CUC offers $145K salary to new CFO

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has chosen a new chief financial officer following a special board meeting yesterday. While details about the individual remains undisclosed pending acceptance of the position, CUC has shared that it’s offering the candidate an annual salary of $145,000 plus benefits.

During the special board meeting, CUC board of directors unanimously voted to offer the position to an applicant chosen during the second round of applications.

According to director Simon Sanchez, the candidate will serve as CFO with an annual salary of $145,000, plus standard benefits available to all CUC employees, and standard relocation expenses.

In an interview with board chair Janice Tenorio, she shared in addition to the annual salary, CUC will be offering the off-island candidate relocation expenses of $10,000.

“For the CFO position, we have decided to offer applicant No. 2 the position. She is from off-island. We are offering her a salary of $145,000 plus a $10,000 relocation fee,” she said.

Tenorio further explained that the undisclosed candidate, who is originally from Guam, is the second individual to be offered the position.

“We can’t disclose the name of the applicant until she accepts the offer. [But] applicant No. 2 is from the island of Guam so she wants to be closer to home and there is nothing more appropriate than bringing back folks from the Marianas. We’ve offered the position to another applicant [prior to this one] but she rescinded her application. This is the second round,” she said.

“We’re so happy to be moving forward. Betty Terlaje has been acting for a while as the executive director while also overseeing accounting and the finance department in regard to the audits,” she added.

Tenorio noted that the CFO position is part of the federal court’s stipulated order and CUC is happy to announce that they’ve fulfilled the stipulated order.

The CFO position, which was vacated by Greg Cruz, has been vacant since 2022.

“This is long overdue. The only position left to fill pursuant to the stipulated order is the executive director for water and wastewater position,” she said.

Currently, the application process for the executive director for water and wastewater position is open and CUC continues to search for a new deputy executive director since current executive director Kevin Watson vacated the position last May.

Watson, who has been with CUC for about two years now, has served in his new capacity since June 1, and will serve for the next two years.

As for contract details, Watson received the same offer previously given to professional engineer Christopher Thiesen; a $200,000 annual salary, $2,000 housing allowance for one year, and a $1,000 car allowance for two years.