Today it yet another
attempt by the Office of the Governor of Guam to help spin the Department of
Administration out of a complete mess. A
day after a terse 1100 word statement was delivered to the Guam Legislature justifying proposed pay increases to public sector employees, the Communications Team at Adelup is making
the effort to lay out where raises
across the Executive Branch will in fact happen.
The Administration has taken a different track related to this
particular issue as the public outcry continues to grow by the day.
The recent statement by the
DOA Director was full of political rhetoric and lacked substantive
financial information. The only numbers
that the statement included were that employees waited 23 years for a raise, there was a
promise made 20 years ago for a raise-not sure which one, in 10 days government workers will receive a pay
increase, the Administration saw inequities in the proposed Hay Study four years ago and every
employee will see a three percent increase on their respective pay checks. Also, the DOA Director did point out conditions which
she "discovered" three years ago with a negative $17 million checking
account balance, government owed taxpayers an average of $7000 in tax refunds,
and there was a $330 million deficit. Did I say the
Governor's appointee mentioned the cost of pay raises was $7.7. million?
Did I miss a number?
This issue would have
never came about if the DOA Director had simply provided a detailed breakdown
of how the plan would be implemented-along with the current financials of the
Government of Guam-when asked by Senators. That is why they are the "check and balance" of our government system. With seven months left
in the fiscal year, any change to impact the cash strapped Territorial
Government should come with a clear financial direction that the community can
be aware of and plan for accordingly.
What small business owners
on Guam don't realize is that Business Privilege Taxes will be called on in the next
year and years to come to pay down the huge debt taken on by policy makers and even these proposed pay raises. In a flat economy, is this where the burden
to pay for a lack of fiscal discipline by government should lie?
I am always
supportive of the authority of the Chief Executive in bringing about
substantive changes to improve the delivery of government services-even
increases for the salaries of the Gov Guam workforce. It is the delivery of
critical services that drives decision making at the highest levels
within the political offices-heck, they use the old education, healthcare and
public safety cards as the pillars of preserving their places at Adelup or
Hessler Street. But when making the public spin, both sides should remember the
impacts of words and actions in the heart of a political season. Voters have short or long term memory here?
The legislative
branch is also responsible for the mixed messages sent to taxpayers on this drama. In this Blogger's opinion, they did not act
quickly enough to demand more transparency in the process. The first time they had a chance to solve the
Hay Study issue, they respectfully put the pay raise matter on the back burner
as they focused on more important issues like innocuous resolutions to Congress,
increasing Government of Guam mandates further, and making promises on
streamlined public services that need-you guessed it-more money.
Both sides look
bad. Both sides look petty. Both sides of the political system on Guam
look ready for a heated 10 months of battle with the high stakes seat of
Governor of Guam sitting in the balance.
Take a moment to
gather the facts on your own. Don't rely
on the media and blogs alone. Be aware
of the impacts of political decision making as you will see it in your face
from now until the General Election in November 2014.