BY OYAOL NGIRAIRIKL
Journal Staff
Discussions on the Guam Visitors Bureau will continue with a roundtable on April 14 at the 37th Guam Legislature, this time ostensibly concerning the bylaws and enabling act.
The Legislature first met on April 6, and discussed the release of a report prepared by the Business Risk Compliance and Control Committee and circulated the night before the 37th Guam Legislature held an oversight hearing, chaired by Sen. Amanda L. Shelton, chairwoman of the Committee on Maritime & Air Transportation, Parks, Tourism, Higher Education, and the Advancement of Women, Youth and Senior Citizens.
The report, among other things, questioned the alleged failure of certain GVB board members to disclose ties to organizations that received government funds through GVB. Carl T.C. Gutierrez, president of GVB; had requested the report, which is titled Sponsorships and Expenditures on Events Organized and Managed by Guam Sports Events Inc. and is dated April 5.
The Journal reached out to Shelton’s office, asking whether the report will be a part of Friday’s discussion. Her staff said the legislative tourism committee “will focus discussions on the reconciliation of GVB's enabling law and by-laws.”
“The committee will receive comments and consider recommendations for policy amendments that may be offered by GVB leadership and industry representatives,” they responded.
GVB legal counsel Joseph B. McDonald, of McDonald Law Office who spoke for the GVB committee during the April 6 oversight hearing, noted that the report had been completed but said there were limitations to what he could say regarding the report.
“I begin by stating that with respect to the investigation, if there are going to be substantive questions from the committee, I will respectfully decline to get into any details about the report … and I will address only process or other matters that are collateral to what went on,” McDonald said. “And I do want to emphasize that as attorneys we have to respect the process, let it play out as well as the rights of the people involved and of the agency. The role of counsel is a delicate role especially in this situation where I actually serve both the GM and the board and must at all times keep the best interests of the bureau in mind.”
Sen. Thomas J. Fisher, who also is an attorney, raised a point of order saying that unless McDonald is raising privilege then he should answer questions. Shelton responded by saying the report was received “just last night so this is not something that is on today’s agenda.”
“We know that it has also been forwarded to other authorities for investigation and pending those investigations we will address it a later time if it is fit,” she said. The report was submitted to the Office of Public Accountability as well as the Office of the Attorney General of Guam.
Fisher also questioned whether Shelton should recuse herself from discussions related to the report as her uncle is included in the report. Shelton responded, saying the oversight hearing was focused on GVB and told Fisher it was “not for you to question me today” and the hearing would stick to the agenda.
The report synopsis said the board of Sports Events Inc. includes individuals who are on the GVB board or have served as a GVB vendor. Guam Sports Events Inc. is a local nonprofit entity that is the principal organizer for Tour of Guam, the Guam International Marathon, and United Airlines Guam Marathon events.
The report lists issues of concern, including how two former GVB board directors and a former GVB general manager “were evidently not fully forthcoming about their interests in GSEI, although they … were involved in getting GVB to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for GSEI’s events.”
Also of concern were issues with “internal controls, processes and documentation for GVB’s providing sponsorship and events expenditures funding to GSEI.” The report made note of GVB’s board “being heavily involved in the bureau’s business affairs and is cloaked with apparent board-level authority over the bureau and its employees.”
“However, the bureau was required to enact administrative rules and regulations when funding nonprofit agencies, a prerequisite which the Bureau has not done. Instead, the Board, cloaked with its apparent authority awarded such funding,” the report said.
During the April 6 hearing, McDonald updated senators on his work to update the bureau’s by-laws. Last May, the GVB board paused further meetings until the GVB by-laws could be reviewed.
Gutierrez thanked senators for passing what would become Public Law 36-107, giving him fiscal authority to carry out the bureau’s operations even though the board of directors wasn’t meeting.
In a press release, Shelton said this week’s working meeting will work to update GVB’s enabling act that created GVB and the by-laws that govern policy and operational management at the Bureau, with 21st century destination management and industry practices. “GVB was created in 1970. The generation of leaders who gave us the Guam Visitors Bureau could never have imagined what tourism would look like 53 years later,” Shelton said.
The release said agency representatives and industry stakeholders “are expected to come ready, to roll-up their sleeves, and provide concrete recommendations to update the enabling act and by-laws.”
“The legislative tourism committee is committed to dialogue that represents the interests of GVB, the industry, and all stakeholders. I have no doubt the roundtable hearing next week will help lead to the long-awaited and substantive policy changes that are required to strengthen tourism going forward,” Shelton said. mbj
Journal Staff
Discussions on the Guam Visitors Bureau will continue with a roundtable on April 14 at the 37th Guam Legislature, this time ostensibly concerning the bylaws and enabling act.
