1) Deanne Siemer for “transparency” above and beyond any government official (with one exception). In writing a secret letter to Cinta Kaipat on “how to deal with that freshman upstart Tina Sablan,” this upstanding “volunteer” lawyer copied the letter to — yes — Tina, herself. It’s hard to conceive of a noted attorney doing something like this by accident (that would be too foolish for even a government official). So one must assume that this was done in the grand spirit of transparency. If only all officials would follow this lead, the people of Saipan might begin to fathom the workings of our government.
2) Press Secretary Charles Lapdog Reyes Jr., for his most entertaining comments, providing the readers with daily chuckles. His latest understatement, regarding Siemer’s letter to Sablan, was sent “by mistake, apparently” (ya think???). Hmmmm, somewhere I seemed to have missed any real response regarding the negative impact of this very disturbing letter. Oh well, business as usual. Charlie: keep up the daily rhetoric — it’s very entertaining, amusing, and better than reading the funnies. Your current job will be great preparation for a future as a Comedy Central stand-up comedian.
3) The executive branch which is telling everyone to tighten their belt, that the economy is going belly up, and that we all must make great sacrifice during this time of economic hardship; and then the executive branch overspent its FY 2008 budget to the tune of $11.9 million, far exceeding any other governmental agency. Not much comment needed here. Guess there’s not much belt tightening on Capital Hill these days.
4) And the top award of the week goes to CUC’s Director Muna for threatening to turn off power to PSS. And then somehow justifying it by placing the blame on Shell, Mobile, Agrekko, space aliens, cosmic dust, cancer, and brown tree snakes. Now, am I missing something? Are not CUC and PSS part of the same CNMI government? If the executive branch stayed within the limit of their budget, the power could stay on, the kids continue to learn, and the adults will look like they might know what they’re doing. Maybe the space aliens would do a better job. For that matter, let the students run the government…it would be a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot more productive.
BILL WEISS
Puerto Rico, Saipan
