Old Town Christiansted - Jack Pickel's Letter To The Editor

To the Editor:

Our towns in the Territory have an opportunity to be revitalized and thrive if their citizens insist on re-establishing local governments.

Prior to the 1954 Revised Organic Act our towns had elected mayors and governing bodies. Since the change to a central government (GVI) with elected senators and a governor and lieutenant governor the towns have been subjected to and whipsawed by the political whims of the central government with NO local voices or power.

And the towns have deteriorated and lacked the local leadership to restore and rebuild after natural and economic disasters. Many of their residents have moved out to the suburbs and rural areas and off-island.

The 1950 census of Christiansted Town counted 4,110 residents; 1960 was a high of 5,137 residents. By 2010, before the refinery closed, there were only 2,433 residents counted, a loss of 50%+ in just 50 years. In 2020, 8 years after the refinery closed, during Covid, only 1,770 residents responded to the census.

As a result, most of the local necessity and convenience retail and medical entities have moved out of town to Sunny Isle and scattered suburban commercial sites. Many “1989 Hugo Ruins” are hidden behind and under overgrown bush, several adjacent to recently restored and remodeled homes in Old Town Christiansted’s antique neighborhoods. Sidewalks adjacent to newly repaved streets disappear under years of uncut weeds, forcing pedestrians to step into the narrow streets and dodge speeding cars on Hospital Street and throughout our small neighborhoods in order to shop in nearby historic Gallows Bay.

I can’t speak knowledgeably about conditions in the other towns in the Territory because I have only visited them occasionally in the 21 years I have lived on St. Croix. However, I have lived above the Christiansted Boardwalk since 2013 and have seen firsthand the conditions in our stunning antique town. I am embarrassed that the GVI shows such disregard and disdain for Old Town Christiansted and Gallows Bay and its citizens’ quality of life. Our infrastructure is unsafe, our residential sidewalks are non-existent or token afterthoughts, our electricity goes out frequently, our sewer pumps fail regularly flooding sites next to the Boardwalk and polluting the harbor, and our police officers are rarely on foot walking through the business districts to be visible to citizens and scofflaws alike.

I wonder why our citizens don’t demand better, then I remember there is no place to demand anything of the GVI unless you are willing to go before a cynical senate and sit in The Well where more time is spent arguing and chastising critics than listening to citizens’ input.

Many letters to the editor complain about conditions but none offer solutions. Having worked for and negotiated with mayors and governing bodies during my 5-decade career as a developer of community revitalization projects and master developer of a 2,800 acre urban master-planned community, I understand what’s missing in our Territory - LOCAL GOVERNMENT!

Local government is a “farm club” for future senators, governors and cabinet-level officials. Local governments care about their citizens, listen to their citizens, and solve difficult problems on behalf of their citizens.

The US Virgin Islands has no local governments and is not structured politically for its towns to thrive and its citizens to have a say in the quality of life in the communities they live in. BUT, we have a fleeting OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE and restructure the GVI - the Sixth Constitutional Convention (ConCon6)! It’s fleeting because the Delegates are required to complete a draft constitution for submission for approval by an October 31, 2025 deadline… just 7 months from now.

There was an inadequate provision in the Fifth Constitutional Convention’s rejected draft for a future Senate to approve one local government per island. St. Croix’s two antique towns, Christiansted and Frederiksted, each deserve its own local government.

Additionally, it seems inappropriately limiting for a constitution, which is intended to endure in perpetuity, to limit the number of local governments in a geographic area, which would eliminate the opportunity for new towns to be created where future generations of citizens want them someday.

Citizens of Frederiksted don’t want citizens of Christiansted, Charlotte Amalie, Cruz Bay, or the senators from St. Thomas making their land use planning and development decisions and deciding other local priorities, just as the citizens of each of those towns don’t want the others to make decisions about their quality of life opportunities.

The simplest way to allow creation of local governments is for the Senate to enact and the Governor to sign a Municipal Corporations Act which permits citizens to establish municipal charters and boundaries by a majority of voters within the proposed boundaries.

A few local leaders in Old Town Christiansted have decided to organize a “citizens town club” to provide a forum for citizens in the Town of Christiansted and Gallows Bay to communicate, socialize and participate in community events and initiatives. We will be creating a petition for local citizens to sign if they are in favor of creating local government.

We challenge the local leaders in the other towns in the Territory to do the same and petition the Sixth Constitutional Convention and the Governor and Senate to support inclusion in the constitution as well as enabling legislation under the 1954 Revised Organic Act of authority for a Municipal Corporations Act allowing citizens to establish local governments in the towns they live, work and play in. If the citizens of the towns in the Territory make their voices heard that they want a mayor and governing body for their town, the elected officials and delegates will have to provide for them in a proper legal framework.

Respectfully submitted,

Jack Pickel

1 Strand Street

Old Town Christiansted