The measure, which was approved by the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation, will determine the succession of the chain of command in cases when the Saipan mayor is “physically absent” from the island.
Camacho, who strongly lobbied for the passage of the bill, said he merely emphasized the “most appropriate protocol.”
“It’s not right for me when the mayor appoints a non-elected person as acting mayor. That’s a slap on the face of an elected official of the council,” he said.
There were instances when Saipan Mayor Donald G. Flores would name one of his staff members as acting mayor whenever he went off-island.
Camacho said he was happy that the Saipan delegation passed the bill and considered some of his concerns.
“Serving as acting mayor is not a matter of semantics. The constitutional, statutory, and managerial responsibility and duty of the duly elected public officer should not be treated lightly and assigned routinely to any contract or civil service employee in the bureaucratic complexity of the mayor’s office,” he said in his comment to the bill authored by Vice Speaker Felicidad T. Ogumoro, Covenant-Saipan.
If the local bill becomes law, the municipal council chairman will be acting mayor when the mayor is off island. If the chairman is also absent or unavailable, then the council vice chairman will be appointed acting mayor.
The chairman of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation can also serve as acting mayor if the municipal council members are not available.
Under current law, mayor has the sole discretion to designate who will be the acting mayor when he is off island.
