SPILL YOUR GUTS

SPILL YOUR GUTS: Like the clockwork of a broken timepiece the legislative session reaches one of its more absurd dances-of-the-headless-chicken, usually once each session when the Council on Revenues (COR) causes all the budget work done to that point to be chucked in the circular file when they apparently use the poor dead poultry's entrails to divine the economic future of the state.

But, as is the case with many broken political systems, the Hawai`i solution is to repeat the screwed-up process until the whole damn thing collapses.

For the uninitiated, the Hawaii legislative budget system is designed to create a balanced budget but it relies on economists- you know those guys who never agree on anything, basing their opinions on what they had for breakfast that day- to predict the revenues the state will pull in during the budget period.

And as if to prove how unreliable it is, they change their projections every time they meet with wild swings based on current events.

And are always- yes always- wrong.

That they meet at all is objectionable. That they schedule a meeting in the middle of the brief four month legislative session- after the governor presents a budget and the lege works on it- is ridiculous. But when they meet a second time- as they did yesterday at the behest of the governor due to the supposed economic effect of the Libyan war and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami- is disgustingly short sighted... although so is the whole process.

So when the COR lowered projected revenues yesterday no one really questioned why because we'd been told in advance by various pinheaded pundits what the cause was.

But the real foolishness was never more apparent than after reading Honolulu Star-Advertiser Capitol Correspondent Derrick DePledge's blog post today where he reveals what may be the real reason for the lowered projections.

After listing the conventional wisdom he notes that the actual amount collected last month was, shockingly, lower than the last projection predicted he writes that:

While the drop could be an anomaly, it could also mean the economy is not recovering as fast as economists believed.

Pearl Iboshi, an economist, and others on the council found the February figure hard to believe. She had a theory for the state Department of Taxation. “Is there a chance that there’s, uh, you know, lots of …”

“A drawer there with a bunch of checks in it?” University of Hawaii-Manoa economist Carl Bonham said.

“Yes, lots of checks,” Iboshi said.

“That somebody forgot to open because everything slowed down?” Bonham said.

A state Department of Taxation staffer slowly nodded her head.

“There is a chance of that?” Jack Suyderhoud, a University of Hawaii-Manoa business economics professor, asked the staffer. “Is that why you’re going like that?”

“That’s not saying yes, but …” Bonham said.

Of course the end of that sentence is "I'm not saying no".

So we suggest gathering up all your spare tea leaves, tarot cards and crystal balls putting them in a box and shipping them off to the COR. They just may be more valuable tools than the ones they're using now.

DERAILING THE GRAVY TRAIN

DERAILING THE GRAVY TRAIN: The jibber-jabber over corporate campaign money continued this week with more jabberwockish blather that attempts to keep the argument focused on the price of the whore rather than the whoring itself.

But really the corporate cash issue is only a part of the corruption of democracy that passes for governance in Hawaii and the US. It’s just as easy to donate individual or even “bundled” cash to buy access and influence.

That’s why most people who aren’t too busy pulling bodies out of the river downstream and follow the money to it’s source have discovered that the only hope we have of fixing the system is full public financing of all campaigns.

Part of the Incumbency Protection package being peddled by the pimps of the legislative brothel this year is a bill to kill the hard fought for Big Island pilot project that is actually pretty watered down from the concept of full public financing, much to the delight of the penny-wise pound-foolish anti-taxation crowd.

The knee jerking “me, me, me” crowd- the ones who want all the government services at current levels and are the first to complain when their permit isn’t issued in minutes or there’s never a cop when you need one- keep up a constant drone about their taxes being too high and are the same ones who scream bloody murder at the thought they their tax money will pay for political campaigns under a pubic finance system.

But there’s no better example of the true cost of the private finance system than what is happening right under our noses at this very moment at the state legislature.

Now that the absurd council of revenues system has played out its predestined, mid-session role in the biennial budget dance of the headless chickens, it’s looking like a tax increase of some kind is a foregone conclusion if they can decide who will get the blame.

But will this tax increase be progressive?- which for the uninformed is an ancient pre-Reagan 20th century concept where those who have the ability to pay, pay progressively proportionally more taxes than the oppressed working poor.

Forget it. That doesn’t even appear to be on the table according to almost every media report.

The one tax increase that seems to be the most popular - shockingly-shockingly with the same reps and sens who voted to increase corporate cash- is the most regressive of all, the general excise tax.

Increase corporate taxes? Cut all business tax credits and subsidies? Raise the income tax on those making more than a quarter-million a year?

