Government

Confusion: Sen. Carla Joseph Agrees to Defer WAPA Hearing to Oct. or Nov., Then Subpoena's Authority For Not Showing Up in September

Senator Carla Joseph and other senators who make up the Committee on Government Operations and Consumer Affairs on Wednesday subpoenaed officials of the V.I. Water and Power Authority after the authority, according to Ms. Joseph, failed to appear before the committee for a scheduled Sept. 14 hearing. "I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and I tried to work with WAPA in setting dates that would be amendable for them to come forward," Ms. Joseph said during the Tuesday hearing. She then moved that WAPA be subpoenaed to appear before the Legislature. But WAPA issued a release Wednesday following the subpoena stating that it has been in active communication with Ms. Joseph's office and had clearly communicated that Sept. 14 would not be possible, and WAPA requested a date in October or early November. "In a letter to Senator Joseph on September 6th, Water and Power Authority CEO and Executive Director Andrew Smith requested the hearing be briefly deferred to October or early ...