Afio Mai, Welcome
Sandra writes directly about the public policy issues shaping American Samoa — healthcare, the environment, culture, and the future of self-governance.
July 25, 2026
Sandra accepts the American Samoa Democratic Party's endorsement for Delegate to Congress, sharing the journey that shaped her and naming her top priorities: Medicaid, Medicare, and protecting our environment from deep-sea mining.
Read More →June 12, 2026
The final part of the series: what the Governor, the Fono, and our Delegate must do now — and why American Samoa's answer to deep-sea mining should be not now, and if the proof never comes, not ever.
Read More →June 11, 2026
Who actually benefits from mining American Samoa's EEZ? Sandra examines the promised jobs, the pressure on the harbor, where the revenue would go, and who bears the risk once a one-time resource is gone.
Read More →June 10, 2026
Scientists still cannot predict the full consequences of mining the ocean floor. Sandra lays out what we know, what we don't, and why the burden of proof belongs on those who want to mine.
Read More →June 10, 2026
Ua faatulagaina felafolafoa’iga i le eli’ina o le alititai o se filifiliga i le va o le avanoa tau tamaoaiga ma le puipuiga o le si’osi’omaga.
Read More →June 9, 2026
The first of a four-part series. From the 1980 Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act to Executive Order 14285, Sandra traces the decades of federal policy that brought deep-sea mining to American Samoa's EEZ.
Read More →June 9, 2026
O le Eli’ina o minerale mai le alititai e le o se gaoioiga na fa’afuasei ona manu a’e i le tausaga 2025, ma tu’uina atu ai i tatou i talafatai o lisi a le feterale lea na faamatu’uina mai i totonu o Nofoaga Faapitoa mo le Tamaoaiga (EEZ) i Amerika Samoa.
Read More →March 3, 2026
With faith, humility, and a deep sense of duty to American Samoa, Sandra announces her candidacy for Delegate to the United States Congress in the November 3, 2026 election — grounded in three principles: Duty, Service, and Experience.
Read More →August 26, 2025
Sandra's formal submission to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opposing Impossible Metals' request for a commercial mining lease near Rose, Manu'a, and Swains Islands — and any deep-sea mining in American Samoa's waters.
Read More →May 21, 2023
After years of thinking it over, Sandra launches this blog in honor of her late mother, a newspaper publisher and writer — and her late father, who taught her that society needs the government, the people, and the media.
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