As we come to the week’s end, after a very trying and hard week of preparation for, and recovery from, Hurricane Earl, I want to take a moment to say a heartfelt “Thank You” to the many, many people who have worked so hard in their efforts.
Thank you to all the men and women at VITEMA, the Police Department, Fire Services, Rescue, as well as our Public Works Department, Waste Management Authority, WAPA, Planning and Natural Resources and Education and many of the other agencies throughout our government, non-profit organizations, for whom an approaching storm or other emergency demands more of them.
Our success in coordinating the resources of government was much enhanced by the daily presence of those who worked at our emergency operations centers on each island and responded to the calls for assistance. None of this works without people and it is the people who make it work that I wish to recognize for a job well done. Thank you.
I know that many of you remain without electricity. I fully understand the hardships and difficulties this imposes on you and your families and I understand that none of this is easy.
But with persistence WAPA will get everyone re-connected soon, and we can return to our normal routines. Until all again have power, we all must, as we always have, look out for our neighbors and friends and share what we have with those who have less.
Lastly, I think it wise for us to remember that we are just now coming up on what has traditionally been the peak of hurricane season. We should reflect on what we did -- what we did right and what we can do better -- from our preparations and response to Earl and be ready in the event that another storm heads our way.
Meanwhile, I think we all know that our thanks must be to God for having come thru this storm as we have. May God continue to bless you and our Virgin Islands.
The governor also urges
citizens to sign up for VI-ALERT,
the Territory's new emergency alert system, to be
notified about severe weather and other hazards by
phone, email or web.
21
Days
Posted
by Robert O'Connor on August 21, 2010 at
11:10 AM AST
There are only three weeks - just 21 days - until the Democratic Primary on September 11th, and I wanted to
remind all of friends and supporters that
this Monday, August 23rd, is the deadline to request an absentee ballot.
John and Greg need all the votes we can muster in order to keep them working for us and building a better tomorrow for all Virgin Islanders.
If you will not be able to vote in person on Saturday, September 11th, please request an absentee ballot by Monday so that your vote will be counted! If you know of family, friends or neighbors who may be unable to vote in person, please encourage them to request an absentee ballot as well.
To request an absentee ballot, you can download an application online,
by visiting the Election System Website at
www.VIVOTE.gov.
Robert O'Connor, Chairman of de Jongh-Francis 2010, the re-election campaign of Governor John de Jongh and Lt. Governor Greg Francis, today welcomed Ken Mapp's official declaration that he is a candidate for governor in the 2010 election.
Mr. O'Connor said that he joined with the broadcast request of the person who chaired the committee that selected Mr. Mapp's running-mate, when she said that she hopes all will make it their business to "get to know the real Ken Mapp."
"Nothing will do more to assure the re-election of our Governor and the continuation of the steady progress that we are making as a territory, than if everyone indeed comes to know the real Ken Mapp and his running-mate," said Mr. O'Connor.
The St. Croix community is invited to a family fun day event sponsored by
de Jongh-Francis 2010 on Sunday, August 22, 2010 at the New Drive Inn. The event begins at 2:00 pm.
This event gives the St. Croix community an opportunity to speak one-on-one with both Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. and Lt. Governor Gregory Francis while enjoying a day of fun for the whole family. Food and drinks will be on sale. There will be games for the children as well as entertainment by DJ Will and Cool Session Brass.
For over three years, the
de Jongh-Francis Administration has worked with both public and private sectors to improve the quality of life for all residents of the Virgin Islands.
Governor de Jongh and Lt. Governor Francis have worked hard to make your Government more accountable, more open and more transparent in its day to day operations. The
de Jongh-Francis Administration has worked to clean up public corruption and to rebuild the public’s trust. Their team worked to create real economic opportunity for all of our people beginning with improving the education that we owe to our children.
By working together, progress has been made on many fronts. The U.S. Virgin Islands has seen steady improvement in our schools. We have been developing more affordable housing for our people. We have improved access and the availability of healthcare to our residents, especially our seniors. And even as we face this on-going recession, we have laid the foundation for economic recovery and opportunity for our people.
The de Jongh-Francis
campaign headquarters on Veteran's Drive St. Thomas was transformed into a sea of young Virgin Islands voters Friday night who came out in droves to support the
re-election bid of Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. and Lt. Governor Gregory R. Francis who face a party primary election in 24 days.
