Senator requests public hearings for succession law change
A Rota senator is asking that public hearings be held on any law that seeks to amend the succession law in order to involve the people of the CNMI in the discussions.
Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) made this statement after Saipan Tribune solicited comments on Sen. Francisco Borja’s (R-Tinian) Senate Bill 20-79, which seeks to authorize the governor to appoint a new mayor to any of the islands if the position is left vacant with more than half the term remaining.
Current law allows the candidate who received the second-highest votes during the previous election to be the mayor, if still willing.
“I immediately asked that the appropriate committee conduct a public hearing on all the municipalities before the Senate members act on the bill,” Manglona said. “It is my hope that that request will be honored. It is important that we hear from our people, especially since there are several already voicing their concerns.”
Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas has quashed rumors that he is stepping down. However, he said he supports “a move by the Legislature to amend the law regarding mayor vacancies.”
In a statement from the office of Borja, he clarified that the bill was drafted in order to address concerns of employees of the late Northern Islands mayor Jerome Aldan.
“Many of those employees had the expectation of being employed for four years and took out bank loans and entered into other financial commitments based on that expectation. Their abrupt termination and non-renewal of contracts had a very negative impact on their lives and their families,” said Borja. “We couldn’t help them then, but we can now ensure that the unexpected death of an elected mayor, especially in situations where more than half of the term has passed, doesn’t translate into hardship for those who voted to elect that mayor to begin with.”
Borja added that halfway through the term of a mayor, policy initiatives and projects are already “well on the way” and that it would be “highly disruptive, costly, and detrimental if those who are tasked with their completion are uprooted and replaced with those who now have to play catch up, or worse, decide halfway through a project that it is not a priority of the new administration.”
“If you look at approaches to mayoral succession taken by major U.S. cities, you will not find a situation where you have a losing candidate assume the position when the mayor steps down,” said Borja, adding that he had first-hand experience and knowledge of the “difficulties and challenges” that come with the “starting or transitioning to a new administration.”
Recognizing language issues of the bill, Borja said those would be addressed as the Legislature entertains the bill, however he specified “maintaining status quo, however, is not an option.”
“I don’t think there can be anything more unrepresentative of the people than a law providing for someone to assume a position whom the people have already decided [that] they don’t want as their mayor,” he said.
Public comments should be fine at this point, as the issue is pretty straightforward and is actually bore out of a real time situation. The election law has been modified by the senate every so often and many times but never a public hearing was requested by a senator. What gives now?
While on this subject, ALL Govt. employee should be for “regular employment” and not at the discretion of incoming political parties. THIS is the main reason nothing gtes done within this Govt. Every four yars there is a big change with Dept. heads on down the line. There is not stable Govt. operation. ALL are at the discretion of the Gov. and ALL are required to give courtesy resignations to the new (and old) incoming Gov.
ALSO all Govt. workers are required to vote for whom they are told to or else, if found out they did not, they will be terminated. (or family members action taken against)
But agreed, why is this change proposed without any public input? (not that that actually matters as these misfits pass laws regardless of any public opinion.
First, keep it where the people decide on who they want in the seats provided or vacant by others.
Second, I don’t like the practices that have been going on every four years of elections. The Legislature and the Mayor’s Office are some of the government agencies that does this type of practice and it should stop.
There is always a change of employees/staff when someone new gets elected. Every employee in the Legislature and the Mayor’s Office all wonder will they still have a job.
Why should anyone in any position, if they have not done anything wrong, why should they feel like they may lose their jobs? I would understand if your hand got caught in the cookie jar and you got in trouble. I would understand how you would lose a job. But people in the Mayor’s office and Legislature, all they are doing is their job.
But, BAM! A new official comes in, starts giving people their walking papers and then hire new people, who have been promised jobs.
There is a saying and it goes like this, “IF IT’S NOT BROKEN WHY FIX IT?”
The employees went out and got loans because they got a job to be able to pay the loans, for their families and themselves. But if they were taken out because “he/she worked for the last official….”, this is a STUPID, IDIOTIC PRACTICE. If they can do the job, keep them. As long as they are working, I don’t think they would do anything stupid to jeopardized their jobs.