When I think about why I choose to run, I also think about why people will vote for me and all Democrats this election. I have learned through my house-to-house visits these last few months that the reason voters will vote for me, and all Democrats this election is because they have hope for the future.<\/p>\n
H\u00a0– Voters want improved access to\u00a0health care. They often share during house-to-house that the amount of money we invest toward medical referral would do wonders if we instead invested it to improve the services at our hospital.\u00a0 This would also in turn reduce the need for some medical referral in the long run, because people wouldn\u2019t have to leave their homes and families for treatment.\u00a0Investing in our hospital would also add to the Medicaid requirements that help keep the system afloat today.\u00a0\u00a0Legislatively, the Democrats recognize and commit to the urgency of prioritizing funding for the betterment and health of our people for the short- and long-term.\u00a0\u00a0This is why voters will vote for Democrats this election.<\/p>\n
O\u00a0– Voters want more\u00a0opportunities\u00a0and access. They want opportunities to be engaged, opportunities to learn, opportunities\u00a0to access skilled training, which would lead to opportunities of improved earning potential. Democrats will support educational systems, from PSS to NMC to NMTI, because we know how critical it is to the overall economy and personal growth of our people. Democrats will support legislation to establish apprenticeship\u00a0programs critical to the next steps of NMTI sustainability and viability. Democrats will provide opportunities and access through community gardens, where people can engage in partnerships and learn to grow their own food, improving the community\u2019s access to sustainable living practices, which also affects their long-term health. Democrats will support local small businesses through legislation to encourage startups that will help our local economy grow. These are the reasons\u00a0why voters will vote for Democrats this election.<\/p>\n
P\u00a0–\u00a0\u00a0Voters want their leaders to practice\u00a0partnership and prudence.\u00a0Voters want to return to \u201cIna-F\u00e1mauleg yan Ina-Gofli\u00e9.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Working together, we explore and light up all there is, to see it clearly, so we can do what\u2019s best for all. What I hear from voters is how much they and the people around them want change. They say they support change with how leaders communicate and operate. Voters will choose Democrats because they pledge to support legislation that will establish rules that require all members to maintain records and publish quarterly reports of their expenditures.\u00a0Democrats will regularly report to the people and welcome their feedback.\u00a0\u00a0And, most importantly, Democrats will ensure that public funds are only spent on public purposes.\u00a0\u00a0These are the reasons\u00a0why voters will vote for democrats this election.<\/p>\n
E\u00a0– Voters want their leaders to prioritize\u00a0education and exhibit ethics.\u00a0Every election,\u00a0leaders tout education as their priority.\u00a0\u00a0The difference is that voters will vote for me because they have witnessed that I have been a champion for education for the last 18 years.\u00a0\u00a0I am a lifelong learner and currently hold two degrees: a Bachelors of Liberal Arts and a Masters in Educational Leadership.\u00a0 I continue to take courses to edify myself on topics that interest me.\u00a0 I am a 2010 graduate of the CNMI summer pre-law program, a 2019 Pacific Century Fellow and an avid participant and volunteer in NMI Humanities Council programs.\u00a0\u00a0Voters will vote for me because my ethical record stands for itself.\u00a0\u00a0I have been an administrator for the last 10 years and I have never had an EEO case.\u00a0\u00a0My record of fairness and reputation of \u201cservice before self\u201d are why voters will vote for me this election.\u00a0Ask any of my former\u00a0students or parents, they will tell you that I practice the following: \u201cWhat you do for one you must do for all.\u00a0 All means all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voters will vote for Democrats this November because we are offering a diverse choice of quality candidates who possess a wide variety of degrees and professional experiences.\u00a0 On the Democratic slate, we offer candidates who are former educators, military veterans, retirees, small business owners, accountants, money market finance experts, civil service and government service employees too.<\/p>\n
Most of all, CNMI voters will choose Democrats this November because ethics is central to the pledge this team has made to voters of the CNMI.\u00a0Ethics is central to the first part, all the way to last part of our pledge: \u201cWe believe that public office is a public trust.\u00a0 We hold ourselves and our colleagues to the highest ethical standards and will abide faithfully by the oath of office and the CNMI Government Ethics code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Check out our Democratic pledge to the people of the CNMI online at: www.nmidems.org or\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/bit.ly\/NMIDemsPledgeFB\u00a0 (on Facebook)<\/p>\n
Leila Staffler<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I think about why I choose to run, I also think about why people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":322001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[462],"class_list":["post-332414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-leila-staffler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332414","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\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}