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Reyes: Investigate AG’s husband
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Posted on Jun 10 2005
Minority leader Pete P. Reyes wants the Office of the Public Auditor and a federal agency to investigate the use of federal funds for a contract awarded to Seafix Inc., the company being managed by Mark Blackburn.
Reyes introduced yesterday Senate Resolution 14-54 to inform the Government Accountability Office and OPA of “possible conflict of interest” surrounding the recent awarding of a $200,000 contract by the CNMI Water Task Force to Seafix Inc. The Senate did not act on the resolution yesterday.
The contract was for the purchase of supplies, tools, and equipment.
Blackburn is a member of the water task force and is married to Attorney General Pamela Brown, who is also a member of the task force.
“It is unknown if either Mr. Blackburn or Ms. Brown participated in the discussions related to the issuance of the contract, whether they voted to accept Seafix Inc.’s bid, or whether they had access to non-public, confidential information which would have given Seafix Inc. an unfair advantage in the bidding process,” said Reyes in the resolution.
Any participation of either of the couple would appear “inappropriate,” he said.
He said that GAO is an independent and nonpartisan agency, commonly called the “investigative arm of Congress” or the “congressional watchdog” because it evaluates federal programs, audits federal expenditures, and issues legal opinions.
In the resolution, Reyes said that monies for the expenditures made by the task force appear to have come from federal sources.
Press secretary Peter Callaghan said the Babauta administration welcomes any investigation “because everything was done according to the rules.”
“Blackburn was an adviser [to the task force], and when this thing was being discussed, he was not in the discussion,” said Callaghan.
