August 6, 2020 | 3:30PM AST
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS — Government House entered into a $30,000 purchase order with The Strategy Group VI, LLC (TSG) for print and digital media marketing services. That purchase order covered a period of six months and expired on July 10, 2020.
Government House met the procurement requirements pursuant to Title 31 of the Virgin Islands Code.
The total procurement was less than $50,000 which ordinarily does not require a written contract under the provisions of Title 31 of the V.I. Code. Further, given competitive negotiations with 3 possible vendors and compliance with the procurement exemptions, a justification letter requesting authorization to procure the services of TSG was approved by Property and Procurement Commissioner Anthony Thomas on January 10, 2020.
To date, this is the only procurement of services of TSG by the Office of the Governor.
The Virgin Islands Consortium, on August 6, published a misleading and false headline that implied that a contract was entered into illegally. At no time did the Consortium inquire about or seek clarification from the Office of the Governor.
The Virgin Islands Consortium used, as its only source, a statement of political innuendo stated on the Senate Floor in a hearing on August 5, 2020, that was never allowed to be placed in its proper context.
This practice stands in opposition to the foundations of journalistic integrity – fairness, balance, and accuracy – and it works against the common good by promoting misinformation that interferes with the public’s right to know.
The Bryan Roach Administration continues to operate with full transparency and integrity. All contracts and financial transactions of the central government are publicly accessible via the government’s transparency website at transparency.vi.gov.
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