Chairman says Penner is trying to vindicate himself by not resigning

Elvin Penner

And with all that said…why doesn’t Penner just resign and get it over with? Chairman Fermin Magaña says he believes that Penner is trying to vindicate himself by serving his people as best he can in the time he has left.

Fermin Magaña, Chairman, Cayo Northeast Committee

“He has his personal reasons why he would want to do what he is doing and I would not even dare venture or speculate on them. But I guess maybe he is looking for the vindication of himself; trying to say you know what I will try to do the best I can for the time I can. That is his decision. My recommendation is to do what he feels is best for him and his family and what he feels in his heart.”

Reporter

Fermin Magaña

“In terms of the finances which goes to constituencies every month, how will that be split up?”

Fermin Magaña

“Okay, we are not receiving as the committee any funds from government as such. Remember an elected representative receives a certain amount of money that is given to them for them to work in that area. That is still going to Mister Penner. Mister Penner also has his stipend for his office and for his secretary too. And he has told me too that he will continue the work that he wanted to do to help the people in his area. Us, we will continue working as much as we can—because we don’t have any resources to work with—but preparing somebody for the future.”

Penner continues to receive a salary of close to five thousand dollars monthly, as long as he remains as Area Representative of Cayo Northeast. That’s in addition to a fully paid-for government SUV, fuelled and maintained with taxpayer dollars.  And if that’s not enough, to convince Penner not to resign…he also receives six thousand, three hundred dollars monthly. Three thousand dollars is for contributions to the community, one thousand dollars is for sports and two thousand three hundred dollars is to pay for a constituency office. All that money goes to Penner. Today, we confirmed that his constituency office has been closed for the past month.