New Commonwealth Ports Authority board members Dolores P. Kiyoshi, fifth left, and Steve Mesngon, fourth left, pose for a photo with senators and CPA board member Antonio Cabrera, 3rd left, in the Senate chamber on Tuesday. Not in photo is Jose Ayuyu, whose nomination to the CPA board was also confirmed by the Senate.
THE Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed the appointments of Saipan businessman Jose C. Ayuyu, retired U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Dolores P. Kiyoshi of Tinian and Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services Deputy Commissioner Steve Mesngon of Rota to the Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors.
Kiyoshi and Mesngon, with their families and supporters, were present during the Senate session.
Senate President Edith Deleon Guerrero, Senate Vice President Donald M. Manglona, Sens. Paul A. Manglona, Dennis Mendiola, Jude U. Hofschneider and Frank Q. Cruz voted to adopt the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations’ report recommending the confirmation of Ayuyu, Kiyoshi and Mesngon.
Senate Floor Leader Corina Magofna, Sens. Celina R. Babauta and Karl King-Nabors were excused.
Following the Senate session, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang swore in Kiyoshi and Mesngon in the governor’s conference room at 1 p.m.
Senate Vice President Manglona, who served as the acting Senate floor leader, presented the EAGI’s report on the nominees.
He said the committee, which is chaired by Sen. Babauta, has reviewed the credentials, experience and education of Ayuyu, a graduate of University of Hawaii. During a public hearing, Ayuyu validated his business expertise and views on public policies as both an employee and employer of a successful restaurant on Saipan and Guam, and a property management corporation.
Manglona said Ayuyu’s business acumen and morality demonstrated the need to foster efficiency in the workplace to eliminate duplication and wasteful use of resources.
The EAGI committee believes that Ayuyu will help move CPA forward. The CPA board, Manglona said, needs new or fresh ideas to solve long-standing problems that have led to an “exorbitantly unaffordable cost of living in the Commonwealth.”
As for Kiyoshi, Manglona said her “credentials, vast leadership experience and education as well as professional conduct were scrutinized” by the committee.
A graduate of Central Texas College, Kiyoshi has “exceptional leadership and organizational skills set, and is not one to quit when the going gets tough,” Manglona said.
Kiyoshi is “trained and disciplined to find solutions and nothing less. She is a patriot having served her great nation and the Commonwealth for 30 years in the medical corps. Achieving the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. Army is no easy feat and speaks volumes as to her character and mental fitness for any position she is nominated to,” Manglona said.
The EAGI committee “has no doubt that Kiyoshi will serve the CPA board with same respect, duty, loyalty, self-service, integrity and personal courage as she did in the Army.”
Manglona said Mesngon’s credentials were also examined by the EAGI committee.
Manglona noted Mesngon’s experience and the many years he served as a lawmaker.
“These experiences afford Mesngon the necessary familiarity to recommend legislative modifications to policies affecting all ports in the CNMI,” Manglona said.
