GOV. Eddie Calvo has made changes in his Cabinet following an assessment of all Cabinet members’ performance.

“I demanded excellence from all GovGuam employees,” Gov. Calvo said in a press release.

“My staff and my Cabinet are not immune from that call. As a matter of fact, I expect even more from them.”

Calvo’s Chief of Staff Franklin P. Arriola began the assessment after the one-year anniversary of Calvo’s inauguration on Jan. 3.

The governor instructed Arriola to grade each Cabinet member on their:

• progress toward meeting the goals set forth in Blueprint 2020;
• ability to cut spending and implement creative solutions;
• customer service within the agency, considering resource constraints;
• improvement of service levels;
• responsiveness to constituents;
• ability to inspire their employees;
• ability to work with their colleagues in the Cabinet;
• ability to implement mandates, considering funding constraints; and
• their implementation of the governor or senior staff’s directions.

As a result of the review, there has been a shuffle and reduction in the Cabinet.

Two Cabinet members who have been replaced are Department of Labor Director Leah Beth Naholowaa and Agency for Human Resources Development head Frank Roberto. The Governor’s Office could not confirm if the two were going to be assigned to another agency or whether they were let go.

George Santos is now the new director of the Department of Labor. Santos used to be the deputy director of the Department of Administration. A search is ongoing for a new director of the Agency for Human Resource Development.

Ralph Sgambelluri will return to his post as chief of Customs while Pedro Leon Guerrero will be the director of Customs. Leon Guerrero was the general manager of the Port Authority of Guam.

Mary Torres, who used to be the executive manager of the Guam International Airport Authority, will be the general manager of PAG, while Chuck Ada will be the executive manager of GIAA. Ada used to be the administrator of Civil Defense. A search is now ongoing for a new administrator of Civil Defense.

The Governor’s Office also announced more changes will occur and will be announced as they happen.

“We looked at the Cabinet and we found there were people with talent that could be used better in another agency,” Arriola said.

“As for others, they’re very good people, but their skill sets did not work out and were not a good fit for our operation. We roll hard. We have very high expectations. We’re demanding not just good work, but excellence. There’s a lot riding on our ability to provide the very best leadership possible. We will not be remiss in that duty,” he added.

PAG board Chairman Dan Tydingco yesterday told Variety the request was made by the governor to move Leon Guerrero over to Customs and Quarantine.

“Given that, we said, okay, we understand,” Tydingco said.

However, Tydingo said the board wanted a guarantee that there would be a seamless transition “in so far as there is no gaping hole  down at the Port, as far as our general manager.”

The board requested from the governor that the new general manager be a person with the skills and experience, particularly in the area of dealing with federal matters, as the Port moves forward with its modernization plan and its dealings with MARAD.

“And we requested for Mary Torres because Mary has that skill set, so we asked that he consider she be sent over to the Port to fill the position,” Tydingco said.

The PAG board, by law, must formally act upon the action and has yet to officially do so.

Tydingco said the change in management will be placed on the agenda and will be acted upon during either a special board meeting they might call this week, or at a regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The board has yet to met this month.

Tydingco said Leon Guerrero did an outstanding job and they “hate to see him go.”

“However, we want to ensure we have a seamless change and that we have the continuity that we need as we move forward in our modernization plan that’s taking place,” Tydingco said.

PAG will be meeting with MARAD officials in Washington D.C. in two weeks, Tydingco added.