Please Wear WHITE

We are asking everyone to wear WHITE for the candlelight vigil tomorrow night.

We have also confirmed American Memorial Park as the location. Now we are inviting the community and looking to our spiritual and religious leaders to lead us in prayer and reflection tomorrow night. We are inviting all religions, all faiths and creeds to join us.

We could use some help contacting the leaders of the many churches on Saipan. I think we've got the Catholic church covered, but could use some help contacting some of the Korean churches and other denominations.

This is the invitation letter:

Dear Friend,

You are invited and urged to attend the "Saipan For Peace Candlelight Vigil" for the victims of yesterday's horrific shootings.

This event is to be held this Sunday (tomorrow) at 6PM, at American Memorial Park.

It is an ecumenical and multi-cultural event of various faith-based and community coalitions and all are invited. This needed event is non-political and spiritual leaders of all religions have been invited to speak.

The healing begins as soon as possible for as many as possible. Join us to denounce this violence coming to our paradise. Evil has no border, but together, as a movement of "one voice, one people," we can affirm that it is not welcome here.

Please join all of Saipan as we hold the victims, their families, and our community in thoughts and prayers.

Si yu'us ma'ase,



Angelo O'Connor Villagomez

We are looking for a sound system and we are in need of candle donations. I am about to head out to see if any of the local shops even have 1000+ candles for sale at a reasonable price.

You can help us by spreading the word about tomorrow's vigil by talking to your family and friends, by reposting the event on Facebook, or by sending texts asking people to come.

Saipan for Peace Candlelight Vigil

After talking to a good friend tonight I decided to help organize a Saipan for Peace Candlelight Vigil this weekend.

I am not an expert at putting on big events on short notice and I need help. Please call me at 285 6462 if you can donate a sound system, candles, water, or anything else that might prove helpful.

I've already created a Facebook Event. Here is the language I put out:

The people of Saipan and the Northern Mariana Islands are a peace loving people and condemn violence in our community. The violence of the recent shootings in our island is something that was previously unknown to our people, and we vow to never let it never happen again.

Please join us for a candle light vigil this Sunday at 6 PM.

The healing of our community must begin as soon as possible for as many as possible. Our goal is to have the Saipan for Peace Candlelight Vigil at American Memorial Park Ampihtheater, but we need to gain permission first. Our backup location will be Garapan fishing base.

We will not have the benefit of any TV or newspaper advertising to tell the community about this event, so please help me spread the word. Please tell everyone you know to come down to American Memorial Park (pending approval from the rangers) on Sunday night. Please bring your own candles and in the next 48 hours I hope to put together a program.

This candlelight vigil is meant to heal my heart as much as everyone else in this community. This tragedy is devastating. This should never have happened.

Saipan Shooting

Our small community was rocked today when a yet-to-be-named gunman went on a shooting spree, wounding eight and killing four, including a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl.

From the BBC:

At least five people have died in a shooting incident in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

The gunman killed four local people in the main island of Saipan, reports say.

He also reportedly went to a tourist area and shot at a group of foreigners - mostly Koreans - wounding eight before killing himself.

From the Saipan Tribune:

A man shot and killed four individuals before turning the gun on himself in two separate shootings in Marpi and Kannat Tabla.

Details of the shootings are still sketchy.

In the Kannat Tabla shooting, the fatalities were two men in their late 20s and early 30s, both local residents, and two children under 10 years old. The two adult victims sustained gunshot wounds in the head, and police are saying they were shot at close range.

The shooter then proceeded to Last Command Post and shot a group of mostly Korean tourists, wounding eight. The victims included two Korean children.

He then went to Banzai Cliff where he shot himself.

I could hear sirens from my apartment, but mainly watched the whole thing unfold from Facebook. As I refreshed the page every few minutes, I watched as schools, businesses, and people's private homes went into lockdown out of fear.

