The magical world of government
CUC management benefits should be investigated, a lawmaker says. Sure. But why only CUC management? Why not call for a review of the entire Commonwealth government — all three branches, including the municipalities — to identify which entities are duplicative and which are performing tasks that the private sector could handle more effectively? The goal should be to cut costs and perhaps set aside some funds for the government’s unpaid utility bills.
However, as in the past, whenever politicians talk about CUC’s “high rates,” no one mentions the CNMI government’s failure to pay its bills regularly and on time — nor the actual costs of providing utility services in a small, remote, economically struggling island while trying to comply with applicable federal rules and mandates.
Far better to wring hands over personnel matters — always a controversial subject in a jurisdiction where the government is the voters’ employer of choice.
It’s hard, in any case, to blame CUC customers for believing that they are being “ripped off” by a public corporation run by a board of political appointees. While CUC customers get disconnection notices whenever they’re delinquent with their payments, they hear about their government — which has accumulated millions of dollars in unpaid CUC bills — waving away its debt with the magic wand it calls a “Memorandum of Agreement.” The government agrees not to pay its utility bills! What a deal!
Why indeed can’t ordinary CUC customers get a piece of the action?
Taken for another ride
POLITICIANS in office will eventually realize that the main “problem” with CUC’s utility rates is that they used to be heavily subsidized by the government — a government that can no longer afford to be that generous because of the bad economy.
The issue of CUC’s utility rates first became a major concern in the early 2000s, with politicians out-demagoguing each other to persuade voters that they had the solution.
Remember this, CNMI voters: All elected officials say they support “affordable” utility rates. The CUC board consists of members appointed and confirmed by elected officials. CUC is regulated by CPUC — a separate entity whose commissioners are also appointed and confirmed by elected officials. (CPUC’s creation in 2006, according to yet another widely ignored OPA report, “created another layer of difficulty, making it hard for CUC to operate independently.”)
Elected officials say they want you to pay lower utility rates. Time and again, they have intervened in how CUC operates. (See OPA’s 2017 report on CUC.) Top elected officials can — and have — bossed CUC around. So why haven’t they passed legislation mandating “affordable” utility rates?
Instead, they go after CUC management benefits. And some hard-pressed CUC customers are lapping it up.
Mission accomplished.
A public servant
AS we noted at the time, Governor Palacios made one of his first crucial decisions as chief executive when he chose to deliver a levelheaded and gracious inaugural address — instead of an earlier version that sounded like a gloating stump speech. “We must not forget,” he said, “that we…need to listen to each other with civility [and] respect. There is a time and place for civil disobedience, [but] now, more than ever, civil discourse and consensus-building are necessary.”
A government official for the past 30 years, Arnold Indalecio Palacios rose from the ranks: division director, House member, minority leader, speaker, department secretary, senator, Senate president, lieutenant governor, governor.
His willingness to reach out and work with his critics and opponents is well-known. He was one of those rare people you could disagree with and still respect. That he was struck down in his office while carrying out the work he had sworn to do showed the depth of his commitment and perseverance. He died serving his Commonwealth.
We extend our deepest condolences to First Lady Wella Palacios, as well as to other family members and friends.
Godspeed, Governor.
