Admin works toward ‘fully functioning” govt offices by summer

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — It’s the “hope of the Governor and the Task Force... to have the government fully functioning by the summer time,” declared Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale during Monday’s COVID-19 Task Force virtual news conference.

Fully functioning government operations would have people answering phones within the offices and continuing “to provide the service that people expect and deserve,” said Talauega in response to a news media question on ASG’s plan to return workers back to their offices’ full working hours.

Provisions of the governor’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration state in part that ASG employees maintain minimal on-site staff and the use of remote work to the maximum extent possible is encouraged.

During the news conference, Talauega, who is also the task force chairman, said, “we’d like to get to a point where all of the ASG employees are working and we are slowly getting there.”

He also said that directors of the various departments are responsible for activating their staff and most of them should be working at this point. “We are encouraging flexible hours so that, we don’t have people [working] together in limited spaces,” he said.

Talauega was also asked about ASG employees who have not compiled with the fully vaccinated mandate, which is part of the current and previous emergency declarations.

“The final decision on what to do with employees who don’t abide by the vaccination requirement is still outstanding,” he said, noting that some semi autonomous agencies of ASG “have made the decision to remove employees who don’t comply in the medical area. So that’s a decision those independent agencies are able to make on their own.”

Talauega, who is also the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR), reiterated his previous public statement: “People who work for the government are required to comply with the rules of employment. And one of those rules, right now, is they have to be fully vaccinated.”

And if those employees don’t want to work for the government, they don’t have to be vaccinated and then they have the freedom to seek employment somewhere else, he said.

“At this point, in the governor’s declaration, fortunately it is mandated to get vaccinated,” he said noting that there are opportunities to seek medical and religious exemptions. “And the task force and governor have granted exemptions to those who have asked for it, and provided proof.”

Talauega points out to the number of COVID related deaths so far and that nearly 6,000 people have tested positive for the deadly virus.  “So this is not a fake sickness or illness; these are not fake deaths. This is real and that’s why the governor is mandating that [those] who are eligible and want to work for the government — that’s the cost — you have to get vaccinated and keep your job.”

“If you don’t get vaccinated, a decision may be made that will result in you loosing your job,” he said.

Another provision in the governor’s declaration “mandates” booster shots for certain first responders — essential workers who are eligible and not exempted — with the deadline set for tomorrow, May 13.

According to the provision, proof of a booster must be provided by “May 13, 2022” to the Human Resources director for the Executive Branch or these workers shall be placed on leave in accordance with other provisions of the declaration, which have been in place since last December.

Employees who have been granted an exception and accommodations — according to provisions of the declaration — are exempt from receiving a booster but their accommodations should be reassessed due to the current community spread of the virus.

A booster mandate for certain first responders and essential workers who are eligible and not exempted shall include: healthcare workers; police officers; firefighters; emergency medical technicians; and employees who work at the Territorial Correctional Facility, and the Juvenile Detention Center.

This is also the same for LBJ, which was directed to adopt the mandate policy for all eligible employees, unless they have been granted an exception due to disability, pursuant to the federal Americans with Disability Act, or a valid medical reason or because of a sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance.