MVariety.com

IF there will be no voluntary reduction of the gaming commissioners’ salary, a Tinian resident yesterday said he will launch a petition campaign to compel these officials to cut their working hours.

In his series of consultations with other members of the Tinian community, the resident said they, too, questioned the morality of the high salaries and benefits of commissioners while the island is suffering economic stress.

“They should consider the unemployed residents and those who are in dire need of government assistance, particular those on medical referral support,” said the resident who declined to be identified.

Each commissioner gets some $100,000 a year in salary and benefits.

The resident said he was also annoyed by the comments of Sen. Francisco Q. Cruz, R-Tinian, regarding the issue.

Cruz, whose brother is one of the five commissioners, said Tinian should also be mindful of the affected officials and employees’ financial situation.

The resident said the senator’s brother is “always” at the municipal gym.

The resident said “political accommodation” of  supporters is one of the contributing factors of Tinian’s financial woes.

He said the government is basically paying twice for the same amount of work because of agencies with duplicate functions.

The Division of Parks and Recreation, for example, performs cleanup and maintenance work, which is also the task of some personnel of the mayor’s office, the resident said.

“There’s a redundancy and duplication of work and it only jeopardizes the functions of the critical departments of the government,” he added.

Political hires, he said, prefer political positions rather than civil service jobs because those offer much bigger compensation.