US Virgin Islands need transparency to weed out corruption

Residents in the U.S. Virgin Islands are tired of the performative outrage about the need for more transparency and accountability in the government. For all the talk, there have been no substantial changes to the territory’s public records statute since it was enacted in 1921, according to attorney Iver Stridiron, the Legislature’s code revisor. Yet, there has been a lot of posturing about transparency by legislators, who create the laws; Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., whose team has denied certain journalists access to information and news conferences based on the questions they asked; and other government officials, including candidates seeking to become the next governor and lieutenant governor of the territory, and senators seeking reelection. Many of these candidates are or were in position…