THE Medallion Group filed a lawsuit in Superior Court yesterday against the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority and its executive director, Marcel Camacho.
The firm filed the suit over GHURA’s refusal to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted on Dec. 29, 2011. The suit is separate from the appeal the group filed with the Office of Public Accountability over a housing bid where they were ranked first but disqualified.
The firm also wrote a letter to Vice Speaker Benjamin J. F. Cruz seeking his assistance regarding its application to GHURA related to the bid. According to the letter, “We have been met with nothing but silence.”
Despite GHURA having received numerous requests for information on the procurement process from OPA, Medallion said “GHURA chose to ignore these requests and did not submit any information to OPA” as required under Guam procurement law.
This, Medallion believes, is a “blatant disregard for the law and the most fundamental elements of governmental ethics, and can only be interpreted as a desire to hide something.”
Because of this, Medallion “has been forced to file a lawsuit.”
Sen. Tina Muña-Barnes yesterday said she and Vice Speaker Cruz are working together to gather information and both committees will review the documents.
Barnes said the vice speaker has requested information and has invoked the FOIA.
“We intend to work on this in committee and we’re still gathering information from GHURA. As soon as all the documents come in, the committee will look them over and decide whether we should proceed with an oversight or not,” said the senator, who chairs the housing committee. Vice Speaker Cruz chairs the procurement committee.
Medallion, in its letter, said their situation is a reflection on the government of Guam and how it does business with companies.
The Medallion Group is being represented by the Teker Torres & Teker law firm.
