BY ANDREA JOHNSON
Editor,
Guam’s Budget Bill contains several provisions that violate that Organic Act and attempt to place the Guam Attorney General above the law.
Sections 35, 41, and 21(d) of the Budget Bill seek to strip public servants of their civil service protections, in direct violation of the Organic Act of Guam.
The current Attorney General of Guam consistently complains that he does not have enough attorneys to perform the necessary functions of his office and to effectively prosecute crime. Instead of creating recruitment incentives, the Guam Legislature’s enactment of Section 35 will strip employees of the Attorney General’s Office of their merit system protections. AG Doug Moylan is asking for the Legislature to exempt him from the Organic Act. This is both a bad idea and outside the power of the Legislature.
This is not only a misguided provision that will disincentivize attorneys from pursuing government service—as any attorney can tell you—it is also obviously illegal. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals--the federal court covering Guam—ruled in 1996 that Assistant Attorneys General must be placed in the “classified” service. The government of Guam eventually had to pay out over $500,000 in back pay and costs to Alan Haeuser, the attorney deprived of merit protections. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to over $1 million today.
Based on the latest staffing pattern, AG Doug Moylan has illegally employed over 20 attorneys in the “unclassified” service, and over 50 more non-attorney staff members. The Office of the Attorney General has over 70 “unclassified” employees who should be classified. When these individuals sue like Alan Haeuser did, Guam stands to be on the hook for up to $70 million.
Just last year AG Moylan publicly declared that he was withdrawing from representing the government of Guam. He declared that he no longer wanted to do the job the People of Guam elected him to do.
Even after AG Moylan abandoned his position, he asked the Legislature for more power and a raise. And now, he asks for sweeping permission to violate the Organic Act and strip Guam’s hard-working public servants of their merit-system rights.
Section 35 will cost Guam Millions. Section 35 will make recruiting attorneys harder. Section 35 is Illegal. Section 35 is Bad for Guam.
The undersigned are all attorneys who come from a variety of backgrounds and political views. Many, but not all of us, have experience working for the government of Guam, including the Attorney General’s Office. We all call or have called Guam our home. We are united in calling for the Legislature to remove these obviously illegal provisions from the Budget Bill.
Editor,
Guam’s Budget Bill contains several provisions that violate that Organic Act and attempt to place the Guam Attorney General above the law.
Sections 35, 41, and 21(d) of the Budget Bill seek to strip public servants of their civil service protections, in direct violation of the Organic Act of Guam.
The current Attorney General of Guam consistently complains that he does not have enough attorneys to perform the necessary functions of his office and to effectively prosecute crime. Instead of creating recruitment incentives, the Guam Legislature’s enactment of Section 35 will strip employees of the Attorney General’s Office of their merit system protections. AG Doug Moylan is asking for the Legislature to exempt him from the Organic Act. This is both a bad idea and outside the power of the Legislature.
This is not only a misguided provision that will disincentivize attorneys from pursuing government service—as any attorney can tell you—it is also obviously illegal. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals--the federal court covering Guam—ruled in 1996 that Assistant Attorneys General must be placed in the “classified” service. The government of Guam eventually had to pay out over $500,000 in back pay and costs to Alan Haeuser, the attorney deprived of merit protections. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to over $1 million today.
Based on the latest staffing pattern, AG Doug Moylan has illegally employed over 20 attorneys in the “unclassified” service, and over 50 more non-attorney staff members. The Office of the Attorney General has over 70 “unclassified” employees who should be classified. When these individuals sue like Alan Haeuser did, Guam stands to be on the hook for up to $70 million.
Just last year AG Moylan publicly declared that he was withdrawing from representing the government of Guam. He declared that he no longer wanted to do the job the People of Guam elected him to do.
Even after AG Moylan abandoned his position, he asked the Legislature for more power and a raise. And now, he asks for sweeping permission to violate the Organic Act and strip Guam’s hard-working public servants of their merit-system rights.
Section 35 will cost Guam Millions. Section 35 will make recruiting attorneys harder. Section 35 is Illegal. Section 35 is Bad for Guam.
The undersigned are all attorneys who come from a variety of backgrounds and political views. Many, but not all of us, have experience working for the government of Guam, including the Attorney General’s Office. We all call or have called Guam our home. We are united in calling for the Legislature to remove these obviously illegal provisions from the Budget Bill.
| Anita P. Arriola | Tom Johnson | Peter J. Santos |
| Joaquin C. Arriola, Jr. | Janet King | Jacqueline Terlaje |
| Kristine Borja | Jeremiah Luther | Leslie Travis |
| William "Bucky" Brennan | Jeff Moots | Melissa Travis |
| James L. Canto II | Daniel Morris | Jessica L. Toft |
| Richelle Y. Canto | Katie Nepton | Nick Toft |
| Thomas J. Fisher | Jordan Pauluhn | Phil Tydingco |
| Eliseo Florig | Joseph Perez | Robert M. Weinberg |
| Annie Gayle | Rebecca Perez Copper | Vanessa Williams |
| Steve Hattori | Theresa Rojas | Marianne Woloschuk |
| Carol Hinkle-Sanchez | Heather Quitugua |
