CPA Chairman Jose Lifoifoi said they will hire Rufo T. Mafnas as comptroller, Ed Mendiola as Saipan airport manager and Mary Ann Lizama as Saipan seaport manager. Jose Bermudes will be re-hired as staff attorney.
CPA’s Mendiola and Lizama have applied for the positions and were found to be qualified by the board personnel committee.
Mafnas was chosen from a pool of four candidates.
“We made the decision and it’s just a matter of informing them, whether they will accept it or not [the terms and conditions of the contracts],” Lifoifoi said after Friday’s special board meeting.
Bermudes resigned in April this year due to differences with the board, then headed by Rex I. Palacios.
The lawyer complained about the employees’ low morale, the “finger-pointing” and the “humiliation” received in public by some CPA employees.
Lifoifoi is confident that Bermudes will accept the job offer.
“This is a new board…and as chairman, it is my desire to see our employees feeling comfortable working with us,” Lifoifoi said, adding that the promotion of Mendiola and Lizama is a good start for CPA.
“They’ve been there for a long time, working to the best of their abilities.… They deserve it,” he added.
Except for Bermudes, the three new officials will receive compensation in accordance with the salary cap of $50,000.
Bermudes may get $65,000 a year, according to Lifoifoi.
Last week, the board also approved the hiring of Efrain F. Camacho as CPA’s new executive director for $70,000 a year.
