Governor Responds To IG Report
Well, here it is.
Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr.
Honestly, we haven’t had time to review but we will.
Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure, the Governor’s response.
Well, here it is.
Gov. John P. deJongh, Jr.
Honestly, we haven’t had time to review but we will.
Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure, the Governor’s response.
More than half of the contributions Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen has received in the current election cycle are linked to a Washington contractor who is the subject of a federal inquiry.
According to an article today in the Washington Post, Christensen has received at least $37,000 from contractor Jeffrey Thompson, who is suspected of using “straw” or phantom donors to evade contribution limits that are set for candidates running for office. His operations have drawn the attention of Federal authorities.
According to the article, Thompson’s accounting firm Thompson, Cobb, Brazilio and Associates, has 189 contracts with the federal government, worth $17.1 million. The company has done some business in the Virgin Islands, auditing grant funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Highway Administration. TCBA recently advertised for an accounting position based in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands.
Recently, Christensen has urged the Federal Election Commission to investigate the election system of the Virgin Islands, citing public discontent with the way the Board of Elections in operating. Perhaps this current development will hasten their acceptance of her request.
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When the governor(they) sought to correct the grammatical structure of the legislative language, even he(they) were clearly incorrect.
An “infinitive phrase” was referred to as if it were a “prepositional phrase”; also, again a “present-participle phrase” was referred to as if it were a “prepositional phrase.”
Now, what was freaking amazing is that they selected a “prepositional phrase” which begins with the preposition “for” and ends with the noun “roads,” and they tried to say that the noun “roads” was not the object of that preposition nor the object of the entire prepositional phrase.
The governor has focused on minor phrases when everyone knows the main idea(s) are expressed in the Main Clauses!!!!!!!!
He is still the Governor and the IG Report only demonstrates that the IG cannot read the English language.The law is clear and the Governor followed it to the letter. What is the IG’s next move? I recommend that the IG takes a course in grammar and that the Governor conducts the lessons.
To anonymous @ 10:02 am,
Do you truly believe it was right for the governor to insult the IG like that in that letter? If it was the other way around, people like the Crucian “Educator” and Balance would be up in arms. You cannot defend a politician just because you know them.
I must say that the Governor is correct that the IG Report did misquote the Legislature’s Act 6917 Section 17. The main difference in the IG report’s quote is a missing comma (after the word repair), which changes the interpretation of the statement.
IG Report quote – “…engineering design, construction, repair, or resurfacing of roads.” This quote reads as dealing strictly with roads.
http://cruciansinfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/usdeptof_interior111a1.pdf
Legislature Act 6917, Section 17 – “…engineering designs, construction, repairs or resurfacing of roads.” This quote talks about three separate things:
1) engineering designs
2) construction
3) repairs or resurfacing of roads
http://www.legvi.org/vilegsearch/ShowPDF.aspx?num=6917&type=Act
I believe that the missing comma was probably a typo by the legislature, but it was a good catch and a very smart move by the Governor’s team. The IG report did in fact misquote Act 6917.
However, the governor’s letter did an overkill with the grammatical and English writing lessons that was stated in the report.
Admin, hurry up and moderate my above comment. I’m trying to help people decipher what the governor’s letter is saying.
FYI to SMH from Website Admin: It was the links in your post that sent it to moderate. No problem with the content.
Question for SMH: I do see a point in your analysis, however; if you may indulge for a moment.
You state that the Legislative Law speaks of three separate enities due to the lack of a comma after the word “roads”. So based on your analysis, engineering designs, construction, and repair and resurfacing of roads are two completely different thoughts that have no connection with one another.
So I ask you, the enginnering of what? The construction of what? Is this not where the “intent” of the Legislature comes into play? Prosecutions are not solely based upon the crime which took place. But more so, a case is built upon the intent and evidence leading up to the crime.
PS: When listing a series of words, the English language does not a demand a comma preceding a conjunction. Therefore, in order to find the true meaning of the referenced law, one must examine the intent of the entire sentence.
For example: Donastorg won the primary election by a landslide, due to his integrity, intelligence, capabilities and accomplishments.
How about Governor John P. deJongh Jr. was indicted for thiefing, lying and the misuse of public funds.
@ENOUGH!
