Port Board of Directors Secretary, Dr. Judith P. Guthertz, received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Association of Government Accountants Guam Chapter for her sponsorship of Bill 263-30, which proposed that Government of Guam agencies adopt the Citizen-Centric Report (CCR) Initiative to promote the importance of transparency and accountability in the operations of government and the use of taxpayer money.

Bill 263-30, which was cosponsored by our very own General Manager Rory J. Respicio and Senator Judith T. Won Pat, was unanimously passed and became Public Law 30-127, “An act relative to adopting the AGA’s Citizen-Centric Report Initiative on April 2, 2010.”

When the bill was first introduced, Dr. Guthertz’s sponsorship was based upon the premise that “The foundation of a democracy is based on governments being answerable to their citizenry and as having a responsibility to provide information regarding government operations, most noticeably in regards to how taxpayer dollars are spent.” Her support for transparent reporting by sponsoring the bill has today become the driving force for each Government of Guam’s timely production of their annual Citizen-Centric Report.

“Financial reports are often too lengthy and too technical for the average person. Poor performance has created a problem of trust between citizens and their government,” continued Guthertz. “The AGA Citizen-Centric Report Initiative is designed to help remedy this situation. The CCR is a new approach of presenting financial and essential information on the activities of government instrumentalities to the citizenry and other interested parties.”