The governor spent several hours at the youth rally interacting and socializing with the hundreds of young voters, some who have registered to vote for the first time, in advance of this year's elections. "It was refreshing to have numerous young voters express to me their interests, not only concerning our campaign platform but more importantly, their thoughts and ideas as to how Greg and I can continue to advance the territory forward," de Jongh said Friday night.
The youth rally shifted into high gear when AK the Artist took the stage. AK the Artist is best known for his hit single, "Roger Oat." The night's entertainment scene was set by popular OJ Avalanche and later, Daddy Jones and Crew featuring Pumpa worked the throngs of young people until 2 a.m. Saturday.
"It is obvious that our young people recognize their power and intend to play an active part in this year's election process. They are focused on the issues and are ready to cast an informed vote on September 11 and again on November 2 during the respective party primary and general elections," de Jongh added.
With just over four weeks left until the Primary on Saturday, September 11th, I wanted to let you about several very important election deadlines that are coming up in the next few days - the most important being tomorrow's deadline to register to vote.
Over the last four years, Governor de Jongh and Lt. Governor Francis have worked hard to improve quality of life for all residents of the Virgin Islands. From increasing economic opportunity for citizens and businesses, to strengthening our education system for our children and continuing the fight against crime and violence, our Territory is now a better place to live and work. But there is more work to do! Now is the time to come together and support John and Greg's Re-Election!
This election is very important and we need all the support we can muster. If you are not currently register to vote, please take the time to register before tomorrow's deadline. If you are already registered, please encourage your family, friends and neighbors to register too. Together, we can make sure all of our voices are heard on Primary Day, September
11th.
In order to register the following must apply:
Qualifications for Voting
(a) Must be a citizen of the United States
(b) Must be eighteen years of age
(c) Must meet the residency requirement
Residency Requirement: (Virgin Islands)
(a) Must be residing in the territory at least ninety (90) days before a primary or general election
(b) Must be residing in the election district at least ninety (90) days
Registration Documents: (One Proof of Citizenship)
NOTE: Some other important election deadlines to be aware of are:
This Thursday, August 12th is the last day to change your political party enrollment and Monday, August 23rd is the deadline to request an absentee ballot for the September 11th Primary.
The de Jongh-Francis
2010 campaign welcomes Senator Donastorg to this year’s Primary Election race for Governor. The campaign looks forward to comparing the record of Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr and Lieutenant Governor Greg Francis against the records of the senator and his chosen running mate, Samuel
Baptiste.
“Once the field for the primary election is set we look forward to getting a debate and forum schedule developed to get out and discuss the important issues facing the territory and why we believe the Governor and Lt. Governor are the best choices to continue leading the Virgin Islands. We also hope that Senator Donastorg will choose to reject the demonstrated campaigns of the past where negativism, mistruths, and rumors have been the theme and join us in a campaign focused on the best issues of our people,” said Chairman O’Connor.
Before a packed house at Villa Morales restaurant on St. Croix Wednesday night, Governor de Jongh, and Lt. Governor Francis announced their intent to seek re-election to the territory’s two highest political offices. The announcement was made before hundreds of supporters and to a wider radio audience as eight V.I. radio stations broadcast the announcement program live.
The almost two-hour long program was peppered with musical selections, prayers and testimonial from Virgin Islands residents on all three islands. Testimonials outlined accomplishments in education, the economy and the further economic development of the Virgin Islands. Lt. Governor Francis, his wife, Cheryl and
First Lady Cecile de Jongh also took to the podium to speak of programs and initiatives started over the past four years, many of which are now showing positive yields.
The
governor spent time recalling out what had been accomplished under his administration’s watch, the goals for the future and the opportunities that lie ahead for the further development of the territory. “When Greg and I took office we found that among the many problems that we were already aware of, we faced a number of additional concerns.
So we got to work and we’ve been working hard every day since. We promised that by working together we could make real change and through working together we have delivered real progress,”
the governor said to the chants of “four more years.”
The governor addressed the state of the government four years after taking office, “When it came to the functioning of Government, I have said from the very beginning that: We are and must be One Government! We set out to clean up corruption and re-establish confidence in the people’s government and we’ve done just that. We’ve worked to have our agencies and authorities coordinate their efforts better with one another and we are now more coordinated and working closer together than ever before.”
