Much in need: decentralizing decisionmaking

In the past, and in a lot of mainland communities that I have worked with, Issuance of a building Permit was under the control and supervision of one department, usually the Planning Department, who in turn passed it around to the various agencies for their advise and consent,with a certain time limit to act on the process. In Guam that responsibility was given to the Department of Public Works, And the system worked well.

But our elected officials, to curry favor and secure additional votes, mandated that all the agencies must also sign and be made part of the approval process. So in the past, an applicant had to content with only one agency, now under our enlightened management system, we nearly have sixteen(16) different agencies, approving a building permit, and each agency has a veto or blackball power over each applicant, and to make matters worse, there is no time limit to the approval process from each department.

The natural consequences, is the ability of thevarious agencies to hold a project hostage, and extort whatever concessions theywant from the applicant. This is the major reason, a multiplicity of a vetopower by all agencies, on each permit application, why it takes nearly ninemonths to a year to approve a building permit application. The present process is a nightmare, and time consuming, for nothing, only adding extra unnecessary costs, and time to a project, which will ultimately be passed on to the consumers.
The permitting process must be retained by one department, Public Works, who will get comments and advise from other agencies,to streamline and modernize the application process.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Complete and absolute failure, Public education is only about one hundred years old. Previously it was private religious and secular schools that provided the education for the USA. Revert back to private education, funded by a Voucher program to every child. This will bring back productivity and performance.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
The Treasury of Guam has become a free for all money pouch for our elected officials. Monies are spent and diverted without any accountability. Examples:The millions of TAWSA money collected to upgrade our sewer system.No one knows what happened or given an accounting on how the monies were spent,or where it went. The Tumon Beautification Revenue Bond, of about $53 Million. Monies wereagain diverted from Phase I and Phase II, (COLA $4 Million?) resulting thatPhase I or Phase II could not be completed. There is an empty 36" sewer line not connected anywhere.

The System Development Charge (SDC), is another scam to extort more money from developers,who in turn will just pass on this added cost to the ultimate consumer, you and I, and this includes GovGuam employees. A developer, a businessman, is not a philantrophist, all his costs are just passed on to the eventual buyer of his product.

TUMON and other Island beaches
(1) No working usable, public facilities. Where do our residents and visiting military go to the bathroom (WC), specially, after a day of drinking beer.
(2) No enforcement of the litter laws on the beach, in particular on days of heavy usage, Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays
(3) No prohibition to the bringing and the use of glass containers on the beach.
(4) No enforcement on bringing dogs without leash,and dog "PO" pick up.
(5) No enforcement concerning the burning of wood or charcoal fires on the beach sand. Open pit fires.
(6) No enforcement concerning the permitting and placement of tents on the beach.
(7) Where are the enforcers of the above, in particular on Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays.

CONSISTENCY AND CONTRADICTIONS:
(8) Dept of Agriculture prohibits the cleaning of the beach sand, and limits the use of mechanical raking to a depth of one (1"0 inch) two days a week. The Dept of Agriculture also prohibits the taking of sea algae both in the water and on the beach. Does the Dept of Fisheries expect the fish to jump out of the water to eat the algae on the sand? Lack of cleaning Causes Excess Algae accumulation.
But there are no restrictions on GovGuam Vehicles running up and down the beach, or humans walkingor digging large holes on the beach, making deeper indentations on the beach than a mechanical raking machine.

It is my sincere belief and opinion, that this would be an easy matter for the policemen stationed in the Tumon area, to ride their Kawasaki four wheeler, ON Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays, once every hour, and drive slowly up and down on the beach, with a sign on the side of the vehicle giving first warning about littering. The mere presence of a policemen driving, will help keep the beach in a cleaner environment. And the issuance ofa few litter fines and citations, at the beginning, will enhance the depleted treasury of Guam, against the litter bugs, for a short while, until people learn to respect the environment and the public beaches.

Al Ysrael is a businessman and special contributing blogger for KUAM