Downsizing government

As a follow up to a discussion at lunch last Saturday, I wrote several letters to friends regarding the downsizing of our government. It appears to me that the only way to get any action on this topic is to create a public outcry. The politicians will do nothing; they like their cushy jobs. Change must be done by the people (just like changing the last governor). If the people do not care about the waste and corruption in government the politicians won’t either. 
Here is an example of a letter I wrote:

Friends, when will the CNMI people start to talk about the huge size of their government? The cost and lack of functionality are well known and are really problems, but I never hear it discussed. I know that the legislators will never bring up the topic because it is their jobs that we want to discuss. Have you heard anything? Time is getting short to get downsizing the Legislature on the November ballot. You all have been there and you must know how to deal with this issue, we need action. The Senate may be the easiest to downsize because fewer people are involved, but the Covenant must be changed, this could be a real problem. Regards, Frank

Response:

Voters and their families want to be employed in government. Candidates offer to hire their families to win the election. So chances of government hiring competent workers and reducing excess bodies is not in the agenda. Those in the campaign team will be rewarded regardless. The sad part is that we pay for the inefficiencies and costs of these unnecessary hires.

The court was petitioned five or so years ago to reduce the size of the legislature but it backfired because the court included the garment workers’ population in the re-apportionment. As a result, we have more representatives in the House. Someone needs to petition the court again because the Legislature will not do it. It costs a lot of money to do this so no one is volunteering, even though this time around it will have a substantial effect since the 2010 Census shows a reduction in population that is still going down and we no longer have the garment factories.

The Senate is the hardest to downsize. It requires a change in the Covenant with Rota and Tinian’s vote requiring a difficult percentage to garner a win approval so we just have to live with Rota and Tinian controlling the Senate. Surprisingly, two senators voted for the casino. This never happened before so hopefully young educated people will run for office and do things differently. But until then, we cannot hold our breath. From: Anonymous

CNMI people, the opinion given above is very much the reality of the CNMI. Many feel that it is hopeless to bring change to this government. Perhaps we should restructure and start over with a new, better system. The current system seems to be failing.

Frank Stewart
Capital Hill, Saipan