Virgin Islander Hannibal “Mike” Ware’s appointment to lead the V.I. Waste Management Authority was announced by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. and Public Works Commissioner Derek Gabriel, who chairs the WMA board, during a Government House briefing Monday on St. Thomas.
Ware previously held the position of inspector general of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he oversaw billions of dollars in federal funds. He was one of several inspectors general fired immediately after President Donald Trump resumed office. Ware, who also served as the chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, questioned the legality of the firings in a letter to the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
“At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General,” he wrote at the time.
On Monday, Ware said that when he “heard the governor’s call for Virgin Islanders to return home to contribute to the positive development of our territory, something pulled at my heart that I could not quite shake.” Ware said he was “far too young, far too fly, far too gifted” to waste his days on golfing, traveling, and sleeping in.
“I’ve been receiving some very lucrative offers from private companies seeking to utilize my expertise and credibility to lobby and consult,” he said. “While it would seem that that would be the natural transition for someone with my executive experience and reputation — and to be frank, it probably would have put my family and I in a pretty good financial position — that work didn’t seem like it would be rewarding or fulfilling to me at this point in my life. People think about jobs. I’m thinking about purpose.”
While at the Small Business Administration, Ware’s office was involved in multiple high-profile cases of alleged fraud perpetrated by Virgin Islanders, including the so-called “woodpile” case on St. Croix and alleged abuses of the federal Paycheck Protection Program. The office investigated David Whitaker, a convicted felon and former government contractor who became a cooperating witness in the federal government’s case against former Sports, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Calvert White, former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez, and former Management and Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal.
Before introducing Ware, Gabriel thanked WMA employees and interim Executive Director Daryl Griffith, whom he said: “handled the challenge, I think, with the stewardship that was required.”
“I cannot thank Daryl and his team enough for all that they’ve done to keep the authority not only afloat, but making progress through the last months and through the months ahead,” Gabriel said before introducing Ware as a “change agent” who is “no stranger to this territory.”
“Mr. Ware … brings with him decades of experience working on the federal levels, local levels and state levels, and we know that he will be the person to shepherd us in the authority for years to come,” Gabriel said. “As everybody knows, we have over $3 billion of federal grants available to us. We have a lot of local money available to us to address the challenges that face the authority every day, and we know that Mr. Ware — in addition to the men and women that serve in the department, in the Waste Management Authority — are up to the challenge.”
