By Glen Hunter
A concerned citizen in the CNMI
IN the first three parts of this series, I tried to lay the groundwork for an active citizenry that is awake, engaged, and unwilling to surrender its voice. I wrote about how some of our community’s brightest minds were, and continue to be, co-opted; how false prosperity built on misgovernance and self-enrichment took root; and how our cultural value of respetu was twisted into a tool of fear and silence. These pieces were never meant to spark cynicism. They were meant to demand us all to look in the mirror.
Reflecting on the issues of the past is an act of civic responsibility. But if we want to break the cycle, we have to move beyond grievance and toward solutions and a better path forward. The real question before us now is how we build a better future.
A legacy of capability and defiance
We have to remember who we are and what we are capable of.
Over 50 years ago, our founders emerged from the ashes of a devastating global war and unimaginably difficult conditions. With determination and foresight, they gathered the broken pieces of our islands and negotiated directly with the most powerful nation on earth.
They did not simply accept whatever was offered. They stood firm and demanded that the CNMI be treated differently, because our islands are different. Through drafting the Covenant with the United States and our CNMI Constitution, they secured unique protections that safeguarded our land rights and carved out local control over immigration, labor, and customs. They also ensured that federally used land would be leased rather than permanently owned. In doing so, they proved that our leaders had the power to insist that even the most powerful nation respect our uniqueness.
That was not a passive entry into a political arrangement. It was a strong showing of competence and self-determination.
That same boldness must still live in us today. Over the past 50 years, we have learned how to govern within the framework our founders created. We have endured harsh growing pains, and we have also made mistakes — many of them. I have made my own mistakes too, and I do not claim to have all the answers. But I believe our Commonwealth is mature enough now to face itself honestly. The public awakening happening across our islands is proof that our people are ready to acknowledge past failures, demand accountability, and reject the habits that have held us back.
Trading illusions for infrastructure
Three years ago, the voters of the CNMI issued a mandate. By electing our first Independent governor, and a leader who had openly challenged entrenched corruption before taking office, our people signaled that they wanted a different kind of politics: one centered on accountability, discipline, and public trust. That decision deserves recognition. At the same time, no administration is beyond scrutiny. We have seen signs of better discipline in public spending, and some recent steps point in a healthier direction. But the challenge for any administration is to stay accountable, avoid complacency, and keep serving the public good. Voters should compare candidates by record, not rhetoric.
Over the past three years, important recovery work has begun. For the first time in memory, local spending was brought below revenue. Missing annual single audits that had been neglected for years have been brought up to date, helping restore federal credibility. In the past, the public was often given temporary utility vouchers — short-term relief that offered a little breathing room, but did not address the deeper problem. Today, instead of leaning only on quick fixes, government has pushed to invest those same types of resources into infrastructure upgrades that can deliver long-term savings and real gains. That is a healthier approach: not pretending there are no tradeoffs, but making decisions that serve the public interest over the long term.
I remember when our late Governor asked me to come on board to develop a digital economy. As we worked through the task of securing funding and planning that foundation, I told him honestly that much of what we were starting would probably not be completed during his term. Without hesitation, he said that it did not matter. He knew it needed to be put in place for the CNMI, not for his own political gain.
That kind of mindset matters.
It is the difference between leadership that performs for election cycles versus leadership that builds for the future. It is the difference between public service and personal ambition.
That spirit shaped government development through a series of major infrastructure projects already underway — projects that will take years of steady work, discipline, and follow-through to complete. These are long-term investments in the strength of our islands: burying fiber optic lines, upgrading roads, modernizing public schools, establishing ferry service, developing a multi-purpose sports complex, establishing resilient renewable utilities, and much more. These are not campaign stunts. They are the needed initial steps toward a stronger, more self-reliant Commonwealth.
Comfort vs. growth: A message to the next generation
This kind of work brings us back to a truth I once shared with a graduating class of our island youth: growth and comfort cannot coexist.
If you stay entirely inside your comfort zone, you will not grow. If you commit to real growth, you must accept that it will be uncomfortable.
For too long, our political culture has traded long-term progress for short-term comfort. We accepted favors, crumbs, silence, and easy answers because confronting the machine felt too disruptive to daily life. We saw that same pattern in the habit of choosing quick fixes over lasting solutions. Short-term fixes may ease pressure for a moment, but they do not solve the deeper problem. Real growth means accepting discomfort now in order to build a stronger and more self-reliant CNMI for the future. But true leadership, and our maturity as a people, require us to move through that discomfort and accept accountability.
