Sad and petty is how a Guam Visitors Bureau board member described a reminder of a public disclosure notice sent Tuesday by the Attorney General’s Office and hand-delivered by OAG process servers.

The letter signed by Deputy Attorney General JoAnna P. Deering said: “The purpose of this notice is to remind you of the deadline for official public disclosures pursuant to the passage of Public Law 37-125, which requires all members of visitors to Guam. The Bureau’s Board of Directors is subject to the requirements of the Official Public Disclosure Act.”

It says GVB board members must submit their official public disclosures for the 2023 calendar year to the Guam Election Commission by Nov. 1, 2024.

But board member Peter “Sonny” Ada questioned the timing and intent of the notice letter.

“It’s no coincidence (GVB) directors are getting financial disclosure notices (again). It is unfortunate. It’s petty. It is counterproductive to the immediate needs of a dying industry,” he said.

The letter followed a GVB board meeting last Thursday in which Governor Lou Leon Guerrero made a rare appearance to support an action plan for the short-term recovery of the tourism industry.

The plan was drafted by a group of industry executives who called for “immediate action to address Guam’s tourism crisis.”

Leon Guerrero said after the meeting that “the GVB will look at that, work that out and then bring something back in two weeks that can be approved by the board.”

The letter from the OAG said it is “an essential component of the Government of Guam’s commitment to transparency and accountability.”

“Rome is burning and what we get is that the nasty head of politics lets it be. The governor needs to do something more because the GVB board and industry leaders are paralyzed to do anything to help,” Ada further said of the letter that was sent to all GVB board members.

The letter warns that “failure to file the required official disclosures will result in their being reported to the Attorney General of Guam so that appropriate action may be taken.”

Attorney General Douglas Moylan said Thursday that the notices were sent as a courtesy reminder, based on recent approval by senators and the governor in the budget bill, which would have required GVB top officials to make financial disclosures, like other government boards and commissions.

Moylan said: “Senator (Telo) Taitague and other senators who oversee the GVB have expressed concern that GVB board members are not disclosing their financial ties to the businesses they voted for.”

It is unclear whether other boards and commissions with similar public disclosure requirements receive notices by AG process servers.

“I’d rather give these officials legal reminders than prosecute them, but I will be put in a position to enforce the law … should they choose to disobey it,” Moylan added.