Let me make it clear that I do believe that the legislature’s intent for the money was roads. However, that typo in the bill opened up a loophole for the governor. The deJongh administration fully knows that the purpose of the money was roads, but they can make a compelling argument with that loophole that the legislature provided.
Y’all think this is just about “roads”? Well, it may seem that way on the surface, but there is more to it than just the roads/Mafoliegate situation. The “roads” is the only incident made public at this point. What DeJongh doesn’t get is that we the people are not as stupid and maliable as he thinks we are. OH! I can’t wait for the real crap to hit the fan! …Just like a Federal Investigation goes undercover for quite a while before a result is at hand, the same goes for DeJongh. HE played us for fools, and he will have to answer to the games he has been playing…fortunately for us, he can’t give a loyal and valid answer. He will be notorius, yes indeed, but not by his playbill…
For the governor to be correct, based on what I learned in grammar, the sentence would have to read as follows: “…engineering designs, construction, or the repairs or resurfacing of roads.”
@SMH on February 18, 2010 at 5:20 pm,
I disagree with you, emphatically!
The phrase, “for engineering designs, construction, repairs or resurfacing of roads” is a prepositional phrase from beginning to end.
Please note that a prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun. This is what makes it a “prepositional phrase.”
In this matter, the preposition is the word “for,” and the noun is the word “roads.” The plural noun “roads” is the “object” of the preposition “for.”
Therefore, engineering designs, construction, repairs or resurfacing only have one object. That object is “of roads.”
There is no way getting around it, and there is no way getting away from the IG report!
Grammar IG: Let’s analyze the use of serial commas and the coordinating conjunction”or.” 1)When using independent clauses, the commas are necessary:
Example:The Governor could have have ignored the IG Report, he could have responded by saying that he made a mistake, or the Governor could have simply stated that he is not going to accept any of the recommendation. Each clause can be written as three separate sentences.The Governor did not do any of these!
2)The comma before the conjunction can be eliminated to suggest alternatives(NO independent clause):
“The gate could be paid for in total with cash, check,credit card, debit card or by installments of three payments in any form.
The bottom line is that the Senate approved the security enhancements at Mafolie.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS DEWOLF IS A DAMN THIEF.
@ SINKING SHIP
That was a good one:) you are so right.
@Anonymous 11:44 am,
Your grammar lesson is awfully misleading. “Construction”, “engineering design”, “roads or the resurfacing of roads” are not independent clauses as they are alternates used to describe what may be done to the the object of the sentence, “roads”. This is precisely WHY the use of a comma after “roads” and before the conjunction “or” is a stylistic tool used solely to the discretion of the author.
Hence, the IG added a comma after “roads” and before the conjunction “or” and the Legislative Law doesn’t. This does not diminish nor change the purpose of the law.
Go back to your grammar book and try again. The Federal Gov’t will deal with your governor in whatever manner it sees fit, and may I add, it won’t be pretty.
I am more concerned about the ethics of investing these kinds of big dollars in your private household than about the legality. It was wrong anyway you slice, dice or dissect the sentences.
When one acts ethically and moral their actions speak far louder than the sentence structure.
After reading that long letter, I wonder if the governor himself understand what he was saying. I’m not even sure if he WROTE the letter. Even the editor here on CIF was having trouble understanding the letter, which speaks volumes!
The use of the serial comma preceding the conjunction “or” is optional.In legal writing,however, the serial comma is often used. With or without the serial comma, the sentence is clear. There are four separate items that the funds could be used for:
1)engineering designs of any project including a fence.
2)construction of any project including a guardhouse or a cemetery.
3)repairs of any structure that serves a public interest such as drainage improvements or a security gate.
or
4)resurfacing of roads.
If the intent was for road projects only, the sentence would be”…designing, constructing, or repairing of roads.There would be no need to specify resurfacing of roads.Drainage improvement of a road or filling a pot hole can be done without an entire road being resurfaced.
“Repairs” is referring to any government project,for example, a broken window could be fixed with the funds. The only structure that can be resurfaced is a road.The driveway at Mafolie could be resurfaced since it is a road being used by an important public official.
To clear up the matter, why not ask Sen.Dowe what was his intention when he made the amendment to reprogram the funds? Why did the IG decline to interview Sen.Dowe? Is it because the IG did not want to hear the truth?