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Search for CUC board members proving hard
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Posted on Oct 25 2006
The Fitial administration seems to have a hard time getting people to serve on the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s advisory board.
Acting Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez said that some individuals who had been asked to sit on the CUC board declined their nomination.
The main reason: The board’s function is purely advisory.
“There are three or four people who have rejected the request primarily because it is an advisory board. Their role is basically to advise the executive director on how to run [CUC’s] business,” said Villagomez, who continues to be in control of CUC matters despite the utility’s supposed autonomy.
“But this is why I reached out to the business community. I was hoping they could contribute some of their time in ensuring that the utility is run like a corporation,” he added.
Nonetheless, Villagomez said two appointees would be named to the board within this week. The administration has been working with the Legislature in selecting appointees, he added.
In a May 2006 directive restoring CUC’s autonomy, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said that CUC was better off with an advisory board, rather than a regular board of directors, to avoid micromanagement.
Fitial’s Executive Order 2006-2 stated that the new five-member board “shall serve in an advisory capacity and shall defer to the executive director with respect to the management and administration of the corporation.”
Appointments to the advisory board are subject to Senate confirmation.
