A letter from the Tinian Student Association of the University of Guam raised “serious concern regarding the recent hiring.”
The letter was addressed to Senate President Paul A. Manglona and copies were furnished to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-Region 9, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Tinian Legislative Delegation, the Tinian Municipal Council, the mayor of Tinian and the Marianas Variety.
The students said the issue is about the minimum educational qualification as published by CUC human resources.
The minimum requirement, they said, is a four-year degree.
“It is an unfortunate event that CUC’s upper management breached their own criteria to put in place a person who has less than the required minimum qualification,” the letter stated.
Variety learned that Evelyn B. Manglona started reporting for work as Tinian deputy executive director on May 10.
The students said the hiring of unqualified applicants is “another classic example that other subjective or hidden criteria, such as political affiliation, reign supreme in government hiring practices.”
“This must stop,” they added.
The students requested Manglona to convene the Senate Committee on Public Utilities and Telecommunications to conduct an inquiry on the way CUC human resources and upper management “disregarded their official published criteria for the position of deputy executive director.”
They said they trust that the senators will exercise their “sworn public duty to inquire and insist that CUC institute an immediate corrective action on this type of demoralizing practices.”
They added, “This type of practices in our government must be completely eliminated as this recent example further confirms the contradictions perpetuated by officials influenced by individuals on Saipan who may have a direct or indirect personal/family/corporate interest in the overall management and operation of CUC Tinian.”
CUC Executive Director Abe Utu Malae dismissed the allegations of the students.
“Look carefully at that letter: it is not signed by anyone. Who is the Tinian Student Association? The cowardly person must sign his or her name on that letter. Is one of the applicants who failed the interview using this association as a front to promote his own purposes?” he said in an email to the Variety.
He said the new CUC Tinian deputy executive director met the minimum requirements as advertised.
“What specifically does this coward want to question? The fact that she is a woman and a man should get the job instead? Sorry, these are not political positions; these are positions that must be filled according to merit,” he said.
He added that “there is more to the position than education and Evelyn meets the prerequisite.”
“We are looking for someone who can get the job done and not sit back and enjoy this “prestigious” position,” he added.
