A leaked and now viral recording of Chris Barnett speaking to another person reveals at least some of the words exchanged between he and Lou Leon Guerrero depicted in viral videos from Wednesday night. And according to the senator, what the governor allegedly said and did were neither appropriate nor professional.
At a Wednesday evening town hall meeting held at John F. Kennedy High School and involving hundreds of Simon Sanchez High School students, Mr. Barnett told the students to not trust the governor’s empty promises on the development of a new SSHS campus in Yigo. In a nearly four minute tirade raining with thunderous applause from students throughout, Mr. Barnett said the governor owes the community more than the political lip service politicians since 2013 have given to the SSHS community about rebuilding their school. The governor sat two chairs away from him and often stared the senator down throughout his speech.
The speech was captured live on the legislature’s YouTube channel. Other viral videos depict a confrontation that occurred between Ms. Leon Guerrero and Mr. Barnett following the town hall and after legislature’s cameras were shut off. Far off videos from the crowd show the governor and the senator exchanging words with a few witnesses from the governor’s office and the legislature nearby. The crowd videos could not pick up what was said.
In a recording of Mr. Barnett that was leaked today, the senator said:
“Yeah man, brother, I didn’t want to say anything, but the governor yelled ‘fuck you’ to me twice in front of everybody yesterday. It was really crazy, dude. She got into my face after the hearing and she was so pissed, right. I told her, I said, ‘Gov, I’m just talking about your record,’ and then she kept saying shit, and I was like, ‘Oh gov, I’m not gonna do this. You’re too upset.’ And then I went to go, uh, walk away, and she grabbed my arm (unintelligible). I said, ‘Governor, please don’t touch me,’ and then she let go. And then when I was walking away, she said, ‘Fuck you!’ And there’s another video. If you look at it, she fixes her jacket and then she goes, ‘Fuck you!’ And it’s crazy ’cause right after that she got interviewed by PDN and she told PDN that I’m not professional and I’m just like, ‘What the hell?’ It’s sad man. Anyway.”
Mr. Barnett has read but has not responded to Kandit’s inquiries about the matter. Adelup spokeswoman Krystal Paco-San Agustin, whom we asked specifically about Mr. Barnett’s claims, said Adelup’s response is to refer Kandit to its written news release from Thursday night. That release does not make any mention of the confrontation that occurred.
Here is the full release:
The Office of the Governor issues the following statement on Wednesday’s townhall meeting on Simon Sanchez High School:
“We all want to rebuild Simon Sanchez High School now, but nothing Senator Barnett said or did yesterday will actually make that happen. Even one of his closest senatorial allies, Senator Perez, told yesterday’s crowd in a remarkable moment of candor that Senator Barnett’s bill will do nothing to fix the current protest.
That’s the difference between a politician and a leader…
When a politician speaks, you cheer but leave just as empty handed as you came.
It’s been ten months since the Legislature changed Guam law to simplify the procurement process used to rebuild Simon Sanchez. Now, with the design complete, the Department of Public Works (DPW) would like to select a Construction Manager and put them to work, but this cannot proceed because of an Attorney General who has willfully chosen to abandon his Organic Act duties and the Simon Sanchez community.
Governor Leon Guerrero called senators into special session twice to address this problem so projects like Simon Sanchez would not be delayed again. Yet, Senator Barnett and others like him did nothing to help.
That’s because, for him, complaining about Simon Sanchez is better politics than letting the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio Administration build it.
Governor Leon Guerrero is an open book who has always told the unvarnished truth when the moment demanded it. Senator Barnett is a foot taller and at least one hundred pounds heavier. If he wants to lie about her and the issues she cares about in public, then pretend to be friendly in private, he better be man enough to hear the whole truth and nothing but.
We are thankful for every student who attended yesterday’s town hall and hope they saw beyond the grandstanding to a simple truth: democratic government is hard work. It’s inefficient. And too often, it’s frustrating—but it’s better than the alternative. If we stay focused and rely on
information rather than ignorance, then we will be defined not by our obstacles but by the people who worked to overcome them.”
