St. John's Craig Barshinger, the Territory's At Large Senator, said he spent $5,310.64 for a week-long Caribbean cruise for eight people on his staff. They were participating in training sessions for his office's computer software, he told the Virgin Islands Daily News.
While the trip and its cost was approved at the outset by the senate President, he was not reimbursed. "They paid zero. It canme out of my pocket," Barshinger said.
The alternative for the training, he said, was to bring his St. Croix staff to St. Thomas, where he would have to cover hotel costs and food.
The trip is one of several for which Barshinger says he's been stiffed by the legislature, perhaps the cost of being an independent Senator. "I have traveled very little because they won't let me travel," he told the newspaper after the Daily News requested spending records for the Legislature.
The Senator's most expensive trip was for a three-week training course at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The $11,200 cost included tuition, and room and board.