Deleon Guerrero is new CUC board chair

Weston Deleon Guerrero now sits as Commonwealth Utilities Corp. board chair after he was unanimously chosen for the position by other board members during a meeting yesterday in Dandan.

Miranda V. Manglona was voted vice chair, filling up Deleon Guerrero’s former position. Matthew Holley remains the board’s secretary and Jovita Paulino the board’s treasurer.

The election took place despite the absence of a Commonwealth Development Authority representative. Public Law 18-17, Article 3, Section 8131 states that the CDA chairman simultaneously holds a seat on the CUC board. The term of the former CDA board chair, Ignacio Perez, has already expired.

Filling up of the CUC board chairmanship should have happened soon after it became vacant when former CUC board chair Ignacio Perez’s term expired in December 2017, according to CUC lawyer Jim Sirok.

“We conducted the election, not that we didn’t want to wait for the CDA chair. It’s just that the election was supposed to happen already and part of CUC moving forward,” Deleon Guerrero said.

“We invited the new CDA [chair David S. Demapan] to be present in today’s board meeting but, unfortunately, I’m not sure if he stays on Saipan or on Rota. We also invited him in the operations meeting on Tinian last Tuesday but he wasn’t able to come due to the last-minute call to be here… Everything was done in good faith and we are in order,” he added.

According to Deleon Guerrero, he is still learning the ropes of being part of the CUC board.

“There is so much to handle but I think somebody needed to step up to the plate and handle this position. …I’ll do my best and go from there,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said he does not believe that the board should agree with him on everything.

“What I do expect from them is that we sit down and we talk about it so we can have a healthy exchange of views and reach a compromise. To say I want them to cooperate with me does not sound good to me because it entails a hint of dictatorship and that is not my goal,” he said.

“My goal is to be transparent with them. In board decisions, I’d rather have their opinion so we can come collectively as a board and make that decision as a board. It doesn’t mean that because I am the chair I alone conduct the meetings. We are a board and we decide together,” he added.