Well, the rotary luncheon at which he spoke was boring. He spoke for around 10 minutes and said the same things he’s said over and over again, and the people asked the same questions we’ve heard before, but for only about 15 minutes, rather than the hours and hours we’ve experienced at public hearings and such.

I didn’t notice how bedraggled he looked, but someone else commented on it, and come to think of it he had more of a weary-weasel look than his usual wary-weasel look. It might be because he was served with papers from an attorney announcing that he was being sued by a farmer who has been using the property he wants to build on, for more than 20 years, and therefore owns it by “adverse possession”.

Another legal hurdle in addition to the umpteen he already needs to overcome in his uphill battle to rape and deface part of the south shore of St. Croix! And he still had the nerve to say he will begin construction within 60 days. Last time he said, “….in the spring…”. It will be summer next week.

I was only able to make the luncheon part, so Michael would attend the afternoon session without me. This was another “tour of the property” which was purportedly, open to “all Rotarians, guests and the media”, as we see in the press release in my previous post.

However, when the time arrived for the tour, Golden and his buddies prevented Michael from climbing into the nearly empty safari van! Again!!

We had spoken to our friend, who will soon become president of the Harborside Rotary, the previous evening and asked him if we needed to have sponsorship from a Rotarian to go on the tour. He said that it shouldn’t be necessary, but we could use his name and say that we were his guests if need be. Well, we needed to, and Michael said he was a guest of our friend, but it meant nothing to Golden, who told Michael that he (should I capitalize that, too?) could choose whom he would let onto the bus since he was paying for it.

It’s his party and he doesn’t want us coming to it! Shucks!!

Michael did, however, get to ask a few questions in the parking lot, which Paul and Co. danced around. Too bad the newspapers weren’t there again. They were at the luncheon, and probably bored by the same old same old.

Oh well, the letters to the editors will be written and sent today. Let’s see who prints what.

I’m calling it discrimination. If everyone’s invited except Michael, and that wasn’t previously explained, I believe that is clearly discrimination.

He will speak before the rotary clubs of St. Croix on Thursday, June 12 at noon at Gertrude’s.

Then…..he will give tours of the property to the public. People wanting to go and ask the tough questions should contact us or SEA. We have copies of the questionnaire we distributed to the media last time he gave a tour to them, that no one paid attention to.

We just took our walk out there this morning, and with the heat, the pond is smelling particularly rank. And the cows are still to the west, so he can try again to blame it on “manure”, but they are far away from the pond and the smell increases as we get farther from them and closer to the pond.

Sounds like it’ll be a blast! Here’s the press release:

Guest Speaker: Paul Golden, Developer and Economic Development on St. Croix and what is new!

When: Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 12:00 noon
Where: Gertrude’s Restaurant, Hess Road

Paul Golden, developer of the luxury 400-room Wyndham® St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino, will be the guest speaker at the Thursday, June 12, 2008 Rotary luncheon at Gertrude’s Restaurant beginning 12:00 noon.

Mr. Golden will present an overview of the planned development at the luncheon. He also invites all Rotarian, guests and the media to join him later in the day for a tour of the proposed building site. The tour, which will be led by Mr. Golden, will begin at 5 p.m. Those interested in taking the tour should meet at the market across from the property on South Shore Road at 4:30.

The planned resort will be the keystone of a $250 million complex that includes a new 43,000-square foot conference center on the South Shore of St. Croix. It will feature a 25,000 square-foot casino, 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, 17,000 square-foot world-class spa and fitness center, four restaurants; lounges, retail stores, and kid’s club. All Rotarians from the various Rotary Clubs, guests and the media are invited to attend.

Open to the public. All Rotarians, guests and the media are welcome.

Lunch available at a cost of $15.00. For additional information and reservations – Please Contact Jim Oliver 777-7700/277-1126 or Liz Goggins 712-5003/771-4420.

Terry told me before that my posts were too political, so I’ve cut back, but I had to share this.

I just had an enlightening conversation with former senator David Jones. We were at the press conference where Paul Golden finally announced his partnership with Wyndham Worldwide to manage and operate the Wyndham St. Croix Golf Resort and Casino (formerly called Golden Gaming/Golden Resorts, LLC). Oddly, no one from Wyndham bothered to show up, or they kept quiet, they certainly weren’t introduced. How’s that for a resounding endorsement?

Anyway, I was discussing with Mr. Jones the fact that Mr. Golden’s checkered past includes episodes that would prevent him from employment in a casino, let alone running one, according to the Virgin Islands Casino Control Act. “We’re not here to judge anyone”, Mr. Jones said. He went on to say Paul Golden hasn’t murdered or raped anyone, as far as we know, so we should move forward. Right in our community, he told me, we have people who have raped and murdered and they’re flourishing, so why shouldn’t Mr. Golden. He seemed to be saying that, since we haven’t been able to enforce all our laws against more heinous crimes, we shouldn’t bother to enforce lowly laws like the Casino Control Act. It struck me as particularly odd, since our police commissioner was on a radio talk show this morning saying he and the force are committed to enforcing all the laws, from seat belt requirements, window tinting, cell phone use, noise ordinances and traffic rules on up. Yet here was a former senator, who used to be charged with making the laws, saying we should just ignore some of them, since we can’t enforce all of them.

I really wish someone from Wyndham had shown up at the press conference. I’ve heard all of Paul’s answers before, but I had a question for them. I’m wondering, given Mr. Golden’s history, in previous ventures, of ignoring municipal rules and regulations that he’s been unable to have changed to suit his purpose, how much consideration Wyndham has given to their liability should this practice continue on this resort project? I’d also like to know why they jumped the gun on his announcement by a few hours, sending a press release out to Marketwire, but failed to note it on their own Wyndham Worldwide website? (as of 4:00 pm AST 2/27/08)

Note: This editorial comment was also submitted to the St. Croix Source, The St. Croix Avis, and the VI Daily News