Student Association presidential candidate Joe Annunzio must pay SA Public Relations Adviser Paula Radtke for a campaign banner that his campaign manager destroyed.

At a SA Supreme Court hearing Monday, the court chose this sanction after deciding Annunzio was responsible for the destruction of a banner which hung from a balcony at 623 Lucinda Ave.

Annunzio said he petitioned to the court against a sanction by SA Elections Commissioner Doug Moore which required him to remove all campaign material on campus from 9 a.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“I feel that the negative press I have received (as a result of the incident) has put me at a severe disadvantage (in the presidential campaign). I want to prevent any further damage to my campaign,” Annunzio said.

SA Supreme Court Justice Kerry O’Brien said the original sanction proposed by Moore was reversed and replaced because the charges proposed against him were not valid.

O’Brien said the original sanction was for “taking down and destroying the banner.” However, he was only charged with the destruction of the banner.

Although Annunzio said he did not touch the banner, the SA bylaws state a candidate is responsible for the actions of his campaign workers.

At the supreme court hearing, two residents of 623 Lucinda Ave. testified they gave Annunzio permission to remove Radtke’s banner from the balcony. Annunzio said the residents did not really want Radtke’s banner hung but agreed to it anyway.

“I had the understanding that I could remove a banner off-campus if someone gave me permission,” Annunzio said.

He said he was not clear on what the SA bylaws stated and did not seek clarification.

Moore said, “I think the bylaws are clear” when they state a candidate is responsible for his peoples’ actions.

“If the banner was taken down legitimately, why wasn’t it saved, why was it torn to shreds?” Moore said. “The court has to set some kind of precedent to stop this kind of action from occurring again.”

He said after weighing the evidence and testimonies from witnesses and suspects, it is difficult to conclude that Annunzio is not responsible.

The incident occurred Friday when Annunzio and his campaign manager, Tony Alyinovich, approached the residence at 623 Lucinda Ave. and found Radtke’s poster hung next to his.

Annunzio said Alyinovich took Radtke’s poster down after obtaining approval from residents of the house.

A resident at the house said the sign was slashed with a switchblade by one of the two men who removed it.

Alyinovich said he did not slash the banner, nor did he use a switchblade. “The guys at the house gave me a metal object to pry the nails which held the banner up, and I might have ripped it (the banner),” he said.

Radtke said she hung the banner with rope and duct tape, and she did not use any nails.

Moore said, “After weighing all the facts, the commission determined that we definitely need to deter this type of activity.” He said to the best of his knowledge nothing like this has ever happened before.

Annunzio said he thought the incident and its publicity might have damaged the race. “I still want to make this race a race. Before today, I thought it was still a race. Now I’m not so sure,” he said.

Radtke estimated the cost of the banner at about $10.

She said she thinks the sanction was a fair decision. “It’s not as nice as having the banner, though,” she said.