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VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 Legislature USVI September 14, 2022 · 1.3 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/lIjTtKjAf2s Status This is a working transcript produced by machine from a recording of a public proceeding. It is a finding aid, not an official record of the Legislature. Transcribed by VI Update, using OpenAI Whisper large-v3-turbo, run locally. Not reviewed by a person. Reliability Automatic transcription, UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording before relying on it. Speech recognition splits spoken digits and wraps figures mid-number, so a dollar amount, a vote count or a bill number can be wrong in a way that reads as correct. Speakers are not identified: automatic speaker labelling was measured unusable and removed. 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No permission is needed, and none is ours to grant or withhold. the taxi cab commission needs to get its act together they have challenges yes but it's not nothing that cannot be fixed and that is one of the reasons why the sponsor brought up the legislation forward i'm yes i'm gonna of course i vote yes i'm gonna support it it's not about micromanaging it's about getting it right about doing the right thing by our guests by our people and by our small business owners the taxi drivers we are this where are they in all of these decisions not being made how are they being affected how we must protect our taxi drivers or small business owners we must protect our tourism product and we must do the right thing by our people and based on what i've heard based on what i've seen and based on the feedback from the drivers the other one has affected the most it's unacceptable so changes is part of life and changes must be made it's that simple now let me go to um former director smith testimony quickly because you spoke and i thank you for the men of the data they brought forward you spoke to um basically in 2000 governor charles turnbull did an executive order which reorganized the department of licensing and consumer fair to dissolve the commission and replace it with a division of taxi regulation that was not self-interest there was to one minute assist and assure that you know we move forward in the industry then again in august 2005 the inspector general concluded an added report of the division of taxi regulation okay which as in december of 1999 uncovered the need for increased level of efficiency primarily with 0:00:00 focus on inventory control for the safeguarding of unissued license plates and medallions two document retention and three enforcement and inspection of taxi cab vehicles basically are required by by code four okay and then in september 19 of 2007 the legislature again vetted bill number 27001 which established act number 6968 which repealed and reacted vic title 3 subsection 274 with amendments so the point is we do amendments all the time we try to improve and create opportunities change laws based on the times to uh um basically improve whatever operation is in whatever department so to say it's self-interest and i don't like that kind of language that is wrong that is not why we are here that is not why we are here we are here to make changes and improve processes and improve processes and deliver on behalf of our people so please i i really respect you madam board chair but at the same time i don't like statements like that because 0:01:58 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 1 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 you're talking about me we don't do that that's not why we are here we are here to impact lives in a positive way so please let's work together let's agree to disagree and do the right thing on behalf of our taxi drivers on behalf of our tourism product on behalf of our people thank you so much madam chef for the time thank you so much senator blighting i just want to really amplify what senator blighting says he and i don't agree all the time many a time we disagree but part of our responsibility in this committee on government operations and i'm saying a key operations is to assure of the efficient and productive operation of government entities and this committee vets we go on site visits in fact i really want to approach my committee members about going on some other site tours because we have to see how the government is operating and whether an agency or department is operating ineffectively and inefficiently the taxicab commission in itself is a revenue generating entity it brings in money to the coffers anything on any type of operation that impedes that is a red flag and so this body created the taxicab commission that's how it'll get created and if it's not functioning uh efficiently then we have to rectify it we have to have those discussion and this is why this bill is being brought forward also you know some of us most of us i would say have had opportunities to work in different arenas and we know about governance and how it works so don't take it lightly that we don't have the the real uh wherewithal and idea of how they're supposed to be working we do and we definitely want to be able and be in a position wherein this entity can operate efficiently the taxi the taxi drivers are one of the first arm of our tourism industry the first arm our visitors see when they come and if they are not happy and that's what they're saying to us about the operations we can't even account for the money that comes in that's another thing you know there has to be some type of mechanism in place for us to hold you accountable because our people are holding all of us accountable too here everybody holding us accountable so we also have to hold you accountable senator novelle e francis you are recognized for your five minutes 0:03:49 oh thank you very much madam chair chairwoman lloyd back in march 29th i requested the minutes of your previous meetings be sent to the committee chair to circulate to the committee members have you done that chair the secretary was there you were on mute first can you repeat yes i am the board chair i'm not the secretary and that statement was um you know was said to the secretary and i believe that she she spoke with someone she spoke with you mr francis or she sent you a letter i didn't want a letter i asked for the minutes are you aware of whether or not the minutes was sent my my request was clear i wanted the minutes of the previous meetings to be submitted to the i would i would ask her again if she did send them mr senator francis i can clarify and add that we did not receive any minutes we did make that uh request through the chair which is uh miss lloyd to to send that information that we never received anything we received uh email dated april 20th i have it right here and that included the information and i'll read it in the record so you are aware of it as well good day senator joseph well i'll read it on my time i'll read it on my time but it's very noteworthy uh for us to to delve into that too too kindly proceed senator francis thank you and i hope i'll be getting back some of my time um because today is very serious and i think that is critical that we well let me ask about the implementation of the tariff there was uh august 31st timeline for the 0:06:18 establishment and implementation of the tariff has that been completed uh