NMC slams ex-BDC chief • Chairman Villagomez says plan to close center will hurt CNMI

The former head of the Northern Marianas College Small Business Development Center was accused yesterday of abuse of power and attempting to secure a contract for himself while still head of SBDC in connection with a project being administered by his office.

Ramon A. Villagomez, chairman of the Board of Regents, made the allegations in his letter to Jack Peters, former director of NMC-SBDC, whose proposal to close down the center has drawn criticisms from the Legislature and the college.

The plan to scrap the center was only made public after Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Reyes said he would investigate into the recommendation he described as highly “suspicious.” Peters has proposed the closure of SBDC months after he left office to head the Pacific Islands Small Development Network at the University of Guam.

“[T]o use your government power to destroy a good program in order to satisfy your personal feelings, is an abuse of power,” Villagomez said in a four-page letter. “As a government official you have a solemn duty to help our people, not to harm them.”

Both Villagomez and Reyes claimed that Peters had secretly met with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio and other local officials to push his proposal to remove SBDC under the jurisdiction of NMC, and place it under the Commonwealth Development Authority. The recommendation also called for the mass replacement of SBDC’s staff.

Questionable

According to Villagomez, Peters tried to award himself a contract while overseeing an economic study that received a $200,000 funding from the Office of Insular Affairs. He said after granting contracts to several people from the UOG, Peters attempted to get himself one but failed after NMC President McPhetres thumbed down the idea which she called “inappropriate.”

After McPhetres declined the contract, Villagomez said Peters approached Rep. Oscar Babauta, who also had refused to support his plan.

Villagomez also said that Peters attempted to hold another full time position when he was still director of SBDC.

“[A]fter securing your current position as PISBDCN director, you arranged to start working at UOG on April 1, 1999. At the same time, you gave notice to NMC that your employment at NMC would end on April 15, 1999. In other words, you would be holding two separate full time jobs and receiving a salary from UOG and NMC at the same time. Also, since the Director of PISBDCN oversees the Director of SBDC, you would become your own boss and your own subordinate all at the same time,” Villagomez wrote to Peters.