We won't know the full story for a few days, if ever. In the meantime, please pray for the people here. Pray for the victims. And pray that this never happens again.

Under the Pala Pala I

It has been nearly two weeks since I lost my bid to become the next mayor of Saipan. I came in ahead of 6 respected, well-known candidates, but unfortunately in order to win I needed to come in ahead of 8.

My congratulations go out to our next mayor, Donald Pangelinan Flores, and I hope you’ll join me in helping him to make Saipan a better place to live and visit.

I am forever grateful to the 1612 voters who entrusted me with their vote. We may not have won this round, but our team is now more experienced, better organized and larger than ever before.

I am going to continue that momentum with my work in the community. I still lead Beautify CNMI, I am still a board member of the Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument, and I am still a director of the Rotary Club. I am also still kind of chubby, which tells me I should probably renew my involvement with Soccer! To carry on with that momentum I am going to continue on with this email list, too. However, instead of Angelo for Mayor, I am going to call it “Under the Pala Pala.”

I will post “Under the Pala Pala” to the Saipan Blog and will email it out to the subscribers of my email list every Friday. Visit www.AngeloVillagomez.com to subscribe.

Back to the Polls

The people of the Commonwealth head back to the polls on Monday. We will decide whether we want Benigno R. Fitial or Heinz S. Hofschneider to serve as our governor for the next five years.

On Wednesday, after much consideration and contemplation, I endorsed Heinz Hofschneider for Governor.

Living in a small community like ours and getting involved in politics is a lot like being a soccer referee. Half the people think you’re call was brilliant; the other half want you dead.

I did not take this endorsement lightly. Should Heinz win, some of my very good friends and family will lose their jobs. Should Ben Fitial win, I will be unemployable by the CNMI government for the next five years. I have friends and family on both sides of this election, and much like refereeing a close game in the men’s soccer league on Sundays, half the crowd is pleased with my decision, while the other side is helping me research flights back to Florida.

In the end it was my personal experiences with both men over the last four years that influenced my decision. Fitial smiles when he sees me and says, “How are you, my nephew?” Heinz generally just nods and says, “Hi, Angelo.”

If I could sum up Fitial’s philosophy of governing, it’s that he’s in charge, he knows what’s best, and he’s going to do what he thinks needs to be done, no matter what it is. And since he’s in charge, he doesn’t need to explain anything to you or ask your opinion on anything.

Fitial’s worldview comes from a conservative, traditional frame of thinking. George Lakoff explains in “Don’t Think of an Elephant,” how and why many conservative (mainland) Republicans think this way. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. It is available on Amazon.

To put it bluntly, Fitial thinks like George W. Bush. That’s how we ended up with a taxpayer-funded lawsuit against the federal government, a bulldozed Marpi without public hearings or environmental permits, no net improvement at CUC, and a health care system on the verge of collapse.

In my experience Heinz is open to a more participatory form of government. The two times I asked to meet with him, he did. Like most men his age, he had a lot to say, but at least he met with me. And more importantly, he listened. And Heinz is an environmentalist. He created our local marine protected areas and supported the version of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument that would have brought international acclaim and a visitors center to our shores.

I encourage you to go out and vote for Heinz. For those of you not planning on voting, please reconsider. A missed vote is a vote for Fitial. There are many highly paid Covenant supporters desperate to keep their jobs. I guarantee you they will be voting.

Clarification

Dear Editor,

Recent advertisements in your newspaper declare that some Democrats have endorsed Benigno Fitial for Governor. This is not the case.

The Executive Committee of the NMI Democrats met after the regular election to discuss endorsing a candidate for the runoff election. During our meeting there was no discussion as to whether the party would endorse Fitial or Heinz Hofschneider, we were in unanimous agreement that we would either endorse Hofschneider or nobody at all. In the end we decided it was in the best interests of the party not to endorse a candidate, however individuals were free to endorse any candidate of their choosing.

