Not only has the administration jeopardized the level of funding the CNMI receives in future CIP funds — funding level is based on good performance — it is now saying that it will begin cutting contract positions, which include most technical and professional jobs.
Governor Fitial won the last election by a slim margin of votes. His supporters included those who believed that his business experience would help reverse the economy’s downward trend. It did not. Citizens still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt speculated that his inaction must be explained by some bigger and more important agenda item that his administration was developing and holding in reserve. But nothing came. And now, finally, the public understands that this poor performance is the result of a complete absence of ideas on how to turn the economy around, the lack of qualified and competent people to get the job done, and the pursuit of ill-advised distractions.
This administration’s best efforts are all about one thing only: Staying in office. And now the governor comes asking for another chance, another shot.
The people’s answer: Not now. Not ever.
Do the math
IN response to the Legislature’s historic override of his budget veto, the governor announced that he had “no choice” but to cut contract employees.
Governor Fitial has been making good on this promise for years now; this is not a new policy. While the hiring of nonessential employees continues, many technical and professional positions have been cut, sacrificing quality for quantity and compromising the government’s ability to deliver services.
The administration could have opted to maintain the austerity measures implemented in the first half of its term in office, but it declined to do so. Instead, taxpayers have been bombarded with what can only be interpreted as whining from the secretary of finance, now the running mate of the governor.
Secretary Inos is saying that the administration will have to begin calculating how many government employees are in service on the three main islands, and determining what cuts will be necessary. Strangely, the secretary of finance, long known as a numbers man, was quoted as saying that he had no idea how many employees there were or how many might be affected by cuts.
That is telling. When you work with numbers all day, and are dealing with an ongoing financial crisis, one might rightly assume that the guy in charge would have a handful of options — especially after almost four years in office.
Questions about NMC
THERE was a glimmer of hope for NMC when one of its regents, Agnes McPhetres, resigned, presumably on some principled basis. Apparently, she couldn’t stand the new NMC president. But now she’s saying she wants to remain on board. Why?
Once a small but well-ordered institution, NMC is now in a state of disarray as evidenced by WASC’s assessment, which noted that the college’s problems go all the way back to McPhetres’s time as president.
One wonders why the governor would want to retain a regent who, clearly, cannot work with the college president at a time when NMC’s accreditation is in jeopardy. And how can the college move forward when its officials are squabbling over who knows what?
