Treasurer defends hiring of HR director’s son-in-law
Saying the lack of a Treasury IT Manager placed the government’s system in jeopardy, Treasurer Dr Falema’o Phil Pili says he is the one who hired Douglas Jr. Jessop for the position.
“As Director for the Department of Treasury I hired Douglas (Jr Jessop) as IT Manager, given the need to provide the continuity of the treasurer’s financial system which was severed when former IT Manager Kirk (Aab) was placed on leave. Not having anyone on board places the government’s system in jeopardy”, said Treasurer Dr Falema’o Phil Pili.
The Treasurer was responding to Samoa News queries following complaints from Treasury employees that “favoritism” played a role in the hiring of Mr. Jessop as IT manager, as he is the son-in-law of Human Resources Director Le’i Sonny Thompson.
The Treasurer strongly objected that favoritism had anything to do with the hiring of the new IT Manager and explained that Aab was the “brain” of the Treasury’s IT system and when he was placed on leave at the time Treasury had several projects ongoing such as, maintaining the IFAS system, switching to the paperless system and the new payroll system which were among the projects.
“We were stuck, so I immediately reached out to Koa Hill the authors of the paperless system that does the support service system so that we would not miss a beat in paying people and maintaining ASG’s financials.
“I connected with Koa Hills and we got them on contract for three months at the same time I had to hire someone else to oversee the IT division so by the end of the three months period when they leave again I had to have someone to provide the continuity in maintaining the projects.
“So I turned to a number of applications who can quickly responded to the request and who are qualified. My mission in hiring an IT manager was to hire someone with leadership skills and the background needed for this job and that’s why I hired Douglas,” said Falema’o.
Without mincing words the Treasurer told Samoa News that he “stole” Douglas from ASTCA.
However, some treasury employees are unhappy and allege that the HR director hired his son-in-law to work at Treasury, which the Treasurer disputes.
“Le’i has no input in the hiring of Treasury employees, despite that he’s HR Director, the hiring of Treasury employees falls under my discretion and mine alone,” responded the Treasurer.
The Treasurer also dispels comments circulating that Douglas is not qualified for the IT Manager post. Falema’o pointed out that Douglas attended Advanced Technical Education Center, Salt Lake City Utah and is an A+ Hardware and Software Certified, Microsoft Certified Professional and also attended Cisco Network Associate Classes along with Novel Classes and has been a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer since 1999.
Among his educational background Douglas also attended Utah Valley State College, Provo Utah and was enlisted in United States Army Reserve, where he served as Operating Room specialist (91 Delta) and a certified Combat Medic Specialist. Falema’o points out that Douglas is a businessman who’s the founder and owner of Taylor Made Networks, a company that provides products and services for the computer industry.
According to background provided Samoa News, his company provides training and documentation to clients, technical support and solutions for a variety of clients, provides maintenance of networked computers, designs and implements Wireless network of computers and laptops, provides security solutions for networks and end users, also provides marketing solutions for business clients and consultations for computer networks and consultations with both ISP providers on island.
The treasurer also said that aside from running his own business, Douglas was also Office Manager at Sight and Sound, who had managerial duties and also provided technical assistance for installation of sound systems all over the island.
HR Deputy Director, Eseneiaso Liu told Samoa News that in cases where the HR Director has conflict given familial ties, Le’i recuses himself and refers everything to the HR Deputy. Mrs. Liu further noted that nothing is finalized in the hiring of Douglas and she’s yet to decide on the contract.
Kirk Abb who was IT Manager has been placed on leave since he was detained and released last month after picking up a package that came in his personal mail that allegedly contained the controlled substance marijuana. To date. Aab has yet to be charged for any criminal conduct.