When it comes to the state of our local economy,
Gov. de Jongh said,
“I know that there is much for us to be proud of. When we first took office the economic outlook was challenging but hopeful and then, as I said earlier, the recession hit – it hit everywhere and it hit hard. The effects were felt throughout the country, throughout the world and, yes, throughout our Territory – but, as I also said earlier, I am not one to make excuses. Instead of excuses we produced ideas – we ratified two landmark strategic partnerships with both Diageo/ Captain Morgan and Fortune Brands, the new owners of Cruzan Rum. With these partnerships we have locked these companies in as U.S. Virgin Islands companies for the next 30 years. Through these agreements we shall see more than $200 million dollars a year flow directly into our treasury over the next 30 years. And, through these agreements we have also ensured that Cruzan Rum will remain
Crucian.”
He also spoke to some major accomplishments experienced a result of decisive leadership, ‘We have been able to avoid some of the crippling effects of this recession and that is no small thing. We have been able to keep our people working and we’ve been able to keep our government functioning and most importantly when this recession ends – we have laid the groundwork for real economic growth and opportunity for our people and with that we will now be in charge of our own future – we did all this by working together!”
The
governor spoke about many accomplishments in the education system of the Territory.
“When I was elected as your Governor I also made a solemn promise to the people of this Territory. I promised that we would work to improve the education system for our greatest asset of all – Our Children. We realized that as a government we needed to work together from the start, back at the very beginning to prepare our children for what is an ever more complex and challenging world. We worked hard together, and we’ve made real and meaningful progress. We’ve tripled the number of schools that are meeting their Annual Yearly Progress Goals. Today – all of our public high schools are now accredited. We’ve established The Children and Families Council / The Parent University and re-established the Jobs for America’s Graduates Program/ and created
YouthNet.”
Gov.
de Jongh noted that “a lot of time and energy has been spent to rebuild our education system and we are now seeing the positive results. But we would not have been able to do any of this without the work of our teachers, our principals, and our school administrators and to them on behalf of the people of the Territory, I say Thank You!”
The public’s safety was a major theme of
the governor's campaign kickoff announcement just as it was four years ago.
“Our energy and strength has to be also focused on the violence and criminality that we have been experiencing which puts us all at risk. It is a threat to us all. We grieve for all those families who have watched babies grow to toddlers to boys to youths only to see them lose their way or, so pointlessly lose their lives, be it to violence or long terms of incarceration. The harvest of violence that we have reaped from the negligence of the past damages us all. None of us can avoid it, none of us can escape it. All of us must combat it. The behavior of those who committed these acts is not civilized. It cannot be reasoned with. We will enforce our laws legally, but they will be enforced. We must close ranks against those who respect neither life nor law. We will do so. And we will prevail.”
He said the continuing efforts to improve public safety have begun to show positive results. “Our Police Commissioner, Novelle Francis, recently reported that the majority of crimes in our Territory have declined and while that is welcome news we are also reminded that there is still much to be done – and we are working every day to get it done. We know that the Virgin Islands are a place where we can all prosper if we work together.”
Governor
de Jongh sought out the support of the hundreds in attendance at last night’s kick off announcement and asked attendees to reject negativism.
“I ask you to join with us in campaigning this election season all the way to another victory in November. But in joining us, I ask you to also reject that negativism to which we have all been subjected. Too often, the denigration of others is presented and excused as “our politics.” We will not sink to that level in this campaign. We have seen the politics of pettiness before and we have seen that it does not win. We beat it before and we will beat it again. We not only can do better, we are better than that as a people and as a territory. We know that what makes things better is when we all unite and contribute, not divide to conquer – but to build…when with respect we listen to each other, help each other, interpret and use the wisdom of our elders, and teach our children what we know is right and show them what we know is wrong. We know we are all better off when we treat each other as equals and not subjected to the discrimination. But, this coming election is about our future. It is about our tomorrow and what we want the Virgin Islands to be when that tomorrow comes.”
He promised a campaign inclusive of all who call the territory home. “I ask you to join me, join Greg, join with people of all sectors of our community – everyone – born here, born in the Eastern Caribbean, the U.S. or born anywhere – all those who call these islands home are Virgin Islanders and I ask that we all work together each and every day – for us to this, we need your support, we need you to register your friends, and we ask for your vote on election day. With your support and your votes, Greg and I know that by working together the Virgin Islands we hope for will be a reality. Let us work – Together For Tomorrow!”
Both the governor and lieutenant governor mingled in the crowd for hours after the program was over meeting and greeting supporters. Cars filled both sides of the roadway leading from the Villa Morales complex in Estate Whim all the way to Queen Mary Highway.
