To alleviate the seat vacancies he says are stalling the Casino Control Commission, Sen. Roosevelt David has drafted a proposal to reduce the size of the board from seven to four members.
"We have a problem in St. Croix that demands an immediate solution," David said in a statement released Thursday. "With the near completion of the Divi Casino Complex, it is time to start training Virgin Islanders to qualify for the hundreds of jobs that will soon be available."
The board has been criticized for a lack of progress, he added.
"The Casino Control Commission has been surrounded with controversy because its members have collected substantial salaries without substantial results," David said.
Cutting three members would save the government more than $250,000 a year in salaries alone, David said.
"Change is never a welcome visitor," David said, but added he is confident the current members and future nominees will be able "to do more with less."
During the upcoming budget hearings, David said the entire community will be able to see "the extraordinary economic crisis" the territory is experiencing.
"Everyone will have to step up to the plate and do more with the little resources currently available to us," he said.