No way, not under a system where the people who vote on the tax will be bending over and whipping out their begging bowl as soon as the session ends (and even during sometimes).

And guess whose wallets they have their eyes on to pay the people’s tab- the ones they will be asking for money tomorrow?

Do you really think that the legislators are going to tax those who can afford it instead of taking a penny per dollar out of the pockets of the poor- especially when they are about to ask those fat cats for a lot more than some spare change?

The perfect storm has pulled back the veil for a brief crystallizing moment and sheds light as clear as day on exactly how we pay far more on the back end than we ever would by taking the money out of political campaigns and paying for them ourselves.

The only question is if “we, the marks” in this combo three-card-monte/pocket-picking scam will realize that while we’re winning pennies from the quick-hands con-man, the pickpocket standing behind us has just once again emptied our wallet without us even knowing it.

KIBBLE AND BITS

KIBBLE AND BITS: Former County Attorney (CA) Matthew Pyun couldn’t run fast enough to escape the morass of the bizarro-world of Kaua`i County’s through-the-looking-glass view of law when administrations changed.

And we’ve been trying to figure out what exactly is going on with the county council’s confirmation of previously rumored and sort-of announced CA appointee, former deputy prosecutor and now defense attorney Al Castillo.

We were kind of taken aback by the selection since he apparently has no experience in governmental law and comes from the criminal law community but chalked it up to more of the same from Mayor Bernard “You (can go to hell) and Me (I’ll pay off my supporters) Together (we’ll steal you blind)” Carvalho.

Almost two months have gone by with no confirmation from the council as is required by the county charter- and no word as to why.

But at the last full council meeting our ears perked up when deputy CA Darren “that’s my story and I’m sticking to it” Suzuki introduced himself as the “acting CA” while he was not answering a question, as is apparently part of the CA’s job description these days.

Now, silently and stealthily, it appears that another appointment has been made.

Former deputy county attorney and county council legal analyst Amy Esaki’s name appears on this week’s council agenda, with Carvalho requesting council confirmation for her to lead the office of the county attorney.

Now of course you’re expecting the usual tirade and excoriation along with the requisite exposition of another revolving-door hack and crony, listing the misdeeds and sneaky crap the nominee has pulled over the years.

But apparently Carvalho was asleep at the wheel of his patronage-addled office because Esaki would be on our short list of who we would pick if we had the ability to do so.

Esaki is one of those attorneys who hasn’t been through that revolving door except for the time when she apparently quit the CA’s office under the widely reviled Lani Nakazawa to work for the council, writing and reading legislation.

She’s actually one of the most straightforward and seemingly honest, diligent and even (gasp) helpful lawyers ever employed by the county.

We have nothing but good things to say about her and can only hope against hope that she will bring a new era of openness and professionalism that’s been lacking in the office for a long time.

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With the legislature doing it’s biannual dance-of-the-headless-chicken over the budget and its projected shortfalls, we’ve heard about of a lot of cockamamie bills containing schemes ranging from the brainless to the downright dangerous..

It’s the time of year when un-enterprising reporters can sit at a desk, riffle though the stack of introduced bills, stop anywhere and find something that causes heads to shake back and forth and eyes to roll..

But we have to wonder why none of them have seen one little ditty that has thus far gone unreported, whereby the state would steal the county’s share of the Transient Accommodation Tax (TAT) for the next six years.

Although to the relief of all the state’s mayors and councils it hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing, House Bill 1744 (Status) would “(s)uspend... for 6 years from 07/01/2009 to 06/30/2015 the distribution of transient accommodations tax revenues to the counties.”

The measure, introduced under the radar by House Speaker Calvin Say, has passed first reading and been referred to the Finance Committee.

It amends HRS 237D-6.5 by adding a section at the end that reads:

Subsection (b)(3), with regard to transfer of revenues to the counties, and subsection (c), with regard to computation and payment to the counties, shall not be operative from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2015. During the period that subsection (b)(3) is not operative, the remainder of the revenues collected shall be deposited into the state general fund."

Subsection (b)3 reads:

44.8 per cent of the revenues collected under this chapter shall be transferred as follows: Kauai county shall receive 14.5 per cent, Hawaii county shall receive 18.6 per cent, city and county of Honolulu shall receive 44.1 per cent, and Maui county shall receive 22.8 per cent.

The TAT is collected, as one might expect from the name, from people staying at tourist accommodations. The counties’ shares were originally included as a way to mitigate the impact of tourism on the counties’ budgets by giving them a share rather than allowing them to have their own taxation power (perish the thought), as had been proposed before the measure was enacted.

