During the board meeting on Friday, SHEFA chairman Jose C. Mafnas said he is not discounting the work of the Ramon Quichocho Law Offices which billed SHEFA $1,500 for its legal opinion.
However, Mafnas said, the board should not spend public funds on something involving the legitimacy of its members.
There were other options, he added without elaborating.
SHEFA vice chairman Jose C. Leon Guerrero said the legal opinion not only aimed to verify the legitimacy of members Maggie C. Camacho and Josephine T. Sablan.
“It was for everybody,” he said, but he added that the board never asked then-SHEFA consultant William S. Torres to seek a legal opinion.
Camacho said they should spend money on scholarships instead of legal services.
Henry Hofschneider, the new SHEFA administrator, reported seven purchase requisitions that the Division of Procurement and Supply signed between Oct. 14 and Nov. 3, 2010.
He said Ogumoro also signed the purchase requisitions.
“The question concerning the authority of the former chairperson to expend SHEFA funds goes directly to her status as a board member as of Oct. 1, 2010,” he added.
The board also deferred action on the $2,450 bill for the printing of the SHEFA annual report.
The board asked Hofschneider to renegotiate the price and make some changes regarding the content of the report, particularly the “misrepresentation” on the cover.
The photos of Camacho and Sablan were omitted in the report.
