AGO asked to review municipal council’s role

Can the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council enact ordinances on local matters? Does the mayor have the authority to sign such ordinances into law?

Amid doubts surrounding the issue, David Wiseman, legal counsel for the Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council, has asked Attorney General Herb D. Soll to review the matter.

Should the AGO agree on Mr. Wiseman that there is indeed a need to have the matter clarified, then the council will ask the Supreme Court to rule on the legal question raised.

According to Mr. Wiseman, the authority of the mayor to sign ordinances into law was recognized in an earlier Supreme Court ruling on the CNMI v. Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. The decision noted that each senatorial district, in enacting local laws by municipal ordinance, district delegation legislation or local initiative, ensure that local laws enacted do not encroach upon or adversely impact upon those interests relating to the entire Commonwealth.

At the same time, the validity of the Saipan Municipal Code was upheld in a civil case of Island Amusement Corp. v. Western Investors Inc. and later on reaffirmed in the case of Island Amusement Corp. v. Marianas Chain Marketing.

The decision in this civil case noted that ordinances and other regulations enacted by the municipal councils on Rota, Saipan and Tinian that are consistent with the Constitution shall remain in effect until superseded by Commonwealth Law or local ordinances or regulations enacted under the Constitution.

The Municipal Councils that existed prior to the commencement of the Commonwealth in 1978 were abolished by the Constitution. Mr. Wiseman said this was replaced by a constitutional provision which provided for legislative delegations from each senatorial district to enact laws that pertain exclusively to their respective districts. The Legislature was to provide for the proper procedures for the delegation to act under and to define the areas of local law.

Since the municipal councils that existed prior to 1978 were abolished in the Commonwealth Constitution, the role of the Legislative Delegations with respect to local laws was needed to accommodate the need for legislation on local matters.

In 1987, a legislative initiative was passed which impliedly dispensed with the need for the legislative delegations to deal with the enactment of local laws. “At that time, the Legislature should have passed a legislation that would have abolished the local law procedures for a Legislative Delegation and granted the authority that the Constitutional amendment intended for the Municipal Councils,” Mr. Wiseman said.

Unfortunately, the grant of such powers was never implemented by the Legislature. As long as the legislative delegations of each senatorial district has legislative powers for local laws, it would always be difficult for the councils to have concurrent or other legislative authority.

On the other hand, the Mayor’s authority to sign ordinances passed by the councils was provided for under Section 8 of the Saipan Municipal Code.

“The general powers granted to the SMC must carry with it the usual and traditional powers that are inherent in the creation of Municipal Councils. Such powers have to include the power to enact, repeal or amend ordinances, since this is the principal reason why municipal councils are established in the first place,” he added.