No surprises at GVB election – board now awaits nominees
Given the drama of previous gatherings with the board and management of the Guam Visitors Bureau, the breakfast meeting and election on Jan. 7 at the RIHGA Royal Laguna Guam was a quiet affair.
Still, member attendees got the job done – which was to elect four board members – and did so by a swift show of hands.
GVB staff at the election at the RHIGA Royal Laguna Resort. Photo by Maureen N. Maratita.
Re-elected were George Chiu, current chairman and vice president of Tan Holdings; Joaquin P.L.G. Cook, president and CEO of the Bank of Guam; Jeffrey B. Jones, president and chief operating officer of Triple J Enterprises Inc.; and Ken Yanagisawa, president of P.H.R. Ken Micronesia Inc. and general manager of The Tsubaki Tower.
All but Yanagisawa were off island.
Four holdover members of the board are Peter P. “Sonny” Ada, president of Ada's Trust & Investment Inc.; Milton Morinaga, longtime tourism expert and consultant; Michael A. Sgro, general manager, Paradise Fitness; and Michelle Merfalen, paraeducator at the Guam Department of Education and youth director.
The board now awaits a further nominee from Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, and the 38th Guam Legislature. After that, the board can add one more director. mbj
With Super Typhoon Bavi now packing maximum sustained winds of 160 mph and forecast to strengthen further as it moves toward the Marianas, emergency officials are urging businesses and residents to treat this weekend as their critical window to prepare for potentially damaging winds.
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are now in Condition of Readiness 3 as Typhoon Bavi approaches, with both governors urging residents and businesses to use the remaining hours of fair weather to prepare.
Task Force Talon relinquished command to the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-43 ADA), ushering in a new battalion to take over Guam’s air missile defense systems.
Emergency management agencies across the region are urging residents and businesses to execute disaster preparedness plans as Tropical Storm 09W is forecast to rapidly intensify and potentially strike Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a Category four super typhoon.
