THERE was considerable concern when Clyde K. Norita was appointed executive director of the Commonwealth Port Authority, mostly because he didn’t have any executive experience or qualifications for the position. But changes were made to make him qualified and he was appointed.
Norita, to be sure, is a well-meaning and intelligent public servant, and he was doing his best to improve CPA’s finances and management. He has, however, resigned because certain CPA board members apparently believe that they, too, are the agency’s managers. They’re not.
Appointed board members can and do wield a considerable amount of power and influence for non-elected public leaders. The CPA board, for example, has millions of dollars in capital improvement monies and other contract services to dole out to whomever it wants. Boards have hiring and firing authority, and often micro-manage departments and agencies to suit their specific purposes. Mostly, these aspects of board governance go unnoticed, but it happens with everyone’s tacit agreement, and is yet another reason the CNMI government struggles with the same problems year after year after year.
The same critical eye cast on the size of government overall must now also focus on the independent government boards and agencies. They require qualified and experienced managers as well as responsible and responsive board members, and this brings us back to lawmakers.
The Senate has one important responsibility, and that is to vet government executives and board members. This is supposed to be a rigorous review process, complete with thorough public hearings, and evaluations, but the Senate puts minimal effort into its advice and consent authority. Not surprisingly, the commonwealth must now deal with the results of bad governance.
With the next election just around the corner, voters must pay close attention to these issues before they cast their ballots.