Governor Bryan’s promise of “transparency” didn’t last very long.  As one of his first official acts following his inauguration on January 7, 2019, he secretly met with Chaliese Summers and agreed to sign the CZM permits which had sat idle since 2014.

In an October 23, 2018, interview in St Thomas Source, then gubernatorial candidate Albert Bryan was quoted as saying “the Bryan/Roach administration will restructure government to promote accountability and transparency.” These were encouraging words to many Virgin Islanders who had become tired of the “back room politics” and deal making behind closed doors.

So it came as a great surprise to us when we found out in June 2019, that as one of his first acts in office, several months earlier, Governor Bryan had signed the CZM permits and Trust Land lease for Chaliese Summers, without any public discussion, without any public notice, and without any annoucement.

We learned, months after the fact, that the 2014 CZM permits had been reprinted in early 2019, some fairly minor changes had been made, and the Chairman of the St John CZM Committee had re-signed the permits and re-dated them in March 2019.  All of this was done at the request of the newly elected Governor, without notice to or involvement of the St John CZM Committee, who, under transparent governance, would have been involved in the process.

And then Governor Bryan, behind closed doors, placed his signature on the permits on April 4, 2019, and transmitted them to Senate President Novelle Francis, asking for the 33rd Legislature to ratify the agreements.