RB Camacho to take hands-on approach as mayor

Saipan mayoral candidate Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho.
(KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

If given the chance to serve as mayor of Saipan, Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho aims to use his platform to get out and engage with the community directly, be it in a community cleanup, the Neighborhood Watch program, and even in educating the community on the importance of agriculture.

In an interview with the three-time Saipan mayoral candidate last Tuesday, Camacho said his goal remains the same—to establish a connection with the community through a Neighborhood Watch program.

“My first move will be the Neighborhood Watch. That will be my first act in office—bring the community together,” he said.

From there, Camacho said, he will branch out to personally visiting every village to tackle issues like village cleanups and other programs.

“I intend to visit every village in the community and I want to hold a lot of town hall meetings—that will be my first agenda in office. I will also tackle other issues like cleaning up junk in residences. I will take a hands-on approach. For example, I will set appointments with residents and discuss the junk on their property. Then, we can set up a time where me and my staff will come out to your residence and we will help you clear out the junk,” he said.

In addition, Camacho intends to schedule village inspections to ensure that villages stay clean and also intends to establish an incentive program to motivate community members to continue to clean their villages.

“Then we will do village inspections to make sure junk and trash don’t pile up again after we’ve helped cleared them out. I will take a hands-on approach because that’s what our community needs. Then, down the line, when we’re all satisfied with the cleanliness in our community, we can come up with incentives like an award for the cleanest residence, the cleanest village, the…village with the lowest crime rate,” Camacho said.

In addition, he wants to educate the community on the importance of agriculture and showcase Saipan’s local produce once tourists return.

“The role of mayor is about the community. Let’s start educating our kids and occupy their time, involve them. Another thing is let’s promote our own backyard garden. Let’s teach our kids to start playing with the soil. Let’s look at it this way: Why do tourists come to Saipan? They want to know and experience what the island is all about. …Lets display what the islands can provide like breadfruit and local banana, sweet potato, taro—that’s what we need to showcase. That’s really my goal when I become mayor,” he said.