by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Reacting to the withdrawal of Carl Gutierrez from the public auditor race, incumbent Doris Flores Brooks said she respects Gutierrez's choice to return to the role of partisan politician and thanked him for bringing more awareness to the important role of the Office of Public Accountability. Brooks went on to say that she's glad Gutierrez recognizes the position is non-partisan.

"Regardless of any political affiliation that a person may have before taking a non-partisan position, that old loyalty must be set aside if you are a public auditor, a judge or the attorney general, you must be independent - that's our law," she wrote.

In terms of his criticism of her and her office, she said it gives her pause to reflect on how she and the OPA can do their jobs more effectively "accountability matters and everyone is accountable".