Ouster of Saipan mayor’s fiscal officer sought

The head of Saipan Mayor’s Employees’ Association yesterday asked Mayor Jose C. Sablan to fire his fiscal officer for alleged gross mismanagement.

“We are drowning and heading towards a major catasthrope. Let us not wait for the ship to sink because miracles won’t happen,” said Canice Taitano, president of Mayor of Saipan Employees Association, in a letter sent to the Mayor.

In terminating fiscal officer Ramon Diaz, Taitano indicated that Mayor Sablan will be doing the employees a favor because they are constantly harassed and intimidated. “Together, we can work with open minds and do away with the constant harassments and other mistreatments,” Taitano said as he expressed willingness to discuss the matter with Mayor Sablan.

Taitano, however, did not elaborate in his letter the alleged harassments and maltreatments suffered by the employees.

The Saipan Mayor’s Office has been having problems in paying for the additional 12 full time employees due to budgetary constraints. Sablan said his office would be forced to let go of the employees if the Governor’s Office fails to provide additional funding.

The Attorney General’s Office had questioned the $500,000 additional budget given to the Mayor’s Office in a resolution adopted by legislators which set aside part of revenues from license fees of poker and pachinko slot machines. Since this involves fiscal issue, the Legislature would have to appropriation the needed funds.

To retain the employees until March 26, the Mayor’s Office already carried out a reprogramming of funds to pay for their salaries, hoping that the legal issue on the $500,000 additional budget would have been resolved by then.

Originally, the legislature allowed the hiring of 15 full time employees for the Saipan Mayor’s Office but decided to hire only 12 more workers. The fund shortage due to the 13.4 percent budget cut was aggravated by the hiring of the 12 additional employees authorized under a House joint resolution passed early last year.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Public Auditor has recommended that employees strictly follow the time in regulation after receiving reports of violations. Sablan said he has ordered all employees to make sure that they clock in as one way of monitoring their presence in the workplace.