June 18, 2002 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull used his veto pen four times in the face of a midnight Monday deadline to deal with a batch of bills — in two instances rejecting measures that had prompted strong public condemnation on St. Croix.
The two controversial bills, both sponsored by Sen. Adelbert Bryan, renamed public buildings, something that recently sparked public outcry on St. Thomas as well. One bill would change the name of St. Croix Educational Complex High School to Beryl Adams-Francis High School; the other would name the pavilion building at the Patrick Sweeney Police Headquarters the George A. Farrelly Pavilion.
School students, faculty, staff and administrators and police and other citizens criticized the Legislature for not consulting with them about the renamings. After a similar outcry last month on St. Thomas, Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel withdrew her bill to rename Peace Corps School for a veteran educator.
Saying he had been "inundated with petitions, letters and phone calls" about both measures, Turnbull told Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd in his cover letter, "Interested individuals, as well as the general public, should be heard before legislation is passed that may ultimately negatively impact undeservingly on the intended honorees." Further, he said, "They deserve a more fitting memorial … Additionally, it will save me the pain and anguish of vetoing legislation honoring the memory of people that I admire and respect."
The governor's other two vetoes were of:
– A measure calling for the Government Employees Retirement System to pay interest on annuities received after 30 days of the termination of government service. He said he acted upon recommendation of the GERS administrator, who said the interest rates are excessive and would seriously impact the system.
– A bill to put caps of $20 per acre for up to five acres and of $15 per acre for larger tracts of government-owned land leased for farming. Turnbull said the bill would have reduced the Agriculture Department's Revolving Fund by 75 percent and thus "seriously hamper the operation of the department and the operations it was created to support."
He approved a bill requiring businesses that receive tax exemptions under the Economic Development Program or exemption from excise taxes to have retirement and other benefit plans for their employees.
He also signed bills to:
– Authorize the issuance of bonds, notes or other indebtedness of the V.I. government or the Public Finance Authority to finance the construction of a conference center on St. Croix. The governor, however, urged the Senate to "revisit" the bill's provisions regarding security for the borrowing. "This measure pledges the payment in lieu of taxes to be collected from Hovensa in the first instance and thereafter property taxes" as security for repayment, he said, but according to the Office of Management and Budget, these revenues "are already pledged in support of general obligations. If these bonds are to become a reality, an alternative source of debt service funding must be identified."
– Allow courts to order visitation rights for grandparents.
– Require safe storage of firearms.
– Rename the Roy L. Schneider Hospital pharmacy for the late pharmacist Earl Victor Haynes Sr.
– Name the law library at the Alexander Farrelly Justice Complex the George Alexander Mena Library after the late judge.
– Name the Schneider Hospital anaesthesia section the Dr. Aida P. Khatchadourian Anesthesia Department.
– Establish the Winifred Lewis-Garfied Nursing Scholarship Fund. However, Turnbull noted that no money has been appropriated to the fund this fiscal year.
– Rename the military post exchange on St. Thomas the Maudlyn A. White Post Exchange Building. White was killed in the attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11.
– Rename the Gallows Bay parking lot in Christiansted the Jessica Tutein Moolenaar Parking Lot.
– Name the Charlotte Amalie High School hotel training unit after longtime teacher Ecedro A. Wesselhoft.
– Name the old hospital portion of the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic on St. Croix after Lawrence Arturo Bastian.
– Rezone land on St. Croix at Market Street and at Estates Whim, Constitution Hill and Sion Farm.
– Rezone land on St. Thomas at Estates Bovoni and Charlotte Amalie.
Turnbull also acknowledged resolutions to:
– Confer the V.I. Medal of Honor on former Gov. Alexander Farrelly.
– Honor Postmaster Louis Austin Jackson for outstanding achievements.
– Honor educator Luna L. Fleming-Claxton for decades of service.
– Petition Congress and President Bush to increase per-capita Medicaid expenditures in the V.I. to the national average.
Should Turnbull not have acted on these bills by midnight Monday, they would have become law without his signature. Still on his desk awaiting action are other measures from the Senate's last full session in May that come due for action on Friday. These include 38 amendments appropriating more than $6 million that were tacked onto an unrelated bill in the traditional "Christmas tree" fashion, as well as the controversial bill mandating that all 15 senators be elected at-large.
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