May 10, 2007 — Two of Gov. John deJongh Jr.’s nominees, Col. Renaldo Rivera for adjutant general of the V.I. National Guard and Gizette Thomas for director of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, were both approved without dissent by the Senate Committee on Rules and Judiciary Thursday in Frederiksted.
Now the nominations will proceed to the full Senate for debate and the final up or down vote. Nothing came out during Thursday’s hearing to suggest any difficulty will be likely. Rivera testified first, then Thomas.
Most of the questioning for both nominees was perfunctory and conversational rather than confrontational. During Rivera’s testimony, one question came up regarding a possible long-running issue at the Guard.
“Is there an issue of conflict of interest in the Guard now?” Sen. James Weber asked Rivera.
“I would say no because I have not completed my assessment,” Rivera said.
“Let me put it this way. You have a human resources person, and if you have a problem with that person the appeal is to the Chief of Staff. The problem we have is they are related, correct?” Weber said.
“That is correct. The recommendation was made to remove one or the other,” Rivera said. When asked how long ago the recommendation to fix the problem was made, Rivera said it had been at least three years, but that he would execute the directive to remove one of the two from the post they now hold.
Sen. Carmen Wesselhoft asked Rivera if there had been a decrease in recruitment for the National Guard in the territory.
“There has been a reduction, it is true,” Rivera said. “But it is a nationwide trend, affected by world events, not a specifically local situation.”
Rivera graduated Charlotte Amalie High in 1968 then began his military career with a two-year tour in Vietnam, where he saw extensive combat. Upon leaving active duty, Rivera joined the V.I. Police Department, where he held several posts over the course of more than a decade. Joining the National Guard as a commissioned officer in 1981, Rivera served in a variety of capacities for the next 22 years, before retiring in 2002. In the middle of his tenure with the Guard, Rivera attended and graduated the U.S. Army War College in 1996. After leaving the Guard, Rivera oversaw all security operations at the Water and Power Authority for several years. For the past year, he created and ran a local subsidiary of Guardian Protection Systems, a private security agency.
When her turn to testify came, Gizette Thomas was praised very highly by members of the committee. “People should know she graduated from Hampton University in only three years, with a 4.0 grade point average, then went to Georgetown, one of the nation's top law schools and promptly came back home to the Virgin Islands,” Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone said.
Much of the questioning revolved around the ins and outs of Economic Development Commission benefits, remittance of customs duties back from the federal government, what role the IRB plays in forecasting future revenues and other arcane details of the tax business.
One area Thomas highlighted was her work with former IRB director Louis Willis in establishing new procedures and policies for the bureau, amounting to a wholesale replacement of the old system.
“The immediate impact of the bureau’s enhancements that was realized by the public was the expedited processing of tax returns with income tax refunds,” Thomas said. “This significantly reduced the interest expenditures of the government for tax returns that were held in excess of 45 days and many times in excess of two years. Now the bureau processes 90 percent of income tax returns with refunds by June 1.”
Thomas’ expertise impressed the senators.
“You are very well versed in your business,” Sen. Celestino White said. “Before we let you go we have to find something to get you to stammer on,” White joked.
Thomas has been acting Director of Internal Revenue since deJongh took office this past January. From 2000 to 2006, she was deputy director. From 1995 to 2000, Thomas served as associate counsel, providing legal advice to the director and others in the bureau. Prior to her aforementioned college career, Thomas graduated summa cum laude from St. Joseph High School in Frederiksted.
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