Senate panels want Camacho nomination withdrawn

A joint draft report of two Senate committees wants the full Senate to request Gov. Benigno R. Fitial to withdraw his appointment of former House floor leader and attorney Joseph N. Camacho to serve as Superior Court associate judge, and to wait at least until after the fiscal year 2012 budget is passed.

Fitial’s Aug. 10 appointment of Camacho comes at a time when vacant critical positions are not being filled such as those for firefighters and physicians. Most government employees have been subjected to a 16-percent pay cut biweekly and have been getting their paychecks late since last year.

“The CNMI government, currently, is incapable of hiring physicians necessary to treat emergency patients. It is discouraging to overlook critical positions at public safety, Fire Division, and Public Health and hire a judge of the Superior Court costing the CNMI government approximately $308,000 annually,” the two committees said in their draft report.

Camacho’s appointment needs the advice and consent of the Senate.

The Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations, chaired by Sen. Frank Cruz (R-Tinian), and the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, chaired by Sen. Jovita Taimanao (Ind-Rota), said that attempts to reduce government spending were in line with efforts planned long before Camacho’s appointment.

They said concerns about the CNMI and the Judiciary’s finances predate, and have nothing to do with, Camacho’s qualifications for the position.

Their recommendation, they said, has “everything to do with reining in the spending of the CNMI government.”

“Putting a ‘temporary’ hold on the vacancy of a judge of the Commonwealth Superior Court is not unconstitutional. Holding off on the nomination, however, will save the CNMI government over $300,000,” the committees said in their draft report.

Each CNMI associate judge earns a base yearly salary of $120,000. But including benefits, law clerk, secretary, and other miscellaneous expenses, the total estimated cost to CNMI taxpayers of a judge is $308,000.

The draft report says that amount could be used elsewhere in the Judiciary, including funding the constitutionally mandated appointment of attorneys for indigent defendants in criminal, traffic, and juvenile cases.

Press secretary Angel Demapan said yesterday the Fitial administration “will comment when the report is no longer a ‘draft’, when it has been transmitted to and reviewed by the governor.”

Fitial is currently in San Diego, California and is expected to be back on Aug. 22.

The two committees, in their draft recommendation to the full Senate, pointed out that they do not reject nor disapprove Camacho’s appointment, having yet to examine his qualifications.

However, they said this is an opportune time to attempt to reduce government expenditures, given that the Superior Court has seen a drastic drop in cases filed and requiring decision—from 15,589 in 2000 to only 4,503 in 2009.

Cruz and Senate Vice President Jude Hofschneider (R-Tinian) declined to comment on the draft report yesterday, saying the contents could still change before they submit it to Senate President Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota).

Senators were initially poised to finalize the committee report before Wednesday’s session, but members needed more time to fine tune their recommendation to the full Senate.

The draft report also says that, based on statistics from the National Center for State Courts, the CNMI Judiciary receives salaries at, or in some cases above, the national average.

It also says it appears that any temporary hold on the vacancy of a Superior Court associate judge will not unduly reduce services to the community.

Fitial officially transmitted to the Senate last week his letter appointing Camacho as associate judge in the Superior Court, filling in the vacancy left by Ramona V. Manglona, now the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the NMI.

Camacho’s appointment also came days after the Senate passed an initiative reducing the number of associate judges from at least four to three, citing the CNMI government’s declining finances and the fewer number of cases filed in court.

The CNMI Constitution requires one presiding judge and at least four associate judges.