At our meeting on Wednesday, December 18th, Citizens for the Core unanimously decided to pursue win-win solutions for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) debate.

We welcome the presence of local CBP agents, and we recognize the essential services they perform. That said, we believe that First and Spring is an inappropriate location for a government security agency.

We are currently advocating two solutions that meet the needs of local citizens, business owners, the property owner, and local CBP agents:

1. We are courting investors who will buy the property and ask the Government Services Administration to find a more appropriate home for CBP.

2. We are actively working in support of Lovel Pratt’s proposal for a multi-agency visitors’ center on the corner of First and Spring, (“A more friendly face at First & Spring”, Dec. 18, pg. 7).

We will happily work together with the GSA to find a location that is good for Customs and good for our Island.

We will continue efforts to inform our representatives at all levels of government and galvanize public support. We will carry around our petition sheets and keep writing letters.

Federal agencies can and should be responsive to the voices of the citizenry.

We wish to thank islanders for all of the work that they have already done in support of our downtown core. Our next all-community meeting is scheduled for January 15th.

Grisha Krivchenia, Citizens for the Core