Not too many years ago I spent countless hours doing volunteer work at the museum. I’ve also been involved with several projects with DEQ, the Humanities Council, as well as numerous other projects which have contributed towards the understanding of history and culture. I also played a small role with the acquisition of the Hornbostle collection (bones and artifacts) from the Bishop Museum.
My opinion was based on my own observations of the museum and arts council. This part pains me to say because I have long been a supporter of the museum. When I was doing volunteer work there, there were virtually no visitors. Constant flooding and air-conditioning problems cost the museum thousands of dollars to fix. The only positive function it served was, to be a repository for historical artifacts and it was a place for a few people to work. It was essentially a money drain. Less money could have been spent to store artifacts. I would hate to see it close down but many of the CNMI’s essential services are suffering. We have to prioritize.
I still don’t see the bus loads of tourists going to the museum. If Rob says thousands of visitors go there each year then perhaps things have changed and I owe him an apology. I hope he’s right. I would love to see the museum continue.
With regards to the arts council. I agree that the Flame Tree Arts Festival is one of it’s success stories. Does it really require a year round staff to put on an event that lasts for just a few days? The annual art shows on the hill has been described by many local artists as “the black hole.” Low attendance and dismal art sales hardly make it worth having. A few years back, I went to arts council seven consecutive times to try and meet with the director. He was only there one of those times. Perhaps I just came at the wrong time, seven times in a row. I don’t know. It was experiences like that that formed my opinion that the arts council was just a waste of money.
Rob’s letter clarified a few things for me. If the arts council brings in revenues then that’s a good thing. That needs to be taken into account. He’s right. Rash decisions should not be made with regards to the importance of any agency
My objective was not to single out any agency. I think my point was lost and it’s relevance to the CUC crisis wasn’t understood. I should have taken my full three minutes of allotted time to explain.
Our only crisis is not the high cost of power. We have a bigger crisis looming on the horizon. Upwards of 80 percent of the CNMI’s budget is spent on payroll. We are broke. The government has resorted to feeding on itself. They stopped paying tax rebates. They are borrowing from CUC deposit money. They don’t pay their full share to the Retirement Fund. They also want to borrow several million dollars from it. They make it nearly impossible for private contractors to collect their fees. Essentially they are robbing money from the public to make ends meet.
I have it from the best authority (I won’t name names because I haven’t asked him if it’s OK to quote him) that at the current rate we are going, it won’t be long before there are payless paydays. Those holding government jobs will not be able to pay for their food, housing, medical care or bank loans. Our power crisis will pale in comparison. Because of poor planning and a lack of will to move people into the private sector, there won’t be other jobs to fall back on.
I admire what Tina and Ed are doing to unite the public on CUC issues. It’s not enough though. We are in a deep crisis. We need to put on our FEMA hats and do everything possible to save our community. We are doing too little too late. We need to work on several solutions at the same time. Our elected officials should stop passing laws for awhile and form a task force to address these problems. Come up with a plan that seeks both long and short term solutions. They need to work with and for the public. Not against them!
This is what I meant to say when I talked about the arts council and museum.
We need to do what any corporation does during an economic crisis. We have to cut back on all non-essential expenses and put our money where it’s most needed. Namely utilities, health care, education and public safety. I would add MVA. We need to trim the fat where ever we can. That means government leaders will have to make do with less too. A good place to begin is to meet with the Office of the Public Auditor. They know how money is spent.
We need to mandate that all government agencies conserve power. If we can save money maybe we can afford to subsidize CUC and save jobs.
We have to admit that we can no longer sustain a system that spends so much money on payroll. We have to get people into the private sector. Government leaders, business leaders and educational institutions such as NMC could work together to come up with a plan to phase people out of government jobs and into training programs that would lead to new careers in the private sector. Incentives could be implemented to make that happen. There is already a program like that in the works. Perhaps more could be done to improve it.
In addition to getting a qualified individual to run CUC, we need to get a qualified person to run MVA. Tourism is the only industry we have left. To increase our revenues, we need to do a better job at promoting ourselves. There are professionals like that out there. I’m told that Hawaii recently hired one. In addition to that, we ought to look at bringing in other industries so that our economy isn’t so vulnerable.
Finally. Our system of governance has one systemic and fatal flaw. It’s not democratic. If The CNMI were a body, it would be like the liver were the only organ getting any nourishment while the rest of the body suffered. The liver likes it that way and it doesn’t want it to change. The liver needs to understand that every part of the body is interdependent That unless the rest of the body is fed, the liver will suffer too. We all need to come together folks and work for the common good of everybody. It’s the only way we can survive.
CURT KLEMSTEIN
Chalan Kiya, Saipan
