By Troy Torres
As teachers and retirees get the boot from Gov. Ralph Torres, the opportunist-in-chief is at it again. Under the guise of a yet another emergency operation, Mr. Torres's administration is moving public and federal resources toward what has historically mattered most to his administration: themselves.
Commonwealth police officers, speaking to Kandit on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, confirm the transfer of Britton Cruz from the Superior Court to the Department of Public Safety, at a time when DPS staff are being furloughed and police hours are being cut.
Britton Cruz is the son of the governor's bodyguard, Joey Cruz.
DPS now is paying Britton Cruz's salary.
DPS Commissioner Robert Guerrero also exempted his step son, Shane Mendiola, from furlough, and moved his son Johnny from the Motor Vehicle division to a federally-funded position to avoid the financial ax.
These moves to protect the politically and personally connected as the governor rips the earnings of government employees and retirees away from thousands only is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, as social isolation orders and the state of significant emergency make reporting and legislative oversight that much more difficult to do.
According to a report by a special fiscal realignment committee from the Governor's Office, the Commonwealth is facing a $65 million budgetary, or $130 million compressed cash shortage for the final six months of the fiscal year.
To cope with the financial exigency, the governor has punished the teachers and employees of the Public School System and government retirees the most, and has been fighting in court to take from PSS even more.
In response to a list of solutions proposed by Sen. Paul Manglona that would resolve many of the Commonwealth's fiscal restraints, legislation was passed to dedicate fees from the Commonwealth Casino License to fund the governor's funding shortfall to retirees.
The governor's fiscal team made it clear in its report that it opposes the earmarking of funds from sources.
Kandit has exposed prior corrupt and unethical uses of local and federal funds made during prior emergencies, when it is easiest for an executive to hide unruly expenditures. These have included the padding of payroll to his own cabinet during Yutu disaster recovery, and the use of other emergency and grant funding for unseemly contracts to cronies.