senator i would um if you will i would let um the acting executive director speak to that please miss fernice gums bernice gums bernice gums acted executive director taxicab commission senator francis it has not unfortunately uh we are still thank you done right there you all want to come in here and tell legislators what to do and simple simple things that you all are supposed to be doing you're not doing this is a circus i'm calling on the governor to stop this embarrassment this is unacceptable come on either that or we need to make a decision in this body whether or not we need to have this commission rendered defunct this is an embarrassment of an individual that worked for this government for 33 years i am embarrassed i stand in full support of the legislation before us and i'll vote accordingly when the time come stop this circus it's not reflective of what this government and governance is all about and again we have hard working government employees we have hard working individuals that should not be some uh subjected to this time of embarrassment my heart hurt today thank you very much madam chair for the time thank you so much uh senator francis i mean i really try to give 0:08:24 people the benefit of the doubt but this commission is really uh out of whack and it's not operating as it should be and that is alarming if you see a committee calling you in all the time that's a red flag there's something not operating correctly and efficiently uh senator franklin d johnson you are recognized for your five minutes thank you very much madam chair good afternoon to the testifiers good afternoon to the view and listen audience i don't need five minutes my mind have already been made up to support this piece of measure here i am maybe a false storm senator but i've been following this process for years and when the taxicab commission came to the finance budget hearing it was one of the most embarrassing moment that i've seen from any agency in my entire life following legislation i've never seen nothing to the point that the financier had to actually call him and send him home and that's embarrassing and i hope the governor and his team is paying close attention to what's going on in in this agency and this board because it's i have i've one senator francis my colleague for quite some time and i i have normally posted that a gal wrote up and angry but based on what i 0:10:18 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 2 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 see here i i'm not going to get frustrated i'm going to support this measure wholeheartedly i want to thank the two previous uh executive director for taking time out to come here and testify and i know the reason why both of you came here because you're concerned about this territory you're concerned about the taxicab commission the manner in which is being run and that's why you took time out of your life you you could be you done and gone you you already left you you don't need this but you're concerned for this territory you know it it it shows in your testimony and your willingness to testify on your experience i spent about a hour yesterday and christian stead talking to the taxi guys them down in christian stead they're right where to be by the government house and they're they're so frustrated so many things so many violations are happening with people who run in illegal gypsy cab uh supposedly uber everything that can go wrong is going wrong right now with a taxi cab drivers with nobody to represent them nobody people pull up right in front of them pick up five six people charge a less price and nobody that can respond to to assist them so this is this is really embarrassing and and one of these days when something happened with one of those illegal gypsy or uber whoever running all of these illegal runs that's when we're going to say we should have done something about it and i keep saying we keep responding afterwards when crisis it we need to be more preventative at the appropriate time i will be supporting this measure and my reasons for that question is is no disrespect to none of you guys who came here and testify my reason for not to ask the question because i got loads of the question but it's very clear that this measure needs to go in place in order for this agency this taxicab commission to run correctly it's clear it's no it's a no-brainer for me so you know i appreciate you guys i said thank you very much for coming and hearing what needs to be hard because it makes my decision making quite easy i don't have to guess if i support this measure and i want to thank the 0:12:18 sponsor of this measure and definitely will be signing on to the measure i have i i think i passed my five minutes i'm good to go i'm ready to vote madam chair thank you thank you so much senator johnson senator javon e james senior senator alma francis heiliger you're recognized for your five minutes thank you good afternoon colleagues good afternoon to the people of the territory good afternoon to staff and the testifiers okay is this loud okay the first the first set of questions i want to ask has to do with um the board if you guys have had the ability to hire and fire all the time what's the problem because clearly there has been quite a bit of people that have come before you in regards to whether former executive directors have started the process whether there have been situations where information has been forwarded to you to process but for some reason it stagnated it stalled and this commission is not getting the people it needs could you share with me what the major issue is the chairman of the board is she available yes i am yes i am could you please respond to the question it's a multi-faceted question but i think i'll answer how you know i can uh the problem 0:14:27 the problem i can you hear me yes i hear you but i don't want to keep stalling my time so yeah but i you know i it's not me uh there's major problems yes there's major problems with the executive directors that do not follow protocol and what i would like to suggest to each and every senator that's interested that we the board hold a meeting so that we can lay out everything where went wrong what's going wrong what what has been done what has not been done uh okay all of the okay so you're you're you're telling me that you believe it's so much it's so much going on and we need to take time out again to have a private meeting with you guys okay um the next question i want to ask has to do with the bylaws and the completion of them um do you guys have any standard operations that you're going to be dealing with until these bylaws are completed because it seems that there's still some major issues as to how you function um the acting executive director or the board can share with me your thoughts on that what i know recently we hired an attorney and we were operating on title 3 section 274 and that was our guide for the most part but we since hired our uh uh an attorney and who is working on the bylaws we have some uh some drafted bylaws is that time frame for the completion of those bylaws yeah i yeah it's just he's working on a number of things and so um i will try and honestly i try to get back with you to give you a date when you know it will be finished it has been sent to the board for review okay and um 0:16:20 only heard from one member well i'm gonna just wrap up