Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Antonio B. Cabrera, second left, speaks during a board meeting on Friday in the Ports of Saipan conference room.
FOLLOWING a heated argument between board member Antonio B. Cabrera and Chairwoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds, the Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors on Friday voted to offer Marianas Visitors Authority Managing Director Christopher Concepcion the position of CPA executive director.
Except for Cabrera, who had to recuse himself from voting because he had applied for the position, the five board members voted yes to hiring Concepcion.
If he accepts the job offer, Concepcion will succeed CPA Executive Director Christopher Tenorio, whose resignation takes effect on Oct. 20. He is already on leave.
The other board members present during the meeting on Friday were Vice Chairman Ramon Tebuteb, Pete P. Reyes, Thomas Villagomez and Joseph Diaz, who as chairman of the board’s personnel committee made the motion to offer Concepcion the executive director’s job.
According to Diaz, nine applicants were “screened” by CPA’s human resource division, and four of them did not meet the educational requirement stated in the job vacancy announcement.
The five remaining applicants were interviewed by a panel whose members were comprised of representatives of MVA, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce, the Hotel Association of the NMI and the Ports Operators and Users Committee.
According to King-Hinds, the board wanted to “insulate” the process from politics so the people who served on the ad hoc committee were industry stakeholders involved in the tourism industry who conduct business with the airports, and whose businesses are directly affected by what happens at the airports.
‘Recipe for disaster’
Prior to the vote, Cabrera asked to be given the chance to make a comment.
He was reminded by King-Hinds that he could not participate in the discussion because he was conflicted.
But Cabrera said the personnel committee had already mentioned the nominees, so he was no longer in conflict.
King-Hinds said the board had yet to vote, but Cabrera went ahead to deliver his remarks.
He said due to the declining economy, “we are hanging at the edge of the cliff.”
He said the condition of the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport building is not acceptable.
He said he has been informed by a lot of community members about this and other problems at the Saipan airport, including the road that leads to the terminal.
“I’m sure that you are aware of the reason why CPA is an autonomous agency. CPA is…autonomous…to insulate the agency from undue influence, conflicts of interests, and corruption by or through other government agency officials and by private sector entities and officials,” Cabrera said.
He said allowing “outsiders” to select or recommend candidates for executive director was “undesirable and unnecessary,” and a “recipe for disaster, or worse.”
An appointee of the governor, Cabrera also echoed the Palacios-Apatang administration’s request to the CPA board to refrain from hiring a new executive director until the governor’s three other nominees are confirmed by the Senate.
Pointing to the other board members, King-Hinds asked Cabrera, “So what are they, chopped liver? They don’t matter? The fact that they are [still] sitting as board members doesn’t matter?”
Cabrera said, “I have stated what I wanted to say. I am not going to add more.”
King-Hinds said, “Your objections are duly noted.”
But Cabrera also insisted that he was not in conflict as he had consulted attorneys and even the Office of the Public Auditor prior to submitting his application for the executive director’s position.
He said prior to the start of the hiring process, he was not informed that he was in conflict.
But King-Hinds said the personnel committee chairman, Diaz, attempted to inform him, to which Cabrera responded, “not in writing.”
King-Hinds reminded Cabrera that she “personally reached out to you, I emailed you and I told you you had a conflict. And you came back to me and stated that you have consulted with an attorney.”
She said the administration also tried to arrange a conversation between Cabrera and the CPA board legal counsel, Robert Torres, to go over the laws governing CPA.
“And the fact that you’re still part of this conversation, given the fact that we are supposed to vote on executive director, makes you in conflict,” King-Hinds said.
“Right now, I am no longer in conflict since you already have a nominee,” Cabrera said.
“You were part of the deliberation process,” King-Hinds replied.
“No. It is the process that I am talking about,” Cabrera said.
King-Hinds said: “The fact that you are talking about anything that relates to the executive director is a conflict and it boggles my mind that you can’t see that.”
“I would like to see a new executive director that is very qualified. And we had that in the past. Don’t just pick somebody from the street,” Cabrera said. “The executive director has to be mindful of what is going on at the seaports and airports of Saipan, Tinian and Rota. But picking just anyone out there is a disaster. That’s all I want to express here. This agency is one of the best here in the CNMI.”
King-Hinds said, “Thank you. We worked really hard to getting it to where it is now. To clean up the mess that has been going on for many years.”
Cabrera said, “No more [words] from me.”
As Cabrera walked out of the conference room, Reyes said, “Can we go back to the motion?”
The motion was to offer Concepcion the position of executive director.
With five yes and with one recusal due to “glaring conflict,” King-Hind said, “Can we reach out to Concepcion immediately that the board would like to request an audience with him today if that’s okay.”
Asked for comment about the CPA board’s decision, Concepcion said he will issue a statement later.
For their part, Gov. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David Apatang, told Variety that they will talk to Concepcion who returned to MVA as managing director on May 1, 2023.
