14 = St. John Tradewinds, March 8-14, 2010 Letters to St. John Tradewinds Return St. John Capital Improvement Funds to St. John Dear 28th Legislature of the Virgin Islands, Please override the Governor’s Veto of the Bill which returns the St. John Capital Improve Funds to actual improvements for St. John. Since 1990, the St. John Capital Improvement Fund has been used by Public Works and now the Waste Management to haul the island’s trash. St. John is the only island which pays an extra “tipping fee.” If you can haul the trash from Botany Bay to Bovoni for free, why is St. John singled out? St. John residents actually pay an extra “tip- ping fee” by having to pay with our Capital Improvement Funds and our taxes for such services. Double dipping our community should be considered illegal. Any senator from St. Croix who voted against the original Senate Bill should consider that several times the St. John Capital Improve- ment Funds were used to support St. Croix’s Capital Improvement Fund’s balance and other capital benefits for St. Croix, with nothing ever being returned to St. John. Senators, St. John needs this fund for our future. If you calculate this fund from 1986 when it was started, St. John has not had money for capital improvements since it’s inception, the total St. John has not received is over $40 million. Just imagine what St. John would be like if this fund were actually used for our capital improvements all of these years. The Governor, in vetoing this Bill, stated that his Administration was looking out for St. John issues and improvements, and so we won't need these funds. This Governor has been in office for over three years, and the only improvement is our “Federally Funded Roundabout.” If his Administration is looking out for St. John, I would hate to see what “neglect” would look like. The management and future of our community should not rest on the whims of an Administration, but in the proper managing of funds and growth of our capital improve- ments. It is time to stop the raiding of this Capital Improvement Fund away from St. John’s needs. Override the veto! Steve Black, St. John Keeping Track of Crime 2009 2010 TO-DATE Homicides: 1 Homicides: 0 Shootings: 0 Stabbings: 0 Armed Robberies: 5 Arsons: 0 1st Degree Burglaries: 6 2nd Degree Burglaries: 17 3rd Degree Burglaries: 70 Grand Larcenies: 67 Rapes: 1 Shootings: 0 Stabbings: 0 Armed Robberies: 0 Arsons: 0 1st Degree Burglaries: 0 2nd Degree Burglaries: 3 8rd Degree Burglaries: 10 Grand Larcenies: 11 Rapes: 0 Bay Isle Created a Public Nuisance Senators, Virgin Islands Code Title 29 Public Planning and Development, Chapter 3 Virgin Islands Zoning and Subdivision Law, § 296 (6) states — any building, structure or sign set up, erected, constructed, recon- structed, structurally altered, enlarged, moved, or converted contrary to the provisions of this subchap- ter is unlawful and a public nuisance. So far this code has been violated by the Grande Bay construction project in Cruz Bay, St. John, VI in respect to density, parking and the height of the build- ings. If Bay Isles Associates request to rezone their W-1 parcel to R-4 is granted, the scope of these viola- tions will continue to grow. Numerous phone calls, emails and letters on the subject addressed to DPNR have not produced any results. Senators, I ask you to think of the community as a whole and the surrounding Grande Bay property own- ers before granting Bay Isles’ rezone request in order to appease a developer and the 30+/- condo owners. Bay Isles has not only created a public nuisance by violating zoning codes, but has permanently de- stroyed the livelihood of surrounding neighbors and devalued their properties. These neighbors will never recover their losses. The owners of Grande Bay units claim they look forward to add to the tourist driven economy of St. John, yet they have failed to mention that jobs, tax revenue and enjoyment of properties has been lost be- cause of this project. Seven years ago, numerous property owners to the east, southeast, south, and west of the complex were able to enjoy their rental properties, add to the tourist trade and tax revenue to the VI government. All this has been taken away or severely minimized because of the Grande Bay complex. I urge you to please insist that DPNR reexamine the plans for the Grande Bay complex and explain in full how the buildings meet all the provisions of the Virgin Islands Zoning Code. Thank you. Sincerely yours, Liza Trey Harrassment at the St. John Public Library Today I entered the St. John, or the Elaine Sprauve Library, after publishing a letter on discrimination by the agency in The Avis, seeking counsel by the VI legal services and filing a complaint with the Department of Justice, and, while I was on the computer minding my own business, a man in a security uniform, pretend- ing to be an employee of the DPNR approached me, with the librarian knowing this, and insisted that my backpack was incorrectly placed along the railing up- stairs — actually, it was the way the DPNR’s assistant director approved of last week when he was here. The security guard turned out to be an employee for a private company totally unrelated to the DPNR and was just visiting the library staff. At this point I was scared. I was being attacked. Di- rector of Library Services, Ingrid Bough, is not taking my phone calls and I am being provoked to the point of self-defense by speaking assertively which the li- brary staff is calling “screaming and yelling.” I come from a military family: they have no idea what “screaming and yelling” is. I feel that Iam being set up to be not allowed in the library and VI Legal Services warned me that it could lead to this. I was aggressive with DPNR staff on the phone as they were being uncooperative: again, Ingrid Bough would not take my phone calls and when a phony DPNR “employee” was harassing me while in the library and Commissioner Mathes’ secretary, Ms. Moorehead, was downplaying the seriousness of this infraction of the law. I have sent the Federal Bureau of Investigation a copy of my discrimination complaint. Although they wouldn’t even get involved with the David Geiger murder as it wasn’t “their jurisdiction,” we are now dealing with a government agency. I am making phone calls until a special agent con- tacts the commissioner about this before it escalates into violence — I will not be the instigator if it does. All I want is to be left alone but the librarian is not willing to back down — she keeps coming at me without provocation. Sincerely, Ted Kelliher St. John ISLAND NOTES from the publisher JE and EV: You are rock stars! Wine-down-Fridays are a must! — MN