on my thoughts i as a first term senator here i've listened to quite a bit of testimony coming from former employees i've listened to the board and this seems to come across to me from somebody who's for the first time hearing some of these issues it it seems like a power struggle and what this legislation is attempting to do is potentially shift where that power lies to potentially bring about a better solution to the execution of hiring employees at the taxicab commission i don't want anyone to have the impression that this is a personal situation or you know agendas that are coming from the senators because for me i am not a taxi but i'm their representative and if i'm consistently hearing concerns if i'm consistently getting complaints i mean simple things even speaking to the taxi men on the street dealing with enforcement and certain concerns that they have you know how do we get to a point that there's a balance that people can be hired without all these multiple levels of bureaucracy that the law allows because i'm not putting it on you is how the law is currently written because the same way that senators can write laws we can change them and if we're constantly seeing that issue lies we have the ability and the right to step in and say you know what this is something we need to amend and fix so i personally am in support of changing this i was in 0:18:26 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 support of it from the last time this young man was here i think his name was shane and he was describing some of his concerns and issues and i didn't believe that this is what he was dealing with but at the end of the day it is my hope that if we are able to utilize by changing this law and trying to give this taxi cab a little bit more balance because that is what i'm seeing i was able to participate in couple of the town halls where the other former executive director was at where they were collecting all of the fees from the taxi taxi drivers i personally thought she was doing a pretty good job i was very impressed by the way she was working and i thought that the commission was going up but to hear the testimony today i mean you would think that you know something is have a disconnect there's a very huge disconnect between the board and who's dealing with the day-to-day operations so i am in support of this piece of legislation and i hope it brings about some resolve thank you so much madam chair for the time thank you senator francis heiliger i understand that miss smith wanted to place a remark on the record miss smith you're recognized a point of inquiry uh senator francis yeah i will go after miss smith but uh just so you can recognize a point of inquiry linda smith former executive director for the virgin islands taxicab commission um this is a public entity it's a regulatory body there's no need based on the sunshine laws of the virgin islands for any meeting to be held between the senator and the board i'm not trying to dictate what to do but if you have not gotten a minute since march there's no need for a meeting all right and i will go on the record to even say there is even two boards as opposed to one because there is division thank you madam chair okay uh thank you so much miss smith i wanted to uh before i talk on my time i guess it is my time to talk um a point of inquiry i'm so sorry senator francis i forgot your point of inquiry uh thank you very much madam chair miss lloyd are you back in the territory no i'm not how long have you been out of the territory i've been since july 2020 but i still live in st thomas my that's where my resident is and i i would be back there post case did you say from 0:21:20 2020 yes okay so you're micromanaging from a distance i'm not micromanaging sir thank you very much um madam chair for the time thank you so much uh mr chairman this is alarming this is alarming it's a very small entity it shouldn't have so much challenges in managing it usually you see some of these challenges in larger entities in my experience um i have some concerns and it goes along the line of the same questioning that my colleague the vice chair of the committee acts and he was very much really keen on that because he recalled it because i made it uh as a question as an inquiry to get some information regarding the minutes now my office we sent out a request to get the minutes to miss lloyd on april 4 2022 and the deadline for miss lloyd to have submitted the minutes to the chair was april 19 2022 and if they had any questions that are like they would have even called and let us know that's a normal operating procedure within my office on april 20th the day after the dead the information was due i got a email from miss lloyd indicating and i'll read it i apologize for not responding sooner regarding the request for all board meeting minutes since miss linda smith assumed the position of executive director of the virgin islands taxicab commission miss myrna george who is a board member and secretary has fallen ill and as such cannot provide the requested information at this time as soon as secretary george gets better she will provide information regards loretta lloyd tcc board chairperson i read this into the record not to condemn anyone but to have the record reflect that we never received any minutes so i don't know uh maybe uh the current acting executive director could let me know if the board has been receiving 0:23:09 any stipend because they may receive stipend when they meet has the board received any stipend no not to date uh let me then ask the the most recent former executive director miss smith did you process any stipend payment for the board while you while you were employed at as the executive director linda smith former executive director um no madam chair there was uh i believe a bill that was pending pending but it was never processed okay now to your predecessor mr shame benjamin did you process any stipend payment for the board yes oh do you recall uh from what time period you process uh stipend payments up to termination there were some checks to be um distributed okay so the checks were already printed yes okay and this would have been last year 2021 um around june or july last year yes see i have an issue now and this is about governance and i served on a board and we were also entitled to stipend payments we have to show a record of when we are meeting your minutes is a record of your meeting we would have minutes and moreover and moreover we would also have a stenographer who would be there to record our meeting procedures and the process and everything uh that we deliberated on as a board and because of that and even if we went to to outreach we would have photos uh to show our outreach activities and that would be documentation that we were working so a minutes or some type of uh supporting document to show that you are entitled to those uh stipend i mean 0:25:41 it's nominal amount uh how much do you recall mr smith how much you missed i'm so sorry mr benjamin how much you paid the board the board the board received in stipends um it was different amount for different board members okay what was the the most and the the least you can't recall okay understand mr benjamin so that that is an issue for me just as far as governance and being able to get stipends and the like because you should have your minutes your minutes is a record that you worked for