Despite assurances by Government House officials that Gov. Charles W. Turnbull would hold a full-scale news conference this week—in the wake of U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's visit and other developments—the governor and members of the administration's fiscal team made a 90-minute television presentation Wednesday night that offered very little new information.
Talking about the financial health of the Virgin Islands on WTJX-TV Channel were Turnbull, Chief Negotiator Karen Andrews, Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds, Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull and Director of Management and Budget Ira Mills.
The governor restated his administration's commitment to fiscal recovery and cited provisions within the Memorandum of Understanding entered into with the Interior Department toward that goal.
On union negotiations and payment of retroactive wages, the governor repeated that he "has put the teachers first." He said the administration is committed to settling the contract dispute with the American Federation of Teachers union and entering new talks with other unions representing law enforcement, emergency medical workers and firefighters.
Simmonds recapped the $15 million renovations carried out at schools in the territory over the summer and noted that construction work is nearing completion.
Andrews provided a detailed history of contract talks with the teachers' union, dating back to June 12 when the governor directed her to commence talks with the AFT. Reacting to the strike vote taken last week by teachers in the St. Thomas-St. John district, Andrews said the impasse should be addressed by the Public Employees Relations Board rather than invoking a job action or work stoppage.
But she admitted that "salaries for teachers in the Virgin Islands are below national standards."
The finance commissioner noted a slowly improving fiscal condition. She credited the $16 million grant for computer Y2K conversion, the $300 million bond issue and more than $5 million in revenues from Foreign Sales Corporations with helping stabilize the territory's finances. But she admitted these sources of revenue won't be around this year.
Commissioner Turnbull said the government is keeping current with vendor payments. "We are paying vendors within 30 days of invoices being received at the Finance Department," she said. In the last fiscal year, Turnbull estimated, some $21 million has been paid to the V.I. Water and Power Authority on past due bills and $5 million to the V.I. Telephone Corp. for outstanding bills.
Budget director Ira Mills provided an overview of the Fiscal Year 2001 budget before analyzing the state of the territory's fiscal health. "Our fiscal situation is grave and will not improve until we decide to live with difficult choices," Mills said.
The governor ended the presentation by again declaring his commitment to fiscal recovery and to unionized workers, vowing to make good on the negotiated salary increases and retroactive monies owed them. He insisted, however, that "the teachers' pay issue must be resolved because this administration has placed the children first."
The TV presentation Wednesday night followed a last-minute postponement of a news conference called by Andrews to discuss the impasse with the teachers union.