Saipan lawmakers block Cohen’s casino comments during session

Saipan lawmakers didn’t allow former U.S. Interior deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs David Cohen, now consultant for Marianas Stars Entertainment Inc., to address a delegation session about casino-related issues during a public comment period of yesterday morning’s session.

Delegation chairman Rep. Ray Tebuteb (Ind-Saipan) said he was hoping that members would give Cohen “some latitude” and a chance to be heard even on a topic that is not on the session agenda but proves to be relevant and timely, even as lawmakers have been “suspending rules” during sessions and accepting presentations from all sorts of investors.

Marianas Stars is one of the two investors vying for a license to exclusively develop a minimum $2-billion casino resort on Saipan. The other one is Best Sunshine International Ltd.

Meanwhile, Terence Tay, chief operating officer of Best Sunshine, said yesterday that Marianas Stars’ suggestion to the CNMI of awarding two Saipan casino license instead of only one comes at a “very late stage” of the process.

“It’s too late to change the rules now. They should have raised that in the beginning…A $2-billion investment requires immense planning. A few months back, they were opposed to casino on Saipan. Now they want two casinos on Saipan. What’s the level of their sincerity?” Tay said.

On Capital Hill, Rep. Tony Sablan (Ind-Saipan) and other members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation said the rules do not allow members of the public to comment on issues or bills that are not on that session’s agenda. Sen. Pete Reyes (Ind-Saipan), the delegation’s floor leader, echoed Sablan’s statement.

Sean King of Park Strategies and consultant for Marianas Stars said it’s “unfortunate” that Cohen wasn’t able to be heard but he said Marianas Stars respects the delegation’s procedures.

Cohen planned to comment on House Bill 18-195, which seeks to repeal and reenact the Saipan casino law. Copies of Cohen’s four-page testimony, however, were distributed to Saipan lawmakers instead.

But while Cohen was not able to address the Saipan delegation session, he was able to present before the Rotary Club of Saipan. Best Sunshine’s Tay was also at the Rotary Club as a member’s guest, but was not the scheduled guest speaker unlike Cohen.

Cohen was U.S. Interior deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs from 2002 to 2008. Tebuteb noted that Cohen, during his stint at the Interior, was able to convince the Bush White House and Congress to give the CNMI a chance to vote for a nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives similar to other U.S. territories.

“During those hearings, Cohen read the names of Chamorro, Carolinian, and other soldiers from the CNMI that died in Afghanistan and Iraq so the people there can elect their leaders to represent them, but these soldiers didn’t even have their own voice in U.S. Congress,” Tebuteb said, adding that it was Cohen, along with former lieutenant governor Diego Benavente, that worked to remove matching fund requirements for the CNMI on capital improvement project funds.

Tebuteb, in his personal view, said “perhaps” by giving Cohen a chance to address the delegation and answer their questions, members could have asked Marianas Stars to “withdraw” their court-granted temporary restraining order on any Saipan casino license approval or rejection.

In an interview with reporters, King said Cohen wanted to make a statement about what Marianas Stars thinks about HB 18-195.

“We feel that HB 18-195 is so flawed, and so broken, that it should be scrapped and a new bill should be introduced,” he said. Marianas Stars also hopes that the Casino Commission, which has not been in place yet, will be given the power to issue a casino license and not the Lottery Commission.

Marianas Stars is also calling for the granting of two licenses instead of one, and the reinstatement of judicial review. It also wants the casino referendum process to go on, “if that’s what the people want,” said King.

When asked about the procedural matters raised by the Saipan delegation, King had this to say: “With things being rushed through the way they are, you have to look for every possible angle to make your case and even though this is Saipan delegation, the fact is, every member in there will be asked to vote on the casino at one time. And the chairman asked for latitude; they weren’t willing to give them. That’s the procedure, we respect that. We’ll just find another way to make our case to the public in another way.”

Lottery Commission consultants continue to investigate and review the two casino applicants. The $30 million deposit by the winning applicant will be used to restore retirees’ deferred 25 percent pension, among other things.