The college should sell the La Fiesta complex back to its original owner with \u201can offer it cannot refuse\u201d to avoid further losses and just get on with the college\u2019s on-site expansion program.<\/p>\n
This is according to Jack Angello, a terminated NMC program director who is now applying\u2014for the second time\u2014for the college\u2019s presidential portfolio.<\/p>\n
The NMC, upon advice by an accrediting body, had opened a vacancy announcement for a president that ended on June 25 but was extended up to this Friday, July 9, to ensure \u201ca wider selection.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NMC reportedly received six applications, including Angello\u2019s last month. <\/p>\n
Angello said in an interview that he knows that his application faces a major hurdle due to his pending cases against NMC officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can say is, \u2018Excuse me, but my livelihood was ripped away from me and I have a right to contest it.\u2019 But anyway, I hold no grudge. I will survive, thanks to my family and local support. So I\u2019ll apply and wish for the best applicant to be selected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Angello said he applied for the position \u201cafter being asked by several CNMI supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I want to make it clear that I enjoy my present job at the Attorney General\u2019s Office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Angello said that, in case he is chosen, he has 10 priority measures for the college, with the immediate sale of La Fiesta being his No. 1 project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would make an offer to Hotel Nikko that they can\u2019t refuse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said Nikko, the original owner of La Fiesta, can keep anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million of the original $3.5 million purchase deposit of the complex, and return $2 million to $2.5 million to NMC for the needs of the present campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Nikko will want to help the CNMI community and the local students so I don\u2019t see them playing hard to reach on this proposal,\u201d said Angello.<\/p>\n
His second priority would be to pursue the proposed NMC Business Center on the current campus, which would cater to both local and international students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe price is right. It\u2019s on NMC property and the USDA has already shown interest in this project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Angello cited a recent letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development that says the on-site expansion program may be eligible for funding under the USDA\u2019s Community Facilities Program.<\/p>\n
Angello\u2019s eight other priorities are: <\/p>\n
* Streamle NMC administration staff to maximize their talents and resources and not hurt island families by terminating breadwinners; <\/p>\n
* create a clear picture of all the money that NMC receives from taxpayers, scholarships, and grants each semester. \u201cNMC received millions of dollars in subsidized funding, so where did all that money go?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
* stop bugging the Legislature for money all the time. \u201cI think there\u2019s adequate money to run the college since it has only a little over 1,000 students each semester and NMC is completely subsidized. Where else can you find a U.S. community college that has all its local students eligible for CNMI scholarships and most are eligible for Pell grants?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
* give Saipan, Rota, and Tinian campuses more classroom tools;<\/p>\n
* review annual spending and subsidies;<\/p>\n
* make College Lab School feel more secure; <\/p>\n
* arrange for the AGO to represent NMC in legal matters; and <\/p>\n
* \u201creturn NMC to its roots as an island community college.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further, Angello said that he would be willing to take 10 percent off the advertised salary \u201cdue to the CNMI government\u2019s current financial dilemma.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NMC president receives $80,000 a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The college should sell the La Fiesta complex back to its original owner with \u201can offer it cannot refuse\u201d to avoid further losses and just get on with the college\u2019s on-site expansion program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82387","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}