ago, Snider said not one wholesaler agreed to add the increase until it was time to renew the contracts, which are usually for a year.
"In today’s marketplace contractual agreements with hotels are set at least a year in advance. Increasing the room tax in the middle of the season will only wreak havoc with our travel partners and confuse the consumer," Nicholson said.
Turnbull said he vetoed the tourism authority because it would vest too much power in a community board without enough public-sector involvement. He also said eliminating the Tourism Department "overnight" was not prudent.
"We cannot overnight change from the current operation to a brand new authority without the necessary research and study to ascertain what is best for the territory," Turnbull said.
He said the greatest hindrance to the Tourism Department is a lack of funds to market the territory, hence the increase in the occupancy tax, which generates about $11 million a year.
In what appears to be a move to assuage the private sector, Turnbull is proposing a tourism advisory committee within the Tourism Department. The committee would be made up of the commissioner of Tourism and eight members appointed by the governor.
The vetoed tourism authority would have been structured like the V.I. Port Authority and the West Indian Co. Ltd. It would have had nine members — three from government and six from the private sector. All nominees would have been approved by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The board would have had the authority to issue bonds and would been managed by an executive director.
John de Jongh, president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, noted that the tourism authority proposal is recommended in the government’s five-year economic recovery plan. He said Turnbull’s offer of an advisory committee is like the governor saying, "We’ll let you in the room, but you can’t sit at the table."
He noted that WICO and the Port Authority are semi-autonomous and are playing important roles in the tourism industry.
"You already have the concept of these semi-autonomous agencies involved in tourism," he said. "So why is that bad?"
Snider said an advisory committee would have "no teeth."
"I sat on one in the Schneider administration to no avail," he said.

Government House on Monday announced dozens of sections in the mammoth 2001 Omnibus Authorization Act vetoed by Gov. Charles Turnbull, shortly after he left the territory for a nearly weeklong birthday vacation.
Turnbull line-item vetoed several sections and subsections in the act. Probably the single most controversial veto was of a proposal to set up a semi-autonomous tourism authority to replace the Department of Tourism. While Turnbull vetoed the authority proposal, which was backed strongly by the private sector, he did revive the idea of a tourism advisory committee within the Tourism Department.
A section of the act Turnbull did sign—raising the hotel occupancy tax by two percent—is causing as much discord as the veto of the tourism authority.
Along with five vetoes regarding the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget, Turnbull vetoed a personal use tax on items brought into the territory. The governor said that the tax study commission, which he signed into law albeit with vetoes of some sections, should analyze the idea of a personal use tax.
A section of the act that would have eliminated Election Day as a holiday was also vetoed because it was "not in the best interest of the people," Turnbull said in his veto message to Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd.
"Although I generally favor reduction in holidays, these particular days have ramifications beyond the mere deletion of a day off," he said.
A section of the Omnibus Act that would have declared a fiscal state of emergency in the territory was also nixed by Turnbull. He said such a declaration would have "severe dire" consequences on holders of the territory's bonds, efforts to lure future investors and the ability to float bonds in the future.
Additionally, Turnbull vetoed the following sections of the Omnibus Act:
– a proposal to revamp the makeup of the V.I. Port Authority board of directors;
– in part, establishing the Employment Enhancement Act of 2000;
– an amendment to the parimutuel gaming and simulcasting statute;
– six of seven rezoning amendments in one section of the act.
Among the sections approved by Turnbull were tax benefits for the Virgin Islands dairy industry, authorization to reorganize government housing industries, establishment of the Peace Officer Training Council, establishment of a Captive Insurance Program, amendments to the tobacco settlement agreement and amendments to the V.I. Code in regard to mentally ill defendants.
"While I have item vetoed major portions (of the Omnibus Act), the other provisions have been signed into law because they will benefit our community," Turnbull said. "It is hoped that these provisions will lead to increased economic opportunity for the people of the territory."
Liburd, meanwhile, said the eight-member Senate majority still has to review Turnbull's vetoes before it makes any attempts to override. Getting the 10 votes needed for an override, however, will be difficult because of the animosity between majority and minority bloc senators.
Because of that, Liburd said the majority may try another avenue. If a particular veto is offensive, Liburd said, "we'll move to repeal it."
In addition to the approved sections in the Omnibus Act, Turnbull also signed the Economic Development Commission bill. The bill combines the Industrial Development Commission, Government Development Bank, Industrial Park Development Corporation, Small Business Development Agency and the Bureau of Economic Research to streamline operations and promote economic activity in the community.

