In England, where I grew up, politicians door-knock to lobby for votes and discuss their platforms — both local and along party lines.
And media take the temperature of voters in all manner of ways. Somewhere in England there may be a clip of my mother voicing her opinions for television, with a young Maureen by her side.
In Guam, I can only remember a door-knock happening once — when the late Speaker Antonio Unpingco was running for governor. His family members visited our house, canvassing for support. (In the spirit of island hospitality, I offered them something to drink.)
Candidates for office in Guam tend to focus on how they will fix perennial problems. Education and our public school system, healthcare and the island’s public hospital are always on the list, because they are problems that no administration or legislature have been able to fix, and certainly not by working together, or through the decades of task forces.
This year as Nov. 5 approaches, the Guam Chamber of Commerce issued a lengthy statement on the size of the Government of Guam’s budget at $1.3 billion, and what it refers to as the “underfunding of essential services,” which are lower allocations for the Guam Department of Education and Guam’s public hospital.
In this MBJ, Pauly Suba offers you an insightful look at the senatorial candidates for office.
We have not reached out to the candidates for formal statements on what they intend to do if elected, since we figure they and you know what the perennial issues are, and the list is growing longer, though we have included that information, where we felt it relevant. And if you are a member of the business community, we know you’d also appreciate a lower Business Privilege Tax (as our gross receipts tax is cutely called) though kudos to those candidates that espouse that.
In the past, some senatorial candidates have indulged in résumé padding. For this year’s crop, we have aimed to give you a straightforward account of their careers to date and their time in office, if they are incumbents.
We have included the two candidates in Guam for the office of delegate, since interest is high in who will represent us in Washington D.C. next year.
On our radio stations — particularly the Wave 105.1 FM — our talk show hosts have offered multiple candidates the chance to be heard, have accepted their calls or have hosted them in the studio.
We reported on political debates and forums while everybody was fresh and feisty — most recently on the five candidates in the NMI who are running for the delegate slot in the debate hosted by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce. You can find the coverage on the MBJ website.
One thing I will miss about the NMI’s current delegate – Gregorio “Kilili” Camacho Sablan, who is retiring – is his weekly newsletter, which is full of news from the capital — what he’s been doing that shows results, what the NMI and the islands will receive in the way of grant funding, and what opportunities for further funding or legislation that will affect the islands is on the horizon, and more. I encourage future delegates to emulate it.
And I don’t have to tell you that what we and you are seeing, hearing and reading about is democracy
in action. mbj
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Glimpses Media includes the Marianas Business Journal, Guam Business Magazine, The Guam Guide, Wave 105.1 FM and Power98.