GUTIERREZ RESIGNS; ISLAND REACTS

Former Guam Governor Carl Gutierrez, tourism chief for the past five years, has resigned as president and CEO of the Guam Visitors Bureau effective immediately. GVB public information officer Lisa Bordallo confirmed that his letter of resignation was accepted by the board of directors this afternoon.

The resignation happened so suddenly, that when Kandit reached out to the governor’s office for comment at 3:38 p.m., governor’s communications director Krystal Paco-San Agustin was unaware of the event. Mr. Gutierrez was in Korea with Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and her chief of staff, Jon Junior Calvo, the past few days promoting the island to outbound Korean travelers. Ms. Leon Guerrero returned to Guam Thursday.

Even GVB staff were unable to confirm the resignation until 3:45 p.m., when Ms. Bordallo had learned that GVB board chairman George Chiu had received the letter and that the board had accepted the resignation. Ms. Bordallo said she has not seen the letter, that Mr. Chiu is the only person who has it, and that she is only aware that Mr. Gutierrez resigned for personal reasons. She has no further information.

“I appreciate his public service and leadership during the most challenging periods during and after Covid,” GVB board member Ho Eun said of Mr. Gutierrez. Mr. Eun is with the former governor in Korea.

The resignation now makes moot the board’s November 21 agenda to consider his termination. It also ends two years of often-contentious relations between Mr. Gutierrez and some members of the board whom Mr. Gutierrez had accused of corruption.

What the resignation does not end is a grand jury investigation into a previous GVB contract with a non-profit organization tied to former GVB board members, and a marketing company tied to the previous administration. Audited financials of GVB show this marketing company received more than $9 million in public funds.

In 2022, Mr. Gutierrez ordered GVB legal counsel Joseph McDonald to investigate the contracts and several relationships among some board members at the time, GVB management during the Calvo administration, and contractors and subcontractors of the agency. In a report to the agency, Mr. McDonald had found what the report called evidence of inappropriate, unethical, and illegal conduct and collusion among parties.

Mr. Gutierrez turned those allegations over to Attorney General Douglas Moylan in early 2023.

Kandit has reviewed documents confirming Mr. Moylan has brought an investigation into the non profit and the marketing company to the Superior Court of Guam grand jury. According to documents Kandit has reviewed, two GVB officials have been commanded to appear before the grand jury on November 26 this year. They are to bring with them several documents related to the non profit and the marketing company.

The date of these subpoenas was November 12, which was one day before GVB’s board chairman revised the November 21 meeting agenda to include the termination of Mr. Gutierrez as the main consideration of the board’s new business.

The former governor’s unrelenting contention that former and even current board members have been embroiled in the corrupt use of the annual multimillion dollar Tourist Attraction Fund reached a fever pitch last week, when Mr. Chiu then Mr. Gutierrez yelled at each other in a board meeting.

Mr. Chiu was adamant that Mr. Gutierrez follow board instructions to merge GVB management’s tourism recovery plan with a plan drafted by industry leaders and penned by former board chairman Mark Baldyga. Mr. Gutierrez took offense to the command, accusing Mr. Baldyga of trying to direct how the GVB funds are spent.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” Mr. Gutierrez said to Mr. Chiu in a viral video recording of the exchange. “This money is supposed to go out there to the community!”

Reactions to the controversy have been mixed.

Ms. Paco-San Agustin, replying to Kandit’s request for a reaction from the governor, said the governor’s office has yet to see the resignation letter.

In response to the news of the November 21 agenda item to consider the removal of Mr. Gutierrez, Republican Senator Jesse Lujan said, “I encourage all strong advocates for Guam as a competitive visitor destination. Just as we need confident private investors, we need credible public leadership to manage this destination. Not any one of us can revive the tourism industry on our own. No one has all the answers. GVB is designed to gather industry investors and government resources for common benefit. Nothing has changed. But those presently involved can squander valuable progress by refusing to work together. Where is the constructive proposal behind this dramatic clash of wills? Leadership communicates a shared vision. Until a new vision is articulated that we can all share, the current GVB Board and Management must stay on task.”

Mr. Lujan is the vice chairman of the legislative tourism committee and is rumored to have been selected by the incoming Republican majority caucus as the next chairman on tourism in the legislature.

Kandit’s viewers and readers also have shared mixed reviews.

The Kandit columnist who goes by the pen name Joe Q. Public, said in an op-ed this past week that the squabbling between the board and Mr. Gutierrez was causing the industry to lose focus on what’s important: bringing tourists to Guam.

“We the people are tired of eating table scraps, we are tired of your bickering, and we are tired of feeling like we work for you,” the column writer wrote. “Just work together to help fix what you broke!”

“They need to clean house, maybe board and management,” Sammy Braeden commented in reaction to the news of Gutierrez’s resignation. “I’d like to know why the board’s executive secretary got a 40% raise a few months ago.”

Other reactions from the public include:

“It appears selfish interests pushed aside planning and prioritizing steps needed for Guam visitor growth. We will see what is next.” – Robert Kelley

“Let them figure it out. You’re still the one.” – Angie Esteves

“Good riddance.” – @marthechamorro

“Kitchen got too hot.” – @apcwas71

“He fought for the common person but unfortunately the big ballers owners of those properties greedy owners forced him out.” – @sonny_cruz33

“Wait, who’s gonna keep the board in check.” – @slowspeed97

“About time.” – @blackbeltchef671