Third in a series of profiles of freshman senators in the 25th Legislature
Feb. 2, 2003 – The territory's economy is critical, Sen. Louis Hill acknowledges, but his overriding concern is the environment: "If we lose the environment, we lose the economy," he says. And this, he says, will be his focus for the next two years.
Gazing toward the Charlotte Amalie harbor during a recent meeting at Palms Court Harborview Hotel, Hill said: "Standing on the balcony of this hotel and looking out at the view strengthens my commitment to protecting this environment, this jewel we should be proud of."
Although he can appear mild-mannered, almost polite to a fault, Hill is a determined Virgin Islander-by-choice with a passion for nurturing and protecting the islands he has grown to love.
Some of his passion, and some of his politics, rubbed off on Hill, a native of Dominica, early on when he came under the tutelage of one of the Caribbean's most revered political icons, Dame Mary Eugenia Charles.
At "about 15 or so, I got caught up in the Young Freedom Movement headed by her," he says, relating what it was like to learn at the knees of Charles, who went on to serve as Dominica's prime minister for 15 years. "We were very busy. We helped to organize the Dominica Freedom Party," which in 1978 helped Dominica gain independence from Britain. "And we were encouraging young Dominicans to become involved."
He says it's important politically to reach out to a youthful constituency: "If you get people involved at a young age, they will most likely develop political loyalties."
Almost reverentially, he calls his mentor "a lady of great conviction, very strong ethically and dignified." And she was greatly interested in ecology. "She wanted to preserve Dominica's natural beauty, it's natural identity," he says. "Yes, she influenced me in that, too."
A flora, fauna and fitness fan
As Hill talks on his cellular phone on Saturday, answering a few last questions for his profile, his voice is occasionally drowned out by a cacophony of yips. He explains with a laugh that he is "taking my puppies back home from the vet." He is shepherding five Rottweiler pups at home, three of which are soon to be given away. "Two I'm going to keep," he says. "I love animals, animals and plants. Those are my hobbies. I love to go out in the yard and plant — it's how I relax."
He inherited his interest in plants and ecology from his father, Cyril Oswald Hill. "My father was the premier forest conservationist in Dominica when I was growing up," he says. "He did a lot of work in identifying areas that should be left untouched. He really established the Forestry Department on Dominica."
Hill, 42, is married to the former Desiree Smith and they have four children. He holds a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Maryland and a master's in public administration from the University of the Virgin Islands. After moving to the territory in the early '80s, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving for seven years in the infantry, where he received a Bronze Star in the Gulf War.
If you had looked down Veterans Drive on Jan. 26, you would have seen him leading the pack in the annual two-mile fun run to support the United Way of St. Thomas-St. John. When he was in the Army, he competed in track and field, and he still keeps in shape. "I don't know if I was really leading," he says of the run, "but it's something I always do. And it's fun."
By anybody's standards, Hill is a handsome man. With his sparkling brown eyes and smartly trimmed moustache, he could perhaps be taken for a ballroom dancer. But beneath that demeanor beats the heart of a dedicated and determined politician.
As the new chair of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee, he is committed to the creation of a Waste Management Authority — which he says is long overdue. At a recent League of Women Voters meeting, he said his first priority is to get the enabling legislation onto the Senate floor, and then up to the governor, who tried repeatedly in his first term to get it enacted.
He sees this happening in mid-March after some technical changes are made in the draft legislation now being reviewed in the Public Works Department.
Another concern, shared with several of his Democratic colleagues, is for the adoption of a comprehensive land and water use plan, an idea that has been around for more than two decades. "I can't say how strongly I feel about that," he says. "There was a plan done during the Farrelly administration and never taken off the shelf. We need to work with what we have to create a model for the rest of the Caribbean."
He says he will ask the administration "to assemble a task force" to work on such a plan. "We have to get to a one-tier system," he says, referring to the current Coastal Zone Management two-tier structure that gives CZM authority to more closely regulate property along the shores. "With the current two-tier system, runoff from Tier 2 properties can ruin the shoreline."
Executive branch experience a campaign plus
Hill stepped down from four years as St. Thomas-Water Island administrator to run for the Senate – the only freshman senator who left an executive branch administrative post to do so. Coming on board as administrator during the transfer of Water Island from federal to local hands, he got his feet wet in local politics and became something of a champion of the small island in the process.
