I READ with interest, or should I say sadness, the article in the Variety of Jan. 16, on the fading away of the CNMI. I, along with my wife, Dr. Daniele Lonchamp, had five wonderful and unforgettable years on Saipan, from 1995 to 2000. We arrived with our two young daughters, and our son was born there.
We left, in part, because during the five years that we lived there we could see the decline had already started. I’m not saying anything new when I mention things like corruption, nepotism, and a civil service packed to the ceiling with friends and relatives of politicians. How many times did we go to one or another CNMI government office with a simple question, only to be told that the person we needed to talk to was off island. Fifteen people in an office and the only one capable of answering a question is off-island?
One of the things that still amazes me is that here we have a small island with the population of a small city, and yet it has a government the size of a large country — a governor, a legislature, uncountable government agencies, and even a mayor or two thrown in to boot. Most towns and even cities only have a mayor, and a city council; and some only have a city council and a city manager. Granted, the system of government that is now in place in the CNMI was foisted upon the islands after World War II by a foreign power, the U.S. Short of a military coup, I’m not sure what can be done to change that. Still, several billion dollars have been pumped into those small islands over the past few decades, and what has been accomplished — paved roads a few stoplights? What else?
I know the Old Boys Club there always blames somebody else for their problems, the Asian economy, hostile Democrats in the U.S. Congress, even ash from a volcano. And every time there is a new governor, people think — or wish — things will turn around, but they don’t. They just keep getting worse.
I would love to come back to Saipan and live out my days there, but know I can’t, especially when we still have school-aged children to think about. What kind of future would they have in a place that had so much potential and squandered it?
A question for the politicians: Who or what will bail you out; will it be more federal money, or will it be gambling and prostitution?
Too bad so many island people have opted for life on the mainland. Some fresh young blood, untainted by a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude, could tip the scales, and the Old Boys who have controlled the CNMI know it.

BRUCE M. PETTY
New Plymouth, New Zealand