The defining characteristics of Fitial's first four years in office, fear, hatred, bigotry, oppression and deceit, do not mesh with the values and principles espoused by the Democratic Party. As President Obama so famously stated, "We are choosing hope over fear."

Please discontinue printing advertisements about the NMI Democratic Party that have not been endorsed or paid for by the NMI Democratic Party.

Angelo Villagomez
NMI Democratic Party

Endorsement

Out of respect for my supporters that may have supported other candidates I was going to remain neutral in the gubernatorial election, but too much is at stake during this juncture in our history and now is not the time to remain silent.

The two candidates left standing from the general election, Ben Fitial and Heinz Hofschneider, are both good men. They have collectively served this community for nearly half a century and I believe it is the intention of both men to do what is right for our people.

However, an election, as I recently learned first hand, can only have one winner. The voters of the Commonwealth must choose between these two long time public servants and decide who will be our head of state for the next five years.

I am voting for Heinz Hofschneider in the gubernatorial runoff election. I fully endorse his candidacy and ask that you vote for him on November 23.

While Ben Fitial has been a supporter of Beautify CNMI, a campaign I hold very close to my heart, I cannot in good conscience vote for the man that refused to meet with concerned citizens for nearly two years concerning another very important issue, ocean conservation.

Instead of meeting with us to hear what we had to say, instead of engaging us to understand our intentions, instead of hearing our pleas to just listen, he ordered his administration to carry out a campaign appealing to the worst side of our local people. And this was not the only island issue in which he did this. And we were not the only targets of his vindictiveness.

My experience with Heinz Hofschneider was the reverse. He took the time to listen to us. He made a point to educate himself on the subject. He sought out experts that knew more about the subject than himself. And after careful consideration he made his decision.

Heinz is the type of man I want leading our people. I humbly ask you to support his bid as our next governor.

Hibernation

This blog is going to take a long nap.

Official Results

I put Mom on an airplane back to Florida a few hours ago. It was an intense two weeks and she's going home with stories that will make her the life of any dinner party for the next 10 years. I imagine the stories will start with something like, "A few years back when my son was running for mayor of an island in Micronesia..."

I am so glad she came for the last 10 days of the campaign. She re-energized the campaign and was instrumental in my coming in just 8 votes short of second place. Speaking of those 8 votes, when the Commonwealth Election Commission certified the final results, my number of votes increased to 1,612 votes.

Not bad for an unmarried 31 year old half-caste who has only lived here four years.

Until Next Time BBQ Tonight

I am having an Until Next Time BBQ for my Mom tonight at my house in Gualo Rai. We'll get the fire going at about 4 PM. Please bring something to share.

Proud

On Election Day 1612 wonderful people cast their vote for me. I came in ahead of 6 other well-respected, popular candidates. Unfortunately, I needed to come in ahead of 8.

Thank you to everyone who helped me during the campaign and congratulations to all the candidates.

The Polls Are Closed

The last few months have been quite a ride and I was lucky to have been chosen by the Democratic Part to represent them as their nominee for Mayor. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and great friends who have helped me during this process.

Whatever the outcome, I am proud of the campaign my team ran. We focused on issues and experience and the campaign for mayor never devolved into a mud slinging contest.

We'll know the results of our efforts in a few hours.

From Saipan Writer

I've hardly surfed the net this week because I've been going door to door and meeting with people. The Saipan Writer wrote this about me on Monday:

VILLAGOMEZ, Angelo O’Connor (Democrat). Intelligent, educated, and dedicated to environmental concerns. He's got loads of energy and vision. He's done a lot to organize people and protect our environment. This would be a big YES in my book.

Thank you, Saipan Writer!

Almost Over

The polls are open for another 40 minutes and the news reports about the results are starting to roll out. The Saipan Tribune has a story up about the early morning voters.

