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Charlotte Amalie
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HomeNewsArchivesLONG-STANDING CAMPAIGN SIGN SUBJECT TO FINE?

LONG-STANDING CAMPAIGN SIGN SUBJECT TO FINE?

Dec. 28, 2002 – Unless governors are exempt from campaign regulations, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull owes the Public Works Department some $1,950 in fines for the campaign sign he still has standing on St. Thomas at Centerline Road — also known as Estate Thomas Road — across from the Long Bay Pueblo Supermarket.
The sign reads: "Leaders for all the people." In English and Spanish, it urges folks to vote for Turnbull for governor and Vargrave Richards for lieutenant governor.
If the governor indeed owes those very people that kind of money now, one observer opined, he can painlessly pay it out of his recently legislated $55,000-a-year raise.
The tattered, faded sign is the only campaign sign the Source has observed still standing from the November elections. Turnbull's red, white and blue campaign headquarters at Mandela Circle has not been dismantled.
Public Works Commissioner Wayne D. Callwood said in a release issued on Nov. 7: "It is imperative that candidates remove their advertising in a timely manner." Specifically, he said, that meant by Nov. 19, with the exception of any aspiring office holders who might wind up continuing to campaign for a runoff election that would be held on Nov. 19.
The only possibilities in that category were the Turnbull-Richards team, which received a fraction more than 50 percent of the vote on election day, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office, and the team of John de Jongh Jr. and Paul Arnold, who came in second in the field of eight sets of contenders.
Whether there would be a runoff depended on the results of the absentee ballots, which were tabulated on Nov. 15. The final tally sustained the majority vote, defined as "50 percent plus one," for the Turnbull-Richards ticket, so there was no need for a run-off election.
Callwood said that Public Works litter enforcement officers would start issuing tickets on Nov. 20 to candidates whose signs were still standing, and they would face fines of $50 per day per sign.
At the rate of $50 a day since Nov. 20, it appears Turnbull would owe the $1,950 at present. Neither Callwood nor the governor could be reached for comment on Saturday.

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