Why was Mapp elected?

Look at how many votes she got in the election. Even though many people were impressed with her, and Miss Justice enthusiastically endorsed her over and over on this forum, she got about the same number of votes as Mona Barnes. She has no support on St Croix.

She spent so little money on her campaign that it was obvious she wasn't serious, IMO. She had no supporters at the forums on St Thomas, and you have to look like a winner if you want to win.

And she trusted Mapp? How naive can she be?

I will take the contratrian point of view; Mapp has done a good job his first year.
Upon taking office, he was left a $144mil deficit by the previous administration.
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/deficit-down-collections-up-omb-reports-1.1939579

He whittled that down to $89 mil rather quickly. Cutting expenses and raising revenue means you can't spend as much, can't hire 1,000 new workers quickly.

Then he sued Hovensa, stimulating a sale. The sale resulted in a $220mil check to the GVI, and jobs. This is compared to $40mil from the previous sales effort, with the hope of expansion and even light refining due to ArcLight being a major player, and having China on board. The alternative was lawsuits and a rusting wasteland with zero jobs.

I have been impressed with most of the new Commissioners. I really like some of them.

Re: a place for him to live on STT, he received Death Threats soon after being elected. His team wanted a safe place for him...so they rented a place large enough for the Governor and his security team. I have never been to the Governor's residence on STT, but nobody has lived there in quite a while.

Three main reasons why he was elected:
1) 20+ years since a Crucian was Governor
2) 16+ years of Democratic Party control
3) The St. Croix economy (which is related to/partially blamed on reasons 1 and 2).

I will take the contratrian point of view; Mapp has done a good job his first year.
Upon taking office, he was left a $144mil deficit by the previous administration.
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/deficit-down-collections-up-omb-reports-1.1939579

He whittled that down to $89 mil rather quickly. Cutting expenses and raising revenue means you can't spend as much, can't hire 1,000 new workers quickly.

Then he sued Hovensa, stimulating a sale. The sale resulted in a $220mil check to the GVI, and jobs. This is compared to $40mil from the previous sales effort, with the hope of expansion and even light refining due to ArcLight being a major player, and having China on board. The alternative was lawsuits and a rusting wasteland with zero jobs.

I have been impressed with most of the new Commissioners. I really like some of them.

Re: a place for him to live on STT, he received Death Threats soon after being elected. His team wanted a safe place for him...so they rented a place large enough for the Governor and his security team. I have never been to the Governor's residence on STT, but nobody has lived there in quite a while.

Three main reasons why he was elected:
1) 20+ years since a Crucian was Governor
2) 16+ years of Democratic Party control
3) The St. Croix economy (which is related to/partially blamed on reasons 1 and 2).

(tu)

So he can spend taxpayer money without check to fund his lavish lifestyle, just because he's Crucian?

That makes it OK for us to buy his linens, towels, groceries, alcoholic beverages and dinners out, first class travel for him and entourage and stays 5 Star luxury accommodations, pay for his Lt. Governor condo rental and furnishings, his chef, limos, an administrative assistant whose only function is to caretake his mother and add 40 plus relatives to the government payroll, qualified or not? And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Hey, I thought the Hess facility was going to be bought by Disney,
No wait, it was the U.S. Government for a new Guantanamo Bay.....
He talks out of both sides of his mouth....most of it BS.

The man lacks ethics and integrity. Always has. Always will.
He was elected governor to serve the people, not crowned monarch to be served by the peons.

So he can spend taxpayer money without check to fund his lavish lifestyle, just because he's Crucian?

That makes it OK for us to buy his linens, towels, groceries, alcoholic beverages and dinners out, first class travel for him and entourage and stays 5 Star luxury accommodations, pay for his Lt. Governor condo rental and furnishings, his chef, limos, an administrative assistant whose only function is to caretake his mother and add 40 plus relatives to the government payroll, qualified or not?

Hey, I thought the Hess facility was going to be bought by Disney,
No wait, it was the U.S. Government for a new Guantanamo Bay.....
He talks out of both sides of his mouth....most of it BS.

The man lacks ethics and integrity. Always has. Always will.
He was elected governor to serve the people, not crowned monarch to be served by the peons.

The Governor is CEO of a Billion $$ a year organization. His expenses are all normal business expenses for someone running an organization that large. The Avis and others focus on these trivial items. In the big picture, its peanuts.