that time and i don't know if the board has a policy miss lloyd does the board has have a policy that you have promulgated and voted upon regarding how your stipends are issued and when time um i can't tell 0:28:08 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 4 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 you what for what but yes and i can tell you something else can you can miss miss lloyd miss lloyd kindly provide us kindly provide us with that that document because that is key okay i'm requesting that document that you just referred to that the board has in place uh to issue your stipend payments i have deep concern regarding the governance of this board and to be able to effectively uh carry out the mission and purpose of the taxicab commission it is not a good day i give people the benefit of the doubt and when i'm hearing how the board is not assisting and and carrying out its mandate as required by the law and at the tail end our taxi men and women hard-working men and women who go out there they can't even get the tariff increase when when everything else is going up that's a problem that's a problem and it should not happen we are servants we are not self-serving we are servants to our people who has placed us in a position of authority and trust so that we could carry out the mandates uh that are required so we can be of further service so i i really had to think hard about this uh bill but i i have to stand in support because it has to be able to write it we have to write this so and correct it so that going forward the executive director is empowered to carry out the mandates the board you're you're there to provide and to do the rules and regulations and work with the executive director to promulgate them and to ratify but you're not there to micromanage the the chairperson recognizes the sponsor of this legislation janelle case sorrow for your five minutes thank you madam chair this is really a no-brainer for me i've sat and painfully watched the board just erode and this is no offense to you miss gums but i i talked about it before you were hired you worked for four months of those four months three of them you didn't even receive a paycheck no prf went to omb you must love you must love miss lloyd because nobody can have you on a payroll for three months without a paycheck and to date have you been back paid vernis gums acting executive director taxicab commission uh yes i have been you've been paid hold on so you've been paid for the three months you were working with no check yes i have been and there was a prf that went through the process that did not take the the entire three months it was a back and forth it was challenging yes but the necessary documentation was sent up uh in a time frame less than three months miss gums the story keep changing because when we asked a question before the prf didn't go up to to omb and maybe that's a rotarian answer that you're giving me because you guys share the four-way test together and as a rotarian they asked the four-way test does it benefit all and this is and and i am going to be very stunned today my remarks because i'm gonna apply the four-way test here and the actions of the board what has transpired even with you it didn't meet the four-way test and then mr mr benjamin the board was requiring you to make stipends to them and the law requires that you are paid your per diem one time 0:31:31 for the day right yes and the board was charging the taxi cab the the taxpayers they were collecting two per diems for the day correct yes so this was their new income if they make a phone call to get a podium if they if they talk about the grass and the grass is too high outside and the car last 20 seconds they submit for podium and mr benjamin came with the documentation to show that miss lloyd i call you out on the floor because you say i am lying on you and i'm not telling the truth and it never happened before miss lloyd you don't even live here and you micromanaging from across the caribbean sea across the atlantic ocean and a whole different landmass you want me to respond to that no i do not please no excuse me please mute the mic of the chairwoman you know i'm sorry i mute the mic of the chairwoman of the taxicab commission this is not going to be any type of contentious meeting uh madam clerk hold our senator saru time this is not going to be a contentious committee meeting we uh the senator is on her time and do not interrupt the senator unless she asks a direct question of you please be so kind senator saru kindly proceed with your remarks thank you madam chair and then several of the board members have requested in person meetings and today the board cannot meet in person the gateway to our tourism product are our taxi our taxis the operators mr benjamin are you 0:33:28 a taxi man yes and you of your first-hand knowledge as to how the industry should be run correct yes miss smith miss smith you came in and you came in and roller skates tongue out there tongue all hair discussions and tariffs you understand how the industry should be run correct that's correct senator and do you feel like the board you stopped your power to do your job correct that's correct that's correct correct did you not have an employee while as executive director apply for sick leave quite a few times and you denied the leave no it was what leave was it no you did you have a situation okay if you i'm not sure okay so we had an employee where not sickly but leave was denied twice that employee went away for three months did not check in with the taxicab commission that is called job abandonment and then when he came back to work and the executive director tried to put their foot down and reprimand that employee that's and are you saying who put her under miss smith miss smith miss smith you aware of the situation right yes now i do yes okay and then that employee that was job abandonment and then when you tried to reprimand the employee were you able to reprimand that employee no senator okay who sent the employee back to work when you tried to reprimand the employee the board right that's correct senator and the board also demanded that you reinstate the employee with full back pain correct uh that's correct senator we have a lawless commission here and everybody 0:35:27 should be cringing at what is happening because i can't hold a vi lottery accountable for the employee the chief that never worked for nine months and not hold the taxicab commission accountable i am an equal opportunity disha of reprimands and miss lloyd with all due respect you are terrorizing the executive directors of the taxicab commission and this bill 0:37:36 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 5 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 today is a bill of liberation they need to be liberated to do their jobs and you know what's also painful as a chair on the committee on rules and judiciary all of you came before me and the committee on rules for confirmation and you provide a very compelling argument as to why we should have voted yes for you to be on a taxicab commission and today i regret ever saying yes to the confirmation of the taxicab commission because there are members of the commission that know you're doing wrong and they remain silent and silence is an a tacit agreement to the wrongs that's taking place and i have yet to hear commission members