Dear Source,
I wasn't surprised to read in The Source that the government's senior citizens' facilities are having difficulties meeting their responsibilities to those living in the facilities.
I was surprised (well, not really, having dealt with Turnbull Administration officials before) by Human Services commissioner Sedonie Halbert's justification for the ongoing problems with meeting the nutritional needs of the residents. She placed the responsibility solely on a lack of funding.
At face value, one might accept that—sounds reasonable. But given the fact that Ms. Halbert went before the Senate two weeks ago requesting and receiving (What the heck were the Senators thinking? Hopefully the people will figure that out before the November Election) $350,000—yes, $350,000—for new vehicles for her department.
The problem quite clearly is priorities. Her actions show where her priorities lie. For a department struggling to adequately feed those for whom it is responsible, to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars for new cars should be criminal.
Commissioner Halbert said that reopening the kitchens at the Lucinda Millin Home and Whim Gardens would cost $345,000—"Money we don't have." Well, of course not, you just spent $350,000 on new vehicles for your department's employees.
The Commissioner of DHS should not be surprised that her clients have special physical and nutritional requirements—they are, after all, senior citizens. Her department should be aware of those needs and able to meet them on a daily basis.
So, while the territory's seniors are facing meals lacking in nutrition and taste, DHS staffers have new vehicles to drive around in (if they're like other government employees all the driving won't be work-related but that's another, ongoing, story). Maybe they can use one of those new vehicles to transport to the hospital a resident having health problems due to a lack of proper nutrition.
I would urge the commissioner to reconsider her priorities. Should they be the welfare of the territory's seniors or ensuring that your staff has new vehicles (and I'm sure there are plenty of makes and models of vehicles on the market which would cost less than $30,000 each)?
Gov. Turnbull has been quick to remove any commissioner who has the gall to speak out against his administration or its policies. I would hope he would be as quick to remove any commissioner who does not act in the best interest of the people of the Virgin Islands.
Scott Frank
Seattle, WA