Commission member calls for Veterans Affairs head to resign, Bordallo says he isn't going anywhere

Guam Veterans Affairs head Fred Bordallo has found himself in the crosshairs of the Guam Veterans Commission with some veterans calling for his resignation. But Bordallo said he isn't going anywhere.

Guam Veterans Commission vice chair Johnny "Atulai" Taitano called for Bordallo's resignation during a commission meeting last Friday.

We asked Bordallo if he's writing a Dear Gov letter calling it quits.

"Oh no, no, no, I serve at the pleasure of the governor and I don't serve at the pleasure of one member - Johnny Atulai Taitano who calls for that," he said. "So I'm not submitting my resignation."

At issue is whether or not Bordallo supports Vice Speaker Telena Nelson's Bill 300-35, which aims to restructure the Veterans' commission.

The legislature's veterans advocate Tom Devlin said it all started with a simple yes or no question.


"I asked Fred straightforward: Fred do you or the governor or the two of you want to change what's going on with the veterans' commission, do you want to remove it the way it is right now? That's a straight forward question right? Couldn't get an answer - he took to political - all over the place," he said.

But Bordallo said it may have been a yes or no question, but right now he doesn't have a yes or no answer

"There's some provisions that I support," he said. "And I haven't completed my full review of it, then of course, I told the commission members that I'm coordinating my write up on my evaluation of the bill with the govenor's policy team and their communications and I actually have to touch base with the governor too that's what I told them," he said.

But while Bordallo said only Johnny Atulai asked for his resignation, Devlin said no one went to bat for Bordallo when it was brought up.

"There were no comments to say the opposite and you could hear a pin drop in the room and I voiced my opinion, I think whether its right or wrong, good or bad," he said. "If the perception is that they don't have the confidence in you on the level, the perception is what they're going to go on and that's why they want the resignation."

Devlin also said issues at veterans' cemetery were also brought up the meeting after members of the veterans' commission visited the Piti facility.