HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Angel Sablan, the former Mayors’ Council of Guam executive director, has been tapped to lead the Department of Parks and Recreation.
His appointment will take effect Dec. 18, according to Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor’s spokesperson. Warren Pelletier, the current acting director, will serve as the deputy director of the agency, while Jack Hattig III, the current deputy director, will no longer serve in that capacity, she added. Hattig’s next assignment is to be determined, Paco-San Agustin said.
Sablan announced last month that, after 15 years of service at the MCOG, he would be stepping down from the executive director position and retire come Dec. 1. His appointment to DPR, however, will make for a very brief retirement.
Sablan told the Guam Daily Post Monday that he was “really looking forward” to retirement, but “the public service blood” within him told him that he could “still do more good.” In this case, it would be at DPR.
“I will work with the front office, the mayors and vice mayors, (Guam Visitors Bureau), our private organizations involved in sports and recreation, and our organizations that have adopted parks and work together in unison in improving our parks, upgrading our recreational facilities and providing an overall environment that promotes our good health for the manhoben to the manåmko’ and beauty to our island for our tourists to appreciate,” Sablan said.
“It will be a new DPR,” he added.
Angel Sablan, Mayors’ Council of Guam executive director, becomes emotional during his retirement speech at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.