say hey we have a problem everybody falling in line the obedience of authorities why wars exist because people don't speak out madam chair i'm asking for the support of the members of this committee and this legislation because at some point we have to write the ship and while we liberation it did the executive directors miss gums i do not expect you to fall in line with what is happening with this board because this bill is going to empower you and it's my hope that you do your job and that you're empowered to to stand up even when the board is in the opposite direction leadership is necessary and you don't have to run from them because we're liberating you today thank you for the time madam chair thank you so much uh senator saru i do uh want to note that we had i received uh some information that one of the board members ms whatley you wanted to place a comment on the record good afternoon again this is elizabeth henson whatley the vice chair of the board and i thought it necessary to make some clarification as some of um our representatives are saying that board members aren't speaking up and speaking out there is a rule of conduct in any board and as it is a deliberative body a lot of things discussed uh stays with the board and so i respect that aspect of it i'm not here to demean any of my in fellow board members i'm just going to speak to the truths and the facts of what's going on i wanted to be very clear the testimony of miss lloyd as the chairperson representing the board is not completely uh reflective of how i feel uh and although my name is on the top of the letter uh the the testimony i am the tone of the testimony is not one of my liking however i respect that she put that forward as the chairperson and so i'll leave it there what i'd like to say as the member that was appointed to represent and have the input from the department of tourism there's a few things i'd like to touch on first off i'm not going to delve too much into the build but i could understand what why it was created and i would like to say the process is one of being collaborative through um working with the board and the executive director is supposed to be a joint effort in hiring any staff member and if we followed it as written there i don't see where there would be an issue because the recommendation of staffing comes from the executive director to be reviewed by board members 0:39:46 and that's how it's supposed to be as far as bylaws for the the board there are none at this time and there's for there is no subcommittees because subcommittees cannot be created lacking bylaws for the board so that is null and void so there's that clarification another clarification is yes we did review staff members or or candidates that were interested in becoming staff members of pcc however again it's a deliberative body to be on the board and although i don't agree with all of the board's actions majority rules so what i wanted to make clear is that yes me as a board member and other board members are not in agreement with everything that is put forward as the board opinion and oftentimes are not included in the actions taken by certain members of the board and that's still an internal matter that we will address at the due time the lacking of being able to have the minutes for meetings it's an ongoing challenge and i'm saying it here because oftentimes and and i take it with strive to be a part of a board means that you take the good and the bad and you you take the responsibility of what the board actions are even if you're not in agreement with it so i take full responsibility for the actions taken by the board although i'm not in agreement with all actions taken by the board this is a matter that will be addressed and i'm hopeful that in going through this process that board members get to understand that it's it's it's a partnership the executive director is one that is valued by the board and i don't want the 0:42:04 impression to be left that all of us do not respect the position of the executive director it is important to us and we understand the value of a qualified executive director also just for clarification i keep hearing acting executive director gums after the board um voted that the um present or who was former acting director is now full-fledged director based on majority vote so um that should be clarified on the record that she is no longer acting as far as my uh and chairwoman lloyd is here to make any clarifications but those are a few things and i'd like to say from the perspective of tourism that it yes we acknowledge that it's it's it's very sad what is going on with taxi commission but i'm hopeful that we can address the matters moving forward and not take the opportunity to make it um about personalities but about the men and women that are striving to make the the taxi operations and the territory great for all of us that utilize the services thank you i thank you so much miss watley you said a whole mouthful and now you've raised an even major issue for me because i have a major issue when somebody is put in a position and you are a secretary that's the position you agree to do nobody hold no gun to your head to tell you uh to take this position and you're saying and you're representing getting the minutes that secretary uh duty and responsibility is to take the minutes of the meeting and so how is it we can't get even one one minutes that we asked for that's my issue right now what what is that that is unacceptable it's even gone deeper to me now based on what you've represented miss watley board member watley than uh the issue with the hiring with the executive 0:44:09 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 6 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 director you have a board that has run amok and is dysfunctional there's no way a board could be operating and a secretary can produce one minute and then the other issue i have is when did this occur that uh meeting that occurred that occurred that made miss gums the now director of the taxicab commission how how was that wasn't it revealed initially not even from miss gums so um i would like the chairwoman the chairwoman to uh respond because that wasn't even included in miss gums testimony this is this is very problematic um miss law can i respond yes miss lloyd you can yes you know my heart is very full because a lot of things have been said it's not so yes i'm going to you know my hand to the um to uh the uh vernis gums education to executive director we had not given her my employment letter as yet and that is the reason why we hadn't announced it it's usually announced when we gave her the employment letter and she would have that letter by tomorrow that's the only reason why this this is even more problematic this is really uh ants nest um senator frankie johnson i'll go to senator alma francis heiliger senator francis heiliger you're recognized for your point of inquiry well i'm here chuckling because that's that is basically the question i was trying to understand because from her testimony it came across as if though she was acting but then we heard the member said she's full-fledged executive director and i'm sitting here well maybe they didn't bother to even tell her i'm trying to listen this this whole thing needs to get fixed i'm i'm a little concerned 0:46:42 here and and more if i just made uh is your that concludes your