Homeless encampments, panhandlers at the intersections, abandoned vehicles on the side of the roads, stray dogs and substance abuse. These problems are nothing new, so why hasn't more been done to clean up?

Guam Attorney General Doug Moylan is going straight to the village mayors to hash out these longstanding issues during a council meeting today. 

"In my office, I’ll be putting together certain teams to address these types of issues for the mayors," he said. "You are elected officials. I am an elected official. You contact me directly."

The mayors noted it’s the first time a sitting AG is appearing before the Mayors' Council of Guam. The discussions during the special meeting proved the visit was much needed. 

"Guam is enduring an immigration problem right now," he said. "The immigrants are having a problem because they’re not following the laws, obviously. But I see that alcohol abuse and now we got meth. Because it's got so low on the price.

The hour-long talk included issues that also touched on public intoxication and the growing public presence of homeless encampments. 

"What we notice is that they’re getting together and drinking and then causing trouble," Moylan said. "You see it in the newspaper. The skatepark incident. The stuff like that. There's always alcohol and drugs associated. But the humanity of it too. The idea of why are these homeless encampments starting on Guam."

They are complex issues elected officials are tasked to fix, but can’t do alone, according to Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares.

"When we do call like the park rangers or GPD they look at us and say well what do you want us to do with them," she said. "And so of course public intoxication is one. We also have signs in our government buildings because the police have told us in the past that we literally say no camping, no sleeping, no loitering, they cannot stay overnight. They need to go home. But some of them don’t have homes to go to. And that causes another problem."

The AG said efforts are underway between the governor’s office, Guam Police Department, Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness and other agencies to get things under control. 

In the meantime, he reminds village mayors of their authority and responsibility as peace officers. 

"You guys are law enforcement. You are literally the front lines along with the police department," he said. 

Moylan also brought up issues with school violence and more crime being committed by our youth.