Gov. Albert Bryan named as dozen new commissioners Tuesday at a press conference at the Arthur Abel Complex in Frederiksted, and there were quite a few familiar names.
Most of those selected have had previous experience in their field and Bryan said he also chose them based on courage, logical thinking, education and committeemen to the community.
The departments and new commissioners are:
– Bureau of Motor Vehicles: Barbara McIntosh, a former Highway Safety administrator.
– Virgin Islands National Guard: Col. Kodjo Knox Limbacker, a Virgin Islander who served in the Pentagon before returning to St. Croix.
– Tourism: Joseph Boschulte, a previous director of West India Company and other government agencies.
– Finance: Kirk Callwood, a past chief operating officer at International Capitol Management and VIYA.
– Health: Justa Encarnacion, former vice president of Gov. Juan Luis Hospital.
– Veterans’ Affairs: Patrick Farrell, current VA director appointed by the previous administration.
– Energy Office: Kyle Fleming, previous operations manager at Pro Solar.
– Labor: Gary Malloy, former superintendent of St. Croix schools.
– Planning and Natural Resources: J.P Oriole, past Coastal Zone Management and DPNR commissioner.
– Public Works: Nelson Petty, current commissioner appointed by previous administration.
– Property and Procurement: Anthony Thomas, Education Department chief of staff
– Bureau of Internal Revenue: Joel Lee, certified public accountant and past BIR employee.
Bryan said other commissioners have been named but won’t be made public for up to 90 days due to job and other conflicts those chosen may have.
Those departments heads that have not been named are: Education; Public Safety; Licensing and Consumer Affairs; Justice; Sports, Parks and Recreation; Port Authority; Human Services; Personnel; Agriculture; Collective Bargaining; Fire Services; Information and Technology; VI Territorial Emergency Management Agency; Corrections; Economic Research; Law Enforcement Planning Commission; Lottery, Waste Management; and, Inspector General.
Before he listed his appointees, Bryan took a few minutes to talk about the recent violence in the territory and said that he and his family knew two of the recent victims. There needs to be a more comprehensive approach by involving federal partners, he said, and promised to provide more information about the action to be taken during the state of the territory speech.
“I just want people to know, Tregenza and I are very aware of the situation,” Bryan said.