MY last letter to the editor, “More Transparency Expected,” encouraged citizens to investigate what our government is doing and offer suggestions by visiting and interacting with these three CNMI government websites: legislative (www.cnmileg.gov.mp); executive (www.cnmigov.net); and judiciary (www.justice.gov.mp). After
receiving some encouraging feedback, I thought that I should follow my own advice and see how these websites work. So I returned to each website and investigated them further.
Did you know that the CNMI judiciary has a long-range plan? You can review it at their website. It was assembled with the assistance of the National Center of State Courts and is entitled, “Strategic Plan for CNMI Judicial Branch.” I found it to be very interesting. At the CNMI judiciary website you can also review the “State of the Judiciary Report, 2006.” It was released in March 2007. Gee, that’s well over two years ago! This website also shows details of the judicial budget requests for both the Supreme Court and the Superior Court. Click on “Administration,” then click on “Reports” to view the annual reports and budget requests. While I have not thoroughly investigated the websites for the CNMI government’s legislative and executive branches, it appears as if a genuine effort to inform the public about our CNMI judiciary is ongoing. That’s good, but it definitely needs to be more current.
In addition to the National Center of State Courts, there are two other organizations for sharing state strategic planning ideas. I hope the CNMI is making use of them. They are the National Governors Association and the National Center for State Legislatures. All of our elected officials would be well advised to check out these websites. Many state jurisdictions have wrestled with issues similar to those in the CNMI.
Newly elected legislators should be spending their time right now studying three documents: the CNMI Covenant, the CNMI Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution. Also, before these legislators pass any new legislation, they should be sure to review all related past legislation.
Next I went to the website for the CNMI executive branch and selected a couple of the governor’s advisors. I asked a couple of questions via e-mail. I received a return e-mail that thanked me for my suggestions, but have yet to get the answers to my questions. I’ll let you know when I receive a response. Please join me in my efforts to make our government more responsive to its citizens. Want to know something about what’s happening in any one of the three branches of our government? Go to these websites and ask. Do it often. Then please share with all of us. My e-mail is
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. I’d really appreciate the help and it would be one more step towards participatory democracy (i. e., citizen control of the CNMI’s future).
ROGER N. LUDWICK
Sadog Tasi, Saipan
