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Villagomez not the source of CUC problem
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Posted on Oct 18 2005
The CUC director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization. He/she reports to and serves at the pleasure of the board of directors. The major decisions regarding CUC are made by the board and then implemented by the director.
Since the director does not have the power to make major decisions regarding fiscal matters, they are not the source of accountability for what transpires financially. Thus, the director is not the entity who is to be blamed for decisions regarding finances that were not prudently made involving CUC.
So, to set the record straight, when Tim Villagomez was executive director of CUC, he was not the one who defaulted on the loan payments to CDA. It was the board who made those decisions and they are the ones who are responsible for any defaults regarding CDA.
Moreover, Tim Villagomez is not accountable for CUC not paying the debt reflecting over $10 million to Mobil Oil Corp. and letting the power generators deteriorate over the past four years.
Furthermore, Gov. Juan N. Babauta’s solution to the CUC problem he effectively created is for the island community to pay a surcharge for his failure to take the fiduciary responsibility four years ago of paying CUC consistently so that they could pay off their debt to Mobil, as well as take care of the dilapidated power generators.
Had Babauta done his job as governor, then there would not be a CUC problem and the surcharge that is being absorbed by the island community would have been prevented altogether.
Before casting any stones and blame onto former CUC administrators who only implement policy established by appointed boards, Mr. Lawrence Duenas should understand that the leadership failure is not with Villagomez, but rather with the board members who were appointed by Juan Nekai Babauta, as well as with the governor.
And lastly, if Mr. Duenas really believes that Babauta and the CUC board reflects progressive and responsible leadership, then perhaps he should conduct a poll on all of the islands comprising the CNMI to see what people really think.
Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California
