I CAN’T help but to agree with the Editor about the “NUMBERS of People” who are being adversely affected are the most important thing facing this Administration. While the Governor is spending every waking moment to get Angel in as Speaker to protect him and to continue his favoritism with IPI, while the People of the CNMI need THEIR PUA MONEY and THEIR Lease renewed with the Hyatt NOW!!!
Ambrose M. Bennett
Need I reiterate how it took our Republicans over two years to spend the ARRA Money because it seems they are back-at-it again with the PUA money taking “forever-and-a-day”. We already have the PUA money (bird) in our hands but our Labor Dept. can’t give it to the People using one excuse after another while states on the mainland have finished their first round of Federal Relief Assistance money. The Federal Government is about to release a second round of Federal Assistance and the CNMI hasn’t finished with the first round of funding. Most of us should know by now WHY the Governor got rid of Ms. Edith DL Guerrero who probably knows more about our Labor System than anyone. She just wanted to be “fair and do the right thing by all employees.” Now the Labor Dept. is going from “one stalling play to another” leaving the People without the money sent by the U.S. Government to help them. It was just horrible to read the Kandit News Post of how Secretary Benavente chose to “go fishing” while the people who are depending on her can’t even ask her a question in the Town Hall that she refused to attend. Rep. Propst and Sablan are trying to fight FOR the People which is why they sponsored the Town Hall but it is obvious the Republicans are doing all they can AGAIN to avoid any accountability which is why I’m deadly serious and so should other voters be about making SURE Angel IS NOT the Speaker. The Democrats can put the pressure on our Labor Secretary to “expedite and get-it-right.”
The People who are adversely affected by the failure to disburse the PUA money need to call their Congressperson, especially the Republican Majority, on Capital Hill and let them know they will NOT get your vote again if they don’t do something. But I’m lost for words for the Republican (families & supporters) who won’t speak up & out because they were the biggest inhibitor to the CNMI People “taking back OUR government” and teaching this group of Republicans a real Political Lesson. But it’s the Republican supporters Government too and they still would rather have corrupted Republican leaders than Democrats — so I can only pray they will see the light & the truth to change come 2022.
A bird in the hand is worth two or more in the bushes!
The bird (Hyatt) in the hands of the People is worth two or more (investors) in the bush because you already have the Hyatt and the birds in the bush will more than likely get away and even end up like IPI’s failing venture — TRUE wisdom. The Hyatt is now our “bird in the hand” People that is on the verge of being let go — for NOTHING with no competing investor, for TRUE! If something is not done, WE the People are going to see a “repeat of the Mariana Resort” — for REAL! The Governor already tried to give the Mariana Resort away but thankfully that has failed and now the Administration is trying to run the same ugly Political Play with the Hyatt by asking for a totally unreasonable Lease Agreement, which is what ran Kan Pacific away which was our last Japanese Hotel, killing the Japanese Tourism Market. But the Fiesta seemed to have not experienced a single problem with renewing their Lease and readers can bet the conditions for the Fiesta were not the same as the conditions for the lease that the Hyatt faces, even though the Hyatt is right next door to the Fiesta.
To my knowledge, only Rep. Lee Pan, and KUDOS to him, is the only Republican with the honesty and fortitude to complained about the Mariana Resort Deal that got us “nowhere & nothing” but we need MORE Republicans to speak up & out about what is now taking place with the Hyatt. I’m sure the problem is not with DPL but with the Governor (our Godfather of the CNMI) who actually controls ALL of our Government Agencies & Boards along with seemingly all the Republicans being simply AFRAID to really hold the Governor accountable just like the Republicans on the mainland WERE AFRAID of Trump. Our Republicans don’t want to get “cut-off” from the potential favoritism of the Governor who now OWNS the Politics of the CNMI literally which is why HIS Angel is needed to be speaker. I’ve been telling readers the Governor is setting himself up with the Chinese Investors for HIS Future be it in politics or private citizen which is why he wants Angel so bad because he will ignore the “Will-of-the-People.” I can’t understand how he even got elected after what he did with the Bill that gave IPI loop-holds to get out of their obligations to the People and the right to control OUR Community Chest Money” that they spent and still owe the People. He was one who actually had to win on “popularity and not on deeds” because he didn’t do a darn thing FOR the People that I can think of.
We can’t just keep watching these Republicans selling-us-out when the LOYALY Investors FOR the People, not Republicans, at the Hyatt have truly made their hotel a pillar of our “Hotel Infrastructure.” There is a saying, “if it isn’t broken, then don’t try to fix it” but DPL is acting like the Hyatt is broken and somehow not a good partner in our Economy but I believe the real problem is the Hyatt is not LOYAL to the Republican Party like other Hotels owned by you-know-who. I’m sure if the Hyatt had been LOYAL to the Republicans in the past like the Fiesta, they wouldn’t be having any problems with renewing their lease. But guess who stays at the Hyatt when they come — yes, the Federal Government uses the Hyatt so it’s not a stretch to see the Hyatt being given a hard-time during these hard-times!
Given the harsh economic conditions that Covid-19 have placed on our society and our Tourism based Economy in the CNMI, the Governor, DPL and the People need to be begging the Hyatt to stay and bending over backwards to help them. Maybe we should be creating a “Progressive & Regressive Flexible Lease” that can change with the conditions on the ground. Allow for the Lease to be a “Flexible-prorating Lease driven by the average of our quarterly Tourism Numbers” that will dictate the quarterly payments which is truly fair instead of demanding a large amount of money that is totally unreasonable driven by “speculation not reality” like they did with the Mariana Resort. It is better to have “one lease than no lease” as we just saw that movie with the bad ending and if the Law needs to be changed the Republicans have all the power to do so but if they let the Hyatt leave then all voters should ALREADY know what they have to do come 2022, vote ALL of them OUT — it’s called being held ACCOUNTABLE!
To be continued: One People One Direction.
The writer is a retired teacher, former CNMI Board of Education Member, James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar) and a Fulbright-Hays Foreign Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
