COMMON sense tells me that our government in its purest sense is a government of, for and by the people. While I have only asked for the people to be given a chance to decide in the voting booth about the municipal councils, there is still a person in the dark ages who wants to destroy the messenger and the chance for the people to decide.
Common sense should tell anyone with any sense at all that deleting the local government is ludicrous in our form of government with a population that has already outgrown the local government’s ability to protect and serve. Society will always have people who will sling mud rather than be a part of the solution.
Common sense tells me that my attacker doesn’t understand that the CNNI is a “state level” government and that the Saipan, Tinian and Rota local municipalities should be run by local government not state officials. He doesn’t know how silly he makes himself look by attacking me instead of the issue because everyone else is aware that many people want our municipalities to be empowered to perform the functions they should have been performing all along. As for my attacker’s semantics game about our founding fathers, common sense tells me to just leave him to wallow in the mud and not to waste my time on him.
I’m for solutions and I totally agree with the recent desire of a House member for the people to have their municipal councils which they should pay for out of the senatorial districts’ funds. He is absolute right even though it is not in his power to determine who gets what and how. It is common knowledge that only the people can make this determination.
It also seems that no one is aware of the major conflict in government with the attempt to abolish the municipal councils all in the name of budget cuts. Common sense should tell everyone that by abolishing the councils there will be NO LOCAL government. This will leave the people with NO REPRESENTATION at the local level of government and we all know that representation at all levels of government is the BOTTOM-LINE in our U.S. government.
Common sense dictates that we can maintain the councils and their own funding. We have come to the realization that our government is tooooo big but we have only cut at the bottom, primarily affecting the hourly employees. But by cutting the size of government in the Legislature where it is really needed and justifiable we will accomplish several goals. Why did we create the same structure of government as our state level counterparts if we are not going to execute our governance in the same way?
Common sense dictates the following reforms:
1. Allow the lt. governor to be president of the Senate to break tie votes, reduce the Senate seats to two per island, and delete at least one representative from each precinct.
The savings from this change alone will be more than enough to offset the funds needed for the full empowerment of the municipal councils. But who in the Legislature is willing to put their jobs on the line and help improve our government’s effectiveness in serving the people?
2. Fully empowering the municipal councils so they will be able to create sources for new revenues that will belong primarily to the municipalities. This will inspire the municipalities to become more productive and less dependent on state funding. But again the question is who will even give the people a simple choice between empowering the councils or abolishing them?
Our lawmakers should at least have the decency and respect to give the people they work for a choice about what they want their government to do.
3. The state government should hand over some of the local challenges of governing to the municipal councils.
Common sense tells me that we (the PEOPLE) need a friend in the Legislature who is truly of, for and by the people. I’m sure there will be many people watching and waiting to see if we have TRUE representation in the Legislature or just virtual representation that acts on personal desires and not the desires and needs of the people. One people, One Direction for Common Sense reforms in government.

AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman, Saipan