By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

SAIPAN Mayor Juan B. Tudela says he’s ready to appoint individuals to the neighborhood watch task force that was created by a municipal ordinance whose legality is being challenged by the House of Representatives.
Tudela yesterday said the task force will convene in the next fiscal year which will start in October.
He said his office and the municipal council are now in the process of choosing seven qualified people to form the task force.
The appointments will require the consent of the council, and members will serve for five years.
The mayor will appoint four members, and the three others will be appointed by the speaker of the CNMI Youth Congress, the Department of Public Safety and the Marianas Visitors Authority.
The ordinance stated that the mayor’s office “shall provide logistical support and administrative and clerical assistance to the task force.”
According to the ordinance, funding for the activities of the task force “may be incorporated into the mayor’s annual budget,” and some may come from agencies that receive federal funds.