by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Governor Eddie Calvo is moving forward, although disappointed by the Legislature's actions in removing his bond plan to pay past due tax refunds from the budget bill. He spoke before the Guam Contractors Association today on his reorganization plan and his priority to get the money that's owed to the people paid.

As the 31st Legislature continued deliberating on the substitute budget bill, Governor Calvo spoke about more cuts - starting with his office - the chief executive impressing upon GCA members that the government cannot continue spending beyond its means and borrowing from taxpayers.

Dededo resident Eddie Santiago hasn't seen a tax refund since 2006. Owed more than $300,000, he'll have to wait just like everyone else. "The way I see it, a lot of people, not just me, my wife, her children, everybody on this island is waiting for that, and they want it bad, some people need it more than I do," he stated. Santiago is one of the many the governor has referred to that needs their tax refund paid.

"There are people who are crying, it's either because they are dying, or someone's really sick in their family, or they got their power cut or they're getting evicted and they're looking at me and begging me for their money from 2008," he added.

With his $300 million bond proposal to pay tax refunds by Christmas cut from the substitute budget bill, Calvo took the first step in cutting even deeper. Today he issued Reorganization Advisory No. 4, which ordered the reduction of his pay, Lieutenant Governor Ray Tenorio's pay and their senior staff by 10%. He says the savings generated from these cuts will be dedicated towards paying tax refunds.

Calvo explained, "We made a concerted effort to cut costs in our administration, we're still moving forward with our proposal for a bond indenture to pay off the deficit and moving forward with future year budgets, we want to show people and this legislature that this administration is committed to having to be the first ones to do it, making necessary cuts to ensure that we don't spend more money than this government take in."

Before the GCA, Governor Calvo said since the people of Guam can't directly voice their concerns before the Legislature during a legislative session he was hoping his proposed bond measure would have at least been afforded the opportunity to be heard on the floor. "And if they don't like it then fine but to not even allow this only option as we put on the table to be presented which was a major component of our budget bill, I'm besides myself because I haven't heard any other solution," he said.

On the floor today, Republican Senator Chris Duenas motioned during discussions on revenues to have the government's bond counsel make a presentation on the governor's original $300 million bond proposal and its possible impacts to the numbers in the substitute bill. However, Committee Chair on Appropriations Senator Ben Pangelinan ruled against it, saying the bond was not packaged to support the revenue.

While any further discussions of the bond issue remain to be heard and more cuts continue to be made to help GovGuam's financial position, others like Santiago's neighbor, Nartur Onopwi, continue to wait for his tax refunds. Having moved to Guam from Chuuk nearly two decades ago, he says he needs his tax refunds that are owed for the past three years for his family including his mom who is in the hospital at the moment.

"I've been laid off from my job, and I need the money because I have a family, I don't have food and sometimes I borrow money from somebody but now I don't pay the one I borrow" he told KUAM News.

Governor Calvo says he'll leave it up to the other government agencies and departments to make their cuts but hopes they are spending what is essentially the taxpayers' money wisely and encourages others to find creative ways to cut costs within GovGuam. Lawmakers meanwhile recessed discussions on the substitute budget bill at around 4:30 tomorrow and will resume tomorrow.

Adelup pay cuts

Position	Name	Full Salary	Reduced Salary
Governor of Guam	Eddie Baza Calvo	$90,000	$81,000
Chief of Staff	Franklin P. Arriola	$82,000	$73,800
Deputy Chief of Staff	Rose Ramsey	$79,000	$71,100
Chief Fiscal Advisor	Bernadette Artero	$80,000	$72,000
Chief Legal Counsel	James Canto	$82,000	$73,800
Chief Policy Advisor	Arthur Clark	$85,000	$76,500
Chief Education Advisor	Vincent Leon Guerrero	$70,000	$63,000
Special Assistant on Healthcare and Military Buildup	Brian San Nicolas*	$10,000	$9,000
Director, Washington D.C. Office of the Governor	J. Rick Perez	$70,000	$63,000
Special Assistant	Henry Cruz	$65,000	$58,500
Director of Constituent Services	Jesse Alig	$65,000	$58,500
Special Assistant for External Affairs	Telo Taitague	$65,000	$58,500
Director of Communications	Troy Torres	$65,000	$58,500
Director of Protocol	Sheri Miki Yokozeki	$60,000	$54,000
DCA President, de facto Administrator for CAHA and HRRA	Joseph Cameron**	$15,012	$13,511
Chief Information Officer	Ed Cruz	$70,000	$63,000
	Total	$1,053,012	$947,711
	Total reduction for Governor's Office	$105,301

*$65,000 of salary covered by Office of Economic Adjustment
**$54,988 of salary covered by Department of Chamorro Affairs

Position	Name	Full Salary	Reduced Salary
Lt. Governor of Guam	Ray Tenorio	$85,000	$76,500
Lt. Governor's Chief of Staff	Dong Choe	$70,000	$63,000
Guam State Clearinghouse Director	Eric Palacios	$55,000	$49,500
IBTF Program Manager	Kelly Basilia	$50,000	$45,000
Special Assistant	Alejandro Gagaring	$55,000	$49,500
Special Assistant	Leila Uong	$53,000	$47,700
Special Assistant	Carlene Okiyama	$53,000	$47,700
Special Assistant	Mermae Cepeda	$50,000	$45,000
Special Assistant	Taryn Walker	$50,000	$45,000
	Total	$521,000	$468,900
	Total reduction for Lt. Governor's Office	$52,100


Grand total in reduction	$157,401