Why are the 98 candidates so afraid of the dreaded ‘f’ word?

Just think, if you 98 were northern islanders, you could elect one of you by a wide margin as mayor. There are just too many of candidates to check every one. I’ve looked into 20 or so, and there isn’t much information on the web about you. I’m sure you are all well-meaning, most of you are honest I’m sure, and, we hope most of you really do want to help more than just your family members. To those that have absolutely no qualifications of any kind but just want the overblown paycheck, you should withdraw.

Try as I might, I just can’t find anything, anywhere, in or on, any of the pamphlets, platforms, promises, billboards, newspaper articles or on the radio, TV or the Web, a single utterance of the dreaded ‘f’ word. There are 98 of you running, asking for votes, support, donations, “please vote for me,” “please elect me” and “I promise I will…” but not one of you have uttered the dreaded ‘f’ word. Amazing since there are 3,000 to 4,000 “F”ilipino-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Japanese, Korean, haole, Chuukese, Palauan and other, American, eligible voters in the CNMI. Why is it so hard for you to actually say it? Hundreds of Chamorros are married to other nationalities but at election time especially, everyone else in the CNMI is totally excluded. It’s 2014 candidates and the ones that reach out just might win this thing. Filipino-Americans, Chinese-Americans and other “American” nationalities are people too, with the same inalienable rights as Chamorros since 1975 when 78 percent of you voted for this Commonwealth status.

Hey, new CUC board members
I’m sure Evelyn Mendiola and Eric Cruz are nice people. What I don’t know and can’t find out is if they know anything at all, or have had any experience at all with a public utility. CUC’s problems are many and mostly centered around old generating equipment, dilapidated transmission grids, and lack of any real management. The men and women that get out and do the actual work know their jobs; Mr. Fletcher knows his job. The problem seems to lie in between these two and between Fletcher and the Legislature. To say CUC is politicized is like saying the pope is Catholic. There doesn’t seem to be any middle management that is qualified to run a public utility. The government keeps appointing people, nice people I’m sure, but people that know zip about running a public utility. The politicos keep passing insane laws giving too much for nothing, then demanding that CUC live within its means. So here comes the two new CUC board members, both saying they are going to reduce the cost of power to the consumer without saying they are going to ask people to “bite the bullet” and pay at least what it actually costs to produce. Without educated, worldly people, in this case, people that have actually worked in supervisory positions at a public utility somewhere, other than in the CNMI, stupid again, stupid again, stupid again.

Doesn’t anyone know what’s really happening at MVA?
Here is an excerpt from the CNMI 2009-2014 Master Plan report. A little over two decades ago, between 1986 and 1991, the annual economic growth of the…[CNMI] reached an unprecedented 16 percent. Thus, in the short span of three years, the CNMI lost one-third of its economy, one that took 20 years to build.

I’m not going back there right now but this next excerpt demands attention. By its very nature, tourism is fragile, seasonal, and is dependent on stable air service. Affected by events beyond the control of the local government and others stakeholders pn the islands, tourism can rise or drop depending on the weather, regional economic conditions in tourism source markets, world political instability, terrorism, competition, accessibility and cost of labor, fuel prices, and stability of international and interisland transportation. Of all the factors mentioned above, unstable air service has had the largest impact of all.

This is BS. If airlines have people to move, they fly. Blaming the airlines for the problems of the CNMI is ludicrous. Since we can’t seem to get an educated, trained and experienced head of MVA willing to put in the 80-hour weeks necessary to do this job, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to take this No. 1 important position out of the politicos’ hands and give it to the hotel association and let them hire the directors. Stop blaming everything on something or someone else. We don’t have qualified people for most of the important positions in our government, nor have we had qualified governors doing the appointing. The hotels have a stake in the future of the CNMI, let them run it under MVA.

Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan