First 100 days: A humbling experience

The Babauta administration marked its first 100 days in office last Tuesday, with Gov. Juan N. Babauta saying that, beyond the specific problems and issues facing his administration, what he considers the biggest challenge for his government is changing the attitude of the community.

“To work together, to pull our resources together and to lessen the acrimonious relationship that have gone through between the administration and the Legislature in the past, which are things that slow us down,” Babauta said.

With the rest of his term before him, Babauta told reporters this is a much bigger challenge that he and Lt. Governor Diego Benavente would be working on.

“To make this place a better place for our tourist industry, as well as making the system and the government respond to the needs of the people so that there’s confidence on the part of the business community when they do business with the government—these are the things that we will be working on,” he said.

He added, though, that, if there is one thing he has learned to appreciate, it is the tremendous honor that the people accorded him in entrusting their lives to him for the next four years.

Although he said he has not given the matter much thought, Babauta stressed that his first 100 days in office has been a humbling experience.

“Despite the difficulties that the CNMI is going through, the criticisms and the praise, and everything else that comes with the job, it has been a tremendous honor and I would always appreciate the trust that the people has entrusted me as Governor and it’s a humbling experience. What an honor it is to serve,” he said.

Babauta said that he would be taking stock and reviewing his accomplishments within the next week, “to kind of pull together my thoughts on what I have done so far. One thing for sure is that it is quite a challenge to put together a government.”

Babauta said that he and Benavente have been very busy trying to put people in key positions in government and this has proven to be a challenge—trying to find the right people to fill the Cabinet.

He said what makes this task challenging is the overall idea and philosophy in putting together a government that the business community and the community as a whole can trust and depend on.

“That is the overriding concern that I have in the back of my mind in everything that I do as Governor,” he added.

When asked if he has already hit his stride as Governor, Babauta laughed and said, “Not yet.”

He added: “I don’t think that being Governor is ever going to be easy. At least from my feelings is that I don’t think that I am ever going to hit a comfort zone. There’s always something coming up that is a challenge. It’s been a very rewarding experience.”

On the issue of continued cooperation between the three braches of government, Babauta said the Commonwealth cannot do business otherwise. He said that, if there are disagreements, it is incumbent upon everyone to work on agreeing, rather than fostering disagreements.