A commissioner gets a minimum of $50,000 and up to $70,000 in annual salary.
Appointed were former Sen. Ignacio K. Quichocho, who is also the island’s former mayor, and the mayor’s son, Michael H. San Nicolas.
Tinian resident and former Board of Education Chairman Don A. Farrell described the appointments as “an unnecessary expense to the…municipal fund at this time and should be rejected.”
In a letter to Tinian Municipal Council Chairman Antonio H. Borja yesterday, Farrell said “the existing three members of the TGCC have demonstrated their ability to manage the affairs of the…commission at this time. Only when the term of one of the existing members expires will a replacement become necessary.”
It would be “injudicious” on the part of the municipal council to act on increasing the expenses of the commission at a time of declining revenues, he added.
“Adding two $75,000 employees to a limited payroll means that there will be $150,000 less to share among the low-paid career TGCC employees who are necessary,” Farrell said.
The council, he added, “would look foolish if they were to agree to the mayor’s request for additional…commission members, until such time as the mayor submits a final detailed account of his expenditures since taking office and a legitimate budget for FY 2009, just as you and Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, chairman of the Tinian legislative delegation, requested earlier this year.”
Farrell accused the mayor of ignoring his fiduciary responsibilities.
“Now the mayor has arrogantly tossed the ball back into your court, asking that you approve the nomination of his son and his consultant to the commission,” Farrell told Borja. “The council has but two options. One, it can rubber stamp the appointments, as everyone expects. Or, and this is the option most people are hoping for, the council members will remember their oath of office and their collective responsibility to the CNMI Constitution to act as the necessary check and balance on the power of the mayor. Indeed, the mayor has given the…council the opportunity to stand up boldly for what is right for the people of Tinian, by returning the mayor’s appointments disapproved, demanding the expenditure reports, and beginning public hearings on a realistic Tinian municipal fund budget.”
According to Farrell, “if the mayor continues to refuse to disclose his expenditures of the people’s money, the council will have no choice but to request that the CNMI public auditor examine the Tinian municipal fund immediately. That is the only way Tinian will be able to re-establish proper budgeting procedures.”
Mayor San Nicolas yesterday said he sought the advice and recommendation of his advisers and legal counsel before appointing Quichocho and Michael H. San Nicolas.
“I have talked to my advisers and asked if it’s legal for me to select these two persons to make sure that there will be no conflict of interest…and they say there’s no problem,” the mayor told Variety.
Quichocho and Michael H. San Nicolas are expected to be sworn in on Thursday by the municipal council.
The mayor said his appointees “are trusted and qualified.”
He added, “The appointment of my son is legal — he’s qualified to the position, and I have also trained him.”
The mayor, who is a former TGCC member, said he also consulted with the island’s legislative delegation.
“I explained to the delegation the need to fill these vacancies….and they understand,” he said. “Based on law, I am the appointing authority and it’s the responsibility of the delegation to allocate funding for the commissioners’ salary. This is something that can move our island forward. I hope that everybody understands. I expect some to criticize my decision…but we cannot move if we don’t spend money to make money for our people.”
Tinian, he added, cannot be compared to how the CNMI government operates “as there’s no other available money to cut and reprogram here.”
He said the delegation may cut some expenditures to pay for the commissioners’ salaries.
