DeLeon Guerrero questions Castro appointment as chief of staff

Sen. Edith E. DeLeon Guerrero (D-Saipan) has questioned the appointment of former Guam senator William M. Castro as Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ chief of staff, asking why Torres has not appointed somebody from the CNMI to fill the position.

During the Senate session last Thursday, DeLeon Guerrero said she is not convinced that there is no one in the Commonwealth who could fill this position that is currently being occupied by Castro.

DeLeon Guerrero

“We have individuals in our community that possess a master’s degree in HR [human resources] matters, in managing the workforce. And just because maybe they’re not Harvard graduates, that may seem to be why this person, Mr. William M. Castro, would be the ideal person to hold the position,” she said.

DeLeon Guerrero made the comments about Castro’s appointment in response to Torres’ message dated Jan. 19, 2022, where he certified an annual salary for Castro in excess of $65,175 per annum. In the letter, Torres wants to pay Castro $80,000 per annum as chief of staff-Office of the Governor.

Castro

Castro is a former senator in the 34th and 35th Guam Legislature. He received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Guam, a master’s degree from Harvard University, and attained doctoral candidate status at Columbia University. Castro had also served as director of Institutional Effectiveness at the Northern Marianas College.

DeLeon Guerrero said that Torres’ letter cites CMC, subsection 8250C for his certification request. She said she remembers in prior Senate sessions last year, when they first entered into office, that she made a comment in one of their sessions and she cited that particular statute, which says, “If the governor certifies to the presiding officers of the Legislature, and the chairman of the Civil Service Commission that, after a diligent effort, the Commonwealth is unable to recruit a professionally or technically qualified person to take an appointed position, he or she may waive the salary ceiling established by law for that position.”

“I think we need to take a careful look internally and really go by the statute that is telling us that there has to be some kind of due diligence effort made to source internal market of the Commonwealth of our very own people that possess that credentials and the qualifications to fill these positions,” DeLeon Guerrero said.