Commonwealth Ports Authority board members Ramon A. Tebuteb, Thomas Villagomez and Joseph Diaz listen as then-chair Jose C. Ayuyu, back to the camera, speaks during a board meeting in July 2024.
Commonwealth Ports Authority board member Steve Mesngon and then-vice chair Antonio Cabrera look on as then-chair Jose C. Ayuyu, back to the camera, speaks during a board meeting in July 2024
THE Commonwealth Ports Authority board on Friday elected Ramon A. Tebuteb of Saipan as its new chair, Steve Mesngon of Rota as the new vice chair, and Thomas Kiyu P. Villagomez, also of Saipan, as the new secretary.
In an interview after the board meeting on Friday, the former board chair, Jose C. Ayuyu, an appointee of Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, said, “I respect the result of the election. That’s how democracy works.”
Noting that CPA is facing pressing issues, Ayuyu said he hopes that the new board leadership will address them. He also vowed to continue to help CPA and the Commonwealth find solutions to their current problems.
In a separate interview, Tebuteb said, “I’m very grateful for the confidence that the members have bestowed on me, for selecting me to facilitate the CPA board process. My role now as chairman is to facilitate and not to control the process.”
He added, “I’m not the chairman that will tell them what to do, and that’s what has been happening before.”
His expression of gratitude, however, “does not make the problems go away,” he said.
The “change of the guard” does not fix the problem, he added, as he reiterated that his role as board chair is to “facilitate” possible solutions and to ensure that they are united in their decision-making.
It was Mesngon who nominated Tebuteb to be the new board chair, and there were no other nominations.
Mesngon is an appointee of Governor Palacios. Tebuteb and Villagomez, along with Joseph Diaz, are appointees of former Gov. Ralph DLG Torres. Their terms will expire on Oct. 7, 2025 while the terms of Ayuyu, Cabrera and Dolores Kiyoshi of Tinian will expire on Oct. 7, 2027.
Kiyoshi, who was sick, was absent during Friday’s board meeting.
In another separate interview, Cabrera said after Mesngon nominated Tebuteb, he already knew that he and Ayuyu would be outvoted.
“All I can say is, it is what it is,” Cabrera said. He will stay around because he wants to help CPA, which needs a lot of help, he added. He hopes the new board leadership will continue to “rectify” the problems created by the previous board, especially concerning CPA’s finances.
