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CEC’s Villagomez acting as executive director for more than a year now
Commissioners to seek legal opinion whether they can select the executive director
Villagomez
Without a legal counsel’s opinion, the Commonwealth Election Commission didn’t act during its board meeting last week on whether to appoint acting CEC executive director Julita A. Villagomez to the post permanently.
The CEC board of commissioners decided to seek a legal opinion first as to whether the board has authority to appoint an executive director.
Villagomez has been serving as acting CEC executive director since 2014. She has been employed with CEC for 28 years now. Villagomez first worked at CEC as an administrative assistant in 1988, then she became an administrative officer.
At CEC’s board meeting, CEC board chair Frances M. Sablan said when the executive director’s position was vacated after Robert Guerrero was then-appointed as Department of Corrections commissioner in early 2015, she went ahead on behalf of CEC by appointing Villagomez as the acting executive director.
“There was a question of whether or not we need to go through the process of announcing the position and all of that,” she said.
Sablan said she consulted with the governor at that time and they chose to make Villagomez continue serving on an acting capacity.
The chairwoman said the question needs to be brought up to their legal counsel whoever he or she is, to find out what is the proper process.
“Do we need to go through the announcement, the standard operating procedures of any vacancies?” Sablan said.
She pointed out that the other concern is whether the commissioners as a board has the authority to go ahead and bypass that SOP.
“That’s my question. That’s my concern,” she noted.
Sablan said Villagomez has been in the acting executive director’s position for more than a year now and they need to solidify whether or not she is interested in the position and whether they have authority to appoint her.
CEC commissioner Jesus I. Sablan of Saipan recommended that they seek legal counsel to make sure they are in compliance with the law.
Chair Frances Sablan and the three other commissioners agreed that there is a need to get a legal opinion before acting on the matter.
