HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Guam Ethics Commission approved its annual summary of opinions on Friday, the first edition of yearly summaries mandated by law.
Ethics Commission Executive Director Jesse Quenga said the summary contains a few pages talking about the duties of the commission, a discussion over the ethics in government program workshops and how many employees completed them, and a summary of cases filed with the commission.
No jurisdiction
Commissioner Shannon Murphy noted that the “other” category for cases filed was the most abundant and wondered if those were cases not covered by the Ethics Commission law.
Quenga said that was correct and explained the law provides eight areas of jurisdiction for the commission.
“If we find a case that’s filed that doesn’t particularly match any of those eight matters, we categorize them under ‘other.'” Quenga said.
He said it means the commission didn’t have jurisdiction over those cases.
Murphy said lawmakers asked the commission, when it was starting out, whether changes needed to be made to add other categories in the law. Quenga said commission staff was working with legal counsel to develop a substantial list.
“There may be cases that just veer slightly off of the path set by the current statute. Once we have that prepared, we’ll share that update with the commissioners. And then, with your approval, we’ll be able to pass that on to the legislative body,” Quenga added.
The Ethics Commission adopted the summary of opinions unanimously.
During Friday’s meeting, commissioners also approved an advisory opinion but spent most of the meeting in closed proceedings, which the commission uses to discuss cases.
The commission decided on several cases when it returned to public session, although the majority of cases were determined to be no in its jurisdiction. A few others were tabled.
The Guam Ethics Commission meets April 28, 2023, in Hagåtña. The commission approved its annual summary of opinions on Friday, July 14, 2023.
