Edgar Ross Resigns From GERS Board

Government Employees’ Retirement System Board Vice Chairman Edgar Ross has resigned from the board effective March 31, the pension system made known through press release Thursday.

Mr. Ross, an outspoken member of the board, last year moved a controversial motion that would have would ceased retirement payments to retirees until the plan sponsor —  the Government of the Virgin Islands, which G.E.R.S. says owes the system billions of dollars — made good on its payments.

Mr. Ross has maintained that the government has been getting a free pass because G.E.R.S. continues to pay benefits, while the government has only been partially meeting its obligation to the system. And he scorned members who voted against the motion, calling them chickens for doing so.

Back then, Mr. Ross, who is also a retired judge, said the board had been “sitting on its backside,” while Government House looked on laughing at the system. He said the motion was to send a strong message to the government, including senators, that the pension system was headed to catastrophe, and that he would not be held liable for its demise.

Mr. Ross cited personal reasons for his resignation.

More than a retired judge, Mr. Ross was once attorney general and also a senator, according to information provided by G.E.R.S. His knowledge of government operations, G.E.R.S. said, contributed “immensely to the board.”

A special election will be held “in the near future” to fill the remainder of Mr. Ross’s term as a board trustee, according to the release.

His departure comes at an uncertain time for the pension system. Without an infusion of cash of over $2 billion, the board has maintained that G.E.R.S. will become insolvent by 2024.

In a recent interview with this publication, Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett said that G.E.R.S. remains the greatest challenge for the territory. Already not in alignment with Governor Kenneth Mapp’s five-year economic growth bill, Ms. Plaskett said the absence of a plan for G.E.R.S. in the sin tax measure was concerning.

“I think it’s very interesting that the five-year plan doesn’t address G.E.R.S., which is to me the biggest issue that’s sitting out there,” Ms. Plaskett said.

For Mr. Ross’s full list of accomplishments, go here.