02-17-06

Hi friends, this is Harry Blalock; General Manager for radio stations KZMI & KCNM. It's that time once again to take a look at the issues of the week, and to offer some Food For Thought.

The more information that comes out of Marianas Public Land Authority, the more you have to wonder why this was ever allowed to happen in the first place, and who should ultimately be held responsible for it. This last week uncovered another slew of reasons why the agency needs to be abolished in its present form, and safeguards instituted so that this never happens again. One of the most shocking revelations was the amount of money collected by Ramon Quichocho, one of their legal counsels, over the last 2 years in legal fees. Since December 23 of 2003 to January 27th of this year, Mr. Quichocho has collected $582,558.19. That's right over half a million dollars in two years time. And Mr. Quichocho isn't the only lawyer that MPLA has working for them. They also have Alan Lane on staff at a salary of $80,000, and other lawyers that they pay through contract as well. Let's break this down a little bit though so you understand just how truly absurd this is. According to a detailed payment sheet from MPLA for Ramon Quichocho, he charges them a regular hourly rate of $175 per hour for his legal services. If you divide $582,558.19 by $175 an hour, you come up with 3329 hours. If you divide that amount by 112, which is the number of weeks in 2 years, you come up with 29.7 hours per week, every single week, with no time off. I've talked to several lawyers about this amount and the hours required to justify that kind of billing, and they all say the same thing, that it's not even remotely possible.

This whole scenario brings up a bunch of questions. First you have to ask yourself why MPLA decided to hire Mr. Quichocho on an hourly basis. Why didn't they just hire him as a staff attorney like they did with Alan Lane and pay him $80,000 a year? Is there really so much legal work at MPLA that they can justify having that many attorneys working for them full time? Would Mr. Quichocho's background and experience justify that kind of hourly rate? What has he done in the past to prove that he's worth that kind of money? Has he provided MPLA with proof that all the time he has charged them for is actually justified? Why were no control measures put in place to ensure that his earnings didn't balloon out of control? Did the MPLA board set any kind of budget for legal services, and if so, was it followed?

Then Friday's Saipan Tribune gave us a story about Ray Quichocho reversing the Attorney General's opinion in favor of David Demapan, current Comptroller for MPLA, and Board Chairwoman Ana Demapan Castro's brother. The Attorney General's Office had earlier issued a decision that returning Comptroller David S. Demapan's contract for appraisal work in 1993 for $11,900 was invalid because it did not comply wit the Commonwealth Procurement Regulations, which required it must be awarded with a competitive bid. The AG's decision further stated that the contract was not signed by the Governor or the Attorney General. The decision by AGO civil litigation chief David Sosebe also stated that "because the contract is invalid, payment of any amounts claimed would be in violatin of Commonwealth law". When Sosebe's opinion was issued, Ray Quichocho was actually an assistant Attorney General. But later, newly hired MPLA legal counsel Ray Quichocho said it was ok to pay Demapan the remainder of the contract, and that opinion was pushed by the MPLA board, which is headed by Demapan's sister, Ana Demapan Castro as chairwoman. Quichocho's legal opinion stated that MPLA is obligated to pay Demapan on the basis of good faith and fair dealing.

Years earlier, Demapan had received $103,000 under the appraisal contract, which the government had wanted returned due to questionable issues. But instead of paying the government back, Demapan, who now sits at the MPLA comptroller, had the agency actually pay him more. The government accused Demapan of illegal use of credit cards, unauthorized charges and personal travel, and receiving a per diem rate higher than authorized by MPLC at the time. The government also accused him of conflict of interest for attending real estate appraisal seminars paid for by MPLC while employed as Comptroller to secure a contract as appraisal reviewer.

Demapan resigned as comptroller on July 9, 1993 and signed an appraisal review contract on July 12.2003. The contract was terminated following the filing of a lawsuit against him. Then 10 years later, in December 2003, his sister Ana Demapan Castro hired Demapan back as MPLA's Comptroller. His salary started at $57,000 a year and has since ballooned to $71,400 a year.

