Before you hit the send button...

December 8, 2008

In this age of text messaging and e-mail it is easy to just dash off a quick message.  Have you ever hit "send" before you finished a message or sent an email to the wrong person? Maybe you've hit "reply to all" instead of sending an email to just the intended recipient? I bet Deanne Siemer, "volunteer" at the CNMI Department of Labor wishes she checked her email to Cinta Kaipat last week. Whoops, she sent it to Representative Tina Sablan (Saipan-I) by mistake.

Rep. Sablan had emailed Cinta Kaipat with questions on the  Interim Progress Report #6 on the Implementation of PL 15-108 that DOL had just released to the CNMI Legislature. 

Rep. Sablan received this response from DOL:

On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 1:44 AM, Deanne Siemer wrote:

Cinta --

Here's the response to Tina's e-mail. I would keep this response separate from the response to her earlier e-mails and send them both on Monday morning (your time).

In my view, Tina has decided that you are a rising political star, and she's upset that someone she tried to brand as a racist is succeeding in persuading her colleagues at the Legislature. So we'll be on her radar screen for awhile. It is useful not to answer too promptly, but promptly enough. Letting her wait for a week or 10 days sends a message that we are respectful of all legislators, but we help productive people first and she is not in that line.

Deanne

Deanne Siemer
Managing Director Wilsie Co. LLC
4242 Mathewson Dr. NW Washington, D.C. 20011
Office: 202 ------- Fax: 202 -------- Cell: 202 ---------

The email from Siemer contained an attachment.  It is the response that Siemer penned for Deputy Secretary Kaipat with the instructions to send to Rep. Sablan "in a week or ten days." (Read it here.) 

The Siemer email confirms a few things that I had long suspected. That Siemer writes the correspondence for DOL. (Well, at least for the Deputy Secretary.  Certainly not for Director Hirshbein or Secretary San Nicolas because they just don't respond.) That Siemer is a political game player. That Siemer should not be "volunteering" at the DOL. That there is a lack of professionalism in the DOL. That DOL is used to advance political agendas. 

Also amazing is how far off base Siemer was in her analysis of Tina. She totally missed the fact that Tina Sablan is a brilliant, sincere, and dedicated legislator. She is productive and professional. She is an inspiration and a role model for every young person in the CNMI. She has ethics, dignity, and class. She deserves to be treated with respect, and she deserves an answer to her relevant questions.

Tina's response reflected poise and grace:

Dear Ms. Siemer,

I may have received your email to Deputy Secretary Kaipat (below) by accident, but in any case I'd like to weigh in and express my deep disappointment at the political games that you are apparently playing. They reflect rather poorly on yourself, on the Deputy Secretary, and on the Department as a whole.

The concerns that I have raised these past few months with the Department of Labor are sincere. I am worried about the fair and consistent implementation of labor laws, about honoring the rights of both workers and employers, and about potential abuses of public funds. I feel that it is my responsibility to express these concerns, and I do not think that it is unreasonable for me to expect a timely response from the Department. Moreover, I am not sure how "useful" it is to "not answer too promptly, but promptly enough," and I am less sure that it is constructive to actually let me know that you intend to let me "wait a week or 10 days" merely to "send me a message" that you help "productive people first," and that I am "not in that line."

My concerns about the Department's conduct and policies have nothing to do with the Deputy Secretary's political ambitions, and even less to do with political ambitions on my part. I would hope that the Department would take my concerns seriously, whether you agree with me politically or not, whether you like me personally or not. It is clear from this email that the Department does not take them seriously -- or at least, that you do not, Ms. Siemer.

The level of gamesmanship that you are playing at the Department of Labor is disturbing, to say the least, and only raises more questions for me about the legitimacy of your role there.

In any case, thank you for copying me on the response that you drafted (attached) to my questions regarding TWAs and policy changes that might affect the CNMI's agreements with the National Labor Relations Board and/or other federal agencies. I am glad to hear that the CNMI Department of Labor is in fact consulting with these federal agencies prior to adopting any new policies that might be of concern to them, and will certainly share this information with Mr. Cestare the next time I communicate with him. I will also inquire about the problem that you have brought to my attention, regarding excessively lengthy wait periods before NLRB cases are settled. I was not aware of this problem before.

I would appreciate a timely response to any or all of my previous emails as well. I have copied and pasted those emails herein.

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Tina Sablan

Ms. Siemer owes Representative Sablan an apology. Let's see if she has the class to apologize. Regardless, an investigation of the CNMI Department of Labor is long overdue. 

It is interesting that Siemer calls herself a "volunteer."  I suppose salary is usually considered a regular paycheck. However, it can also be compensation received in the form of regular per diem, monthly travel expenses to Washington, DC, housing, and other perks.  I don't consider Siemer a "volunteer" at the Department of Labor.  She is the puppet master, and not a very good one, because the puppet master is meant to stay out of sight behind the curtain. The curtain has certainly been pulled back to expose Siemer.