The governor, who recently said he expects his appointees to be loyal to him, has already spoken. He has disclosed that OPA considered the AG’s partisan “meet and greet” gathering to be improper. But the governor also said that no law was violated by his AG. It is OPA, according to governor, that is “very disrespectful.” “They think,” he added, “they’re god.” The AG’s lawsuit against OPA is a reminder that, for the next three and a half years, there is only one god on Capital Hill and Benigno is his name.
Whatever “comments” you may hear from lawmakers about this issue are basically as useless as the toothless, fangless OPA which continues to cite the law to explain why it can’t disclose its report while surrounded by lawlessness it either ignores or refuses to acknowledge.
The government ethics standards should have prevented the AG’s involvement in a highly publicized political event. In refusing to release the details of OPA’s investigation, the public auditor, for his part, makes a mockery of the Open Government Act and shields law enforcement authorities from the laws they are charged to enforce. This is a dangerous precedent and poor public policy but, as usual, citizens who are more worried about their government jobs and contracts will “let it be.”
About the AGO
ALL private attorneys hired by the CNMI government must receive some type of certification from the attorney general to represent the CNMI or its agencies in an official capacity. Historically this certification has not been refused. It appears that the AG is attempting to replace all private counsels under government contract with government employees from his office. It would appear that he is within his proper authority to do this, but it need not be so. The AGO has been gutted of most of its most seasoned lawyers and replaced with recent law school graduates. While this is not a bad thing, it does leave the commonwealth’s legal representation to individuals with little or no practical experience. This can only result in delays and possibly less than optimal representation.
The next interesting “contest” will be to determine which independent agencies are “really” independent. Will the AGO provide representation to the Commonwealth Port Authority, the Commonwealth Development Authority, the Marianas Public Land Trust or the Retirement Fund?
Tolerating the intolerable
DEPARTMENT of Public Land officials say one firm will be given access to public land in the north part of the island prior to negotiations for a 25-year lease. Why would it be in the CNMI’s interest to permit access to a government site prior to the conclusion of a lease? What can the firm hope to be able to do on the site that it cannot do now? Many fly-by-night operations have made their way to the CNMI over the last few years, negotiating leases for public land for projects that the firms don’t have the ability to finance. In many instances, they are in technical default of leases because of a failure to pay the deposit. It is clear that permitting regulations are flouted and environmental and aesthetic considerations completely abandoned with no economic development to show for all the leeway that has been granted.
But once again, this is par for the course these days.
