08/09/2026
PAPERWORK FIRST. THEN PEOPLE.
When asked if they were still executing Ralph Torres’s 2020 Fiscal Response Summit, the answers said it all.
Former finance secretary Tracy Norita said, "For the most part..."
"An unfair question"...bristled Blas Attao who sat nearby.
But, he then confirmed it anyway: $3.4 million in vacant positions cut, $29 million reshuffled just to keep the pension fund covered.
Overtime cut. Travel cut. Vacancies frozen. Straight off Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres' page.
Ralph's diagnosis. Their ex*****on.
Five years late, by their own admission.
Even the CNMI’s delegate to Congress called that 2020 report a "guiding document for reform" and told leadership to turn back to page one.
But here is what they get wrong: they put paperwork before people.
On paper, freezing hiring and cutting hours balances a ledger. Not lives.
On the street, it means delayed services, struggling families, and Retirees left anxious and worried if their checks will clear until last-minute.
"Sudden money" is conjured up to fix self-made crisis.
They took the triage half of Ralph's plan—the cuts, the freezes, the suffering—because anyone can slash a budget. But they buried the second half: actual revenue generation, economic diversification, and structural growth. They skipped the hard work.
Cutting people off is easy. Lifting them up takes real work—and that is the responsibility we choose to carry when we run for office.
Real leadership isn't about hiding in an office waiting for spreadsheets to line up while families suffer. It’s about meeting people’s needs on the ground, in the moment, when it matters most. Paperwork can wait. Our people cannot.
Slogans about "change" sound nice. But, it's Experience that knows how to deliver.
Ralph presented the blueprint back in 2020. Nothing happened for the past 5 years. What’s been missing is the experience to execute the plan.
TORRES JONES 2026
The Journey Continues.