Polling places open; 3 of 4 governors lead voting in Garapan
By Haidee V. Eugenio

Hundreds were already in line as polling places opened at 7am in today's historic CNMI elections, with three of the four gubernatorial candidates casting their votes at Precinct 3's Garapan Elementary School between 7:10am and 9:10am and the fourth one expected to vote shortly before the close of polls at 7pm.

[snip]

Also early in line was Angelo Villagomez, who is running for Saipan's mayoral post.

Villagomez said the first time (sic) he will do if he wins is to hug his mother, who was with him at the voting place even before the polls opened at 7am.

2009 CNMI Election Results

There will be live coverage of the 2009 CNMI Election Results on Magic 100.3 and on KSPN 2. You can listen to Magic online, but have to be on Saipan to watch KSPN's live coverage. The Commonwealth Election Commission will also put the results online, but it might not be up right away.

Today is the Day

Today is Election Day.

I was standing in line at Garapan Elementary School at 7 AM and cast my ballot.

If you haven't done so already, please head to your polling location and vote.

KSPN 2 will begin live coverage of the election results at 9 PM tonight. I hope to know the results before I go to sleep.

Voter Outreach

I really enjoy going door to door. Yes, it's hot. Yes, I get tired with all that walking. But getting into people's villages and talking to them one on one about their concerns is a great experience. It should be mandatory for anyone working for a government agency so that they can get a better understanding of the people they are supposed to serve.

I've had several family members and supporters helping out over the last few days and they've all remarked on how going door to door has opened their eyes to a lot they didn't know about on Saipan. They'd never visited so many people's houses in their lives.

When I was a canvasser in Florida in 2004 my team would all come back to the office and trade stories from the day's door to door. I don't want to do that on this blog because I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone, but.....I'd better stop there.

Overall going door to door is a very positive experience. I think most people are appreciative of the candidates making the effort to come to their home.

We are going to continue our door to door efforts in Kagman tomorrow. If you'd like to help out, if even for only a few hours, your help would be greatly appreciated.

For weeks now I've been asking my supporters to contact 20 people they know who vote on Saipan and to ask them to vote Angelo for Mayor. If you haven't done so yet and would like my final campaign flyer, send me an email and I'll forward it to you. It is a double sided single sheet with English on one side and Chamorro on the other.

As of this writing the election is 33 hours away...

Door to door

This morning the Angelo for Mayor team visited 300 houses in Koblerville and in the afternoon visited 200 houses in Dandan. It was my Mom's first time going house-to-house for an election and she says she really enjoyed it.

We'll be going door-to-door again tomorrow and we could really use your help. Even if you only have one hour to spare it would be much appreciated.

There are only two full days left before Election Day. It is getting really intense now.

Welcome Home, Mom!

We had a great all-day beachside BBQ for Mom on Saturday. Early in the morning it looked like we were going to get rained out, but by 10:30 AM it cleared up and we only got some light showers later on in the afternoon.

Representative Justo Quitugua came early to the BBQ to help us set up and took a lead on manning the BBQ pit. Thank you, Justo!

I'm not one of those candidates who can afford to feed the entire island, so our event was pot luck. People really helped out. I provided chicken and rice, the party provided beer and water, and friends and supporters brought everything else.

One of the draws of the BBQ was the halloween contest. I had a 4.5 of Wonka candy for the winner. The prize was shared equally between River, dressed as a fairy, and Kyle, dressed as Angelo O'Connor Villagomez.

We finished up around 5 PM. We were supposed to go to Tottotville to give out candy, but Mom was so tired I just took her home and she went straight to ed.

More photos from the Angelo for Mayor Beachside BBQ are available on Facebook.

Plant a tree

Here's a preview of the ad that will appear in tomorrow's papers. I'm hoping that votes will go with the environmentalist this year.

The Final Push

Our 72 hour Get Out The Vote program begins tomorrow. This afternoon I will make my last media buy. This is it folks; Election Day is in 4 days.

