Guam's AG candidates call for changes in staffing, priorities, oversight

By Ron Rocky Coloma

The Office of the Attorney General should focus less on politics and more rebuilding its workforce, prosecuting crimes and delivering basic legal services, four candidates for the office argued Wednesday as they laid out competing plans for changing the direction of the island’s top legal office.

Phillip J. Tydingco, Jordan L. Pauluhn, Thomas J. Fisher and Peter J. Santos highlighted staffing shortages, employee protections and management during a public debate hosted in Sinajana by the Guam Bar Association, finding considerable common ground on what they believe needs to change while differing on how they would restructure and oversee the office.

The four criticized incumbent Attorney General Douglas Moylan’s leadership and said they would take a different approach to managing employees and legal work.

Moylan, who is seeking reelection, did not participate in the debate.

The four candidates offered proposals ranging from expanding treatment programs and imposing deadlines for contract reviews to creating additional oversight and restructuring prosecutorial responsibilities.

They all supported classified merit-system protections for attorneys and employees, arguing job security is important to rebuilding and retaining an experienced staff.

“You need people to feel secure and respected in their positions,” Santos said. “You need them to be able to work without fear of retaliation or reprisal.”

Tydingco, a former chief prosecutor and chief deputy attorney general, similarly said classified employment provides protections needed to build a career workforce.

Fisher called classification part of treating employees with dignity and providing them with the security to build careers in government service.

Pauluhn said the attorney general must follow existing law requiring a merit system but added that Guam’s personnel rules should be updated to address employment protections and management needs.

The candidates also confronted one of the office’s central structural challenges: The attorney general serves as both Guam’s chief legal officer and public prosecutor, creating circumstances in which the office’s responsibilities can conflict.

Pauluhn proposed working with the legislature and governor to change the chief prosecutor position, creating greater separation between prosecutorial responsibilities and the attorney general.

Santos said professional conduct rules already provide mechanisms for handling conflicts and argued the solution is following those rules.

Tydingco emphasized maintaining ethical walls among the office’s divisions, while Fisher said information obtained while advising a government agency cannot simply be carried into a criminal case against that agency or its personnel.

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“If a conflict arises that is insurmountable by the office, then we need a special prosecutor,” Fisher said.

Public safety produced another area of agreement, although the candidates differed in emphasis.

Tydingco said violent crimes should be addressed first when personnel and resources are scarce, alongside urgent civil matters involving health, welfare and public safety.

Fisher focused heavily on crystal methamphetamine, describing it as a thread running through many criminal cases he encounters.

Pauluhn said violent crimes and criminal sexual conduct cases, particularly offenses against children, should lead criminal priorities.

On the civil side, he said the office should protect Guam’s financial interests while processing claims and other government work fairly.

Santos described prioritization as a basic management responsibility, saying the office should identify where resources are being wasted, establish priorities and direct personnel accordingly.

The discussion of crime also exposed differences in how the candidates would approach rehabilitation.

Fisher said treatment courts can address addiction more effectively than incarceration for some defendants and called for additional treatment capacity.

Pauluhn said treatment and incarceration should not always be viewed as mutually exclusive. Some defendants may be appropriate for treatment courts, he said, while others should be incarcerated but still receive rehabilitation services that could help them re-enter the community after serving their sentences.

Santos said Guam needs more rehabilitation resources and treatment slots, framing his approach around restorative justice.

Tydingco said he supports Guam’s treatment and specialty courts and called for local funding as federal money supporting programs runs out.

He also distinguished between people struggling with addiction and drug dealers, whom he said should be pursued through coordinated local and federal enforcement.

The four candidates also promised greater transparency, though their proposals differed.

Pauluhn said he would issue required reports, publish prosecution statistics and establish timelines for attorneys reviewing contracts.

Santos said he would establish key performance indicators and make information on the office’s performance, expenses and contracts available to the public.

Tydingco proposed creating an advisory board, arguing the office needs additional oversight. Pauluhn disagreed during rebuttal that a board was the appropriate mechanism and suggested restoring a form of gubernatorial oversight.

Fisher focused more heavily on internal performance, saying he would measure success partly through employee development and training.

Attorneys, Fisher said, need practical training before being expected to perform effectively in court.

Government contract reviews emerged as another major concern, with the candidates linking delays to broader questions about staffing and management.

Santos said the office has lost institutional knowledge, contributing to delays that can affect construction projects and public benefits.

Tydingco called contract delays unacceptable and proposed quickly appointing special assistant attorneys general for procurement work at autonomous agencies or agencies that already have attorneys.

Fisher defended Guam’s procurement law and said the attorney general’s role in contract review should focus on determining whether a contract is legal rather than substituting the attorney general’s policy preferences for those of government agencies

“As attorney general, nobody cares what your preference is,” Fisher said. “We want to know whether the procurement is legal, let the agency know the procurement is legal and move it on.”

Pauluhn proposed 30- or 60-day review periods, with written explanations when exceptional cases require additional time.

The candidates also addressed citizenship and self-determination, two issues involving Guam’s relationship with the federal government that could place the attorney general at the center of future legal disputes.

Tydingco said the attorney general should use legal means to protect indigenous self-determination and oppose efforts to restrict citizenship rights for people born on Guam.

Fisher argued people born on Guam are American citizens and said Guam should challenge unequal treatment connected to the territory’s political status.

Pauluhn said the attorney general should represent Guam’s interests in federal and local forums while continuing to pursue lawful avenues for a self-determination vote if one approach is rejected by the courts.

“The job of the attorney general, though, isn’t to impose any personal views on these things,” Pauluhn said.

Santos said Guam’s self-determination dispute should have been addressed politically through Congress rather than through extended litigation.

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