Early voting is not legal

This territory is brazenly corrupt. Do not move here.

Fortunately not everyone living here shares your opinions which seem to border on the paranoid delusional the more you express them but, again fortunately, I don't think anyone thinking of relocating here is likely to be deterred by your admonition. After all, if you feel so strongly that nobody should move here because of it, it begs the question why you simply wouldn't move elsewhere to a place where corruption is non existent.

Yes. Come on down and enjoy the circus!
It's much better than watching prime time on network TV while ensconced in your stateside suburban consumer centric existence. You just can't write this stuff.

Paranoia? Is that your backhanded way of endorsing Chucky and deJongh old Tart? By relegating my comments as paranoia? Then tell us tart what was the enabling legislation for early voting? I rest my case

the virgin islands at the moment is a joke this year with all the voting issues

Come on guys, let's wave the white flag and stop bickering.

We all know there is rampant corruption and that our islands are in dire need of a good "house cleaning." I keep hoping it will happen every election year but people keep selecting the same old cronies back into office and wonder why things don't change for the better.
It would be nice to wake up the morning after an election and not be disappointed and demoralized.

Unfortunately the tentacles of corruption reach into almost every dept. With the exception of our inspector general.

I don't see where ot is championing either chucky or dejongh.
I don't understand your above comment,mj about what was enabling the legislation for early voting.

There was partial cleaning on STT when Celestino White and Louis Hill decided not to seek reelection after the Alvin Williams. Isn't Louis Willis in jail? Many new senators were elected but the system is easy scam for so many reasons.

Paranoia? Is that your backhanded way of endorsing Chucky and deJongh old Tart?

No, but your retort only furthers the supposition.

I think that if the populous really wanted change, and a chance to clean up some of the corruption and nepotism, that Coffelt is the right choice. Some of her views may be a little conservative, but are balanced by having John C. on the ticket. This is a smart team that could do a lot to ensure the future of our community.

The problem, as I see it with the Diase team, is they are against federal "handouts for the government." Unfortunately, in today's global economy, small island nations can't compete. The ones that are at best treading water mostly rely on tax shelters and financial services, but governments are starting to crack down on those.

We need federal monies as long as we can get them. The internet is negatively impacting many of our businesses because we can't compete. The only new businesses are food markets/convenience stores and affordable eateries.

Where is the money going to come from? Even if the govt was squeaky clean, there wouldn't be enough local revenue as things stand now.

islandhops, you make it sound bad to be conservative.

I agree 411,
One of the advantages that St.Croix had over most other islands was that it wasn't wholly dependent on seasonal tourism alone. I understand peoples environmental concerns over the refinery, but it provided good paying, year round, Union jobs. Who knew that after 40 years of operation and $800 million in renovations, it would be shuttered?
Hopefully a deal really is in place and those good jobs, and the $80 million in yearly tax revenue, return soon. A new medical school would also be a great thing to see.
As I've heard in the past here, St. Croix's ship isn't quite IN, its just drifting off shore. Take a good look around, the potential is everywhere. If the right people can be elected into the right positions, the near future would indeed be bright.

islandhops, you make it sound bad to be conservative.

Not at all, and it certainly wasn't meant in that way. For a specific example, I spoke with someone who was turned off from Coffelt due to her conservative stance on same-sex marriage. Whereas I don't think that her personal views on some items should prevent us from seeing the greater value in her candidacy.

I agree, islandhops.

Does anybody realize how much revenue the territory could gain if we legalized same sex marriage? I have never seen a conservative candidate with a creative, progressive idea. They tend to be against everything.

-- moved topic --

Does anybody realize how much revenue the territory could gain if we legalized same sex marriage? I have never seen a conservative candidate with a creative, progressive idea. They tend to be against everything.

I'm not sure that it would realistically do much at all for the territory's coffers. Gay couples have been vacationing here for years and many have enjoyed "commitment ceremonies" here. As much as I'm universally in favor of same sex marriages, I can't imagine that its legalization here would result in such a huge surge of visitors that it would benefit the islands' economy.

We won't know til we try it. The publicity would be valuable. Most other destinations have seen an uptick.

Most other destinations have seen an uptick.

Statistics?

Simple Google search based on articles I read a while back. This is one of the many from searching "gay marriage tourism" or something like that. New Zealand expecting increase, too. I was trying to copy the Google search results page, but...

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/economic-impact-reports/estimating-the-economic-boost-of-marriage-equality-in-washington-state-sales-tax-2/

The Washington State opinion you linked hypothesizes that the initial boost to the state's economy will come from the, " ... approximately 9,500 in-state same-sex couples (who) will choose to marry in the three years following an opening of marriage to same-sex couples in Washington State."

9.500 couples? We can probably count on one hand the number of similar couples on each of the US Virgin Islands.

What would be relevant would be statistics from destinations similar to ours. Any other Caribbean islands have any mileage and stats to offer?

"We won't know til we try it" mindset has put the territory on the wrong end of the stick many different times over the years from burning fossil fuels to setting up wind turbine farms. "Due diligence" on the part of our government and our people leave much to be desired in so many areas and this is hardly the time to jump once more onto an unproven bandwagon. "The publicity would be valuable"is highly debatable.

That wasn't what I meant to link to - it was the Google search results page.

Here's a more appropriate article with info from Dutch Caribbean about 5 paragraphs down.

We've been doing destination weddings for years.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE94U0U520130531?irpc=932

Nice article but it doesn't address solid statistics and the Netherlands sanctioned gay marriage in toto, giving the islands time to make the necessary adjustments. There is still no Federal law sanctioning gay marriage.

Yes, I think I know that the islands have been a wedding destination for many years - 25 years is about as far back as I personally remember there being wedding planners here but I'm sure they were here prior to that.

My comments remain the same. Yes, one of these days it would be nice but now is not the time for our islands in my opinion.

Sorry to pull the thread further off-topic, but,

Something like drug legalization, which was also recently discussed as a "big change", has potential downsides which are at least debatable.

Allowing gay marriage in the territory would have ZERO downsides, aside from making stubborn old women a little squirmy in seeing boys hold each others hands. Allowing sanctioned ceremonies would only be a rule change - no dispensaries needed, no differing standards of arrest.

Whether more gay couples would come here for destination weddings - who knows, or really even cares. It would cost us nothing to find out. While there may not be huge studies available to point to, you could always look to the "old fashioned" straight wedding industry here. Straight weddings are allowed in all 50 states, yet plenty get married here. Even if a rule change brought down just one more gay couple, [and their friends, and their parents, and rented three houses and 20 hotel rooms and numerous rental cars and taxi rides and meals out...] isn't that worth it to the islands?

If the churches protested, it may open up the issue of why they are not protesting every time a young man picks up a gun and shoots another - last I heard, that was a pretty serious religious crime too.

Thank you, tedc. Too many people on STT say no to everything which is IMO an impediment to increased revenue for so many businesses. I discourage my friends from coming here because there's nothing here for them to keep them occupied for a week.

In fact, I had no interest in coming here before I moved here, because I prefer more stimulating vacations and the VI and most of the Caribbean don't market themselves as such.

Our economy cannot sustain itself on tourists who only want to go to free beaches. We need more ideas and activities, not more no's.