In response to Rebecca Rodriguez's Letter to the Editor on Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) lawsuit (8.21.2012):

REBECCA Rodriguez left Guam 21 years ago, and her memory does not serve her correctly. She had initially filed Articles of Incorporation, signed by herself and five others, on Nov. 28, 1989. I joined GAIN in February 1990 and became the membership chair. I think Rebecca has forgotten that we had been aggressively fundraising for several months, representing that GAIN was a public charitable corporation, when we received a letter from the Department of Revenue and Taxation, to the effect that our Articles of Incorporation had NOT been accepted, and that in fact GAIN was NOT a registered Guam charitable corporation. I clearly remember our consternation when we received this notice, because it meant we had been misrepresenting our status and – in theory – we should return all the money we had collected.

I corrected the problem, we re-incorporated GAIN under four incorporators: Rebecca, Marie Chenery, Tambra Maddock and myself. We signed the Articles in front of a notary on Sept. 10, 1990, and I personally took them to Rev&Tax. At my request, the director agreed to allow us to keep the original filing date so no one could say we had been misrepresenting our status.

I’m easy to find in the phone book. Why would Rebecca call me a liar based on her recollection of something that happened 22 years ago, rather than just give me a call?

Because Rebecca hasn’t been involved in GAIN for 21 years, she doesn’t know what’s happened to the organization since Marie Chenery left. Our president left Guam eight months ago but refuses to resign; the board has exhausted our savings; we no longer publish a newsletter; GAIN has abandoned its wellness clinics and spay/neuter program; and we’ve even let our Petfinder membership expire. In 2011, the shelter took in 6,459 cats and dogs, and had to euthanize 5,452. Yet, as of today, if a newcomer to Guam logs into Petfinder and types in “Guam,” the nearest animal shelter is listed in Hawaii! I think this is disgraceful.

I was a member in good standing and chair of the legislation committee, until July when I announced my candidacy for the board. I am running for the board because I believe we could be doing so much more to reduce euthanasia rates at the shelter. During the two weeks I was off-island, the board voted not to renew my membership, thereby making me ineligible to run for office. I’ve had to bring a lawsuit to reinstate my membership so I can present my platform to the other members. The idea – that a charitable board can control the candidates for a board election by canceling the membership of people it doesn’t like – is repugnant to our democratic system.

Karon Johnson,
Yoña