By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

THE OFFICE of the Public Auditor is not authorized to hire unclassified employees because it is bound by the merit system, according to the Attorney General’s Office, which is seeking the summary dismissal of OPA’s bid to stop the salary rollback for its three supervisors.
“Several different statutes regarding government employees prohibit hiring above Step 10, which is a kind of benchmark regarding initial employment of the government of Guam,” Assistant Attorney General David Highsmith stated in a memorandum filed in Superior Court.
“Except for the public auditor and her deputy, no employee of the Office of the Public Auditor should be unclassified employee in government service,” Highsmith added.
The AGO’s memo was in response to Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks’ petition asking the court to stop the Department of Administration from making downward adjustments to the salaries of three OPA supervisors who are receiving salaries above Step 10.
The salary adjustments are mandated by the 2008 budget act, which the AGO seeks to uphold.
Highsmith said the salary reduction for OPA supervisors mandated by the budget act “does not create a radical new policy; it merely reinforces existing policies and seeks to keep agencies in line if they try to hire individuals at excessive pay.”
Highsmith, a former legal counsel for the Legislature, also argued that the legislative body has no “constitutional restriction” to either raise or reduce the salaries of government employees “at will.”
“The authority of the Legislature in this area is undisputed,” Highsmith said.
Sen. Rory J. Respicio, D-Agana Heights, who has sought an investigation into Brooks’ alleged illegal hiring practices, said, “This issue is about accountability.”
“We are pleased that the AGO’s position is consistent with our minority counsel Benjamin J.F. Cruz’s legal opinion that those salaries are unlawful and the public auditor’s actions are in direct contravention of the law,” Respicio said.
“OPA is charged with the duty and responsibility of ensuring that government agencies operate in compliance with the law. There is an administrative process for OPA staff salaries to be reviewed and determined appropriately under Guam law and not based on the whims of a single official, elected or not,” he added.