By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

DEDEDO Mayor Melissa Savares is proposing that her village be divided into smaller districts, saying her area of jurisdiction is too large for one mayor with a small staff to handle.
“It would be a good idea to give the surrounding villages some of the areas that are within our boundaries,” Savares said.
Among Guam’s 19 villages, Dededo is the largest in terms of population and land area. In the 2000 census, the Dededo population was placed at 42,980, accounting for about one-third of Guam’s population.
The second largest village is Yigo with a population of 19,474, followed by Tamuning, 18,012. The population sizes of other villages range from 1,000 to 8,000.
 Savares said the Dededo population is estimated to have grown to 45,000 over the years since the last census.
On a regular day, the mayor said, the Dededo mayor’s office is crowded with 80 to 100 visitors seeking various services.
“The large population can be overwhelming for one mayor and a minimal staff. We have to consider the safety concerns. If something happens in Machananao and another thing happens in Liguan Terrace at the same time, making an emergency response would be difficult,” Savares said.
“If we divide the village into smaller districts, then the mayor of each district can concentrate on that one area,” she added.
The recommendation to divide Dededo was first made by the Office of the Public Auditor in a 2003 audit report.
Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks said revisiting the recommendation is in order.
“When the 19 villages were designed the population was evenly distributed.  Guam’s population has since grown and the northbound migration must be taken into account,” Brooks told Variety.
She also noted the disproportionate distribution of funding allotments. “All villages get the same amount of money regardless of the population size,” Brooks said.
As a result, services in Dededo are adversely affected, she added.
The Mayors Council said a lump sum budget amount from the general fund per year and the appropriations are evenly distributed.
Each village gets $20,000 for personnel and operations. The general fund appropriations for village mayors are supplemented by allotments for road maintenance from the Street Light and Abandoned Vehicles Fund, with amounts based on local mileages.
Savares said Dededo’s chances of getting rural housing grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are hindered by the population size.
“Being a large community, Dededo doesn’t qualify for the grants because it’s not considered a rural area anymore. So Dededo families cannot qualify to purchase affordable homes under the USDA program” Savares said.
Savares agreed that OPA’s recommendation must be revisited, but she acknowledged that the process would be long and arduous.
“It requires a lot of legislation, a lot of research, and geographical studies,” Savares said.
Besides dividing Dededo, OPA also recommended that smaller villages be combined to reduce the number of villages from 19 to 11. It recommended the combinations of Hagatna, Asan-Maina and Piti; and Umatac, Merizo and Inarajan. “Other combinations are also possible so that the remaining combinations would have approximately the same population,” OPA said.
OPA estimated that reducing the number of mayors and vice mayors could result in savings of as much as $1 million a year.
Brooks, however, expressed disappointment that instead of following the recommendation, the 28th Legislature passed a bill that added new vice mayor positions.