Tinian mayor’s office hires family members, 71 community workers

Documents show that the Tinian Mayor’s Office employs immediate family members of the mayor, pays 71 community workers, 11 public relations staff, and 13 administrative and reception staff.

Based on the list, Tinian Mayor Francisco M. Borja has under his office’s payroll the following: his father, Elias M. Borja, serving as mayor’s tourism assistant and park development; his companion Bernadita DLG. San Nicolas as chief public relations and the community outreach program; daughter Maria Bernadita O. Borja and son Shawn SN. Borja as community workers; brothers Jose and Ricardo Borja as parks and maintenance worker; brother George Borja as special projects division supervisor; first cousin Donicio Borja as parks and maintenance worker; and brother-in-law Herman Palacios as social worker; among other close family members.

They receive annual salaries that range from a low of $18,000 to a high of $50,000.

The municipal office has a total of 161 FTEs.

Mayor Borja explained, through, that this happens partly because there are no private jobs on the islands, forcing the government to be the main employing agency. At the same time, he said one cannot avoid hiring relatives in a small place like Tinian.

Official lists show that the Tinian Mayor’s Office employs six administrative assistants receiving salaries from $18,000 to $28,000. This is on top of two administrative officers that receive $36,000 each.

Further, aside from having a chief for public relations, the office also has a senior public relations and an assistant public relations, a public information specialist, a public information officer, two public relation staff, and three public relation assistants.

Public relations and public information staff receive annual salaries that range from $18,000 to $50,000.

Based on the list, the mayor’s companion, Bernadita, is the highest paid staff in the office, even higher than his $43,200 base salary.

The office’s 71 community workers receive an annual salary of $15,000 to $26,000.

When reached yesterday, Borja said he does not hide the fact that some of his immediate family members are on his office payroll. More importantly, he said that his family members are working.

“I don’t hide them and I don’t hire them to sit around and get paid. I hire them because they are working. I don’t keep them in the office. A lot of them are working in the field and they are really working,” said the mayor.

Besides, he said, working with relatives in a small island like Tinian is not surprising.

“It’s a small island. If you look at the list, maybe a lot of them are not Borja or Manglona, but somehow they’re relations. In this small island, almost everybody is your family,” he said.

As for his father, he said that the older Borja has been with the municipal office way before he became a mayor.

On the presence of several community workers, he said this happens partly because “there are no private jobs.”

“The government is the main employing agency,” he said.

The mayor also noted that all the FTEs under his office were created by the Legislature and approved by the governor. “It’s me who created all these positions,” he said.

The mayor cited politics as behind the disclosure of his personnel list.

“Why are they making this a big issue now when I’m not even running? If you look at the list, even the Republicans, they have families under my payroll,” he said.

Borja, who belongs to the Covenant Party, ends his second term by January next year.

He accused his political opponents of “making up issues to put me in a bad light.”

“But people love me that’s why they voted me to office twice. And Covenant is going to win again in this elections,” he said.