Saipan mayor wants lawsuit dismissed
Saipan Mayor Ramon B. Camacho’s lawyer has asked the Superior Court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Construction & Material Supply Inc., which alleges that the mayor has failed to pay for materials and services provided to his office.
Camacho’s lawyer, Michael Evangelista, has filed a motion to dismiss CMS’ suit, which accuses Camacho of not paying $36,126.25 in quarry fees.
According to Evangelista, the Municipality of Saipan is not a chartered municipality subject to a lawsuit, therefore Camacho cannot be sued for damages in his official capacity.
“There presently are only two chartered municipalities in the CNMI: the Municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan and the Municipality of Rota. Saipan is not a chartered municipality able to sue and be sued. United States v. Borja held that [only] the Municipality of Tinian is a lawful entity that can be sued. While its analysis applies equally to the Municipality of Rota, it does not apply to Saipan,” Evangelista said.
Evangelista added that the office of the Mayor of Saipan or the Municipality of Saipan has no treasury of its own, so all debts and obligations of the mayor and the municipality are paid out of the Commonwealth’s Treasury.
“Accordingly, any suit for payment of money damages needs to be brought against the Commonwealth and defended by the attorney general,” he said.
Instead of suing Camacho and the Municipality of Saipan, Evangelista argues that CMS should be suing the Commonwealth or the Department of Public Land secretary or both.
“Instead of seeking money from Mayor RB and the Municipality of Saipan, plaintiff should be suing the Secretary of Public Lands to enforce plaintiff’s rights under the public benefit provision of the Temporary Occupancy Agreement against the secretary of Public Lands. And if plaintiff is seeking a monetary judgment to be paid out of the CNMI Treasury, it needs to sue the Commonwealth and serve the attorney general,” Evangelista said.
CMS is suing the Office of the Mayor and Camacho to collect on $36,126.25 that it said represents unpaid material that exceed the community benefit agreement required by its Temporary Occupancy Agreement.
CMS, a quarry operator at the Kannat Tabla quarry, is asking the Superior Court to compel Camacho and the Saipan municipality to pay $36,126.25, along with the legal costs associated with the lawsuit.
CMS explained in their lawsuit that the amount had reached this sum after Camacho and the Saipan Mayor’s Office not only received base course material that exceeded the 100 cubic yards approved by DPL under the public benefit requirement of its permit, but the mayor’s office also ordered 7.5 cubic yards of aggregates—parts of which constituted processed material. These aggregates, CMS said, are not included in the public benefit agreement, and all agencies must pay for this material.
The CMS lawsuit was filed on Oct. 18, 2023, by CMS and their lawyer, Robert Torres.
Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho
