It’s the largest single federal investment for disaster recovery in Guam's history, over half a billion dollars through the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery or CDBG-DR program to rebuild homes, businesses, and infrastructure shattered by Typhoon Mawar. 

But now, questions are being raised, not about the money, but about the public’s voice.

“That amount of money has the potential to be transformative and positive for our community and that's exactly why I've been calling for more community engagement, community involvement and more outreach,” said Senator Chris Barnett.

Barnett says the process needs more than meetings and Facebook posts, it needs real, on-the-ground communication, especially for island residents still struggling.

But GHURA, the agency tasked with distributing the funds, says they went beyond what was federally required. 

Six town halls, three public hearings, a digital campaign seen over a million times, and the legislature, they say, was the very first group they briefed.

“The fix in six social media kind of marketing rollout, and looking at that it's looks very prominent in the last month, if you look at the comments, people have a lot of questions about it- what are these funds going to be used for? And how can they avail of these fundings? And I think that kind of goes to show that people aren't too sure what this money is for, what it's about and how they can take part in the process,” said Barnett. 

GHURA stated that they welcomed legislative input early on, and remained open to all feedback but true collaboration requires participation from everyone involved, noting that Sen. Barnett was not present when they sat down with lawmakers.

“If I wasn't able to attend that one time that GHURA allowed the legislature to sit down with them, imagine how many people out there weren't able to attend any of these hearings,” added Barnett. 

Barnett sent a freedom of information act request to GHURA for sign-in sheets from the series of hearings GHURA held about the program. 

“The FOIA is going to show that we can do more public outreach with this Fix in Six,” said Barnett.  

With $500 million on the line, Barnett is calling for more hearings, more involvement and engagement for the people of Guam to have their say.

“Deciding how to spend the $500-million dollars shouldn't just be left to a couple of people and a few stakeholders. I think it's something people need to be involved with,” added Barnett. 

GHURA says every day of delay means families wait longer for help and that “Fix in Six” remains the goal. 

GHURA says they are open to dialogue but the federal deadline is just days away.

The draft action plan is available for public review on GHURA’s website until June 20. 

Public comments can still be submitted online or in person.