"I'm eating $13000 a month in 'peanuts', let them eat cake"

The Governor is CEO of a Billion $$ a year organization. His expenses are all normal business expenses for someone running an organization that large. The Avis and others focus on these trivial items. In the big picture, its peanuts.

Well obviously not everybody agrees with you. Just curious, but were you living here during his tenure as Lt Governor?

If Map was an adorable dog or cat though, Alana33 would love him.

Bottom line, No politician will ever be able to make everyone happy, all of the time.

Thats probably also a top reason why so many good people will never run for office.

::)

So he can spend taxpayer money without check to fund his lavish lifestyle, just because he's Crucian?

That makes it OK for us to buy his linens, towels, groceries, alcoholic beverages and dinners out, first class travel for him and entourage and stays 5 Star luxury accommodations, pay for his Lt. Governor condo rental and furnishings, his chef, limos, an administrative assistant whose only function is to caretake his mother and add 40 plus relatives to the government payroll, qualified or not?

Hey, I thought the Hess facility was going to be bought by Disney,
No wait, it was the U.S. Government for a new Guantanamo Bay.....
He talks out of both sides of his mouth....most of it BS.

The man lacks ethics and integrity. Always has. Always will.
He was elected governor to serve the people, not crowned monarch to be served by the peons.

The Governor is CEO of a Billion $$ a year organization. His expenses are all normal business expenses for someone running an organization that large. The Avis and others focus on these trivial items. In the big picture, its peanuts.

The point, Beeski, if you didn't "get it" was that these are not valid nor legally allowed expenditures. These so called "trivial items," show a profound lack of respect for those that elected him, a complete lack of accountability and integrity, especially when he was bandying about the term "dire financial straits" with regard to our economy.

Even a CEO has to answer and be responsible to his board and shareholders with regard to his spending.

Mapp has an overly inflated sense of entitlement and privilege.

Singlefin:
"If Map was an adorable dog or cat though, Alana33 would love him."

He's not and I don't.

If that adorable dog or cat had rabies, I would have it euthanized before it could harm others.

We obviously don't have that option with Mapp.

To compare him to an adorable dog or cat is quite the stretch of imagination and insulting to adorable dogs and cats anywhere.
Any animals, anywhere, for that matter.

So in your opinion, the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands is worth less than an animal? I would hate to think of what your opinion is of those who voted for him.

There you go "thinking" again.

Coors light and Milk Duds are definitely the stuff of CEO's of billion dollar corporations. I have no dog in the race but it is funny to see people defend the needless expenditures of a man who has proclaimed we are on the brink of financial disaster. If Mapp were an animal for Alanna I believe he would be a crowing rooster to her, although I did laugh at the adorable cat or dog comment.

One of the trigger points here is that I don't think many of the people commenting here on Mr Mapp's performance and character were living here during his stint as Lt Governor under Roy Schneider. There's no question that people can and do change for the better but it's been made abundantly clear since Mr Mapp took the reins that he's not only not changed but has become even more cunning in the political arena - and Lord knows he had an excellent mentor in Governor Schneider whose excesses were legion.

Why was he elected? Likely for the same reason that the majority of politicians are elected - the hope of personal gain, followed in far second place by gain for the whole - all based on flamboyant promises.

The Governor is CEO of a Billion $$ a year organization. His expenses are all normal business expenses for someone running an organization that large. The Avis and others focus on these trivial items. In the big picture, its peanuts.

Well obviously not everybody agrees with you. Just curious, but were you living here during his tenure as Lt Governor?

St. Croix.

I remember Emperor Schneider.
I remember King Turnbull and his antiques, his security detail, his....(no, I won't go there)
I remember Governor D and his gate.
Governor Mapp spends money for a place to live when he's on STT, and some food and beverages. Hell, my expenditures were much worse in my previous life traveling non-stop for business.
It comes with the Territory (pun intended).

What matters are the big picture items. Promoting Tourism, getting the Refinery re-started, making the VI Friendly for Business, the cost of Electricity, Crime, etc.

Mapp was dealt a really tough hand, $144mil in the hole, with almost no borrowing capacity. He has brought the GVI back from the edge of ruin (see Puerto Rico) and now has 3 more years to attempt to make things better.

The other stuff is fluff.

