ENRIQUE TAMAOKI DELA CRUZ

Personal Background

Wife: Bernie Boyer Dela Cruz
Children: Beverly, Kimberly Jo, Allan James
Grand Children: Ciara Iesha-Chantel, Julian Barragan III, Kalanie Mikala

Educational Background

Elementary: Chalan Kanoa Elementary School (WSR)
High School: Alamogordo High School, Alamogordo, New Mexico
Associate Degree: Long Beach City College, Long Beach, California
College: San Jose State University, San Jose, California
Graduated? No

Professional Background

Current job: Waste Diversion Coordinator
Company/agency: Department of Public Works–Solid Waste Management Division

Previous jobs & company/agency name:

Worked for several companies in California (Pacific Valves, Inc., Martin Marietta Corporation now Lockheed Martin, Schlage Lock Company a Division of Ingersoll Rand), as CNC (Computerized Numerically Controlled), NC (Numerically Controlled), and conventional machines, including various punch presses as lead/setter operator, regular operator, and trained newly hired personnel for machine operators.

Q. What would you consider the top three issues or concerns facing the CNMI that demand immediate action from our government leaders?

A. The continuing surge in the price of oil because it currently affects everyone’s life, including here in the CNMI. Our government leaders should encourage President Bush to immediately release the “strategic oil reserves” to stabilize the price of oil and construct new oil refineries so that we can meet the demand of consumers.

My other issue is the minimum wage and employment for local people in the private sector. Many of our high school students are graduating each year and are asking for an increase in our minimum wage. What we offer now does not seem to justify being employed at the entry level due to increasing cost of goods and services. Our government continues to be criticized as being bloated, and one way to cut down on government employment is to make wages and benefits in the private sector enterprise attractive. We will continue to see the children of the CNMI move somewhere else where consumer goods and services are cheaper and wages and benefits are much better.

People will have the propensity to go out and spend more if there’s extra money in their pockets. This will benefit the local businesses and our economy as it reduces also the remittances that are leaving the islands. Also, in my view if this is not rectified we may be creating a class of poverty-stricken local American families.

Our economy is doing fairly, I think, compared to Guam’s. But we need to be more vibrant and aggressive in persuading more businesses to come in that are truly committed and sensitive to the local people’s needs and desires.

My last issue is the environment and tourism. The CNMI should be kept clean and beautiful in order for our visiting tourists to come back again and again. It is very discouraging and disappointing to see waste materials all over the place when a tourist drops by to look around a certain area. I believe that continuing public education and outreach would be very helpful as it brings more awareness for a clean and safe environment. On tourism, we should aggressively market the CNMI, not only in brochures, visits to countries, and web browsers, but most significantly in 30-second television commercials in countries such Japan, Korea, and China.

Q. What ideas can you bring to the table to revive the NMI economy?

A. I would still like to see the mining of pozzolan on the island of Pagan become a reality. Negotiations should be a “win-win” situation between the residents of Pagan, the mining company, and the CNMI government. We should be very watchful, though, on the mining operations so that the island’s beauty and its environment will not be jeopardized.

I would also like to see the establishment of a military base on the island of Tinian. This has been a “dream” of my cousin, the late Joe R. Cruz (Pinchang), who died several years ago. The presence of a military base on Tinian would be good as it brings a form of a stable economy for the CNMI. It may be a long-term goal but being persistent in persuading the U. S. military to do this could make this a reality. There has been a lot of unwelcome publicity with our U. S. military’s presence in Okinawa. My thinking is that we should re-position the pre-positioning ships off the coast of Okinawa and bring the military to Tinian. It’ll take a much shorter time to reach areas of conflict and, in a matter of about three hours, our troops can be transported by air.

We should also look into the production of military apparel for the armed forces of the U. S. Our garment factories can bid on it. This will create more jobs. I recall a time when China was to produce several million black berets for the U. S. military. This was turned down eventually, I think because it’s a foreign country.

We should re-examine our investor’s portfolio, if we have one, and look at areas where we should change and improve in order to attract more businesses to our islands. But I don’t mean giving a hefty tax breaks for a long period of time and leaving our government penniless. Indeed, something must have been attractive with the city of Chicago for Boeing Aircraft Company to relocate its headquarters there.

Q. What is your vision for the Commonwealth? And what are the steps that must be taken to achieve that vision?

A. My vision for the Commonwealth is bright! Several steps should be taken and considered to achieve that. One is for our leadership to enhance the standard of living for the people of the Commonwealth and their children. This can be fulfilled by providing employment opportunities, good wages and fringe benefits, and listening to their concerns and doing something about it. Second, staying in school to be educated and finishing it. A high school diploma and, at least, a two-year degree would suffice for now, but going further would be excellent! Third, land leases should be changed from 55 years to either, 65 years or 75 years. This would further assure and secure more confidence for investors.

Q. What needs to be changed in people’s ways of thinking and doing things as means to achieve your vision?

A. I think our people’s ways of thinking should be open, accommodating and helpful, but cautious if something does not seem right. We should also stop the negativism and bickering.