EAGI panel sets public hearing on judge, Labor secretary nominees

More than two months after Gov. Eloy S. Inos appointed them on Oct. 3, Labor secretary-nominee Edith Deleon Guerrero and Superior Court associate judge-nominee Teresa Kim-Tenorio will finally have this week a public hearing on their nominations by the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigation.

Their appointments require the Senate’s advice and consent.

The Senate EAGI committee reviews the governor’s nominations and come up with recommendation for confirmation or rejection to the full Senate.

The committee’s public hearing on Deleon Guerrero’s nomination as Labor secretary is set for 10am today in the Senate chamber on Capital Hill.

This comes months after the governor merged Labor and the Workforce Investment Agency. Deleon Guerrero had been WIA executive director since 2006.

The public hearing on Kim-Tenorio’s nomination is set for tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10am.

Kim-Tenorio, currently the governor’s legal counsel, would be the only woman in the CNMI Judiciary if confirmed by the Senate. When Inos was still lieutenant governor, Kim-Tenorio was his legal counsel.

The CNMI Bar Association gave Kim-Tenorio performance ratings of between “3” and “3.81” on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “unacceptable” and 5 as being “excellent.”

These were much better than the failing ratings given by the Bar Association to the governor’s previous nominee for the post, attorney Ray K. Quichocho.

Kim-Tenorio, a juris doctorate graduate of New England School of Law in Boston, received her certification under the CNMI Bar in May 2004 and the Michigan Bar in 2002. She is also currently a trustee for the Judicial Historical Society.

In addition to her work in the Executive Branch, Kim-Tenorio previously worked as an attorney for the Law Office of G. Anthony Long and as legal counsel to the CNMI House of Representatives.

During her time as legal counsel to the lieutenant governor, Kim-Tenorio also served as a hearing officer for administrative cases brought before the CNMI Department of Labor.

The EAGI Committee, chaired by Sen. Frank Cruz (R-Tinian), will also hold at 1:30pm today a public hearing on the governor’s nomination of Shirley Ann T. Sablan to serve on the Commonwealth Development Authority’s board of directors.

Sablan will be representing Saipan on the CDA board. She is currently the executive vice president and general manager of Pacifica Insurance Underwriters Inc.

A public hearing will also be held at 1:30pm tomorrow on the governor’s re-nomination of Roy T. Rios to serve on the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. board of directors.