and more over in these type of meetings with the board the staff that you hire is present unless you go into executive session and the agenda will say that this is a decision that is going to be made okay so these are these are issues ms gums you wanted to uh place anything on the record and congratulations thank you senator i just wanted to make you know to respond to the statement as to why i did not eluded to that in my testimony i have not received documentation to say yes i have while i was verbally notified by the chair i have not received the actual letter i was not part of the meeting so i have to wait until such time as i receive the letter when was this meeting held september 9th but that was last week how long it takes to draft a letter uh point of in from inquiry or information point of inquiry uh senator blighting you're recognized this is very very very very distressing thank you madam chair and hence why we're here with this piece of legislation i i am truly disturbed by what i'm hearing because as far as i'm concerned she's still the acting executive director because there is no documentation to the fact that this actually occurred there must be some type of recording some type of um any type of recording or stenographer anything there is nothing so we all going based on what is being said but we do not know so until such a time she's still acting director okay in my opinion 0:48:47 thank you so much manager and thank you so much uh senator blighting um there is no way that you could be operating and have a board operating and you don't have records from september 9th last week that letter should have been gone that's a very simple letter you could have even had the acting uh or director to type it up and you sign off on it and where is a record of that you know there are different mechanisms we use with technology to record and it translate it right into right into writing dictaphone your your microsoft word does it now you know you could really do that you just put it right to it and it translate every little thing and you just uh you just make your little additions this is very simple it is not complicated and so i have really major challenges here today this is a board and i like i tell everybody you know i give um people that benefited a doubt but there is something that needs to be addressed here with the board in being unable to produce minutes miss gums and then we're going to move and close you you have a point of inquiry senator francis heiliger uh miss gums you wanted to place something on the record you want to place a comment on the record yes i just wanted to go back and respond to the tariff uh question that that senator francis asked earlier so what i was trying to say is saint thomas is completed and i'll circulate it so you can see what it's like it can be either laid flat or a trifle however we are waiting with the graphics and stuff that was uh as enhance enhancements to 0:50:52 to the uh tariff sheet we are waiting saint john and saint croix and i did not want to go ahead and seek the permission of the board to put saint thomas's in circulation before all three islands can go into circulation at the same time thank you so much miss gums uh senator francis heiliger you are recognized for your point of inquiry thank you um through the chair to board member um whatling whatley um the question i want to ask quickly has there been any hirings on the board without full board approval because i'm hearing a lot of conversations in regards to people being hired there might be two boards and i know what the law currently says that the board as a whole would have to vote has there been any hirings by the board that i have to think about well you said without full board participation that can mean a lot of things that could mean that members were absent no um and we're not were the board privy to hirings y'all were told y'all had a chance to participate in voting that's what i'm trying to get to or was it a situation of some board members unilaterally believe they have the right to hire and fire on their own that is what i'm trying to get to well i'll separate the question yes i believe that there are board members that feel they unilaterally have the right to make decisions for the board without the entire board's input that's a fact as far as hiring is concerned and initially like i said without bylaws there cannot be um subcommittees one of the subcommittees that we had tried to create was a human resources 0:52:50 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. 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VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 7 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 committee which would have addressed hiring individuals or candidates senator francis heiliger i am i understand but you had a point of inquiry and your question was answered i hear a motion thank you senator heilig francis heiliger motion senator blighton you are recognized motion thank you madam chair i moved that bill number three four zero two seven two and act amending title three virgin alliance code chapter 16 section 274 to empower the executive director of the taxicab commission to hire the necessary staff to operate and manage the taxicab commission office iso move second second bill bill bill number thirty four zero two seven two motion to favorably vote on this bill has been probably move bill number thirty four that zero two seven two an act amending title three virgin islands code chapter 16 section two two seven four to empower the executive director of the taxicab commission to hire the necessary staff to operate and manage the taxicab commission office has been probably moved by senator blighton seconded by senator francis and i think i heard senator javon james james as well roll call on the bill madam clerk senator marvin a blyton senator blyton senator blyton gane senator novelle e francis jr yeah senator francis jr yay senator alma francis heiliger senator javon james james jr yes yes yes yes senator james james jr yay senator franklin d johnson 0:55:00 yeah yeah yeah yeah Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carly J. Joseph, yes. Senator Joseph, yay. Senator Milton E. Potter, Senator Potter, absent. Madam Chair, you have six yays, one absent. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Bill number 34-0272, an act amending Title III, Virgin Islands Code, Chapter 16, Section 274, to empower the Executive Director of the Taxicab Commission to hire the necessary staff to operate and manage the Taxicab Commission Office, has been favorably voted upon in the Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protection, and will be sent to the Committee on Rules and Judiciary for further action and consideration. Senator Janelle Saro, you are recognized for your point of personal privilege. 0:57:26 Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank everybody for their support of Bill number 34-0272, and if you are more than willing to sign on as a primary sponsor, please do so. But I want to thank you for a robust hearing today and thank my committee members, not mine, my colleagues for their support, legal counsel as well, sonographer, and of course to the testifiers who provided the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much, Senator Saro. The Chair will now afford those testifiers who submitted written testimony to present a 30-second closeout remarks. We will begin with the Chairwoman, Ms. Loretta Lloyd. 