From 39, CCC will be left with just 16 employees

From 39 employees last month, the Commonwealth Casino Commission will soon end up with only 16 staff members come July 31, including CCC executive director Andrew Yeom and their legal counsel, assistant attorney general Michael Ernest, due to the termination of 20 employees due to budget constraint and the resignation of others.

At the CCC board’s monthly meeting yesterday at the Springs Plaza in Gualo Rai, CCC board chair Edward C. DeLeon Guerrero explained the commission’s dire financial situation that forced the terminations.

DeLeon Guerrero urged Yeom to communicate with all the government’s department heads and see how the other departments can assist their affected employees.

DeLeon Guerrero hopes that when they get the money eventually—from whatever source that may be—CCC will make every effort to get back the terminated employees. However, if funding continues to be unavailable, he said CCC would need to tighten its belt further, which could mean they may have to conduct future meetings via video conferencing. Even the office itself will have to turn off all the air-conditioning units and all other appliances in order to save money, he added.

In an interview during a break in the meeting, DeLeon Guerrero said their entire source of revenue practically comes from the annual casino regulatory fee, amounting to $3,150,000. That regulatory fee was due on Oct. 1, 2020, but the casino licensee, Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC, has failed to pay it and has yet to pay that fee.

DeLeon Guerrero said CCC relies on that regulatory fee for its operations because the government gives them only a $1 budget.

DeLeon Guerrero said they did ask Gov. Ralph DLG Torres to return the $2 million that the CNMI government had borrowed from CCC for its COVID-19 response but the government has managed to repay only a partial amount of that since October 2020.

“So it’s not like this money is coming in now. We’ve been using the money since Oct. 1, 2020, up to now. So those figures are quickly disappearing,” the chairman said.

As for the terminations, DeLeon Guerrero said they have to give the employees the adequate 60-day notice based on their contract, which will end July 31, 2021. “We’re saddened, of course, because we spent an enormous amount of money training these people,” he said.

In his opinion, these CCC employees are some of the best employees not just in the CNMI government but anywhere. “We have some really, really good competent employees—what employers should be looking for. And CCC has been fortunate to have so many really good people, really talented people,” he said.

DeLeon Guerrero said it’s not just the CCC commissioners that are well trained but its employees as well, since CCC spent so much money training these employees, who had attended almost every gaming courses that the University of Nevada offered.

“So it would be a tremendous loss to the regulatory body if we’re not able to get them back and it’ll be a tremendous loss to the government if we lose them altogether,” he pointed out.

He said they are hoping that IPI will pay its dues within the 60-day period to prevent the terminations.

As to the question of until when will the CCC keep operating under its remaining budget, DeLeon Guerrero said they are trying to stretch it out as long as possible. “We hope that we can last a few months,” he said.

Right now, he said, they are focusing on resolving the ongoing litigations or the ongoing enforcement actions that they have against IPI. CCC’s consolidated cases against IPI are on appeal before the Superior Court.

DeLeon Guerrero said they are continuing their regulatory functions in terms of monitoring all of the gaming equipment.

He said there are some requirements in the regulations that IPI has to submit to CCC.

Yeom earlier told the board that they had no choice but to give termination notices to many of their employees since furlough is not an option as confirmed by the Office of the Attorney General.

Yeom said the 60-day termination letters/notices without cause were served to as many as 20 staff members last June 9. Simultaneously, he said, there are several staff who have resigned because they’ve found other jobs during this time.

“At the end of the day, this staff termination/separation turned out to be [a] 60% reduction of our workforce,” he said. He said this means that what’s left are 16 staff members that include him and Ernest.

Yeom said these are the absolute critical employees needed to carry on their regulatory duties, with heavy emphasis on the laborious legal proceedings they are faced with.

He also disclosed that for the month of May, CCC’s total expense was $165,192. From this total monthly expense, 71.41% was spent on personnel wages and benefits, followed by 16.38% being spent on board and other compensation.

Last April 22, the CCC board ordered an indefinite suspension of IPI’s gaming license and ordered it to pay $6.6 million in total penalty in six months, and pay immediately $15.5 million and $3.1 million in annual casino exclusive license fee and annual casino regulatory fee, respectively, for violating many CCC orders.