As old as new
NOW that the election year’s political argument has been settled by voters, we expect the incoming administration to retain its predecessor’s policies and programs that are “meaningful and impactful.” We’re pretty sure the governor-elect and lt. governor-elect know what these are. Like many of the other newly elected Independents, they were members of the governing party until over a year ago. (Take note that in the three-way gubernatorial election, the Republican and the former Republican candidates secured almost 72% of the votes cast. Make of that what you will.)
As for the transition committee — its top officials have been fixtures in local politics since the 1990s. They know their way around.
There are, of course, many ways to “interpret” the recent election results, depending on one’s politics, but it is undeniable that those taking over in January will be led by experienced politicians who know exactly what they’re getting into. They are, moreover, practical and undogmatic. And what they want to do, above all, and what they have been trying to do as public officials over the years, is to get things done for the CNMI and its people.
‘Meaningful and impactful’ indeed
ONE of the outgoing governor’s initiatives that the new administration should pursue and continue is NMC’s film program. It’s basically “shovel ready,” and is backed by Hollywood professionals willing to train local residents in creating a new job-creating industry that is exceedingly popular among the youth. The project involves the actual filming of movies on island.
Like most policy proposals, creating a local film industry is an old goal. A CNMI Film Office existed from 1994 to 1997. In 2002, a private film outfit “forged a partnership” with Northern Marianas College “to offer professional training services to local residents who wish to pursue a career on TV or film.” But funding — specifically, the lack of it — was an issue.
This time, there is funding for NMC’s new film program which deserves the CNMI government’s support whoever the governor is.
Transition report
THE backdrop of the inauguration ceremonies in January will include global economic uncertainty; a still recovering tourism industry; labor shortage in the private sector; the CNMI government’s financial obligations; and dwindling ARPA funds.
Hence, it is more than likely that the transition report’s main theme would be:
“It’s worse than we thought.”
We hope that its “findings” would also include, more or less, the following:
“The [government] is the largest employer of our island’s labor force. Since its inception, it has evolved into an unwieldy bureaucracy based on an industrial model rooted in the early 19th century. This type of organizational structure is often slow to move, compartmentalized in its formation and heavily reliant on incremental output, which locks employees into a ‘job description’ mentality. In short, this outdated bureaucracy breeds inefficiency, wastes resources, diminishes the potential of human capital, generates tedious procedures and counter-productive leadership hierarchies. Mission achievement and customer service suffer. Employees are not cross-trained. Technology is not leveraged. Silo-ism prevails and the public is underserved.”
That, by the way, is from Guam’s Lou & Josh 2018 Transition Report.
