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An insider job ‘local style’
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Posted on Jun 20 2011
Regarding House Bill 17-142, introduced by Rep. Ralph Demapan that will repeal the sensible and ethically correct law that protects tourists from harassment and physical touching by aggressive local vendors, be sure there’s a another deeper reason this bill is out there and gaining traction. If anyone wants to, or has the guts to scrape beneath the surface, you’ll probably find several local interests at stake here, namely some relative who is up on charges of physically harassing a tourist, and a local business that needs to constantly employ this strong-arm tactic of roadside hard sell in order to get customers. Getting this bill repealed will then solve their current, and potential future, problems for this local business and family interest. There may be more than a few political families who have young guys doing this work and have had run-ins with the law over their tactics. It’s disgusting that, given the islands’ economic depression, lack of vision on how to solve it, and your 100 percent dependency on tourism for any future growth, your leaders would do anything to even remotely cause any negative impact on a tourist, and take away any level of protection…but not on Saipan. When 100 percent of all your political efforts should be focused on rebuilding your failed economic model and creating new revenue streams to ensure the next generation’s survival and right to a decent life on this beautiful island, these yahoos on Capital Hill are wasting time and money on a matter such as House Bill 17-142, introduced by Rep. Ralph Demapan. Congrats to the hotel association for standing up to fight this. Good work, Ralph, Rome is burning!
[B]Chris West[/B] [I]Santa Monica, Calif.[/I]
