CSC Rules Against Port
IN YET another blow to the caustic political campaign of political persecution playing itself at the Port of Guam - and at considerable expense to the taxpayers of Guam - one more of the illegally terminated Port employees that Adelup chief of staff Frank Arriola considered to be mere "collateral damage" in their relentless plot to ruin former PAG marketing administrator Bernadette Meno, has had his job restored by the Civil Service Commission.
Jose B. Guevera III was the Port comptroller at the time he was snared in the rapidly unraveling plot 'to get' Meno. Meno was a former staffer of the previous governor who chose to support lt. governor Dr. Mike Cruz over Eddie Calvo for governor in the 2010 Republican primary, before crossing over to support the Democratic ticket after the Cruz/Espaldon ticket lost to Calvo/Tenorio.
Illegally sacked along with Meno, was award-winning veteran PAG employee Vivian Castro Leon, Francine Rocio, Frances Arriola Cepeda and Josette Javelosa. Former Port GM Mary Torres was also disgracefully tossed by the Calvo administration when she refused to follow their illegal agenda and terminate Meno without cause.
Last night, the rebuke to Adelup came when Guevera appeared before the CSC with his attorney Jeff Moots arguing that the Port, namely GM Joanne Brown and Port legal counsel attorneys Mike Phillips and John Bell violated the 60 day rule when terminating Guevera.
Brown has tried to illegally replace Guevarra with another employee for that job, against and in violation of local law.
Commissioners, who only recently had appealed to vice speaker BJ Cruz for help in providing them cover from Adelup's interference by seeking closed door deliberation authorization through a hotly contested piece of legislation last month, made the fourth in a string of decisions that doused the flames of Calvo's raging witchhunt, an effort he has stoked since taking office in January 2011.
With one of those less-than-masterful spin-n-smear stories from Pravda KUAM yakking head Mindy Aguon - who only recently confessed to individuals at GPD that she takes order from Adelup on who to smear and slant broadcast stories - the Calvo propaganda machine laughably went into full mode trying to spin out the inevitable blowback from their latest fail with a post-primetime update citing the CSC vote was not unanimous to restore Guevarra's job.
The CSC decision came on the heels of a dismissal this morning by the Superior Court of another political takedown by Calvo that came by way of a high profile drug bust that many in the community insist smacked of a set up.
In previous Pravda KUAM propaganda broadcasts, the former legitimate news reporter Aguon misinformed the public about the seven illegal firings, portraying the reason for such actions by Port management, under the direction PAG board chairman Dan Tydingco, as a need to squash "a conspiracy" to defraud PAG of unauthorized sick leave and nearly $100,000 in benefits. That number has fluctuated to as low as $70,000 depending on who at Adelup provided final approval to the uneven reporting.
All seven employees have contended from the beginning that they had nothing to do with any conspiracy or criminal actions, even as Port counsel, which had an ethic complaint filed against them yesterday, continued to obfuscate and mislead commissioners stating that no accident had occurred involving a slip and fall by Meno....that is until only a few weeks ago, when the actual accident report that was missing from files previously asked for by Meno attorney Curtis Vand De Veld suddenly appeared in the paperwork for another Port worker appealing their case with the CSC, an showing the Port line of logic to be a sham.
Meanwhile, Port management and Tydingco still contend termination of the Port 7 and Mary Torres was in the best interest of the Government of Guam to protect from future theft of time, money and resources, even as legal counsel billings have exceeded the contractual agreement and procurement manager Alma Javier comes under withering scrutiny for a deceptive move to augment Phillips' legal services billings in violation of local law.
In October a lucrative Calvo-family owned insurance policy covering liability of board directors and management in criminal and civil aaction brought in cases, such as with Meno, Leon and Torres will expire leaving the Port - and Guam taxpayers - liable for any payout for any decision that might come in favor of the illegally terminated workers.
In December, CSC commissioners are reported to have gone to CSC director Tony Lamorena seeking protection from intimidation and influence of Calvo administration associates who wanted Port hearings delayed to allow time for the liability insurance contract to expire.
Following two other decisions that did not follow the politically-motivated agenda of Adelup at the Port, commissioners again went to Lamorena with their concerns. Lamorena then went senator Cruz who sought through Bill 102 to extend to the CSC through the controversial legislation the ability to deliberate and arrive at fair and objective decisions for all parties without the meddling and intimidation from Adelup.