By Bob Loblaw

Thompson With Jamaican Wind Broker

State Sen. Antoine M. Thompson was in Jamaica last week instead of a Senate session in Albany.

Thompson left the country without explaining where he was going and instructed his staff not to talk about  his whereabouts.

I caught up with the Senator at the airport as his party returned.

Thompson’s chief of staff, Mark J. Boyd, admitted that he and Thompson were in Jamaica on a trade mission with Jamaican officials involving renewable energy. Boyd was sporting new dreadlocks, was in a very up beat mood and kept singing ‘Feeling Hot Hot Hot, Feeling Hot Hot Hot.’ “Antoine and I just sealed the most lucrative renewable energy deal for our area, we actually feel like we took advantage of the poor Jamaicans, said Boyd.”

Senator Thompson added; “We have all those Windmills on the waterfront and sometimes they don’t spin. We talked with Jamaican officials and they agreed to sell us wind for the next 5 years. I did not tell anyone where I was going because I didn’t want them to sell the wind to another State or Country.” Thompson said. ”Those suckers will be spinning more than my head was after drinking all the complimentary Rum from the Jamaican officials.”

He said the deal involved up to $6 million annually and included an option to purchase sunlight if we decided to add Solar power to the region.

When asked how the wind would be transported back to our area, Thompson quipped “I’m a deal maker, I don’t worry about the little details on how things actually work.”

I had a few follow up questions for him but he dashed off just as the drug sniffing dogs were entering the terminal.