CUC savings offset by new salary expense

About two thirds of what the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. stands to save from the closure of its two payment branches will be used to pay a new public information officer.

David C. Sablan, who was hired to help Pamela A. Mathis at the CUC corporate communications office, will be getting an annual salary of $37,085, according to a source privy to CUC internal affairs.

The source said Sablan was also granted upfront an 8-hour annual leave, which amounts over $3,700 a year if translated to cash. A new employee does not normally get as many hours of annual leave, the source said.

In other words, Sablan could get government fringe benefits and as much as over $40,000 a year—about 66 percent of the $61,000 in yearly rental expenses that the cash-strapped utility firm will be saving from the closure of the Garapan and San Jose payment and customer service branches.

CUC said earlier that it terminated the lease agreements for the two offices in an effort to continue reducing non-operational expenses. CUC used to pay a monthly rent of $3,600 for the San Jose payment branch and $1,500 for the Garapan office.

In an interview yesterday, CUC deputy director Bernard Villagomez justified the hiring of Sablan, saying the firm needs another public information officer to educate the public about the ongoing problems confronting CUC, as well as the systemic changes being made by the staff.

He noted that Mathis is ill and needs a co-worker with whom she can share some of her responsibilities. “People are always saying we need to do more public education. That is exactly what we’re doing,” he said.

He also said CUC’s hiring freeze policy remains in effect, but it has been lifted for certain positions, mostly technical.

“We have to make some sacrifices to accommodate the hiring of experts. We have some positions that are not filled. Some projects are still pending with the water and wastewater divisions. We are trying to prioritize,” he said.

Villagomez also countered reports that Sablan’s hiring was politically motivated. He said the new employee was hired based on his own merits, not for any other reason.

Villagomez stressed that CUC advertised the job vacancy announcement to allow interested individuals to apply. But only Sablan, who is the brother of former CUC chair Ed Sablan, turned in an application.

Sablan’s official position is management specialist. Minimum requirements set by CUC for the position include a bachelor’s degree in business administration or engineering; four years of professional administrative experience; knowledge of applicable laws and rules and regulations ; and skill in preparing and giving presentations, technical reports and documents, public relations material, among other things.