Saipan, Tinian gear up for conference of mayors

Municipal officials from Guam and Saipan met Monday and Tuesday with key government officials to finalize arrangements for hosting hundreds of delegates for the 2nd Annual Pacific Mayors’ Conference, which is about two weeks away.

Meeting with the mayors in the conference room of his Senate offices, Senate President Pete P. Reyes thanked the mayors for bringing the conference to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and promised to do all that he could to make the event a success.

Reyes met Monday with Paul M. McDonald, president of the Association of Pacific Island Local Governments, which is putting on the conference, and Antonia M. Tudela, chairwoman of the Saipan Municipal Council, and head of the steering committee for the event.

“I find this year’s theme, ‘Maximizing Municipal Muscle’, extremely encouraging,” Reyes said. “As we face the global economic downturn together, it will take cooperation across all levels of government to turn economies around. Municipal governments are on the front lines of this effort.”

McDonald and Tudela also met with officials from the CNMI Governor’s Office to go over security, hospitality and protocol matters.

Along with hundreds of mayors, the APILG expects two governors to attend from the Philippines and at least one Cabinet-level official.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial gave his blessing to the conference: “I’m in full support of this conference and will render any kind of support that’s needed to make it happen,” Fitial told McDonald earlier this month.

Tudela said, “We look forward to working with mayors from around the region to put together this event for the Association of Pacific Island Local Governments. This is a great opportunity to showcase our wonderful islands of Saipan and Tinian and to make friendships with other public servants from around the Pacific Rim.”

The 2nd Annual Pacific Mayors’ Conference is the regular membership meeting of the APILG. Its membership comprises mayors, city officials and municipal council members from around the Pacific Rim. Last year’s conference in Guam attracted more than 450 delegates.

The conference is scheduled for Mayor 14 to 17 in Garapan, Saipan, at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, with conference training sessions and speeches on May 14 and 15. Conference officials will be hosted on Saturday, May 16, on Tinian by the Tinian Municipal Council and the Tinian Mayor’s Office.

Among conference highlights are addresses by Fitial; Capt. Ulysses O. Zalamea, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Guam Program Office (forward); Maya B. Kara and Bruce Mailman, partners in the law firm of Mailman & Kara LLC; Arnold I. Palacios, speaker of the CNMI House of Representatives; and Herbert Johnston, education director of the Guam Trades Academy.

There will also be a trade fair in conjunction with the conference at the Fiesta Resort.

The Tinian trip will include a feast on the beach, a cockfight derby, and a special mayors’ poker tournament at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino.

Tan Holdings Corp. and Bank of Guam are gold sponsors of the conference; Joeten Enterprises, Bank of Saipan, Continental Airlines, and the Association of Marianas Mayors and Elected Council Members are silver sponsors; and bronze sponsors are Saipan Shipping Co., J’s Restaurant, SmithBridge Guam Inc., and Kautz Glass Co. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]