Other lawmakers also hire contractors

Additional members of the 17th Legislature have or are hiring independent contractors including “consultants” instead of, or in addition to, full-time government employees.

Former representative, former speaker, and former lieutenant governor Diego Benavente signed a $2,300 consultant contract with the Senate leadership mainly on the fiscal year 2011 budget.

In a phone interview, Benavente said the contract with the Senate leadership was only for September.

Benavente is not the only former speaker that had or is having a contract with the current members of the Legislature.

House Speaker Eli Cabrera (R-Saipan) has a monthly consultant contract of $2,500 with former House speaker and gubernatorial bet Heinz Hofschneider starting in September. Cabrera said Hofschneider is one of the most competent researchers or consultants one could have.

Vice speaker Felicidad Ogumoro (Cov-Saipan) also has a former speaker as consultant/adviser, Pedro Deleon Guerrero.

Rep. Froilan Tenorio (Cov-Saipan) also has a Maryland-based lawyer as consultant, David Cahn, for $300 to $350 an hour. He served as Tenorio’s counsel when Tenorio was governor.

Sen. Ralph Torres (R-Saipan) said he hired as consultant former representative William S. Torres before the latter became a member of the Northern Marianas College Board of Regents.

Torres said the consultant contract was for $3,500, an amount that the senator said he has yet to pay fully.

The senator said the contract with William Torres was to work on a federal block grant application to help “revitalize” the San Vicente basketball court, build a couple of pavilions, barbeque grill, track, playground, and a facility similar to that of the Garapan Central Park. That application is still pending.

Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) said he has one independent contractor—his only office employee.

Senate Floor Leader Pete Reyes (R-Saipan), for his part, said he has two full-time government employees since 1992.

Lawmakers in general said they prefer to hire office and community workers as independent contractors rather than as full-time government employees mainly to save costs, including not spending for the latter’s medical, retirement contribution, and other benefits.

In the House, Rep. Fred Deleon Guerrero (Ind-Saipan) said he hired attorney Mike Evangelista for about two months last year at a rate of $500 a month.

“He drafted some bills for me,” said Deleon Guerrero.

The lawmaker said right now he has two independent contractors; one takes care mostly of the office while the other one is focused mainly on procurement matters.

Rep. Frank dela Cruz (R-Saipan) said he has one independent contractor—his office manager.

“With independent contractor, you don’t need to pay for retirement benefits and other benefits. It’s cheaper,” he said.

Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan) said he has three independent contractors, including Dr. Jack Angello.

“I can’t afford to hire full-time government employees,” he said.

Last week, other House members were interviewed about their independent contractors while others have yet to respond to inquiries about the same matter.

Others like Rep. Edmund Villagomez (Cov-Saipan) said they avail of the Legislative Bureau’s services in doing research and on legal advice, so they only need to hire one full-time government employee.