Thursday, March 13, 2008

GLAD WE DIDN’T STEP IN IT

GLAD WE DIDN’T STEP IN IT: :KIUC and Anne Barnes are apparently not going to talk to us or anyone this week and we are not going to get to know how lucrative a position with KIUC’s Board of Directors actually is before the balloting for three director positions is completed.

The three incumbent candidate were paid the second, third and fourth most of all directors with only secretary Ray Paler exceeding their “stipends”

Phil Tacbian came in at $16, 374, Peter Yukimura at $15,542 and Dennis Esaki 13, 074 while Paler who is not up for reelection made $18, 845.

But despite a plethora of calls and emails requesting the full record for both stipend compensation and any other payments, broken down by director, even though she agreed to “talk to accounting“ and produce those records, when the due date came around Barnes disappeared. We could only speak to her loyal assistant Shelly Paik who couldn’t get her to talk to us during this critical period when the ballots for the new directors are coming in.

PNN asked for a breakdown of the 2006 numbers but only got the “stipends” collected as reported on KIUC’s IRS 990 form, not any per diems and/or expenses paid during the numerous training junkets directors take on the mainland or any other payments made if any.

According to Barnes- not the 990- the nine directors did split the $138,891.70 in stipend and $90,104.16 for “travel & training” although the 990 lists on Part V-A “Current Officers Directors Trustees and Key Employees Compensation” payments of $504,606. with “Contributions to Employment Benefit Plans & Deferred Compensation Plans” of $47,810.

But the requested full disclosure of the exact payments to even the three directors running for reelection has been denied even after Barnes’ assurances they would be forthcoming.

Barnes’ husband Walt was an original KIUC board member and one of those who was caught making up facts and figures on KIUC’s behalf during the Council hearing on the Co-op purchase before Kaua`i electricity users paid up to double of what the former Kaua`i Electric Co. was worth even after the price was slightly cut after government watchdogs’ extensive research and activist prodding.

Anne Barnes eventually took over as KIUC spokesperson and public information officer and her obvious unavailability for comment on that part of the story is in keeping with the much reported and much ballyhooed and admitted penchant for secrecy and “speaking with one voice” as KIUC mandates.

According to Barnes KIUC’s complete 2006 990 tax form is available at their web site although she would not provide the specific URL and it is not plainly listed. Copies of the 990 are available by request from PNN in a 40 page PDF as sent by Barnes via email.

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UPDATE: Developer-friendly blogger Charley Foster wanted to know our sourcing for yesterday’s story of what happened really happened when Jimmy Pflueger caused the Ka Loko dam break and murdered those seven people. We posted the following further sourcing for the story in the comments section here.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Geez Andy, you really are sloppy sometimes.

Ray Paler was defeated last year and is no longer a director. So there's a good reason he's "not up for re-election".

He and Walt Barnes never miss a chance to sniff around the honey pot so no wonder you are confused. Is it the power or the chump change stipends that is so attractive?

but for the rest -- go get 'em. They're a dubious bunch to say the least.

Anonymous said...

A little tidbit for you Andy.

Go read the November 2005 KIUC minutes.

In response to the dressing down they got from the community over their misfeasance on spending for houses/trucks/trips 3 directors responsed as follows:

Tacbian : KIUC should be more open

Yukimura: Hopefully we will address concerns heard today and turn the page and move on.

Esaki : KIUC would like to get to the point where the public trusts them.

Lots more, but these were the parts I found interesting.

Just one month later, Dec 13, 2005, Jim Mayfield made a motion to increase public testimony length from 3 minutes to 5 minutes. The motion was defeated 5 to 4.

Among the 5 voting no -- Tacbian, Esaki, Yukimura. The legacy of Gardiner/Barnes lives on.

Andy Parx said...

Annon #1- The numbers presented were for 2006 which is why Paler was listed.

Annon #2- I'd be interested in looking through the minutes if tidbits like that are in there... I didn't seem them apparently listed on-line.

Anonymous said...

http://www.kiuc.coop/pdf/board/minutes_nov_18_05.pdf

ordinarily the minutes are stripped of all info. During these 3-4 months when they were running scared, they opened up a tiny sliver. Too bad the newspaper rolled over and stopped digging.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm certainly not developer-UNfriendly in any knee-jerk sense. But then I'm not developer friendly in a knee-jerk sense either. Either way, it seems like an odd description in the context of a post about the Kaloko dam.

I've written quite a bit about the sunshine laws and what I allege are the county's various violations of them. It's probably more accurate to describe me as an 'open government-friendly' blogger. I'm definitely more knee-jerk about that issue than about developers.

I've written a handful of posts sympathetic to the bunker fuel exhaust in the Niumalu neighborhood. But it wouldn't really make sense to call me an environmentalist blogger.

ANyway. You have a thing about labels. That's for sure.

Anonymous said...

What you are finding Charley is that if you agree with Andy you're ok. If not, you're part of the evil cabal on the other side. Parxville is a very black/white place.

Anonymous said...

And actually, I was wondering about the sourcing of your theory that Pflueger filled in the spillway in order that he could water ski, not what happened after the dam was breeched.

If a witness said on the record somewhere that he did it to water ski I would love to know that.

Andy Parx said...

As I said Charley, both people were frineds of Jimmy's and would prefer not to have their names used- or didn't at the time.

But others know about his water skiing and "lakes"- do a little investigative work and ask around Moloa`a and Kilauea and I'm sure you can confirm it.

I belive it was mentioned in testimony before the Council at the time but that was not one of my two primary sources.