CNMI demographics, in addition, have radically changed since the founding of the commonwealth 30 years ago. Local families are getting larger and there are now more mixed marriages. A lot of kids, moreover, are returning from U.S. colleges and universities. They have resided in the real world, so to speak; they have seen how politics works in a place where merit, not blood ties, is the primary consideration. They return to their homeland and are saddened by the incompetence and mismanagement that have been institutionalized by old school politics. They believe that the CNMI and its people can do much better.
Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, who won the hard fought Precinct 2 House race, which included two veterans — then-Speaker O.B. and former Vice Speaker Manny Tenorio — is saddened by letters to the Variety that depict lawmakers as a bunch of do-nothing bums. He says he’s always doing things for his constituents. He’s basically their gofer. He helps them find jobs. He follows up on pending applications of businesses in his precinct. He badgers DPW or CUC regarding road potholes and streetlights. His community workers cut bushes, clean up grassy areas and perform other errands for the residents of the Susupe/Chalan Kanoa area.
Lawmakers, as everyone knows, also provide picnic tables and tents to their constituents. They buy hot lunches, fundraising tickets and make other donations to countless community causes and events. They attend christenings, weddings, birthdays, graduations and funerals. They dole out cash to constituents who need help in paying bills — cable TV, utilities, you name it. They are on call 24/7.
All this defines public service in an island community where your voters, your constituents are your neighbors, literally. How do you turn them down? How do you say no to them when you told them in the campaign that you would serve them?
This is why some lawmakers, no matter how bad things have become, get re-elected repeatedly. They do serve the people in a manner that directly and unmistakably helps their public. This has nothing to do with “culture.” This is bread and butter politics.
In contrast, there is Rep. Tina Sablan. You talk to her and it’ll be all about the unglamorous nitty-gritty of governance. Like how the reasoning of the federal court ruling on Guam’s Ordot Dump could justify placing CUC under federal receivership. The flaws of the CUC privatization bill as passed by the Legislature. The arguments for a part-time Legislature. The details of CUC’s audited financial records. The line items of the budget bill. She attends presentations as if they’re lectures. You’ll see her annotating documents, writing down notes for herself about questions to ask and issues that need to be studied further. She’s what is known in Washington, D.C. as a policy wonk. She believes that all the other usual things that local lawmakers do for their constituents can, and should be, done by existing agencies. She believes that her duty is primarily to find ways to make the government do its job better and cheaper. She wants to hammer on inefficiencies and outright thievery. An affable person, she is not exactly Miss Congeniality on the Hill. It used to be that lawmakers have to wait at least for a day or two for the Variety editorial or a letter to the editor criticizing their bad decisions. Not anymore. Tina zaps them, in person, during sessions or leadership/committee meetings.
She has, to be sure, her own constituents. Which reminds me of a woman who told Adlai Stevenson during the 1956 campaign that he had “the vote of every thinking person.” The Illinois senator replied, “That’s not enough, madam, we need a majority!”
Tina is still a novelty, but her presence among the good ol’ boys on the Hill is the clearest indication of the changes that are happening in local politics.
I expect to see more such changes after the 2009 elections.
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