Ambrose M. Bennett
THE TRUTH of the matter is Rep. Ed Propst is SOOOO RIGHT, “what took so long for the Casino Commission (CC) to act.” Thanks & KUDOS Rep. Props on behalf of the many People who truly “appreciate ALL you’re doing and what you have done,” as WE say in Mass. I have been yelling and screaming in the newspaper for over two years before COVID to get the CC to file a lawsuit FOR the People’s 77-million and they didn’t proving again Ambrose was RIGHT! As, now it looks like WE are not going to get a single penny because the CC didn’t do their job! But it gets worse when it comes to the “negligence on the part of the CC,” as they just sit & watched IPI fall apart with everyone filing lawsuits getting money and they filed NOTHING for the CNMI —NEGLIGENCE and Oversight Hearing is required! An Oversight Hearing on the CC and a Public Hearing on our future is genuine accountability on the Commissioners with REAL respect FOR the People by giving the People a direct voice on OUR future!!!
Now the CC is talking about issuing several licenses without any approval from leaders in the legislature nor the People, which is WHY the People truly deserve a Public Hearing to help decide WHAT our future will be. No one on the CC is an Economist and to offer up other licenses without any proof of potential success just PROVES they are desperate to keep their jobs first & foremost! There may also be some great ideas offered if a Public Hearing is conducted. Rep. Propst’ assessment is RIGHT regarding the prerequisites for a decision to continue with a casino and multiple licenses. For me, it’s clear the CC is offering-up multiple licenses so they can keep their high paying jobs just like the OPEN THREAT to accept Bribes if they can’t keep making their high salaries — pathetic! It also seems like these guys are implying WE (the CNMI) owe them over 17 million dollars, which is ludicrous when they didn’t even TRY to collect anything. A real reason for an “Oversight Hearing” to decide if WE even want to keep this group of commissioners given their negligence and the admitted willingness to accept bribes to supplement their salaries, a clear THREAT! It’s time to cut-bait & runaway!
To address the four questions of Propst: First, the CC didn’t offer any proof and needed to PROVE multiple licenses will be a viable option for the CNMI, which they didn’t plan on, just poli-tricked us and hoped WE would go along. Second, the CC didn’t have any companies in mind to even issue the licenses to, which confirms with me that they really don’t do their homework, just depend on their lawyer to do the real heavy-lifting work. Third, We MUST require a “bond” to insure whoever the investor is can be backed-up with real money in case they fail. Fourth, the need for an additional bond for the completion of the Hotel, which I think needs to be a separate issue to expedite the completion of the hotel unless the investor for the casino wants to and can prove they can also handle the hotel. But I would like to add a fifth question of: What other investment such as a convention center can be considered viable to investors for THEIR consideration and included in any feasibility study about the future of Garapan. WE know who messed up Garapan — Republicans! I could have and any real economist could have done a better job with the casino & Garapan — for REAL!
Another point of negligence that I view as being the WORSE is the CC’s failure is that now Deleon Guerrero is talking about a gaming tax when it’s too darn LATE!!! Furthermore, Propst said that “We have tried to introduce that in the past. It was always shut down and rejected and it was getting killed.” I’m sure I don’t need to remind readers that it was the Republicans in charge of our government doing the KILLING and FIRE the CC! But no explanation is needed on WHO it was and WHY the attempt by Propst and others was killed — Republicans, some at that time were even on that private jet in China with Ralph. It seems almost shameful to even be a Republican after Ralph.
WE (CNMI) need real economists to tell us what to do about the casino and the People need to approve it, not the CC. The CC has allowed IPI to make a mess of our most prestigious district (downtown Garapan) and it’s time for a “changing of the guard” (the CC) and a genuine attempt to make a “sound educated decision about the future of Garapan,” as the Japanese had it looking like downtown San Francisco — for TRUE, this fact is in the history books! I pray that someone who CARES & REPRESENTS the People in the Senate or House will call for an “Oversight Hearing on the Commissioners and a Public Hearing FOR the People BEFORE these CC guys try to do something desperate & stupid — PLEASE! But I can’t reiterate it enough that WE need to start a NEW in Garapan — for TRUE!
One People, One Direction.
Ambrose M. Bennett is an Economist who minored in Sociology, a Political Scientist, a retired teacher & former CNMI Board of Education Member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & lifetime Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
