by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Aside from issues involving the Port Authority of Guam's modernization plan Democrat Senators took aim at Port Management and the Board for issues involving its Legal Services Contract with the law firm of Phillips and Bordallo and the tenure of two board members, specifically Dan Tydingco and Mike Benito.

As we reported Senator Tom Ada who has oversight over the Port Authority believes Tydingco and Benito have been serving in an illegal capacity. Ada has said it appears there was an oversight during the appointment process of the board members. He believes Tydingco and Benito were appointed to fulfill the unexpired terms of previous board members they replaced. Adelup however argues they are serving a three year term and their appointment is still valid. During Tuesday night's information briefing Port General Manager Joanne Brown responded that the 31^st Guam Legislature confirmed the two board members in question for a three year term. She noted that Senator Ada who was still oversight over the Port at the time could have raised the issue during the confirmation process but didn't. She said they could debate the issue all day, but she will wait to see what the Attorney General's position is on the matter. Senator Rory Respicio would later infer that should the AG take the position of the Port and the Governor then the Legislature could seek legal remedy to the issue.

As for the issue involving the Port Authority's Legal Services Contract, Senator Rory Respicio said he had specifically asked Chairman Ada to include this on the agenda for discussion. According to Port Procurement Manager Alma Javier she said the Port's Legal Services Contract took effect in May 2011 to replace the previous law firm of Lujan, Aguigui and Perez. The contract was renewed in May 2012 with a cap of $499,999 on fees and costs. Senator Respicio said he was trying to make sense of the cap saying from what he can determine the $499,999 cap was necessary to avoid the Attorney General's Office review of contracts. Javier however said that when the Port solicited the contract it was through the oversight of an attorney that was assigned to the agency by the Attorney General's office. Senator Respicio would then express concerns about how the law firm was 8 months behind in billing the Port and whether the agency would exceed the cap. He mentioned how Javier in a November board meeting raised the issue that the Port could exceed the cap by March 1^st of this year. Javier told Senators that the law firm has been paid $326,000 to cover expenses from 2011up until June when it was last billed. Acting Port Board Chairperson Christine Baleto told Senators that the Board had instructed the Legal Counsel to provide the agency with current billings so that it can assess the true amount owed in legal fees.

Brown questioned the reasoning for the lawmakers concerns for the legal services contract at this time, considering the recent history of the Port. Brown brought up how the previous law firm of Lujan Perez Aguigui was paid over $2.2 million in legal fees. She pointed out that in one particular fiscal year alone the previous law firm was paid $700,000 in legal fees. Brown also said that the previous law firm's contract expired in June 2011 but a payment was made to the firm in February 2012. Brown, defended this was the same Committee that had oversight of the Port and that she would be curious to see if this same committee also reviewed the legal fees of the previous law firm. Senator Respicio responded that the previous law firm however didn't go through a cap of $499,999. Senator Brown responded she would be curious to see as to why not because these were considerable charges.