Pacific mayors begin arriving today for conference

By Anthony Pellegrino - Special to the Saipan Tribune

Mayors and municipal officials from around the Pacific Rim will begin descending on Saipan today, Wednesday, May 13, for the 2nd Annual Pacific Mayors' Conference.

Agana Heights Mayor Paul McDonald, president of the Association of Pacific Island Local Governments, and Antonia Tudela, head of the conference steering committee, held meetings with conference, banquet and entertainment venues around Saipan yesterday with an advance party of 15 conference organizers and support staff.

Themes of the conference surround the military buildup in Guam, and the effects and opportunities it will have on and for the constituents of the municipal officials in the region, and the federalization of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

The APILG is expected to author a resolution calling for the buildup to guarantee substantial benefits for all the Mariana Islands. 

CNMI Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, whose administration issued dozens of visitor entry permits for foreign delegates to enter Saipan for the conference, will speak about the CNMI losing that responsibility, among others, and what it will mean for the future of the Commonwealth.

The 2nd Annual Pacific Mayors' Conference is the regular membership meeting of the APILG. Its membership comprises mayors, city officials and municipal council members from countries around the Pacific. Last year's conference in Guam attracted more than 450 delegates. 

For the event, the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan expects to fly flags from the United States, the Philippines, Palau, Guam and the CNMI.

The conference is scheduled for May 14 to 17-the first two days in Garapan at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, with conference training sessions and speeches on May 14 and 15. 

Conference officials will be hosted on Saturday, May 16 and 17, on Tinian by the Tinian Municipal Council and the Tinian Mayor's Office. 

Among conference highlights are addresses by Fitial; Capt. Ulysses O. Zalamea, deputy director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Joint Guam Program Office; Maya B. Kara and Bruce Mailman, partners in the law firm of Mailman & Kara LLC; Joe Bradley, economist for Bank of Guam; and Herbert Johnston, education director of the Guam Trades Academy. 

There will also be a trade fair in conjunction with the conference at the Fiesta Resort and Spa. 

The Tinian trip will include a feast on the beach, a cockfight derby, and a special mayors' poker tournament at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino.

Tan Holdings Corp., The Palms at Pau Pau Beach and Bank of Guam are gold sponsors of the conference; Joeten Enterprises, IT&E, Bank of Saipan, Continental Airlines, and the Association of Marianas Mayors, Vice Mayors and Elected Council Members are silver sponsors; and bronze sponsors are Saipan Shipping Co., J's Restaurant, SmithBridge Guam Inc., and Kautz Glass Co.