Through her legal counsel, Robert T. Torres, Reyes said in an email yesterday that Tenorio’s request that she vacate her office “is misplaced and is in error.”
Reyes was in her office yesterday doing her work as usual.
She declined to make further comments, saying her legal counsel should be the one answering questions.
In her statement through Torres, Reyes said that the last time she checked, “we remain a commonwealth governed by the rule of law, not of men.”
Torres said the CNMI Constitution and the LB director’s contract rights must prevail.
“So until the resolution of this matter comports with constitutional and contractual requirements, Tenorio’s request fails,” Torres said.
In his letter on Monday, Tenorio told Reyes that her contract was not renewed on Oct. 1, thus, she was no longer the LB director.
Tenorio asked her to vacate the director’s office yesterday and turn over the keys to the House sergeant-at-arms.
The speaker also asked Reyes to refrain from performing any additional work as director and to turn over official records to the sergeant-at-arms together with the passwords relating to the LB’s electronic records.
A few months ago, Tenorio said Reyes’s contract should not be renewed. During the early stage of the budget bill deliberations, the House leadership appropriated $1 for her salary.
But before the Senate rejected his Saipan casino bill early last month, Tenorio said he no longer minded if Reyes would remain as LB director.
Reyes’ contract stated that it was automatically renewed on Oct. 1 even without any further action taken by the Legislature, provided funds are obligated for the position by the passage of a budget for the new fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, 2010 or through a continuing resolution.
The budget, however, became law only on Oct. 8.
Citing Attorney General Edward Buckingham’s opinion, Tenorio said the continuing resolution provisions that made Reyes’ contract automatically renewable “were repealed by last year’s amendment and no longer can be a source of obligational authority.”
“Therefore,” Tenorio told Reyes, “regardless of differing opinion regarding the validity of any contract extension beyond Jan. 11, 2010, your contract did not automatically renew on Oct. 1 because, on the date, no funds were, or could be obligated for the position.”
