It is hypocritical for the Legislature to search for accountability when the bar is set so low within their own house.
(Vice Speaker) Therese Terlaje proposes to limit the terms of appointed board members and all agency heads to two years but fails to require senators to push through the appointment process. Where's the accountability in that?
If this bill were law today, some of the appointments made by the Calvo-Tenorio administration may not ever have seen the light of day. Furthermore, those boards, commissions and even agencies would not have been able to move forward with their missions.
Just last year, the executive branch was beaten over the head with a stick when senators heard the Guam Memorial Hospital's board hadn't met for several months. An apology was later sent once Sen. Dennis Rodriguez Jr., chairman of the Committee on Health, Tourism, Military Affairs, and Senior Citizens, discovered the reason: the board couldn't make quorum. The administration sent two nomination packets for the GMH Board of Trustees, which had sat at the Legislature for months.
Kate Baltazar's appointment as station manager of Guam Educational Telecommunications Corporation was transmitted to then-Speaker BJ Cruz on May 21. Sen. Régine Biscoe Lee acknowledged receipt of the appointment for Baltazar in a list of messages and communications to the other senators on May 31. However, she delayed referral of the appointment to Terlaje, chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Justice, until Aug. 6. That's three months later.
One might even think this was a Democrat party strategy to dash Baltazar's opportunity to run as a Republican senatorial candidate.
Eric Palacios's appointment was held hostage by Sen. Telena Nelson, who cited opposition from within the agency, which is the opposite of what actually took place during the public hearing. Ultimately, Palacios had to step down as one of the more progressive leaders the agency has had in some time.
One appointment has been held in excess of 500 days. Patrick L. Heinz was appointed to the government of Guam Retirement Fund Board of Trustees on April 27, 2017. His appointment was referred by Sen. Mike San Nicolas, then Committee on Rules chairman, back to himself as the Committee on General Government Operations and Federal, Foreign, and Regional Affairs. To date, no public hearing has been scheduled, nor has Heinz's appointment been voted on session floor.
The unspoken shame in all of this is that the few who are willing to publicly serve on commissions and boards tend to be intimidated by the ploys of those who claim to "speak on behalf of the people of Guam."
Oyaol Ngirairikl is the director of communications for the Office of the Governor.