The outgoing Camacho administration did not deny or confirm the transition committee’s estimate but noted that it will assist in providing an “accurate report of the government’s fiscal position by…Dec. 15….”
“While our administration and the Calvo-Tenorio transition team have had many productive meetings regarding the operational needs of our government, the administration’s fiscal policy team has yet to meet with its transition counterpart,” according to the office of Gov. Felix Camacho.
Jerry Crisostomo, who co-chairs the transition committee for Gov.-elect Eddie Calvo and Lt. Gov.-elect Ray Tenorio, said the $96 million shortfall is perhaps the biggest he has seen.
Crisostomo also served on the transition committees of then-Gov. Joseph Ada, then-Gov. Carl Gutierrez and Camacho,
“It’s a tough way to start off, but I’ve been involved in transitions in the past and I don’t see it as any different from when Gutierrez took over the Ada administration or from when Camacho took over from the Gutierrez administration,” Crisostomo said.
Crisostomo, who is also the health plan administrator for NetCare, declined to give specifics as to how the new administration will tackle the shortfall.
He said Calvo is optimistic about the future, but that optimism could also mean he might have to make “unpopular” choices,
“What we don’t want to do is to raise taxes and shut down agencies — that’s the very last thing we want to do,” he added.