The questions that come up from this whole mess are why would Ray Quichocho go against an opinion already issued by the Attorney General's office in favor of Mr. Demapan? Why would this agency consider hiring Mr. Demapan back after all the charges and allegations made against him 10 years earlier? Why did the government never get serious about collecting that money back from Mr. Demapan? Did Ana Demapan Castro violate any nepotism laws by giving her brother a job that he had previously, and had a track record of allegedly abusing public funds during the time? Should the Governor that appointed Demapan Castro be held responsible for her actions during his watch? Should the lawmaker who introduced the bill setting up MPLA as it now is be held responsible for the mess he has created? After all, isn't he the one who gave them the power to abuse government funds and not have any oversight or accountability?

If you're not convinced yet that MPLA is one big hotbed of corruption, excessive salaries, and a very lavish lifestyle, let's take a look at some of the salaries of some MPLA employees making over $40,000 a year. Margarita Salas - Chief of Human Resource Division is making $55,000 a year, Miguel Sablan - Chief of the Land Claims Division is making $57,200 a year, Ramon Salas - Special Assistant for Land Exchange & Compensation is making $55,000 a year, Alan Lane - legal counsel is making $80,000 a year, Ramon Dela Cruz - Hearing Officer is making $60,000 a year, Consolacion Togawa - Researcher / Investigator is pulling down $47,250 a year, Juan Tudela - Researcher Assistant makes $40,000 a year, Manuel Chargualaf - Chief of the Planning Division is pulling down $60,000 a year, David Atalig - CIP Coordinator makes $50,000 a year, Sharee Maratita, the daughter of the board chair is the Chief of Real Estate & Development, and she makes $57,000 a year, Teresita Santos - Rota Deputy Commissioner makes $45,000 a year, Deborah Fleming - Tinian Deputy Commissioner makes $48,510, David Demapan, the board chair's brother is the Comptroller and makes $71,400 a year, Edward Deleon Guerrero - Commissioner makes $84,000 a year, Vincent Castro - Deputy Commissioner makes $64,000 a year, Edward Arriola - Public Information Officer makes $50,000 a year, Franz Reksid - Special Assistant pulls down $45,000 annually, Helen Camacho - Special Assistant to the Board makes $55,000 a year, John Oliver Gonzales - Chief of the Compliance Division makes $50,000 a year, Gregory Deleon Guerrero - Compliance Manager makes $42,965 a year and finally Kimo Rosario - Chief of the Homestead Division makes $45,000 a year.

That's what happens when you don't have any salary caps or rules regarding compensation, you wind up paying your friends and relatives whatever you feel like, something we were very familiar with during the last administration. Since that was the way Governor Babauta operated, should it really come as any surprise that is the way his appointee, Ana Demapan Castro operates? It also came as no surprise during that public hearing that Demapan Castro was singing the praises of Governor Babauta, saying that he protected MPLA and let them operate this way.

There was an excellent letter to the editor from retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Dela Cruz in the papers this week outlining why MPLA needs to be abolished. He clearly pointed out that simply getting rid of the people would not help, that the same thing would just happen all over again with a bunch of new faces. This agency needs to be brought under the control of someone who can be held accountable. The only way to force them to have reasonable per diem rates and travel is to mandate it; you cannot count on them to act responsibly on their own. It didn't work in the past with MPLC, and it hasn't worked currently with MPLA. This agency has become an ugly cancer, and if you don't radically remove all of the cancer, the body will still be infected. Yes, the measures introduced are extreme, and will definitely change the way MPLA operates, but as has clearly been pointed out, the abuses have been extreme up to this point, and it's time to fix it once and for all, and to do it right this time. If you asked 100 people who have had dealings with MPLA in the past if they were satisfied with the way in which they were treated and dealt with, I'd be surprised if you could find 10 that were happy with the agency.

Governor Fitial was elected to make some hard decisions and changes, and now when he starts to do the job we elected him to do, people start crying foul. Grow up people, no one ever said his job was going to be easy, and I'm sure he'd tell you it's not. But fighting him for doing what we elected him to do makes no sense whatsoever. Let's just hope the legislature has the backbone to stand up to the pressure of lobbying from MPLA and to do the right thing. We'll be watching and taking notes for the next election in 2 years, choose your battles carefully.

I'm Harry Blalock, thanking you once again for giving me a generous slice of your valuable time, and allowing me to share my Food For Thought.