Angello: Sell La Fiesta complex back

The college should sell the La Fiesta complex back to its original owner with “an offer it cannot refuse” to avoid further losses and just get on with the college’s on-site expansion program.

This is according to Jack Angello, a terminated NMC program director who is now applying—for the second time—for the college’s presidential portfolio.

The NMC, upon advice by an accrediting body, had opened a vacancy announcement for a president that ended on June 25 but was extended up to this Friday, July 9, to ensure “a wider selection.”

The NMC reportedly received six applications, including Angello’s last month.

Angello said in an interview that he knows that his application faces a major hurdle due to his pending cases against NMC officials.

“All I can say is, ‘Excuse me, but my livelihood was ripped away from me and I have a right to contest it.’ But anyway, I hold no grudge. I will survive, thanks to my family and local support. So I’ll apply and wish for the best applicant to be selected,” he said.

Angello said he applied for the position “after being asked by several CNMI supporters.”

“However, I want to make it clear that I enjoy my present job at the Attorney General’s Office,” he said.

Angello said that, in case he is chosen, he has 10 priority measures for the college, with the immediate sale of La Fiesta being his No. 1 project.

“I would make an offer to Hotel Nikko that they can’t refuse,” he said.

He said Nikko, the original owner of La Fiesta, can keep anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million of the original $3.5 million purchase deposit of the complex, and return $2 million to $2.5 million to NMC for the needs of the present campus.

“I know Nikko will want to help the CNMI community and the local students so I don’t see them playing hard to reach on this proposal,” said Angello.

His second priority would be to pursue the proposed NMC Business Center on the current campus, which would cater to both local and international students.

“The price is right. It’s on NMC property and the USDA has already shown interest in this project,” he said.

Angello cited a recent letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development that says the on-site expansion program may be eligible for funding under the USDA’s Community Facilities Program.

Angello’s eight other priorities are:

* Streamle NMC administration staff to maximize their talents and resources and not hurt island families by terminating breadwinners;

* create a clear picture of all the money that NMC receives from taxpayers, scholarships, and grants each semester. “NMC received millions of dollars in subsidized funding, so where did all that money go?” he said.

* stop bugging the Legislature for money all the time. “I think there’s adequate money to run the college since it has only a little over 1,000 students each semester and NMC is completely subsidized. Where else can you find a U.S. community college that has all its local students eligible for CNMI scholarships and most are eligible for Pell grants?” he asked.

* give Saipan, Rota, and Tinian campuses more classroom tools;

* review annual spending and subsidies;

* make College Lab School feel more secure;

* arrange for the AGO to represent NMC in legal matters; and

* “return NMC to its roots as an island community college.”

Further, Angello said that he would be willing to take 10 percent off the advertised salary “due to the CNMI government’s current financial dilemma.”

An NMC president receives $80,000 a year.