"He was actively involved in the transfer, and he opened doors to us we had not had access to," says Colette Monroe, president of the Water Island Civic Association, and now Hill's chief researcher. "He aggressively pursued the Water Island ferry dock, which should be going out to bid in February. We are now included in VITEMA [the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency]. We have open lines of communication with the government. We are the fourth island."
For the Water Island residents, "It's the first time we really had anybody standing up for us," she adds. "He is a great troubleshooter."
Case in point: At a Port Authority board meeting last November, VIPA's legal counsel told the island residents they could no longer tie up their dinghies at a Crown Bay dock they had been using for years, because it would pose a "security hazard." The lawyer suggested they build their own floating dock near Haulover Marine on the west side of Crown Bay, or dock at Gregerie East on the other side.
Hill emphatically told the board that neither option was viable and that relocating the St. Thomas terminus was "unrealistic." He said the residents were the victims of a conflict between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Port Authority and suggested VIPA move its new security fence on the dock back about 50 feet to allow the boaters access while still complying with Coast Guard security guidelines. He said he had spoken to Coast Guard officials in San Juan and they had suggested that VIPA submit a new plan for the fence.
The fence is still in the same place, but now there is a gate installed for the boaters.
As administrator, Hill did troubleshooting on St. Thomas, too. In October 2001, an animal carcass had been rotting next to the Charlotte Amalie High School campus for four days, as several government agencies denied responsibility for removing it. Finally, after students had placed a sign reading "Dead Dog Day 4," Hill was contacted by the Education Department.
He said he was "astounded" that the situation hadn't been dealt with, "This is totally unacceptable," he told the Source at the time. He called a short time later to say the carcass had been removed. "I am so embarrassed
to the public that we [the government] should have allowed this situation to occur," he said.
Plans for revitalization of historic sites
Historic preservation is another of Hill's passions, and at the top of his list in this category is restoration of the Fort Christian Museum. "It is by far our most precious historic building on St. Thomas," he says. "It baffles me how we have allowed it to deteriorate. It is crumbling, and it is part of our legacy. Anywhere else, it would be cherished, revered."
Gathering steam, he elaborates his plans — plans, not ideas. The fort, he says, "needs to be restored, renovated, made into a first-class museum." As he sees it, "We have 1.7 million cruise ship passengers visiting annually. After it is restored to its former glory, we could charge a modest fee. At, say, $5 a head, we could raise over $5 million a year." And he says $18 million in federal highway funds that is sitting unused could be available to finance the restoration.
When Hill sees historic places neglected or simply ignored, it troubles him. And when he is troubled, he has a habit of taking action.
Edward "Harmon" Killebrew, manager for the Hassel Island Preservation Project, says Hill "has really helped" with that effort to restore the island's historic marine railway as a visitor attraction and marine industries training center. "He worked with the Anti-Litter and Beautification Commission and got some of the kids to help clear the brush," Killebrew says. "And he helped get electricity over here."
Hill says supports the restoration effort and wanted to give the Clean and Preen youngsters from the anti-litter agency a chance to spend time on the island and learn about its history.
Also of great interest to him is Rothschild Francis "Market" Square. "There are so many of us who would like to celebrate its history in its restoration, bring it to new life," he says, adding that the Office of Historic Preservation within the Planning and Natural Resources Department is "trying to get renovation under way."
The bungalow, under a roof refurbished a couple of years ago, is the scene of Saturday markets where local shoppers patronize the local farmers who have sold their wares there for years. It gets dressed up for Carnival Food Fair and at Christmastime, but for the rest of the year attracts only a smattering of vendors offering "stew veg" and other fruits and vegetables.
And then there is historic Frenchtown. Hill applied for and received Community Development Block Grant funding to refurbish what's called "bayside," where the fishermen pull up their colorful wooden boats and sell their day's catch. A design for a new fish market is in the works. "The grant won't be enough, but we're looking forward to using some legislative funding for the project," the senator says.
The Frenchtown waterfront is "such a colorful part of the island," Hill says. "It could be a place with benches where you could sit down and read a book, where people could relax watching the fishermen bring in their catch. It could be a real fishing village."
Overall, for the next two years, "I have a good vision of where I think we should be going," Hill says. "Vision and clarity is the easy part of it. Getting the work done, the legislation, that's the hard part. It's a community effort."
But exactly that kind of effort has gotten him where he is, Hill adds. "I couldn't have done it by myself," he says of his election campaign. "I had some doubts, but every time, the community encouraged me. It made me feel wonderful."
And now, he says, "I want to do the right thing."

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