Zoning Board, just what do you do?

While riding around town, I noticed five buildings going up from Garapan to Chalan Kanoa and they all are ugly, boxy, concrete monstrosities like several hundred others lining every highway and byway on Saipan. I also happened to see the article about the governor appointing members to the Zoning Board and I wondered what is going on over there. I think the office has been open for eight years and I verified that we still have no zoning, or planning, master plan for Saipan or the CNMI.

Most of the staff and board members don’t appear on the Web, which is not surprising. Three are on FB, one on LinkedIn, but I can’t find a single reference if any of the 13 has a degree in planning, which is almost a given if you want to be on a zoning board. I’m not ragging on anyone but it is just another example of the past and present administrations that hire and appoint people that are inexperienced or non-experienced in the positions the appointment is for. But, in every case I can find, the appointees accept them anyway. This is the heart of integrity. It seems people have been getting paid for eight years for doing nothing or they could be an hour away from presenting their master plan to the public. If your names were all over the Web, we would know you are tech-savvy and that you probably look up YouTube examples of what works and what doesn’t work in places similar to the CNMI. The fact that almost all of you are invisible indicates you don’t use the Web as you should. If you don’t know something, you can find it on the Web and become an expert in short order. All your answers are on YouTube.

At minimum, planners need to: take core courses in the history and processes of urbanization, the theories and histories of planning, applied micro-economics, quantitative analysis, and applied research design. Professional development and field work are also important components of the program. In the second year, students must complete a thesis or applied planning research capstone project (individually or as part of a group). Students also select one or more areas of concentration from among: Community Economic Development and Housing, Design and Development, Environmental Analysis and Policy, Regional and International Development, Transportation Policy and Planning. If you don’t have four years to waste, do what I do: YouTube “city planners” and watch half a dozen videos and anyone that can think, can almost be one in two hours. PSS listen to this please.

Once they have this degree, even from YouTube, they can then apply for a job with the zoning office, which basically does this: Zoning administrators enforce land usage within a municipality as dictated by the codes created by urban planners. They interpret these codes, review permit applications and coordinate enforcement efforts. Zoning administrators are generally required to have significant urban planning or zone enforcement experience. City and state governments employ zoning administrators to evaluate and approve property use. They’re typically members of a municipality’s planning commission, and their primary responsibilities include the interpretation of a municipality’s land-use codes and bylaws, the coordination of enforcement efforts and the promotion of zoning information. It’s the same here. Two hours on YouTube, and you are a zoning expert and you don’t even have to read anything because it’s all on videos.

Sample master plans, master plan templates, urban and rural plan workups. All are on Google and everything is free.

If Gov. Carlos Camacho had hired a certified planner in 1978, there wasn’t any YouTube then, the CNMI would be the prettiest place on earth that has to have buildings on it. It’s never too late to start and you might start by requiring all new street front construction to put in their part of a sidewalk.

NMDC, keep the receipts for the $100K
In our small, underworked Legislature, it just amazes me, and others I’ve talked to, why is that almost every law passed is an amendment to an existing law. Can’t our elected officials write something for themselves instead of “amending” others’ work? Also, can anyone explain how HLB 18-45 ended up as SLB 18-19? This is CNMI money, not Saipan money. Where are the reps from Tinian and Rota?

I’m just reminding everyone wasting their time on issues like this that this is our money and we will let everyone know where every penny really goes. Most NMDs I talked to don’t really care so why is it such a big deal, that it’s about the only thing you got done in the past four months? I suggest you all go online and see what other small, corrupt islands are doing to try to make things better for their future generations. You’ll be amazed.

Here is a site where the U.N. is offering help: The UNDP-UNODC Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project helps Pacific Island countries fight corruption by supporting the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption. The project builds on recent progress by Pacific governments to address corruption, with nine countries in the region—Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu—now having ratified the Convention. What the heck, they left the CNMI off the list. Governor, write them immediately and let them know of their mistake. http://un.org.au/2013/08/08/un-gears-up-to-fight-corruption-in-the-pacific/

Blas Johnathan Bj Tenorio Attao, whew.
OK, Mr. Attao, your signs say Blas Johnathan BJ Tenorio Attao, but I see you started a Facebook page this February just for the campaign under the name of Attao Blas Johnathan Tenorio. That’s a little confusing already. But there is not one single word on it about what you have done, any education, any work experience, any mention of anything you will do, your priorities or project you will work for. Nothing, not one word.

I like his signs better than the others though. His says “please elect” instead of “please vote.” That’s a little more progressive. So, voters, watch his FB site and don’t vote for him, or anyone else, that doesn’t post exactly what they will do for you citizens, in this case the citizens of Precinct 3. Come on, BJ, time to get to work. Just having five names will not work in this election.

Here’s another little bit of political trivia for everyone. Guam has three times the population, eight times the GDP, and just one-half the number of lawmakers. Guam spends 0.0015 percent of its GDP on its legislature while the CNMI spends 0.0056 percent. For you PSS graduates, that means Guam gets almost four times the bang for their buck.

Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan