Governor Mapp’s $12,500 Monthly St. Thomas Rental Revealed

At a press conference Thursday at Government House on St. Croix, Governor Kenneth Mapp publicly revealed that his rental home on St. Thomas is costing tax payers $12,500 each month. The contract stipulates a six-month agreement with an option to renew for another six months.

Today, VI Consortium sources on St. Thomas with direct knowledge of the situation and who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the story, provided pictures of the lavish home where the governor resides while on St. Thomas. In addition, information was also provided about the owner, who is currently doing business with the Government of the Virgin Islands.

Pictures of Mapp’s $12,500 monthly rental in St. Thomas

The home, according to sources, is owned by Jimez Ashby, owner of A-9 Trucking and VI Recycling Company. The massive structure appears to be a new construction with newly paved driveways, manicured grounds, and modern fixtures.

The two companies Ashby owns have identical telephone numbers listed, as shown by the screen grabs immediately  below. A screenshot of Mr. Ashby’s LinkedIn profile is also included.

On April 23, 2014, the V.I. Waste Management Authority board approved contracts and amended existing ones. On that date, the board approved a retroactive $138,000 payment to A-9 Trucking for services rendered at the St. Thomas landfill between March 2011 and April 2011; a three-year contract for scrap metal management in the St. Thomas-St. John District by V.I. Recycling, for a cost not to exceed $2,933,366.84; and a retroactive $95,650 payment to V.I. Recycling for services rendered for scrap metal management from March 2012 through May 2012.

Poolside at Gov. Mapp’s residence in St. Thomas

The government contracts, however, are not suggestive that Gov. Mapp has colluded with Ashby, as Ashby had been doing business with the V.I. government years before Mapp took office.

At Thursday’s press conference, as a prelude to explaining the reason behind his decision to rent a home on St. Thomas for $12,500, the governor said, “You can’t rent a home in St. Thomas for $4,000.” Mapp was referring to an article printed in a local newspaper citing his spokesperson, Kimberly Jones, as the source of the information of him renting a home on St. Thomas for $4,000.

At the press conference, however, Mapp did not identify the source of the information printed in the newspaper, but only said the newspaper had printed a mistake.

Mapp also made known that while on St. Croix he stays at his private residence, which, he says, needs no “paving, fencing, or guard houses; my home is very secure.”

The governor said he would not be spending “any public money on any private property owned by me,” and that his St. Thomas rental is contracted for a six-month lease with an option to renew for an additional six months.

The governor said the home he resides in on St. Thomas and the $12,500 price tag, entails much more than just renting a home, “it is renting a home for the security apparatuses in place.”

In light of the revelation, VI Consortium asked the governor on Thursday why had he chosen not to reside in the official governor’s residence in Catherineberg, St. Thomas.

“Well, Government House is the official office of the governor, I believe that most people understand Catherineberg is the residence,” Mapp began.

A ladder appears on a back or front driveway of Mapp’s rental home, indicating that work may still be ongoing on the property

Mapp went on to offer an explanation as to why he thought the ‘Governor’s Mansion’ was currently unlivable, but was careful to add that the home could one day be “remediated.”

“This is a conversation that we’re going to have with the Legislature and the community — housing for the governor and the lieutenant governor,” he said, adding, “And the reality is, we take these older structures, do not maintain them, you lock them up and really don’t use them, they deteriorate very fast. And when they deteriorate very fast, you can’t live in them.”

“Catherineberg can be remediated so that at some point, I guess, I can live there. But it is not now at that stage. And you may recall the last administration made a decision not to do any remediation at Catherineberg for a number of reasons, and to use their private residence [instead],” Mapp said.

The governor was referring to former Governor de Jongh who spent $500,000 of tax payers’ money to outfit his private home with security features, including fencing and surveillance cameras.

Mapp continued, “And so, on top of what was needed, at the time the last administration came into office, and the last eight years, I don’t need to say much more than that. But the Organic Act says the Governor shall reside in the capital — in St. Thomas. And so the seat of government is there, and I have to go there very often and I’m happy to go, and I have to work and stay there.”

Mapp said he even considered hotel lodging rather than renting a home while on St. Thomas.

“We looked at maybe just staying in a hotel, but the intrusion of security staff and what that brings. I recently hosted the assistant secretary of Interior, I’ve hosted Congress folks already, [and] doing that in a hotel wasn’t functional,” he explained.

The governor said his team’s only option was “to find someplace where the governor can reside and he can perform his duties in a residence, and so that’s why the rental home on St. Thomas.”

Front view of Mapp’s rental home on St. Thomas

He pointed out that it was important for him to be open about the true cost of his living space on St. Thomas.

“But I did not want the public to walk away believing that we were only paying $4,000 in rental. Plus, when contract and the lease is all done, it will be made available to the public and it would not reflect that mistake printed in the Avis, so I felt this morning to take the opportunity to say to the public what the amount is,” he said.

The VI Consortium has reached out to Jones for comment on where the $4,000 rental price came from and for additional information on the terms of the lease, size of the property and other features of the home, said to be located in Estate Nazareth on St. Thomas. Jones has not yet responded to VI Consortium’s inquires.

Feature Image: Front view of Mapp’s rental home in St. Thomas