We should not fear hard work, and we should not fear setbacks. Failure is not the opposite of success; it is often part of the path toward it. Our past missteps should not be dismissed as simple mistakes. They should be treated as lessons. The crisis we endured has been painful, but it also forced us out of complacency and into awareness. It forced us to see the cycle clearly and begin breaking it. We are finally realizing that our brightest minds should never again be used as shields to protect a broken status quo.
True security does not come from keeping our heads down. It comes from having the courage to speak up, take risks, demand better, and build something that lasts.
Standing firm in the voting booth
In less than six months, our next steps will be decided in the voting booth.
We must protect the progress we have made and guard against a return to the old habits of greed, dependency, and political survivalism. That warning is not aimed at one person or one party alone. It is a reminder to evaluate every candidate by the same standard: integrity, competence, accountability, and a clear commitment to the public good. If a candidate has a record built on self-interest, short-term favors, and public misgovernance — and if that candidate has not shown a serious path to truth and accountability — then that candidate should not receive your vote.
We need leaders who are committed to the whole CNMI, not just an insider circle. We need people who are comfortable planning and executing for the next 40 years, not just the next four. And we need citizens who will keep asking hard questions after the ballots are counted.
The path ahead
When I returned home to Saipan a couple of decades ago, I was fortunate to have the late Tony Pellegrino as a close friend and informal mentor. We spent hours talking about the CNMI, its future, and what an amazing place this could be.
Tony was an avid entrepreneur. He looked at these islands not through the lens of shortage, but through the lens of possibility. He would often tell me, “Glen, we have diamonds under our feet.”
What he meant was simple: there is enormous untapped opportunity here, waiting for us to find the courage, creativity, and political will to develop it.
The tragedy of our past misgovernance is not only the money that disappeared. It is also the decades we spent walking over those diamonds because our political system was too busy chasing short-term payouts to build lasting wealth for our people.
But that has started to change.
With honest leaders in office and an active citizenry acting as watchdogs, we can continue to uncover those opportunities through open public dialogue. Real progress does not come from top-down commands. It comes from a serious exchange of ideas. Every good idea should be welcome. Every workable solution should be considered. That is why I have included a few foundational ideas at the end of this piece, not as a final platform, but as discussion starters meant to invite public refinement and shared work ahead.
Reclaiming the shield
As I wrote at the end of Part 3, true change does not belong to a glossy campaign brochure or a collection of political promises. It belongs to you.
The old system depends on one simple calculation: that you will eventually get tired, that your vigilance will fade after election day, and that the machine can quietly resume business as usual.
Prove them wrong.
Our founders showed us what our people can do when we stand together with purpose and courage. Recent efforts have shown that recovery is possible when leaders are willing to face hard truths and make unpopular decisions. But no administration, including any current one, should be beyond scrutiny. The responsibility always returns to an active and vigilant citizenry.
The path to a better CNMI is open because our people fought to clear it. We should be careful not to return to the habits and leadership patterns that helped damage public trust. Look in the mirror, honor your history, and vote for the next 40 years — not just the next four.
The power to decide where our islands go next has always belonged, and will always belong, to you.
Community discussion: A starting point of ideas
Below are a few ideas I have championed in the past, offered here to encourage open and continuing community discussion:
Fostering local entrepreneurship
For a long time, it was too rare to see locally raised residents operating as small business owners. While a few trailblazers held the line, we are now seeing a powerful surge in local entrepreneurship. We must do everything we can to strengthen and protect that momentum.
That includes supporting the many craftspeople already creating local jewelry, artwork, woven goods, handmade products, and other arts and crafts that reflect the creativity of our people. These are not just hobbies or side income. With the right support, branding, and market access, they can become real businesses that keep more value circulating here at home. We should also think more seriously about how to develop ethical, community-led business opportunities rooted in indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge in ways that protect cultural integrity and benefit our people. Our heritage should never be exploited or reduced to a slogan, but it can and should be honored in ways that allow our people to benefit from what we have carried forward for generations.
Programs like BOOST, if they had been executed transparently and without corruption or favoritism, represent the kind of support our people need to build their own opportunities. We should revive and institutionalize clean, effective small-business development programs that help drive the local economy from within.