We will be doing a lot of door-to-door in the last days. If you can spare three hours, I could really use your help. This election is going to come down to person to person contact and in a nine way race, there is going to be a fight for every single vote.

My First Fan Video

Dance, Crosby, Dance!

Grab a Mop

After four years of beach cleanups, this video from Barack Obama really spoke to me.

Variety Supplemental

This past Friday the Marianas Variety published an advertising supplemental for all candidates running for all offices. The advertisement that went along with this article is posted in my previous post.

Angelo O’Connor Villagomez: At the forefront of community service

Imagine walking on a street on Saipan anytime of the day or night without looking behind and expecting a dog to spring up and tear a portion of your legs.

Imagine driving along Saipan’s roads without having to turn your head in the other direction because a rotting carcass is lying in the middle of the road. Imagine strolling along tree-lined streets and well-maintained sidewalks free of litter. Imagine pristine beaches where you can relax in contentment.

Imagine resting your eyes on private and government structures free from screaming graffiti splattered on the walls.

Imagine a clean, green and beautiful island.

Imagine having a mayor who is dedicated to making all these and more come true.

Community service in the municipality is nothing new for this young Saipan mayoral candidate. In fact, Angelo O’Connor Villagomez has dedicated the past four years in an untiring effort to make the CNMI a beautiful place to live in.

Villagomez has a dream, a vision and a hope of regaining the Saipan of his boyhood days, the paradise that Saipan once was.

“I would like the people to think that I am a hard working mayor who wants to turn Saipan into the tropical paradise I remember from my childhood,” Villagomez earlier said.

This determination is the driving force which prodded Villagomez to work hard and initiate community programs that not only enrich people’s lives but improve the people’s health, too.

BUSY BEE

The last few years has been busy ones for Villagomez as he worked together with the community in painting bus stops and the Japanese Light House, supporting the development of soccer through the co-ed and youth leagues, promoting recycling and the many community activities of the Rotary Club of Saipan, organizing regular beach clean-ups and tree planting activities.

As a volunteer, Villagomez regularly and tirelessly led groups in combing the beaches and collecting loads of rope, discarded fishing gear, plastic bottle and household garbage washed up from the ocean.

PRIORITES

Villagomez’s priorities center on municipal services, community programs, destination enhancement and an honest and open government.

If elected as Mayor, Villagomez vows to address the immediate issues on hand like implementing the long-delayed animal shelter that would spell the end of stray dog problems. He vows to continue his clean-up programs as this creates a rippling effect to making Saipan as a tourist destination.

“Destination enhancement is about community programs and community events,” he said. As mayor, Villagomez said he can initiate a move to create more community events despite the island’s dwindling resources.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Some of Villagomez’s accomplishments under Beautify CNMI:

2006 Saipan Tribune Person of the Year
2007 USDA Earth Team Award
2007 EPA Environmental Award
2009 Congressional Commendation
2006 Island Wide Cleanup with over 3000 volunteers
2009 Island Wide Cleanup with over 4000 volunteers
3000+ trees planted
500+ beach cleanups

Friends of the Monument:

Declaration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument
2009 EPA Environmental Award
2009 Congressional Commendation

Pet Assistance Welfare Services:

2007 Boonie Dog Show
2008 Boonie Dog Show
2009 Boonie Dog Show

ANGELO FOR MAYOR

For Villagomez, a place as beautiful as Saipan needs passionate leadership.

“We know that our community faces many challenges and without basic services, we all suffer,” he said.

He is urging the community to remember these things, to think of a clean, green and beautiful Saipan when they go to the polls.

“I have learned a lot these last few years on how to get things done here. I am ready to apply these skills now, today as your Mayor. I promise to work hard these next four years. With you helping me I am sure that we will accomplish much,” Villagomez said.

The CNMI benefitied so much from the continuous efforts Villagomez initiated as a volunteer in keeping and maintaining a beautiful enviroment.

Imagine what more he could do as mayor of Saipan.