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‘There was no secret meeting’
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Posted on Nov 18 1999
Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio yesterday said he did not secretly meet with the former director of the Small Business Development Center who allegedly tried to persuade him to remove the office under the supervision of the Northern Marianas College.
Jack Peters, who used to head the NMC-SBDC until his contract expired last April, met with the governor on Oct. 29 during the turnover ceremony of the $330,000 loan granted by the U.S. Small Business Administration to the Commonwealth Development Authority.
Tenorio witnessed the event attended by Ken Lujan, SBA Guam branch manager; CDA Chairman John S. Tenorio, and other local officials.
After the brief ceremony covered by the media, the officials immediately went into a closed-door meeting. There was no information as to what transpired in their discussion.
But Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes this week claimed the governor met afterwards with Peters and Lujan, who were convincing the local chief executive to close SBDC and move it under CDA’s administration.
“I don’t think Jack Peters is trying to convince me,” said the governor when sought for comment on the issue. “When I meet people in my office, there is no secret. People come to my office and discuss some of the issues and it’s always a courtesy visit but there has never been a secret meeting between agencies and departments.”
Tenorio, however, declined to comment on reports over closure of the center which opened in 1989. Peters was its director from 1994 until this year when he moved to Guam to become the director of the Pacific Islands Small Business Development Center Network at the University of Guam.
Peters could not be reached for comment on Reyes’ allegations. The senator vowed to investigate into the move he described as “suspicious.”
NMC Board Chairman Ramon A. Villagomez the other day fired off a stinging attack against the ex-director, accusing him of abuse of power and attempting to secure a contract for himself while still BDC head in connection with the project being administered by his office.
