Instead of just dividing appropriations equally among precincts, Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan) would like to see that projects on the island be prioritized based on their importance.<\/p>\n
And this is what he wants to implement if he wins the chairmanship of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation. Sablan is vying for the post with 18th SNILD chair Rep. Ramon A. Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan).<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I plan to do is ask each member to look into their precinct-level issues and projects that they propose to do. Put it on the table and do appropriations based on priorities. Look at the important projects here on Saipan. I want to ask our members to gather what they feel is important to develop and instead of just dividing the money among members, we should base the appropriation by prioritizing what\u2019s best for Saipan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sablan, who didn\u2019t take any standing committee chairmanships so he can vie for the SNILD top post, said he\u2019s open to seeing the whole gamut of projects considered for Saipan, whether it\u2019s for tourism, infrastructure, or the likes as long as it grows the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot to do here with the promising casino buildup and with the construction of more hotel rooms. We need a lot of new infrastructure because of the magnitude of the new development here on Saipan.\u201d<\/p>\n
With regards to the election for the SNILD chairmanship, Sablan said he hopes Tebuteb will call it soon so they can organize the local delegation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m assuming it might be next week or the following week but I\u2019ve read the rules and it has to be no later than the fourth Monday of January,\u201d he said, adding that since Tebuteb was the chair of the previous SNILD, his chief rival for the post is the one responsible for calling the meeting.<\/p>\n
Sablan said right now his energies are focused on convincing the 18 House members and the three senators from Saipan to support him as he seeks the SNILD chairmanship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still vying for the chairmanship. I\u2019m still trying to get my numbers. I don’t want to use the word confident but I\u2019m hoping that majority of members will support me for this position. I\u2019m going person to person. We have actually approached everybody to let them know about my intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Sablan said he would have a closed-door meeting with nine House members from Saipan in the leadership today to specifically talk about his candidacy. He needs a simple majority or 11 out of the 21 members of the SNILD.<\/p>\n
Sablan also happily reported that he\u2019s now comfortably situated at the former corner office of Rep. Edmund Villagomez (Ind-Saipan) after the latter finally moved to his new office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m all set. I\u2019m ready to do my fiduciary duty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Instead of just dividing appropriations equally among precincts, Rep. John Paul Sablan (R-Saipan) would like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900,4],"tags":[256,65],"class_list":["post-189557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-local-news","tag-casino","tag-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}