Here we go again

As we all know this is an election year. The Legislature is up to it’s old tricks of trying to pass a bunch of laws just to try to prove to us that they are doing their jobs. Well, the law that they passed on zoning is too much. They have spent thousands of dollars of our tax money to establish a Zoning Office and establish zoning laws. But members of the Legislature seem to think they know better. So they pass a law to wipe out all the work that the Zoning Office has done. They chose to turn their backs on all the input from public hearings and do whatever they want to. There is an old saying that when something smells bad, it is probably bad. The bill they passed has a very bad smell to it. It is just another example of the cronyism that goes on in the Legislature. You all wonder why we are not recovering from this mess that the administration and the Legislature have spent us into. Just ask yourself this question: Would you invest money in a country that cannot pass a simple law without repealing it or having to amend it? When a member of the Legislature comes on TV and states that they had to pass something but they can always amend it later? Well, if I were the investor I would scratch that country off my list. I have to wonder what favor they owed Rep. Stanley Torres. We all knew that Mr. Torres has a personal problem with the Zoning Office.

There is another reason why we cannot bring in any honest investor and that is the price of utilities. I hate to sound like a know-it-all. But I was working for CUC when we were doing all the expansion in the early ’90s. Most of you do not remember that in October 1993 CUC showed a profit for the first time ever. Then the politicians took over. CUC ran about an even level for about three years, then it started downhill again. When the governor ran for election the first time he promised to get rid of the fuel surcharge. Well, here we are six years later and the fuel surcharge is higher than ever. The truth of the matter is that anyone who understands how to run a utility company could have gotten it out of the mess it is in in two to three years. That is why I am working to get CUC turned into a co-op utility company. We have the people right here on the island that know how to run it and run it right. But we have to keep them away from politics.

As I stated at the start, this is an election year. It is time for the so-called silent majority to get some guts and stand up for what they know is right. Either you stand up now or you kiss you island and culture goodbye. I was at a party some time ago. I was watching young children playing. The thought came to me. What kind of a future do these children have? Tonight, take a good look at your children and ask yourself: Are you doing right by them by letting the corruption, cronyism, and nepotism cheat your children out of the right to compete for a future? It is your islands. Let your elected leaders hear you. If you do not, do not cry about it later.
[B] Frederick A. Prosser[/B] [I]As Matuis, Saipan[/I]