Dear Senator Taitague:
Buenas Yan Hafa Adai!
Misunderstandings happen from time to time, it’s regrettable but it is the nature of life in general and the Democratic process in specific. It’s a shame that we had a misunderstanding and that it has become fodder for Guam’s corporate media to exploit. It has distracted from the real issues that are plaguing our island and our families; decent wages, paid sick leave, decent public education, affordable quality health care and an economy that works for everyone not just the wealthy few. For this reason, I will no longer participate in the he said she said, dirty laundry media game and this will be my final statement on the issue.
Senator, I am sorry for any perceived violation of your personal space.
If you think that I tapped you on the shoulder in an inappropriate manner, I apologize and I promise to do everything possible to give you room whenever I am in your vicinity. I hope that you accept this apology and we can move on to doing the job that the people of Guam elected both of us to do.
If we allow this to end here, I promise that I will not pursue any legal action with regards to this issue. That being said, I must be perfectly clear, I will always defend my good name. I have never violated, assaulted or lifted a hand in anger against anyone, man, woman, nor child, on Guam ever and anyone that says so will be held accountable for misrepresenting the truth.
In the future I hope that we will be able to contain our debate over ideological differences to the issue at hand. Even though I am incredibly passionate about the issues that I believe in, as I’m sure that you are as well, I hope that in the future we can both endeavor to keep our discussions at a professional level.
Thank you for your understanding and I look forward to being able to work with you in the professional manner in which the people of Guam elected us both to do.
Senseramente,
MATT RECTOR
SENATOR, I Mina’Trenta Na Liheslaturan Guåhan
After reading through the apology letter, I have to admit that Senator Matt Rector is trying to get his colleague to focus on his issues rather than simply apologizing. “It has distracted from the real issues that are plaguing our island and our families; decent wages, paid sick leave, decent public education, affordable quality health care and an economy that works for everyone not just the wealthy few.”
Senator Telo Taitague and the rest of the Republican senators have not proposed anything so far that addresses those issues. Come to think of it, I don’t remember if the Democrats, other than Senator Matt Rector, proposed legislation to address those issues. Senator Tom Ada’s bill 30-223 to increase wages at the Port of Guam is a farce and doesn’t count as a good example. It only increases the wages of the working employees by $0.06 per hour, and increments will be forever capped at $0.06 per hour, while management increases their salaries to around $300,000 for their Director. All of Guam’s employees need a raise, not just the government employees. I think GHURA (Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority) or some agency needs to levy fines against businesses that pay their employees poverty wages. Hearing people like Monty Mesa on Mondays on K57 (waste of time) disturbs me when he talks about giving his employees minimum wage for years because the employees are slow to perform or are under-trained.