Brief Chat
Sen . Dwayne San Nicolas
Photo by Dana Williams
Red suit , politics and fireworks
By Dana Williams
Sen . Dwayne San Nicolas has had a variety of jobs over the last 30 years : Customs officer , soldier , school counselor , business owner , lawmaker .
And then he has had a calling : Santa Claus . “ That ’ s my favorite job in the whole wide world ,” he said . “ And so , I get busy around this time of the year . My schedule starts to pile up and I have to be in so many places .”
In December , he balances legislative duties with requests for Santa appearances . “ I have to be at three schools in a day , sometimes back-to-back days ,” he said . “ And then we also have people from the public who call me up and say , ‘ Can you appear here ? At our party ?’ So I ’ ll be there . And I never , I never charge for Santa .”
San Nicolas first became St . Nick in 2017 , when his wife was working at the Navy Exchange . “ They said , ‘ Your husband ’ s such a nice man , can he be our Santa ?’ And that was the first time I ever did Santa .”
But he was ready . “ I had a Santa suit made because I knew already one day , somebody might ask me to be Santa , so I might as well be prepared , right ?”
At the time , San Nicolas was working as a Customs officer , but the holiday experience changed him . While previously deployed with the Guam National Guard , he found other soldiers would talk to him about their problems . After deployment , he started studying counseling . “ But it wasn ’ t until I did the Santa Claus that I said , ‘ You know what ? I think it ’ s time to change ,’” he said . “ I love working with people . I love helping others and helping people . And so , I made that transition that
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Christmas . I submitted my resignation .”
San Nicolas said he wanted to make the switch after meeting one of his first customers , a little girl with Down syndrome . “ She ran to me and gave me a big hug . And she goes , ‘ Santa , you ’ re my favorite Santa in the whole wide world .’ I started to cry . And I said , ‘ OK , I know this is for me .’”
The first year as Santa , he wore a wig . Then he began dying his hair . His children urged him to keep the look year-round .
San Nicolas and his wife started their discount retail business during the pandemic . “ I was trying to disguise Santa Claus . I wanted to be Santa Claus all year to make people happy . And so I came up with my company name , J . Goodman , ( which stands for ) ‘ Jolly Good Man .’ It ’ s like a Clark Kent name , you know ?”
His flowing blond hair , heavy beard , wire-framed glasses and trademark red attire don ’ t provide much of a disguise . He looks like Santa Claus .
With the success of the business , San Nicolas ran for office . The often-contentious world of politics may seem like a strange place to find a man who wants to make people happy , but San Nicolas wanted to legalize consumer fireworks , which were prohibited when he was a kid . He learned the easiest way to make that happen would be to get elected .
His fireworks bill passed and was signed into law by the governor in November . “ That was my dream ,” he said .
Legalizing fireworks will “ make Guam fun again ,” he said when he introduced the bill that set off fireworks in the legislature . Sen . Telo Taitague
The often-contentious world of politics may seem like a strange place to find a man who wants to make people happy , but San Nicolas wanted to legalize consumer fireworks , which were prohibited when he was a child .
frowned on fireworks legalization . “ Our job isn ’ t to prioritize fun – our job is to protect children from dangerous legislation ,” said Taitague , who has introduced a bill that would repeal the newly signed law .
But San Nicolas defended his proposal . “ Most of the bills that I have are trying to find a way to raise money for the government , without actually taxing people ,” he said .
San Nicolas also explored the idea of a lottery and introduced a bill in July to create the Guam Lottery Commission . A U . S . territory with a smaller population , the U . S . Virgin Islands participates in a lottery . “ How cool is that ? So I wanted to see if we can do that .”
During the 2022 legislative campaign , his signs carried a phrase in Hebrew - tikkun olam – which means “ repair the world .” San Nicolas said he was raised by his father , a former Hagat commissioner , with a strong sense of morality and service . “ That ’ s all I ever wanted to do – make people happy and repair the world ,” he said .
In January , San Nicolas introduced a bill that would allow caning as a judicial punishment , citing an increase in drug crimes , burglaries , rape and family violence . That bill drew criticism from opponents who said corporal punishment is cruel and unusual . “ The caning bill was because , you know , there ’ s a lot of evil out there , and how do you fight evil ?” he asked . “ In Singapore , they were able to use it effectively . But that ’ s because they have a different form of government . It ’ s very difficult in a democracy to want to instill , or re-instill , order and discipline . It ’ s very hard , very difficult in a democracy ,” he said .
After serving in the legislature for 11 months , he ’ s learned a lot about the political system . “ Here I am going in , I ’ m very naïve ,” he said . “ You go down there , and you see everybody bickering , and gamesmanship and wanting to one up on you , and you ’ re just a nice guy , and everybody ’ s beating up on you . And , you know , just saying things that are not true . That ’ s the stuff that was a little bit hard to take ,” he said . “ Politics is just horrible .”
Still , San Nicolas said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve in office , and he is happy to be Santa . “ You have this ability to touch people ’ s hearts , and be warm , and be a symbol of hope . Just by being you . It is the greatest joy ever . It ’ s a great gift .”