The Legislature first met on April 6, and discussed the release of a report prepared by the Business Risk Compliance and Control Committee and circulated the night before the 37th Guam Legislature held an oversight hearing, chaired by Sen. Amanda L. Shelton, chairwoman of the Committee on Maritime & Air Transportation, Parks, Tourism, Higher Education, and the Advancement of Women, Youth and Senior Citizens.
The report, among other things, questioned the alleged failure of certain GVB board members to disclose ties to organizations that received government funds through GVB. Carl T.C. Gutierrez, president of GVB; had requested the report, which is titled Sponsorships and Expenditures on Events Organized and Managed by Guam Sports Events Inc. and is dated April 5.
The Journal reached out to Shelton’s office, asking whether the report will be a part of Friday’s discussion. Her staff said the legislative tourism committee “will focus discussions on the reconciliation of GVB's enabling law and by-laws.”
“The committee will receive comments and consider recommendations for policy amendments that may be offered by GVB leadership and industry representatives,” they responded.
GVB legal counsel Joseph B. McDonald, of McDonald Law Office who spoke for the GVB committee during the April 6 oversight hearing, noted that the report had been completed but said there were limitations to what he could say regarding the report.
“I begin by stating that with respect to the investigation, if there are going to be substantive questions from the committee, I will respectfully decline to get into any details about the report … and I will address only process or other matters that are collateral to what went on,” McDonald said. “And I do want to emphasize that as attorneys we have to respect the process, let it play out as well as the rights of the people involved and of the agency. The role of counsel is a delicate role especially in this situation where I actually serve both the GM and the board and must at all times keep the best interests of the bureau in mind.”
Sen. Thomas J. Fisher, who also is an attorney, raised a point of order saying that unless McDonald is raising privilege then he should answer questions. Shelton responded by saying the report was received “just last night so this is not something that is on today’s agenda.”
“We know that it has also been forwarded to other authorities for investigation and pending those investigations we will address it a later time if it is fit,” she said. The report was submitted to the Office of Public Accountability as well as the Office of the Attorney General of Guam.
Fisher also questioned whether Shelton should recuse herself from discussions related to the report as her uncle is included in the report. Shelton responded, saying the oversight hearing was focused on GVB and told Fisher it was “not for you to question me today” and the hearing would stick to the agenda.
The report synopsis said the board of Sports Events Inc. includes individuals who are on the GVB board or have served as a GVB vendor. Guam Sports Events Inc. is a local nonprofit entity that is the principal organizer for Tour of Guam, the Guam International Marathon, and United Airlines Guam Marathon events.
The report lists issues of concern, including how two former GVB board directors and a former GVB general manager “were evidently not fully forthcoming about their interests in GSEI, although they … were involved in getting GVB to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for GSEI’s events.”
Also of concern were issues with “internal controls, processes and documentation for GVB’s providing sponsorship and events expenditures funding to GSEI.” The report made note of GVB’s board “being heavily involved in the bureau’s business affairs and is cloaked with apparent board-level authority over the bureau and its employees.”
“However, the bureau was required to enact administrative rules and regulations when funding nonprofit agencies, a prerequisite which the Bureau has not done. Instead, the Board, cloaked with its apparent authority awarded such funding,” the report said.
During the April 6 hearing, McDonald updated senators on his work to update the bureau’s by-laws. Last May, the GVB board paused further meetings until the GVB by-laws could be reviewed.
Gutierrez thanked senators for passing what would become Public Law 36-107, giving him fiscal authority to carry out the bureau’s operations even though the board of directors wasn’t meeting.
In a press release, Shelton said this week’s working meeting will work to update GVB’s enabling act that created GVB and the by-laws that govern policy and operational management at the Bureau, with 21st century destination management and industry practices. “GVB was created in 1970. The generation of leaders who gave us the Guam Visitors Bureau could never have imagined what tourism would look like 53 years later,” Shelton said.
The release said agency representatives and industry stakeholders “are expected to come ready, to roll-up their sleeves, and provide concrete recommendations to update the enabling act and by-laws.”
“The legislative tourism committee is committed to dialogue that represents the interests of GVB, the industry, and all stakeholders. I have no doubt the roundtable hearing next week will help lead to the long-awaited and substantive policy changes that are required to strengthen tourism going forward,” Shelton said. mbj