Government House on Monday announced dozens of sections in the mammoth 2001 Omnibus Authorization Act vetoed by Gov. Charles Turnbull, shortly after he left the territory for a nearly weeklong birthday vacation.
Turnbull line-item vetoed several sections and subsections in the act. Probably the single most controversial veto was of a proposal to set up a semi-autonomous tourism authority to replace the Department of Tourism. While Turnbull vetoed the authority proposal, which was backed strongly by the private sector, he did revive the idea of a tourism advisory committee within the Tourism Department.
A section of the act Turnbull did sign — raising the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent — is causing as much discord as the veto of the tourism authority.
Along with five vetoes regarding the Fiscal Year 2001 budget, Turnbull vetoed a personal use tax on items brought into the territory. The governor said that the tax study commission, which he signed into law albeit with vetoes of some sections, should analyze the idea of a personal use tax.
A section of the act that would have eliminated Election Day as a holiday was also vetoed because it was "not in the best interest of the people," Turnbull said in his veto message to Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd.
"Although I generally favor reduction in holidays, these particular days have ramifications beyond the mere deletion of a day off," he said.
A section of the Omnibus Act that would have declared a fiscal state of emergency in the territory was also nixed by Turnbull. He said such a declaration would have "severe dire" consequences on holders of the territory's bonds, efforts to lure future investors and the ability to float bonds in the future.
Additionally, Turnbull vetoed the following sections of the Omnibus Act:
– a proposal to revamp the makeup of the V.I. Port Authority board of directors;
– in part, establishing the Employment Enhancement Act of 2000;
– an amendment to the parimutuel gaming and simulcasting statute;
– six of seven rezoning amendments in one section of the act.
Among the sections approved by Turnbull were tax benefits for the Virgin Islands dairy industry, authorization to reorganize government housing industries, establishment of the Peace Officer Training Council, establishment of a Captive Insurance Program, amendments to the tobacco settlement agreement and amendments to the V.I. Code in regard to mentally ill defendants.
"While I have item vetoed major portions (of the Omnibus Act), the other provisions have been signed into law because they will benefit our community," Turnbull said. "It is hoped that these provisions will lead to increased economic opportunity for the people of the territory."
Liburd, meanwhile, said the eight-member Senate majority still has to review Turnbull's vetoes before it makes any attempts to override. Getting the 10 votes needed for an override, however, will be difficult because of the animosity between majority and minority bloc senators.
Because of that, Liburd said the majority may try another avenue. If a particular veto is offensive, Liburd said, "we'll move to repeal it."
In addition to the approved sections in the Omnibus Act, Turnbull also signed the Economic Development Commission bill. The bill combines the Industrial Development Commission, Government Development Bank, Industrial Park Development Corporation, Small Business Development Agency and the Bureau of Economic Research to streamline operations and promote economic activity in the community.

The mystery surrounding who put the boulders in front of public dumpsters on Valdemar Hill "Skyline" Drive Saturday has been solved. They were put there at the request of the Homer Wheaton estate, which said it owns the property.
William McConnell, attorney for the estate, said the boulders were to "put the public on notice that this is private property." He said the estate had instructed a local trucking company to place the boulders in front of the dumpsters.
McConnell said the government had plenty of warning. "They cannot say they weren't notified," he said.
Acting Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood said over the weekend that he would find the parties responsible for placing the boulders by the dumpsters. Callwood had the boulders removed on Sunday.
McConnell said a meeting with advisers to the governor about a year ago produced no action; he wrote to a number of government officials in September. The letter addressed to Territorial Police Chief Jose Garcia said in part, "You may not be aware that the dumpsters on Skyline Drive sit on property owned by the Wheaton estate. The estate has informed the government of this, and requested that the dumpsters be removed."
The letter further said that since no action had been taken, the estate was advising the company responsible for the dumpsters, Patrick Charles Enterprises Inc., that they were on private property and must be removed.
"Once the dumpsters are moved, the government should then post no dumping signs and will be held accountable thereafter for any garbage dumped on the estate's private property," the letter continued.
McConnell concluded the letter by requesting that, if necessary, police officers advise Charles company employees that they are trespassing and risk arrest.
Copies of the letter were sent to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull; Franz Christian, Police commissioner; Wayne Callwood, then Public Works assistant commissioner; Mark Biggs, Property and Procurement commissioner; Ira Hobson, Housing, Parks and Recreation commissioner; Andrew Rutnik, Licensing and Consumer Affairs commissioner; Iver Stridiron, attorney general; and Christine Wheaton.
McConnell said Wheaton had been very patient.
"Permission for the dumpsters being on the property was never sought, nor given to the government," he said. "Nobody wants their property to be used as a garbage dump, and especially without their permission."
Aside from the garbage in the dumpsters, McConnell said, old batteries and refrigerator parts on the property behind the dumpsters are creating an environmental health hazard.
Asked if the estate might do the same thing at Drake's Seat, McConnell said, "Hopefully, it won't." He said he had not noticed any vendors in the area Monday.
Callwood could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

James Emanuel Stapleton, known to his friends as "Saga," died Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Juan F. Luis Hospital.
Funeral services are planned for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7 at St. Paul's Church, Prince St., Christiansted. A viewing will begin at noon.
Interment will be in the Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife, Clydella Stapleton; mother, Rebecca Jones; daughters, Sandy Stapleton and Sanger Stapleton-Nicholas; sisters, Gloria Atterbury, Naomi Sweeney, Monalie Jones, and Shirley Jones; brothers, Everton, Charles, and Francis Jones; grandchildren, Wayne, Tacisha, Shawne, and Samuel Moving, Jahmarie Stapleton, Kevin, Keith, and Kemley Nicholas; brothers-in-law, John Horton, Emanuel Sweeney, and Anthony Boatswain; nieces, Gloria Stapleton, Sandra Ward, and Mitchell Atterbury; nephews, Ruel Sweeney, Shawn Christian, Jamal, Kelvin, and Warren; sons-in-law, Dave Nicholas and Wayne Mowing; special friends, Mary, Eulalie, Danziel, Rupertha, Caren, Hymme, and Ethian.
Funeral arrangements are in the care of Thomas Hyll Funeral Chapel.