With all due respect, all the "successes" you attribute to Mr Mapp were in the works way before he took office. I admire your optimism without sharing it. Nonetheless, we will muddle through as we always have.

Pretty expensive "fluff."

Woof

😉

Then he sued Hovensa, stimulating a sale.

The sale of Hovensa had nothing to do with Mapp's hail mary, baseless legal threat (Hovensa actually held all legal leverage with its million-dollar suit seeking the return of certain tax funds). In actuality, Mapp's suit functioned as a transfer of $1 million to certain lawyers.

Weren't you the same person who said UVI's reckless (and failed) medical school idea was a great use of gov't funds? LOL jk

Some of your other points are accurate, namely the fact that people had Democrat fatigue after 8 years of DeJongh.

Hey, I thought the Hess facility was going to be bought by Disney,
No wait, it was the U.S. Government for a new Guantanamo Bay.....

When the Daily News reporters reached out to the company, the CEO of Disney said he never heard of the guy or met with him at all. He also lied about meeting with Obama. In actuality, he met with an assistant to an assistant to an assistant to a white house aide. The guy is pathological.

The Governor is CEO of a Billion $$ a year organization. His expenses are all normal business expenses for someone running an organization that large.

Except he's not. A governor =/= a CEO. Ask Bob McDonnell.

LOL at "Billion $$ a year organization." The VI, deeply in debt, is more akin to a troubled asset.

The government of the VI should not pay for luxury items. Period. Of course the gov should buy tickets when travel is necessary. But the tickets should be the cheapest ones available. If he wants to charter planes and fly his staff first class he needs to pay for it out of his own pocket.

If Mapp's so talented, he should have started up his own company so that he may spend its earnings as he wishes. That is simply not how government is supposed to work

I cannot for the life of me understand why Mapp is not in jail.

WICO paid for his rent, internet, cable, food and electricity while at the Villa Fratelli mansion. Mapp argues (the Third Circuit disagrees) that WICO is a private organization. Under Mapp's best argument, he was privately enriched with perks from a private company while he was a sitting governor. That is the exact charge that led to Gov. Bob McDonnell's conviction (actually, the McDonnell facts were much less egregious).

If WICO is a public entity (which it is), Mapp's use of its funds amounts to the embezzlement of public funds for private use. It is "semi-autonomous" in name only. The Chair of WICO serves as Mapp's Chief of Staff and, as such, serves at the pleasure of the governor. The Organic Act provides that the Gov shall reside in a specific property on STT. It does not provide, for example, that the governor "may reside wherever on STT as he shall please, with funds to be paid by the VI government." The legislature would NEED to specifically approve such use of public funds, which it did not do.

He loses either way. Why the US Attorney is sitting on this escapes me. I suspect that they secretly had him leave the mansion, as I have a hard time believing he would have left such a sweet pad on his own volition.

Then he sued Hovensa, stimulating a sale.

The sale of Hovensa had nothing to do with Mapp's hail mary, baseless legal threat (Hovensa actually held all legal leverage with its million-dollar suit seeking the return of certain tax funds). In actuality, Mapp's suit functioned as a transfer of $1 million to certain lawyers.

Weren't you the same person who said UVI's reckless (and failed) medical school idea was a great use of gov't funds? LOL jk

Some of your other points are accurate, namely the fact that people had Democrat fatigue after 8 years of DeJongh.

mono, I have never commented on the Medical School, though I hope it works out.
I do believe lobbing the lawsuit at Hess / PDVSA / Hovensa helped incentivize Hess into selling. Yes, the lawyers always win, sorry if I equate being Governor to being a CEO....and it was 16 years of Democratic Party control.

He was disqualified as an elected Senator in this case in 1989. The electorate has a short memory.

https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/882/882.F2d.49.89-3481.html

He was disqualified as an elected Senator in this case in 1989. The electorate has a short memory.

https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/882/882.F2d.49.89-3481.html

Should have been prosecuted for fraud as well. He knowingly lied to the BOE in order to be placed on the ballot.

From the third circuit opinion:
"Mapp concedes ... that he was neither a qualified voter in the Virgin Islands nor a resident for three years prior to his election, as required by Sec. 6(b). Section 6(b)"

He also appears to be lying about his educational credentials. He claims to have a master's degree from the Kennedy School at Harvard. But the Kennedy School has always required a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite for admission, which Mapp does not possess.