First Cabinet meeting focuses on performance review, questioned costs

The Inos administration held its first official Cabinet meeting on Monday on Capital Hill, focusing on a proposed performance review of Cabinet members and audits for the different departments.

Gov. Eloy S. Inos and Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG. Torres presided over the three-hour meeting, a statement from the Office of the Governor said.

The administration is looking at a performance review every two years for the different department heads based on “measurable performance goals.”

Cabinet members will be requested to send their respective current projects and objectives, and after two years, will be subject to review to see if those objectives have been met, the statement said.

The administration will then “assess the performance of Cabinet officials based on progress toward meeting those goals.”

The statement further said the second issue discussed was “questioned costs” and grant audits for the different departments.

A questioned cost is defined as “a cost that is questioned by the office for the following reasons, including alleged violation of a provision of a law, regulation, contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement or document governing the expenditure of funds.”

Inos has acknowledged that questioned costs can jeopardize much-needed grant funding and that Cabinet officials should commit the necessary resources to clearing these audit findings from their departments and agencies.

Cabinet officials each took turns updating the governor on their department, budget submissions, current projects, pressing issues, and successes.

“We have a lot of goals that we wish to accomplish and challenges we must address in this new administration. We need all hands on deck to push the CNMI forward and improve lives for the people of our islands. In today’s meeting I wanted my Cabinet to know that I expect much from them and I fully intend to hold them accountable to achieve success in their roles with this administration,” Inos said in the statement.

For Torres, the meeting was “productive.”

“Our Cabinet is comprised of both young and seasoned public servants. It has always been my goal to offer the public an administration driven by realizing gains for our community and we have a team that shares in that vision,” he said.

Present at the meeting were the heads of the departments of Lands and Natural Resources, Community and Cultural Affairs, Commerce, Labor, Public Works, Corrections, Public Safety, and Finance; Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality, Commonwealth Ports Authority, Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Office of Management and Budget, Marianas Visitors Authority, and the Public Defender’s Office.