Commonwealth Utilities Corporation Executive Director Kevin Watson smiles at reporters who were interviewing him in his office last week.
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation board of directors will decide today, Thursday, whether or not to hire an eligible applicant for the chief financial officer’s position.
“A requirement of the stipulated orders is to fill up CUC key management positions,” CUC Executive Director Kevin Watson said in an interview last week.
He said the chosen applicant for the CFO position has already been vetted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and interviewed by a CUC panel.
“The whole board will vote on the recommendation of the panel to move forward,” he added.
“Not everyone who applied was approved by the EPA vetting process,” he said. “There was one that was interviewed on island, and there was some that were interviewed from off-island.”
“I was on the interview panel, and there was number [of applicants] that we interviewed. All of them are very qualified individuals. It was a very difficult decision to narrow down who we thought will be the best for CUC,” Watson said.
CUC must also hire a chief engineer.
“We made an offer to an individual and he actually visited Saipan with his wife. They both really liked it and he wanted to accept the offer, but some personal things came up and regretfully he had to turn it down. He said the timing was not right for him and his family,” Watson said.
Asked whether salary is one of the main reasons why CUC can’t fill key positions, he said, “I think our salaries are very comfortable.”
Even in the states, including California, filling up utility engineering positions is a challenge, he added.
“We need to increase the pool of qualified engineers for the industry,” Watson said. “We need to educate our youth that the utility engineering field is a worthy field to go to.”
