New top cop and OMB director sworn in to replace indicted cabinet members

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Family members, colleagues, supporters and friends attended the swearing in ceremony on St. Thomas Thursday of Director of the Office of Management and Budget Julio A. Rhymer, Sr. and Police Commissioner Mario M. Brooks.

Governor Albert Bryan and Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach joined Bryan-Roach Administration Cabinet members for the ceremony, held in the Columban Hall of Holy Family Church and streamed live via Facebook and the Virgin Islands Government Access Network. The oath of office was administered by Superior Court Presiding Judge Debra Watlington. As Bryan stuck Cabinet pins onto the lapels of each of the newly sworn commissioners, he welcomed them to a newfound family.

“What happens to one of us happens to all of us,” Governor Bryan said. “When you take up this mantle of responsibility, 100,000 souls count on us to do our best. When we let down the Virgin Islands in any way, 100,000 people feel the impact.” Lieutenant Governor Roach lauded Commissioners Rhymer and Brooks for answering the call for leadership in difficult times. “I am grateful to Julio Rhymer and Mario Brooks that they have decided that they will take the challenge no matter what,” Roach said. Rhymer, a distinguished finance executive with more than 30 years of experience, previously served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer at the VI Water and Power Authority, and as Chief Financial Officer at the VI Housing Finance Authority.