Ai adai in court

The lawyers have had their day in court, and now the CNMI Supreme Court says the Northern Islands will have to elect their mayor, again.

Not that it matters to anyone except the candidates and the employees either would hire. As far as I know an Acting Mayor is still appointed when the Mayor actually leaves Saipan; most of the 'residents' vote here. The office's main function (besides employment) seems to be offering quick marriages.

My main interest in the case stems from Judge David Wiseman ordering disqualified voters to unsecret their ballots. Jaw-dropping, though mitigated by the argument that, after all, they committed fraud by saying they had lived in the Northern Islands at some point. Still, once you've broken the rules once, well, why not lie about your vote too?

The Marianas Variety just printed the press release on this one.

Guest host

With District Judge Alex Munson off-island, Wiseman was the Designated Judge, ordering that the latest group trying to reach Guam illegally "shall not be removed from the Corrections facility without an order from the court or direction from the U.S. Marshals Service." The Variety mined that nugget, which the Saipan Tribune missed.

This one could easily have turned tragic, from the narrative printed in the Variety. Inexperienced people in rubber rafts, leaving in the dark and with only the vaguest idea of where they were going is a recipe for disaster. It's comic now.

Slow motions

The masseuse that was loose --though under guard -- continues to dominate local headlines. More in the Marianas Variety, which gave the U.S. Attorney's argument to hold a hearing front page coverage Monday with the headline (Gov. Benigno R.) "Fitial’s massage by detainee a personal service".

That's a quote from the motion, which just makes it the opinion of Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O'Malley. I've actually heard a misbegotten soul argue the opposite, though it seems that line of reasoning would have about as much chance as a landlubber putting to sea in a rubber boat.

A day later, the Saipan Tribune offers up the more factual "US govt: Federal court has authority to order evidentiary hearing" on page six. To be fair, maybe the Tribune couldn't get a copy of the Friday motion until Monday. Both stories were old news anyway: from Florida, Wendy Doromal got a copy of the motion and posted a pdf Friday.

In any case, these motions and the evidentiary hearing are just preliminaries. Watch your local newspaper for more.

Yes, but

Rep. Diego Benavente's proposal to hold CNMI elections in even years makes sense, but isn't it a little late?

Local elections have historically been held in odd years, while the newly-created Washington Delegate is elected in the federal even-year cycle.

Maybe I need a lawyer's help here, but it seems that the Governor, Lt. Governor, Senators and Mayors will be elected in 2009 with the current four-year term provided under the Constitution. Can a Constitutional Amendment during the same election change that term to three years?

Let the legal scholars decide, but it sure would have been cleaner for the amendment to be on the ballot last month. Of course, the Legislature got tied up deciding whether it was a regular election. Not so coincidentally, dangerous ideas (to incumbents) like a part-time legislature and elected Attorney General couldn't take effect until 2012. That AG initiative has been kicking around for years, but it always gets buried in committees.

There's still some question about Mayors and Municipal Councils, too. Especially on Saipan, where frequent flyer and Mayor Juan Tudela is doing his best to prove he's not needed.

At least the Mayor of the Northern Islands has a productive marriage mill going, though I'm always amused that an acting Mayor is appointed when he makes a trip up north.

Canned tuna

Pew, something smells. No, I'm not talking about the Pew Charitable Trusts, I'm talking about the opposition to the Marine Monument proposed for the waters around the Northern Islands of Asuncion, Maug and Uracas.

Now Gov. Benigno R. Fitial has joined the fray, asking President Bush to reject the proposal (Ahem, I think he means if a proposal is submitted). Hands down. No discussion necessary.

According to the Saipan Tribune “The governor argued that the Commonwealth is looking at fishery as an economic growth engine to replace the declining garment and tourism industries.”

I guess I missed that meeting, but I'm sure there will be public discussion. Later. Maybe that's why he refused to even meet with Pew, reportedly giving them five minutes notice: 'I've got visitors', or something like that. Kind of rude, but that's just me.

“We rely on fishing as a source of food and jobs,” Fitial wrote. True enough, but from those islands? That's why I've been hoarding my two cents worth about the proposal; I've been waiting for local fishermen to state their case. On the face of it, that's too far north and too expensive to fish, but I could be wrong.

Large scale commercial fishing? Maybe, I don't know. What's up there? Sorry, I haven't caught Angelo Villagomez' road show, but I've heard Pew doesn't have much information yet. I can't afford to hire John Gourley to give me his estimates.

I'm not opposed to fishing (I love canned tuna, and I'm too old to get pregnant), but I don't see any local economic benefit. No local fees, because fishing in those waters is controlled by the Federal Government. That kind of undercuts the anti-federalization argument, doesn't it?

Luen Thai, the largest company with local connections I'm aware of, does its trans-shipping out of Guam. No jobs for us there. Other companies tried, and failed, on Tinian years ago.

Back to the future

Maybe the plan involves canneries. Sorry, those factory ships sail off to China or Thailand*. Because of cheap labor. That industry is hurting on American Samoa, and their “Special Industry Wage” is a big reason they joined us in being blessed by federal Minimum Wage legislation.

Of course Saipan has plenty of power and water for canneries, but the nineties are over. The days of imported minimum wage labor are over.

So where are these jobs coming from?

Willam McCue's catch-and-release argument is more nonsense. Those 100 jobs he invented are a pipe dream. Again, it's too far north. Maybe the diesel fumes have gotten to him.

I've seen personal attacks on Pew and Angelo, but precious little solid argument. The whole 'federalization' thing is a (pardon me) red herring, sheer demagoguery meant to shut down all critical thinking. 'Outsiders' in the federal government are making those decisions now. The submerged land issue was fought, and lost. It's time to get out of the nineties and quit wasting money on more litigation.

Any agreement on the monument would be negotiated between the U.S. and the CNMI. It's nonsense, and more demagoguery, to say Pew is going to decide anything for us.

So where's all of this local opposition I keep reading about? The Letters to the Editor have been overwhelmingly supportive. And no, Mr. Gourley, four letters do not count as four people.


* I've read that Norwegian cod are shipped to China and then re-exported to Norway.


NB: Saipan Writer had a similar reaction to the letter. More anger and less sarcasm in Please Make It Stop