By Joe Q. Public
As we head to the polls [today] let’s reminisce a little about what is happening around us these last few years, and let us know forget how UTTERLY USELESS THE 37Th Guam Legislature has been. They have done not a single thing to improve our lives, they argue and bicker like Tammany Hall Hucksters (thank you Daniel Day Lewis for that one), and fight over who stands where in what photo (this happened), they file lawsuits against each other with your money (this happened), they miss Legislative Sessions (this happens every time), Simon Sanchez is still not built, our tourism is in the dumps, our hospital is fit for a third world country, Guam Cancer Care is closed, our schools don’t have enough funding to keep the lights on and the top echelon of our Government is being investigated by the FBI for scamming money AWAY FROM people who needed it the most when our Governor locked us in our homes and closed all our businesses, and that is just what is on the top of my mind.
What they have had time to do is put up all the eye soar posters all over Guam, wave on the sidewalks (who started this nonsense anyway?), ask you for money, come to your family’s funeral even though you don’t know them, greet you at church and ask for your vote. Which the reply should be, WHAT DID YOU DO TO DESERVE TO EVEN ASK ME FOR MY VOTE?
Take the state of California for example, which is the 5th largest economy in the world at $3.8 Trillion, that is roughly the size of the entire country of India and is still larger than Canada, Spain & Turkey. California is 163,695 square miles and has 54,000,000 residents, it provides roughly 1/3rd of the country’s vegetables and more than half of its fruits and nuts. This is all public knowledge, don’t take some faceless person’s word for it; just get your phone out and look it up.
The reason this comparison is being drawn is that the state of California has 40 State Level Senators, that are elected BY DISTRICT. That means each one covers roughly 4,092 square miles and spreads an average of $95 billion dollars in GDP and 1,350,000 residents. Of course, each district does not have equal proportions, but you get the point on how averages work.
Now on to Guam which has a GDP of $5.88 Billion (that is 2020, today it would be much lower), and is 212 square miles and has an estimated population of 150,000. We have 15 Elected Senators, so that breaks it down $386,666 per senator, 5.3 square miles and 3,750 people on average, per Senator.
But you see we don’t have districts, so every elected Senator can live in one village and not actually represent anywhere at all, which is pretty much what we are getting. Do you think that we would get better results if each elected senator had to live in a district they represent? If you ask one of them, they will tell you that is what the mayors are for, and the Vice Mayors are to set up chairs at the BBQ (that is a joke) we love our Village Mayors.
The main question that is being asked in the US Presidential Election right now is, is your life better today than it was 4 years ago? Here we do not have to go back that far, we can go back just two short years.
What has the 37th Guam Legislature done to improve your life in the last two years? The answer is clear, it is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
There is a bill to build a solar field at a defunct golf course in Dededo that has been closed for 4 years, this will help lower the most expensive power costs in the nation. Nah letting some rich guys play golf is more important and Therese Terlaje won’t even let it come to a vote. They aren’t collecting rent from Government owned property and the new tenant is offering to pay $500K in back rent, but hey Telo thinks it is sweetheart deal so let’s just do nothing.
We have kids practicing sports at a condemned school in Yigo where they have to clean animal feces off the balls they use, this is true and you only have to ask around to find out.
Chris Barnett can tell you what every other person in the Legislature is doing wrong but he himself can’t answer a simple question. When the he** is Simon Sanchez going to be done, you are the Chair of Education and you should know! If you don’t believe me, his office number is 671-969-3586, just call and ask.
The answer to these questions is so clear, it is simply that they do not care about you. They care about getting re-elected and looking good. Do you think if Chris Duenas had to drive down Ysengsong Road every day he would care if it takes out your tires? Or that Telo Taitague had a business in Tumon she would care less about Tom Fisher and more about our crumbling tourism market of which she is on the committee for? If Roy Quinata had a child going to school at 5am because of split sessions, would he care more? After all he is the Chair of the Committee on Simon Sanchez.
It reminds me of any old Joe Pesci movie called “The Super” where he was sentenced to live in one of the buildings he owned. In the end he became a much better landlord of course. We should make our lawmakers lie in the beds they make; feel the pain we feel as regular citizens and then I assure you things will get done. The only way to do that is to hold them accountable at the ballot box, send them packing and elect new people and if they don’t get it done in two years repeat the process.
Remember a few things when you go in a check your boxes today:
1) No one knows your vote; it is your business and yours alone. If one of them asks you just say you voted for them, they lie to you every day it’s only fair.
2) You do not have to vote for 15 Senators if you don’t want to, just vote for the ones you think deserve it.
3) Ask yourself if you would trust any of these people with a Lemonade Stand, because I would not.
Our ability to choose our elected officials and hold them accountable by that vote is one of the last true freedoms we have left. Stop settling for mediocrity and negative results (leave that for Cowboy’s fans), you work too hard for your money to pay people to gamble with our Children’s and our Island’s Future! We the people of Guam Deserve better!
Respectfully,
Joe Q. Public
An Increasingly Deeply Concerned Citizen
1 Comments
Grandpa
11/06/2024 at 2:40 AM
Amen.