A regenerative tourism product
We must move away from the volatile model of mass-consumption tourism that exploits our land for insider profit. We have seen where that mindset can lead. The approval of a $6 billion, 2,700-room integrated casino resort was never just a construction project; it represented a model of development that could have placed enormous pressure on our environment, culture, society, and public infrastructure. And we do not have to guess at the consequences. We can already see one of them in the half-built, deteriorating structure sitting in the middle of our tourist district.
The global market is shifting toward high-end, regenerative tourism.
We can position the Marianas as a premier destination for travelers who value environmental stewardship and authentic culture, while ensuring visitor dollars directly support our communities and restore our ecosystems. Our natural assets must be protected as long-term wealth, not short-term inventory.
A thriving digital economy
By fully leveraging federal funding like the $81 million BEAD program and pursuing trans-Pacific submarine cable landings, we can transform the CNMI into a resilient technology hub. High-speed internet independence would allow our young people to access high-paying global careers while staying home, helping reverse brain drain and creating virtual access to wealth and opportunity.
It would also position the CNMI as a destination for digital nomads, software developers, cybersecurity specialists, online entrepreneurs, remote workers, and many others who can build, create, and earn from anywhere. If we create the right environment — reliable connectivity, modern digital infrastructure, and a welcoming business climate — we can attract talent from outside while giving our own residents the tools to compete globally without leaving home.
This is not just about faster internet. It is about opening the door to a new kind of economy, one that rewards innovation, flexibility, and skill, while making the CNMI more connected to the world and more resilient for the future.
True agricultural sovereignty and export opportunity
We must aggressively expand local farming and agroforestry while directing federal support into modern agricultural infrastructure. One useful model comes from Oita Prefecture, Japan, where the “One Village, One Product” concept helped revitalize local economies by encouraging each community to focus on producing a signature product rooted in its land, culture, and skills. At its core, it reflected an “act locally, think globally” mindset — building from local strengths while remaining focused on broader markets and long-term opportunity.
Years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the governor of Oita Prefecture when they presented this concept and shared its success. What stood out to me was how a simple idea, grounded in local strengths, could help transform communities by giving people a product to stand behind and a reason to invest in their own future.
The CNMI can adapt that same idea to our own islands in a way that strengthens food security, creates youth jobs, and opens export markets. By investing in local farming, agroforestry, food processing, packaging, cold storage, and affordable regional air-cargo and maritime transit corridors, we can reduce the crippling shipping costs that hold back our economy and make local production more viable. This would allow more of what we consume to be grown here, give young people real career paths in agriculture and related industries, and create opportunities for CNMI-grown products to reach buyers throughout the region.
If done right, we can build an economy where each island contributes something distinct and valuable, while making the CNMI more self-reliant, more resilient, and more competitive in the marketplace.
Regional higher education development
By continuing to strengthen institutions like the Northern Marianas College, we can position the Commonwealth as a regional center for specialized higher education, workforce readiness, and climate-resilient research across Micronesia. We live on islands surrounded by water, and that alone should shape our vision. The CNMI should be known not just as a place of beauty, but as a world-class center for marine study and research, taking full advantage of the Marianas Trench in our backyard and the unique opportunities our ocean environment presents.
I also want to give proper respect to the current leadership at Northern Marianas College, which is already doing important work to rebuild for the future and lay the foundation for what comes next. That effort matters, and it deserves recognition. Building strong institutions takes time, discipline, and steady leadership, and NMC is already moving in that direction.
We are also in the middle of Micronesia, and that gives us a real opportunity to become a preferred destination for students from across the region who want to pursue higher education and technical training closer to home. For many of our brothers and sisters in Micronesia, the CNMI can serve as a strong alternative to the mainland and other faraway destinations. We share culture, values, and a common understanding of island life, which makes the CNMI a natural place for regional learning, collaboration, and leadership development.
That vision should include not only NMC, but also institutions like the Northern Marianas Trades Institute. Together, these schools can help prepare students for careers in marine science, climate resilience, vocational trades, teacher preparation, public administration, and other fields that matter to the future of our islands. If we invest wisely, we can build an education system that serves our own people while also welcoming students from across Micronesia who are looking for training, opportunity, and a place that feels like home.
