HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Consolidated Commission on Utilities accepted a counteroffer of $138,000 annual salary for a candidate applying to become legal counsel for the Guam Power Authority. CCU Chair Joseph “Joey” Duenas was authorized to speak with the candidate about the commission’s decision and to announce the candidate’s name upon acceptance of the job.
GPA’s former legal counsel, Darlow Graham Botha, was terminated on March 30. Botha had been approached by the Office of the Attorney General earlier that month with a $160,000 salary offer.
While Botha stated before his termination that he didn’t accept the offer, his name appeared on the OAG employee directory while he was still employed as GPA’s legal counsel. He stated he didn’t know why his name appeared on the listing.
Following his termination, Botha started working at the AG’s office. He is now the deputy attorney general for the OAG’s Civil Division. According to the OAG staffing pattern for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, Botha has a regular salary of $133,700, but inclusive of benefits and a “special” pay category, Botha is making nearly $198,000 at the OAG.
The CCU had been holding various closed meetings as it conducted interviews for GPA’s staff attorney position. The salary matter for the chosen candidate was discussed publicly at a regular meeting held Sept. 27.
“We have a candidate, and we offered the candidate the nominal amount that was on the advertisement, and our candidate has come back with a counteroffer,” Duenas said at the meeting. “The candidate’s made a counteroffer for $138,000.”
According to discussions at the meeting, the counteroffer is a little lower than the candidate’s current salary. Also, according to meeting discussions, the CCU had offered $124,000 in salary. It’s unclear if the offer and counteroffer are for base salary only. The $138,000 counteroffer falls between the 35th and 40th market percentiles of 2017 market data. But based on 2022 data, which hasn’t been adopted by the CCU, the $138,000 salary would fall between the 20th and 25th market percentiles, discussions last week indicated.
Darlow Graham Botha
Consolidated Commission on Utilities Chair Joseph “Joey” T. Duenas asks questions during a Guam Power Authority work session Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, at the Gloria B. Nelson Public Service Building in Mangilao.
