The Office of the Attorney General told Gov. Eloy S. Inos this month that two seats held by Northern Marianas College regents have been \u201cvacant\u201d since 2014, and that \u201cappointments must be made to fill the vacancies.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, interviews with board chair Juan T. Lizama and board member William Torres reveal that the board did not request this clarification.<\/p>\n
Turns out Inos had already reappointed the \u201cvacant\u201d seats of board members Elaine Orilla and Torres. And that college president Dr. Sharon Hart and Lizama were the only ones to know about the requested opinion.<\/p>\n
Four board members petitioned Lizama to hold a special meeting last Friday to discuss the AG\u2019s opinion. Hart and Lizama, who appointed Orilla as vice chair at the meeting, were off-island.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Torres told Saipan Tribune that he made it clear on record that he disputed the AG\u2019s opinion and that he would put it to a certified question in the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we don\u2019t need to do that,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune over the weekend. Instead, he noted some salient facts confirmed by Lizama in an interview on Tuesday\u2014that the board had not sought the AG\u2019s opinion on office terms through official action, and that if they had, the chairman of the board, Lizama, should have been copied in the letter addressed to Inos.<\/p>\n
The AG\u2019s April 15 letter reads: \u201cThe Northern Marianas College Board of Regents raised concerns about the staggered terms of its members.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically, the board sought clarification regarding the date upon which a new appointee\u2019s term begins to run: predetermined dates as established by the 1986 appointments or the date on which an appointee is confirmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AG\u2019s office said that practice has been to use the confirmation dates of new appointees to determine the beginning and end dates for the four-year terms.<\/p>\n
But as a result, the purported expiration dates for the NMC Board of Regents are \u201cerroneous and must be corrected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AG clarified that Torres and Orilla held seats that, according to the staggered term dates, had since expired.<\/p>\n
Torres holds the seat first held by Sister Mary Balzarina, a four-year term starting in 1986.<\/p>\n
Orilla holds the seat first held by Isaac Calvo, also a four-year term starting in 1986. Other terms drawn in 1986 varied from two- to three-year terms.<\/p>\n
Based on these staggered dates, the AG found that the terms of Torres and Orilla had \u201csince expired and they are no longer members of the Board.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNew appointments or reappointments must be made to fill these vacancies,\u201d the AG wrote.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Lizama said this letter did not have to be an \u201cissue.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the letter should not have required the calling of a special meeting, and that it should be discussed in a regular session.<\/p>\n
He hopes the next meeting set for May 7 would look at the matter \u201ccalmly, amicably, and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to clarify the AG\u2019s statement that the NMC board had shared concerns with the office on the terms, he indicated that the board did not.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta ask the AG that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lizama said that Hart had made him aware of the issue. He explained that Hart was concerned over accreditation requirements that were \u201cvery strict\u201d on staggered term dates.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy take is, if she did [seek the AG\u2019s opinion], I think she is working on WASC requirements,\u201d he said. That was what the president was trying to correct, he added.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune learned that after the special meeting on Friday, board members sought an audience with Inos on the matter.<\/p>\n
Hart could not be contacted as of press time yesterday. It was gathered she was off-island.<\/p>\n
Similarly, a message left with the AG\u2019s public information officer was not returned as of press time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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