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OPA may cut nonresident staff
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Posted on Mar 02 2001
The Senate and Office of the Public Auditor have apparently found a compromise on the proposed extension of the “sunset” clause of a public law which requires government agencies to trim down nonresident staff.
The middle ground would allow the OPA to keep its nonresident workers, albeit reduced in number. The figure arrived at would just be enough to effectively train new local hires and interns.
“We obviously cannot train interns with interns, Public Auditor Mike Sablan said. “The success of the OPA hinges in maintaining an experienced staff. If not, it would be ideal to retain a transition team to help the OPA train new hires and interns.”
Senate Committee on Resources, Economic Development and Programs Chair Sen. Pete P. Reyes said they are ready to extend the “sunset” provision to the OPA but asked whether five nonresident workers would be sufficient to train new local hires.
Mr. Sablan answered in the affirmative and noted that OPA is staffed with five qualified managers who would be up to the task.
Asked whether losing all his nonresident employees would spell disaster to OPA, the Public Auditor remarked, “there will be no crisis if I lose my nonresident workers.”
Although, he preferred the status quo, Mr. Sablan said he had a back-up plan for the eventuality. The Public Auditor enumerated a number of remedies to survive the exodus of contract workers.
It included the outsourcing of auditing jobs to private companies like Deloitte, Touche, Tohmatsu; recruitment of certified public accountants from Guam, the US mainland, and other US territories and the tapping of retired auditors.
For the long term, Mr. Sablan envisions the proposed internship program would eventually fill up the employee requirements of the OPA. “It’s in the interest of the OPA to develop interns and recruit college graduates and students to work in the OPA,” he noted.
The OPA is currently staffed by 29 full time employees. Of the number, only nine are resident workers, the rest fall under the category of nonresident or contract workers.
