By Zaldy Dandan
Variety Editor

3 modest proposals

AS various civic groups sprout to help chart a course of action for their floundering commonwealth, it is important that they and the rest of the citizenry go beyond the symptoms of our malaise and examine the more difficult question of why the CNMI has not been able to solve any of the crises it has faced over a period of decades. This is a more difficult and abstract problem that requires more than, for example, introducing a legislative initiative to reduce the size of the Legislature.
Reducing the size of this bloated, inefficient and wasteful government, and not just the number of legislative seats, is important. There are just too many offices with the same functions. People, moreover, have come to realize that certain politicians run for public office over and over again, not for the salary, but for the influence that the position brings with it. There are headaches that come with the job, like complying with requests for picnic tables, coral drops, free bulldozer service and, occasionally, payment for utility and cable TV bills. But elected officials also tend to cultivate this kind of dependence they complain about. They make a mockery of good governance even as they complain about the outcome.
To reduce the size of government, there should be 1) an independent study identifying the departments, agencies, offices and programs that merely replicate what another is already doing, or supposed to be doing; 2) elected officials with the political will to implement the recommendations of this study; and 3) legislation to ban public and individual solicitations involving government officials.

5 able lawmakers

REDUCING the size of the Legislature does very little to cure the problem of voting for legislators that don’t understand the seriousness of their responsibilities and won’t stand up for good governance.
It is simply not enough to cut government. It is even more important that the people vote for qualified and serious minded legislators and executives, and insist that only qualified people are appointed to important positions.
Lawmakers like Stanley T. Torres, Cinta M. Kaipat, Justo S. Quitugua, Candy B. Taman, and Joseph M. Mendiola are the odd men — and woman — out in this Legislature. Taman, in particular, has offered a bold proposal to eliminate the useless municipal councils. This could easily be done and would save taxpayers money while eliminating a layer of unnecessary government. Taman should be supported in his efforts.

2 horrible bills

REPRESENTATIVES Arnold I. Palacios and Manuel A. Tenorio are embarrassing themselves by supporting a bill that attempts to tinker with the pending procurement of power privatization. They sat by and allowed CUC to impose unreasonable fees on firms just to pre-quality to compete for the power privatization project, thereby limiting the field of solid competitors. They then introduced legislation that would require CUC to narrow the field of bid respondents even further. According to their very bad bill, only firms that have operated in the CNMI for eight years can qualify.
An equally execrable measure has been introduced to waive professional certification requirements for foreign engineers and architects. Here’s a “better” idea. Lawmakers should simply do away with the Professional Licensing Board, eliminate bar credentials for lawyers, admit foreign physicians and stop requiring NCLEX for nurses. Then they should eliminate scholarships for professional and technical positions since professional standards are, in essence, deemed unnecessary by this terrible bill.
Guess who will have to suffer the consequences of this legislated dumbing-down of the CNMI.