ON the final day of the Senate special committee oversight hearings on the Office of Grants Management and State Clearinghouse, Senate Floor Leader Vinnie Sablan emphasized the importance of communication between departments and agencies.
“It’s the last day, and we’ve [gone] through a lot of emotions and information. We’ve digested a lot of that information, especially our fiscal analyst…who digested all of the numbers. We’ve listened to many oral testimonies. Some had issues with the process and infrastructure, and had complaints, but others… didn’t have any issues,” he said.
“Looking at the work that you have done, personally, I appreciate your efforts and the efforts of your staff,” he told the grants office. “We can’t take away from what you have delivered to the CNMI government, its entities, its instrumentalities. I know that you’ve tried your best. Everyone has tried their best. We’ve heard that from you and we’ve seen it in your work.”
The senator said the hearings needed to happen in order to gain its outcomes, specifically amending Public Law 19-49, more clarity on the effects of the law, the need to deliver all mandates language in P.L. 19-49, the need to restructure the procedures to perform mandates more effectively, and effective communication.
“The absence of effective communication — that is why we are in these proceedings for the past couple of days. Nothing else. Your work is superb. There are no missing numbers. It’s just because of the activities that are going on a daily basis.”
He added, “In the absence of effective communication, it triggers inaccurate assumptions. If we have effective communication, we can prevent misunderstandings.”
He said the hearings also allowed the senators to understand that there is a need to reach out to departments, instrumentalities, and entities, as outlined in P.L. 19-49.
“It’s very important. When we acknowledge things and recognize things, even though we don’t have to, it feels good because we feel that people are really looking at our work and they care,” he added.
“We need to approach certain situations and individuals cordially. That is very important. When we’re cordial with each other, it enables healthy dialogue. When we’re not cordial with each other, it really triggers confrontations.”
The senator noted that from his personal experience in the Legislature, he has learned that he cannot change the personalities of others, but rather, could accept them in a positive way.
“Everyone has different personalities. Everyone has different days — bad days, good days — but we have to know how to approach these things in the way where we put our attitude so that there is healthy communication,” Sablan said.
“I’ve come to a conclusion after all these days and after weeks and weeks of the Senate president preparing all of us for this. It took weeks for us to really get to this point and to start this platform, but like I said, it needed to happen, and I’m second-guessing the work of the grants office. You guys have been providing what you need to provide when you can, and doing your best. I’m just going to state that we’re here because of just the lack of effective communication.”
He added, “The work is superb and people are getting what they need, but again, when emotions are challenged, then it triggers a lot of confrontation, and that can take us away from our work very easily, so all I ask is that we…communicate effectively.”
Sablan said the Senate has to conduct a hearing because it is “the ear of the people.” Lawmakers have heard from their constituents throughout the CNMI about concerns regarding the grants office.
“We hear all kinds of stuff, and the only way to deal with that is to hear both sides and get accurate information because we cannot rely on [just] one. So, [now] we have heard both sides, and we have accurate information. Now what we are going to do is: we need a reaction to this; we need to fix this. We need to do our amendments and we need to meet so that we can move forward, get on with our lives, get on with our work, and start serving the public,” he said.
The senator extended his gratitude to the grants office administrator, Epiphanio E. Cabrera Jr., and his team for their work as he reiterated the need for the grants office to communicate more effectively.
Vinnie Sablan
