Feb. 26, 2002 – Sen. Adelbert Bryan was forced to adjourn his Committee on Economic Development, Agriculture and Consumer Protection meeting Tuesday evening after Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik and nine other invited government officials failed to show.
Along with Rutnik, Joseph Thomas, V. I. Water and Power Authority executive director, Ira Hobson, Housing, Parks and Recreation commissioner, Desmond Maynard, Public Services Commission chairman and commissioners Jerris Browne, Verne David, Valencio Jackson, Alric Simmonds, Luther Renee, Alecia Wells and Sen. Emmett Hansen II were no-shows.
Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole, who with Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen is one of the two senators who sit on the Public Services Commission, attended the meeting; he is a member of Bryan's committee as well.
Bryan had called the meeting to investigate how the Water and Power Authority calculates billing charges, the status of payments by the V.I. Housing Authority and the Housing Parks and Recreation Department for water and power usage and whether the Public Services Commission has "recently authorized an increase for utilities, or has any rate increase pending."
The status of a rate investigation of WAPA was thoroughly studied at a meeting of the PSC last Wednesday. (See "CWT puts up money for its certification study".
Bryan had recently threatened to have Rutnik arrested after Rutnik, having been subpoenaed, failed to appear at a committee meeting on St. Croix last Wednesday.
Rutnik said Friday that Bryan was "more interested in election-year politics than in resolving the issue" on the table.
The only invitees to appear Tuesday were Conrad Francois, VIHA executive director, and Keithly Joseph, PSC executive director. Of Bryan's seven-member committee only Sens. Cole, Roosevelt David and Vargrave Richards appeared.
Bryan decried the absences, saying, "The people cry out for information." He spent about 20 minutes awaiting late arrivals while defending his subpoena of Rutnik. He insisted that the subpoena had been signed by committee members, an issue Rutnik had disputed.
Sen. Bryan dedicated the rest of the short meeting to one of his favorite subjects: the media. He was clearly annoyed at the local media's handling of the Rutnik matter, but what was worse, he said, "The media is responsible for a lot of problems in the world, and they hide behind them and call themselves the press."
It is not known what Bryan's reaction to Tuesday night's offical snubs will be. When asked by a reporter as he was leaving the building if he was "speaking to the press tonight," he proceeded to his car without answering.