Support for Gutierrez and Perez grows; mayors and vice mayors petition GVB board to stop antics


The mayors and vice mayors of Guam want the Guam Visitors Bureau board of directors to stop its efforts against GVB president and CEO Carl Gutierrez. The elected grassroots leaders, in what appears to be unanimous (and bipartisan) support, penned and signed a petition to the board in support of Gutierrez and his deputy, Gerald “Gerry” Perez.

One of the signatories is Sinajana Mayor Robert Hoffman, who is awaiting legislative confirmation of his mayoral appointment to the GVB board.

“I signed it as a mayor, because I’ve seen the work they’ve been doing working with the mayors and the vice mayors,” Mr. Hoffman said of his support for the two leaders. “Their hearts are in the right places.”

Mr. Hoffman served on the GVB board before, and spoke to Kandit about the systemic governance problem that has plagued GVB. “It’s been long standing that small businesses and other companies know that the power’s been held by just a few board members,” he said, adding that he’s committed to seeing a change in the governance structure, especially in light of the recent report of investigation published by GVB’s legal counsel, Joseph McDonald.

That report makes major allegations of a criminal conspiracy of corruption, where certain former and current board members allegedly abused their power to guide public funds to the benefit of themselves and GVB vendors associated with their companies.

The report has led to a full-blown effort by some board members to get rid of Mr. Gutierrez and Mr. McDonald.

The Sinajana mayor said the challenge is in answering the question, “How do we correct this, and work together? It’s interesting how this has been a creature for the past 40 plus years, and it hasn’t been figured out yet. The future of this, is where do we see the tourism bureau to come? I don’t want us to be bogged down. Let the bureau and its experts do their thing.”

Board members are scheduled to reconvene at the end of this month with the albatross of a criminal investigation (based on the corruption report) confirmed by Attorney General Douglas Moylan, and a possible audit by the Office of Public Accountability.

The report alleges at least a decade of kickbacks, illegal contracts, and money-making schemes built upon conflicts of interest to the tune of millions of dollars in public funds.

You may read the mayors and vice mayors’s petition below:


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