Walking with a Ghost

I am going to say something that some of you will disagree with wholeheartedly but let me make my statement, justify it, and then you can fuck off. A Senator in the Guam Legislature makes way too little money. That’s right: increase the salary of those elected officials and do it fast.

I want you to ask yourself (and really, go up to a mirror and ask yourself) what is the ideal candidate to be Senator. I ask myself all the time. I have a few ideas: 1. Someone who is educated, well spoken, and has critical thinking capabilities; 2. Someone can dedicate their time to solving the real issues our island faces (not the names of villages or fucking fireworks…ok I will drop it); and 3. Someone who truly cares about the success of our community.

Now when we consider that this job is a 24 hour, 7 days a week, on-call and on-demand employment, that employee or Senator in this case deserves more that $55K they make now. Sure it may be more than a lot of people, but we have to remember the caliber of character we expect in someone who will represent us, determine the law of the land, and fight for us.

Don’t fool yourself—some of you decry they don’t deserve to make more than what they make. Hell, some of you will say that they don’t deserve $55K. Then your issue is not their pay but the officials themselves. However, when you pay so little for a job that expects and requires so much, it’s no surprise we only get the islands most incompetent candidates vying for the 15 spots in the legislature. It’s like watching pigs fight for slop.

Now some of you are starting to think “They’re public servants! If they only care about the money then what kind of public servants are they?” First of all, go fuck yourself. Second, these are still human beings with families and livelihoods they need to sustain themselves. Just like everyone else. Let’s not rob anyone of their dignity for the political circuses that we’ve seen in the past.

Now do you have your thinking caps on? I want you to think: If elected officials get paid so little, who ends up running our island? People with special interests. Why do you think so many people who run for office have businesses, banks, and investments elsewhere?

When you increase the pay, guess who is interested in running for office? It won’t just be the Calvo’s, the Leon Guerrero’s, or any of the same names we have seen over and over and over. And maybe we can see those candidates who are worth the higher salary. Senator Parkinson said that the legislature is scared of its own shadow. It’s fair to say that they’re walking with a ghost of the failures of the past carried by their children touting it as legacy.

In fact, I have a proposition: let’s encourage our elected officials to increase their pay, have it signed by the Governor, and immediately recall all elected officials and have a new election. Let’s clean the slate, clean house, and watch what we, the constituents deserve: quality candidates who can actually make a difference. We can finally use some brains in the legislature.