Rome is burning and you go on a junket?

Paul Manglona, the Rota dude: You were called out on the CHC failure by the good doctors for good reason. And you cried and whined like a baby because of it, instead of showing real leadership and respect for the medical community.

You’ve been holding down a cushy government job as your career since way back in the ’90s. It’s time now for you to stop hiding behind the politics and power brokering that you consume with your time everyday and step up and prove your mojo now. If you even have any mojo left. Put yourself on the line as a fearless leader of the tribe, paid for by taxpayer dollars, trips abroad subsidized by foreign governments, federal grants, and God only knows what other creative funding schemes, and tell us what your No. 1 main idea is to increase revenue in Saipan, Inc., and what your No. 1 strategy is to rebrand the CNMI and reposition its failed marketing plan to relaunch the only sustainable and scalable industry and resource the CNMI has, and that’s tourism.

Let me highlight that, of the 40 bills that came into law in 2011, only one was for revenue generating! That’s a disgusting figure that you need to be called out on. And that one bill was that silly bribe payment to travel agents to bring more tourists here and a lame landing tax of $15. When Rome is burning, your economy is in ruins, and the future land of your children is being destroyed economically and socially, the extent of your ability to create new revenue is only one lame ass bill to gather pennies from travel agents. You as a leader and elder statesman needs to be called out on this publicly. And fired if it was the private sector.

As a corporate leader in any company, and operating at the management and board level that is vested with the responsibilities of governance, fiscal leadership, and building stockholder value, as an elected official of Saipan Inc., you have that same job description. But you have failed in that job. The bottom line proof of that is the current state of your bankrupt entity business called the CNMI.

Now, let’s get specific. While all this mess with CHC and CUC was brewing up, you were getting a free trip to Taiwan last month. What the friggin’ heck will Taiwan ever do for the CNMI? Nothing in terms of dollar revenues in the short-term to help the suffering CNMI will ever come out of that weeklong resort trip you and five other Budweiser Barbecue Boys got awarded. And you deep in your heart know it. Don’t fool us.

Now here’s what infuriates me to no end as a company owner. You left your watch as key management at a critical time when CHC, CUC, and PSS situation was reaching a boiling point in the week prior. You bailed out for a useless trip. If any executive of mine showed such bad judgment as to not manage company priorities and take care of important business at hand, before engaging in blue sky future developments and fact finding junkets abroad for one week, I’d fire his sorry butt.

Now, here’s what’s even more disturbing. If you whine that you didn’t see the CHC and CUC power debacle coming to a head before Taiwan and not until you got back, then that’s even a bigger fault and failed judgment on your part. You’re paid and trusted to see and be suspicious of things when other people are not. You’re paid and trusted to see around corners other people can’t see around because you have access to market intel; they do not. That’s your job, Rota dude. You as a senior member of the political community failed to show leadership in this area, and took five other BBB’s with you. I bet all you Bud Boys all got fed real good over there. This is just an example of your lapse in leadership and vision. Prove your worth or get out now because Rome is burning.

Chris West
Santa Monica, Calif.