0:58:34 Chairwoman Lloyd, you are recognized for your 30-second closeout. Ms. Lloyd, you are muted, so we didn't hear what you initially said. Just like the rest of you, Senators, my heart is very full because the truth has not been told. However, change is good. The VW9 Taxi Cap Commission will continue to collaborate with the Executive Director to maintain transparency and efficiency with our stakeholders and the general public. That's my end. And I'm very much aggrieved to hear the lies, especially from Mr. Shane Benjamin, who I had under my arm, and, you know, lead him, and he just disrespected the boy. Okay? I am so grieved, really grieved. I will hear all this bunch of lies that, you know, people are telling, Ms. Smith is telling a lot of lies, things I have even heard about. 0:59:21 But it is so, and I will resort to writing in the newspaper. Thank you. As you wish. I wanted to now ask Ms. Vernice Gumbs, Ms. Gumbs, who is the Acting Executive Director and apparently now the Executive Director, but hasn't been officially told, to please present a 30 seconds wrap-up. 1:00:36 Thank you, Senator Vernice M. Gumbs, Acting Executive Director of the Taxi Cap Commission. I just want to say thank you for inviting me here today to testify on Bill No. 34-0272. It is my hope moving forward that we could continue to work and collaborate together in moving the agency forward. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Gumbs. That was a very professional 30 seconds. I now ask Ms. Smith, if you would be so kind, 30 seconds to present a wrap-up. Madam Chair, thank you. 1:01:08 Philosophically speaking, what if 10 years from today your life would be exactly the same as this moment? I doubt you would be happy. The key to change is recognizing that casting judgment does not work. Growth is painful. Change is painful. But more, nothing is more painful as staying stuck. Yes, there are other key factors required to right this shift to include the strategic planning, core competencies, and unwavering service above self-attitude. To effectuate change, this bill is a starting point and we must collectively build from there. Based on its history, Virgin Islands Taxicap Commission requires your unprecedented attention going forward as agent of change, which is so badly needed. Madam Chair, members of the committee, members of the 34th legislature, and the viewing and listening audience, I thank you for today to appear before you today. May the Most High continue to bless these beautiful Virgin Islands we call home. 1:01:46 Thank you so much, Ms. Smith. Mr. Shane Benjamin, you're recognized for your 30 seconds wrap-up. Shane Benjamin, former executive director, and I thank the committee for allowing me to testify and hope we move forward in a better position in the future. Thanks for allowing me to testify. And thank you so much, Mr. Benjamin, for your service, as also Ms. Smith. Thank you, and you are released, everyone is released, from appearing before the committee on government operations and consumer protection for today. Madam Clerk, kindly read into the record the last block that we have on 1:02:59 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 8 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 today's agenda. Block 3. The committee will receive testimony on the operations of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority to include, but not limited to, the enabling law and jurisdiction, current agency challenges, and plan of action to resolve challenges. The invited testifiers are Mr. Andrew L. Smith, CEO, slash executive director of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, and Mr. Kyle Fleming, chairman of the governing board of the Virgin Islands, WAPA and Power Authority. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Do you have any correspondence to be read into the record? Yes, ma'am. Kindly proceed with reading that correspondence into the record, Madam Clerk. September 6, 2022, via electronic mail, the Honorable Carla Joseph, 34th Legislature of the Virgin Islands, PO Box 1690, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 00802. Request to reschedule committee meeting on government operations and consumer protection September 14, 2022. Dear Senator Joseph, the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, thanks you for the invitation to testify before the Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protection. Concerning, among other things, the status of the authority's alternative energy source initiatives, however, the authority is currently in the process of receiving indications of interest from a number of both local and global renewable sources, renewable developers. While some developers are still finalizing their scope of interest, others were invited to clarify key points in submitting their materials. Once complete, the authority will receive, then develop, an apples-to-apples comparisons of the competing proposals. Throughout the process, the authority has worked collaboratively with other agencies and the government house to develop comprehensive initiatives that are tailored to address the needs of the people of the Virgin Islands. These discussions are expected to continue well into September 2022 and may extend into October 2022, whereupon the authority will seek to enter formal negotiations with the identified preferred vendor. 1:04:30 The authority intends to publicly discuss the indications of interest that it has received with both governing board and the public service commission in order to provide transparency regarding solicitations process as well as the selection of the preferred vendor. The authority looks forward to discussions before the committee as well as to its process the resulting indication of interest. In every appearance before the legislature of the Virgin Islands the authority seeks to be well researched and prepared to thoroughly answer any and all questions presented. Given the timeline outlined above, the sensitive stage at which it presently finds these discussions the authority respectfully requests that public changes exchanges on these subjects to be deferred until sometimes in late October or early November 2022. This brief continuance will ensure that the authority is in a better position to openly respond to the committee's inquiries and provide a complete framework of the contemplated alternative energy source plan. We thank you in advance for your consideration of this request and look forward to hearing from you soon. 1:06:41 Sincerely, Andrew L. Smith, Executive Director. