by Ken Wetmore, KUAM News Tuesday, April 20, 2004 E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

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It's apparent now - there is no hope for a peaceful resolution to the rift between Guam's governor and lieutenant governor. Private conversations between the island's top two elected officials have now made their way to the very open forum of the Superior Court.

The decision by Lieutenant Governor Kaleo Moylan to take the issue to court was not made yesterday. In fact, he says he considered filing the lawsuit as early as last Friday, but decided to use the weekend and Monday to, in his words, "dot the i's and cross the t's". On Friday, the Lieutenant Governor spoke to KUAM News about the lawsuit on the condition that we embargo the information until after the lawsuit was filed.

And Tuesday, it was.

Another chapter was added to the political history books of Guam Tuesday morning at just after 11:30. Attorney Mike Phillips walked into Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson's courtroom and filed an alternative writ against Governor Felix Camacho on behalf of his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Kaleo Moylan.

The Lieutenant Governor is asking the court to issue a ruling that the termination of two staffers in the Guam Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the removal of functions of the Guam State Clearinghouse from that same office is unlawful and to order the Governor to rescind his actions.

Judge Barrett-Anderson declined to take any action today and instead asked that all the parties involved appear in her courtroom at 9AM next Monday, April 26.

Afterwards, Attorney Mike Phillips said he was fairly confident in the Lieutenant Governor's case against the Governor. "I don't think that the Governor's chief of staff had any authority whatsoever to terminate any employees at the Lieutenant Governor's Office," he asserted. "With regard to the Guam State Clearinghouse, I think that's a more difficult issue, but it's real clear that Guam law empowers the Lieutenant Governor to do certain things that cannot be disputed."

While the Governor has said it was he who fired the Lieutenant Governor's chief of staff Bertha Duenas and staffer Ray Blas, Attorney Phillips says the record reflects that it was the Governor's chief of staff, Tony Sanchez, who terminated the duo.

This afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Moylan, said his lawsuit isn't about personalities but about the law. "I think that the future is still bright and I think it holds many exciting opportunities and I'm excited about it and I'm just excited about this as well, answering a question that hasn't been answered that many previous administrations have really raised, and I think this is an exciting opportunity to bring finality to a question that deserves finality and closure and I want to put an end to such questions so that future governors and lieutenant governors can thank us for taking the bold step and making their lives that much better and their relationships that much more stronger, so that those questions may not pose hurdles for them in the future, and I think that's really important," said Mr. Moylan.

As for his relationship with Governor Camacho, the Lieutenant Governor says he can and is still working with the Governor and listed off a half-dozen instances of the two working together recently. As for whether the Camacho/Moylan relationship is strong enough for another election, Moylan told KUAM News, "I've never answered those questions because they're premature, really, until the date you have to make those political decisions."

The Lieutenant Governor says he does not plan on attending Monday's hearing, saying it's unnecessary. If you're wondering who's picking up the tab for the Lieutenant Governor's lawsuit, Moylan himself says he feels a strong case could be made for using public funds, since he is defending the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, but said he has decided to personally pay for the court and attorney fees out of his own pocket.