The Source has had several people call to report seeing brand new gray Ford Explorers out on the territory’s roads with Legislature license plates. Residents have asked how this can be at a time when the entire V.I. government is facing yet another year of budget cuts and austerity.
Asked for comment, Senate President Shawn-Michael Malone confirmed there were six new vehicles, but said they were not assigned to individual senators, and rather replaced a much larger fleet of decade-old unreliable vans. He said the replacement vehicles will ultimately save the territory money.
Malone added that the money came from an insurance settlement for about 11 cars belonging to the Legislature which were destroyed by flooding in 2010. (See related links below)
"I don’t understand people sometimes," Malone said, adding that he held a press conference in April discussing the cars, the insurance and the plans to reorganize the Legislature’s transportation. "It’s one of the most cost-effective things the government has done in ages," he said.
The Legislature purchased a fleet of about 30 green SUVs in 2001, and each successive Legislature assigned every senator a vehicle for personal use, Malone said. About 11 were lost to flooding in 2010. In April, the Legislature decided to move to a motor pool system, with a smaller number of cars that would be driven by staff as needed and not taken home.
The Legislature used insurance settlement funds from the 2010 flood to purchase six new vehicles to replace the old fleet of 30, Malone said. With the best remaining vehicles from the old fleet, the Legislature now has a total of about 10 vehicles, including the six new ones.
Having a smaller, more reliable fleet in a motor pool will save money, according to Malone.
"It is a big improvement over what was done in the past because, in the past, each senator had a car. That is gone in this body." Malone said. "That saves on gas, because they would be driving them more and taking them home," Malone said."The (Legislature’s) Division of Transportation will be using the vehicles only during working hours, so that is a big savings.”
Malone also said that “Senators are not driving. Only staff. That is the new policy.”
“And we were spending thousands and thousands of dollars on maintenance and repairs to the old cars. They were not safe any longer and it was a waste of money," he added.
Malone defended the Legislature’s financial management of itself, pointing to cost-saving measures taken since he took the helm. "We have also eliminated cell phones in the Legislature. That is a $60,000 bill we don’t have anymore. And travel has been curtailed. … It is good for senators to get experience and education; we just have to do the work to find opportunities that are affordable or even free."
While senators no longer get a car as a perk of the job, the Legislature still has to arrange to pick up senators and staff who fly from district to district for hearings and get them back to their planes or hotels as needed, Malone said. Without a small fleet of its own, the Legislature is forced to rent vehicles at tremendous cost, he said.
"These are needs, not wants," he said.
