Quotes in the Middle

Taken from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce's Managing Change workshop this week:

Speaker: Tony Pellegrino, multimillionaire entrepreneur

He shared that in this economy people should cope with change through self-examination and so much more. He shared a story one time he went to a Joeten owned store, yes he mentioned the store. He wanted to get a lawnmower and there was this $400 mower and he asked the sales girl, "who came up not smiling" and he asked her what the best price could the store give him since there were rusts on the mower all ready. The sales person said it's a fixed price. Then Mr. Pellegrino attempted further, then the sales person called her manager who came out. "Again no smile on his face," said Pellegrino, adding that the manager told him that that was the best price written on the tag. Not happy with the customer service at all, he said he asked his wife to leave the store.

He said he went to the other store and got the same mower for the price he wanted and he said he couldn't forget the guy that sold him the mower because he was so accommodating and so on. Pellegrino said the Joeten store should've given him a better price and sold that rusting and aging mower. He said he could've bought it from Joeten if the customer service would've been better. "They lost a $400 sale from me that day."

People should adapt to change, he said, "Cause if you don't you'd die as a fossil."

Cheers and Jeers

It’s not so much about the $200,000 that the government would be able to save per year if all the 42 elected officials and members of the judiciary voluntarily take a 10 percent cut in their salaries, as reported by Marianas Variety. (What is $200,000 a year versus the $150,000 that the Fitial administration will be paying a mining consultant in connection with the selling of Pagan’s volcanic ash, other independent contractors and political hires?)

It’s more of sharing the burden in these tough economic times.

A government employee who earns $13,000 a year gets a 10 percent cut in his salary, while a lawmaker who earns close to $40,000 a year is not exempted from the cut, thanks to Public Law 15-24 or the austerity Friday law. Members of the CNMI Supreme Court and Superior Court, who earn much more than $13,000 or the close to $40,000 by lawmakers, also don’t get pay cuts.

How could top elected officials expect lower paid government employees and the community at large to believe in them if they don’t lead by example? During the last elections, these leaders promised to work for the people and with the people but are now singing a different tune.

Public Auditor Mike Sablan, as quoted by Marianas Variety, said it well: “The voluntary acceptance of a 10 percent reduction by all elected officials and members of the judiciary would serve as a morale booster and encourage employees throughout the government to be more supportive and understanding of their forced reduction in pay.”

But of course, there is a separation of powers. The executive branch can’t tell the legislative branch or the judiciary branch what to do in these tough economic times. They already know what to do…right?