Guerrero announced his resignation during their board meeting and asked the administration to nominate, as soon as possible, a qualified and dedicated person to replace him as chairman.
“It is with mixed feelings that I hereby tender my resignation as chairman, and a member, of the board of trustees of the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund. While I am proud of the board’s accomplishments during my tenure as a member and as chairman, there remains significant work in order to assure the continued viability of the Retirement Fund,” Guerrero said in his two-page resignation letter to Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
Guerrero promised to step-down as board chairman once his candidacy as gubernatorial bet becomes official.
A former House member and senator, Guerrero said his stint at the Retirement Fund comes at a difficult time but they have accomplished much.
These include the privatization of the Group Life and Health Program, the hiring of internal auditors and requiring the first-ever desk audit of the Fund’s operations as well as implementing changes on benefits.
“We also brought changes that were controversial to some, but necessary to protect the Fund, such as no longer allowing benefit payments to individuals whose employer contributions are deficient, enacting a moratorium on member refunds and withdrawals, and ceasing to recognize post-retirement adoptions for purposes of fraudulently obtaining survivor benefits,” Guerrero said.
The board’s single “biggest accomplishment,” however, is winning its damage lawsuit against the CNMI government which would guarantee payments to the pension agency.
“The accomplishment of which I am most proud is one on which you and I have differing views: The $231 million award to the Fund. While I appreciate your concerns about the award, I am sure you can understand the board’s need to protect the interests of the Fund and its members in a manner more concrete than the continuing acceptance of assurances that the government will one day live up to its obligations to the Fund,” Guerrero told Fitial.
The outgoing Fund chairman also noted that he supports the negotiation route to settle the arrears in an amount that the government can pay “without unnecessarily endangering the provision of critical services to our community.”