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. I want to place on the record today because I'm highly annoyed some of the efforts this committee has made on behalf of its constituency as well as members of the committee to bring the water and power authority before us. On April 25th, we issued an invitation to have them appear before us on our May 11th, 2022 meeting. Again, they said they were unavailable to appear. Then, on May 27th, we again issued an invitation to have the water and power authority appear before this committee, which is the committee of jurisdiction, and they would have been appearing on June 16th. Again, they indicated that they were unable to appear. Now, we have another invitation which was issued on August 26th, and here we are September 14th, 2022, and again, we don't have the water and power authority appearing. We did inquire, based on their letter, dates, that they would prefer us to have a meeting with them and hold a meeting here. they have not responded to our inquiry. We sent out those inquiries to get really firm dates because we want to work with people. We don't want to have any level of contention or trepidation from any of our testifiers, so we asked. Again, the silence is deafening from the water and power authority, but we don't really get a lot of the blackouts, don't we? So, 1:08:16 I wanted to throw it out here to my members. What is your disposition? What should we do? Should I just wait again? The response from the water and power authority or I will be sending, my decision is to send a very terse and strong letter to them letting them know the date that we are going to schedule a meeting and for them to come forward and present to this committee, the committee of jurisdiction. And if not, we will resort to having them subpoenaed to come before us. Committee members? Senator Blighton? Senator Johnson? Okay. 1:10:22 Based on what you just read out there, I don't know why we need to write our next letter. My stance is we subpoenaed them. Because if we're going to continue sending these requests and they're not cooperating with us, why are we sending the next request? I am ready to vote for a subpoenaed to bring them inside here. There's a lot of information that's lacking and a lot of issues that's going on in WAPA. We cannot stand, sit by, and keep requesting, requesting, requesting. I move that we go forward that motion to subpoena them. Thank you very much. 1:11:13 Thank you, Senator Johnson. Senator Blighton? Thank you, Madam Chair, and I do concur with my colleague on the Big Island. Based on your statement, you have sent them three, not one, not two, but three times you have requested to meet 1:11:48 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 9 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 and they still have not even responded. So, with that being said, I do concur. We need to subpoena them and hold them accountable. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Thank you so much, Senator Francis Heiliger. Well, based on what you presented, I think it's a no-brainer. I think we've wasted enough time constantly being nice and courteously asking for them to come before us, but at some point we have to start acting like the representatives that the people elected. So, I am in full support of subpoenaing them. Thank you. And I believe we are acting like a representative but we understand that we have a lot of issues that are being faced by the Water and Power Authority with a change in management and the like and giving them some leeway. Like I said, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt as I would like them to give to me. So, colleagues, if there's no other colleague who would like to weigh in, I would definitely entertain a motion. Senator Francis? 1:12:18 Motion. You're recognized for your motion, Senator Francis. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, in light of your correspondence and several invitations to the Virgin House Water and Power Authority, being the people's representative and getting them to answer very critical questions that have been posed to us. I'm requesting that my colleagues join in issuing a subpoena to have the Virgin House Water and Power Authority appear before us by subpoena. whatever date that we decide in terms of your next available date, I so move. Motion has been properly moved and seconded by Senator Novel Francis, Jr. and seconded by Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Roll call on the motion. And Senator Frankie Johnson. Roll call on the motion. 1:13:13 Senator Marvin A. Blyden. Senator Blyden, yay. Senator Novel E. Francis, Jr. Yay. Senator Francis, Jr., yay. Senator Alma Francis Heiliger. Yay. Senator Francis Heiliger, yay. 1:14:12 Senator Javon E. James, Sr. Yes. Senator Javon E. James, Sr. Yes. Senator James, Sr., yay. Senator Franklin D. Johnson. Yes. Yay, yay, yay. Senator Johnson, yay. Senator Carla J. Joseph. Yes. Senator Joseph, yay. 1:14:39 Senator Milton E. Potter. Yes. Senator Potter absent. Madam Chair, you have six yays, one absent. The motion carries and we will so comply and it is so ordered. Now, colleagues, I believe this concludes all of our items for the agenda. I want to thank each one of you for making time and being here and being engaged. We had a lot of work on this, today's agenda. I didn't anticipate it would last this long and so I want to thank you all. I want to especially thank my hard and youthful staff for the work that they have done today. They worked hard behind the scenes and I want to really congratulate them. I also want to thank our very hard-working central staff members regarding all that you do, especially tirelessly for us to get things moving and to be able to record transactions and the process here. 1:15:09 I really am thankful to the multimedia, the stenographers, legal counsel, everyone who played a part. So I just want to say thank you. The Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Protection Meeting for Wednesday, September 14, 2022 is hereby adjourned. I don't know. That's okay. 1:16:21 That's okay. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Bye. 1:16:48 People named in this transcript SUSPECTED, and a finding aid only. Names were matched by machine against the spellings used across all 426 of our transcripts, and the title is the one used in the room. Being named here is NOT evidence that a person attended or spoke · only that the name was said. Speech recognition mishears names, so a spelling may be wrong even where no alternative is offered. 7x Senator Franklin D. Johnson heard in this transcript as: Frankie Johnson, Johnson 6x Senator Carla Joseph the surname alone also matches: Clifford Joseph; Karla J. Joseph heard in this transcript as: Carla J. Joseph, Carly J. Joseph, Joseph 6x Senator Novelle Francis heard in this transcript as: Francis, Francis Jr., Novel E. Francis Jr., Novel Francis Jr. 5x Senator Milton E. Potter heard in this transcript as: Potter 4x Senator Alma Francis-Heyliger heard in this transcript as: Alma Francis Heiliger, Francis Heiliger 4x Senator Marvin Blyden heard in this transcript as: Blyden, Marvin A. Blyden Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 10 of 11 Legislature USVI · 09-14-22 Committee on Government Operations 2 3x Senator Janelle K. Saro heard in this transcript as: Janelle Saro, Saro 3x Senator Javan James heard in this transcript as: Javon E. James Sr. 3x Senator Marvin A. Blighton heard in this transcript as: Blighton 2x Senator Marise C. James the surname alone also matches: Javan James; Giovanni James Sr heard in this transcript as: James Sr. Bills and acts referred to Matched by number against our own acts corpus. The number is what the recognition heard, so it may be wrong; where it resolved, the title is the one the Legislature gave the act. Act 6968 Act 6968 · An Act repealing and reenacting 3 V.I.C., section 274 with amendments to reestablish the Virgin Islands Taxi Cab Commission and providing for other purposes --0 Referred to but not found in our acts corpus: Bill 27-0001, Bill 34-0272 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 11 of 11