Dear Source,
Edward Browne's hunger strike to gain the presidential vote for the Virgin Islands reminded me of one unique status option I heard years ago. We all remember: Statehood, Independence, Commonwealth, and Freely Associated State but someone suggested the option of combination with some state as an insular county.
This would be a solution to Mr. Browne's desire to gain the vote since we would vote for the president (indirectly) through the state we were associated with. We could be the Virgin Islands County of Florida and join that debacle if it repeats, or the Eastern Islands of Hawaii to contribute to their selection of electors, or better yet the Warmest County in Alaska to cast our two cents into their presidential process. I left out the Corn-less Cornhusker County and a raft of others but they all offer the vote Mr. Browne wants. I suggest he start eating solid food and help us gain our full citizenship by working toward a Constitutional Convention not for the U.S. mainland but for us here in the territory. His dedication to his dream has been misdirected to a dead end path but can be channeled to a constructive one right here at home.
The Constitutional Convention is already authorized, but we must get our local government on track to implement it or move ahead as citizens. We need to redesign our government to better suit our needs and desires – first with Municipal control of affairs controlled on each island, second with a sane design for a territorial layer to cement our islands in a firm but efficiently run union and third with a bond to the U.S. that suits our dreams. The status choice is up to us and I make no comment on it here but the beginning is very important and must begin.
Edward: Save your strength and help us make a change!
Terry Conklin
Coral Bay, St. John

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