But now, rather than keeping their grubby paws to themselves they’ve got a bill handy to either rob Peter to pay Paul or use in some kind of extortion scheme to balance their budget by sloughing off their politically untenable choices- like actually taxing their precious campaign contributing faux hi-tech companies, land-raping developers and bottom-feeding military contractors- on the county level pols.

The measure would cost Kaua`i an estimated $15 million a year in revenue- more than 10% of the island’s operating budget- on top of the 10% across the board cuts ordered by Mayor Bernard Carvalho for the upcoming ’09-10 fiscal year.

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And finally an update- and a happy one for those following the HUD non-discrimination bill in the Senate that we reported on again yesterday.

After a flurry of emails and phone calls yesterday from many people to Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee Chair Roz Baker, SB 456 is now set for a hearing on Friday February 13 at 8:30 a.m..

Testimony may be emailed, if it’s less than 5 pages in length, to the Committee at CPNTestimony@Capitol.hawaii.gov Indicate it’s “Testimony for SB 456 for the 2/13/09 8:30 a.m. hearing” in the subject line.

DO YOU SMELL THAT?:

DO YOU SMELL THAT?: We’re just back from voting and it was every bit the appalling experience we thought it would be- and then some.

First off, early voting this year on Kaua`i is being conducted in a construction zone having moved from the Historic County Building– where people were told to come- to the “Annex” next door where the newly and apparently hastily readied basement room reeked of fresh paint- not just an OSHA violation for the workers but a nauseating experience for all involved.

But what the heck- you have to be dizzy in the first place to vote for most of those on the ballot this year- what’s a little huffing on the way into the voting booth?

Then we were handed a paper ballot shunning the electronic machine, as if it really matters. We and others were not told of the new procedure of having to check the little box picking a party instead of just voting in one party’s primary.

The new check box is there for no particular reason other than our new idiotic State Elections Chief Kevin "King" Cronin decreed it- without checking with anyone as was required by law.

And, in another bit of stupidity that could have been solved if he had bothered to follow the law and let someone check his new ballot, although the instructions still say to fill in the oval completely, there are no ovals or even circles next to each name but rectangles, insuring not just more confusion but using twice as much effort and ink to mark the ballot this year.

Cheesehead Cronin obviously decide that too many people had finally figured out the color-coded method over the last 10 years it’s been in use so he’d change it to insure another 10 years of confusion and ruined and invalid ballots.

Then- surprise number 17 gazillion this year- instead of, as has been the practice in the past, leaving off the names of those unchallenged in their party's partisan primaries for those running for state or federal office, they were included this time for no particular reason... probably because that’s the way they do it in Wisconsin.

Studies show that the worst years for mistakes in balloting occur when the balloting methods change- whether changing from things like punch cards to optical scans to using new instructions and ways to mark the ballots.

And so you’d think any schmuck who runs elections knows the best way to insure people understand the ballot is to not change the methodology from election to election unless you really have to..

But Cronin obviously isn’t just any ordinary schmuck- he got a unique, arrogant schmuck-osity about him as we’ve detailed over the past few months.

The worst part is that we aren’t alone in thinking that no matter what we did, there was a good chance that our vote will not be counted because no one is checking the infamous “paper trail” that is supposed to reassure everyone that the result will reflect the vote.

Everyone assumes that some kind of paper record- such as the printer contained in the electronic machines or the ones that we mark in ink and feed into the optical scan counting machine- are an assurance of lack of fraud because they can be counted later after the machines are done doing their “magic”.

But,. as we reported yesterday- and as is listed as a bone of contention in the lawsuit filed by Maui voting observer Bob Babson- the “paper trail” is rarely if ever seen again once the voter leaves the booth.

Because, as Babson’s attorney Lance Collins told us,. trying to see them again is an exercise in futility.

We were surprised to find out yesterday that electronic transmission to Honolulu of the vote with no one on-site verifying the totals had been the case for years and was not, as widely reported by the mainstream media and so by us, a new arbitrary invention of Cronin’s..

But when we asked Collins about it he added the following

I don't know how its been done on Kauai but tabulation has occurred previously on Maui then sent to Honolulu (without telling anyone on Maui what the results are) and then the results are sent back from Honolulu. This is what made Bob Babson initially suspicious in 2006.

Because the Maui final count was not made available before the tabulator was hooked up to the internet/telephone, there would be no way to verify that tampering had not occurred unless you manually recounted all the ballots (except the absentee ballots are never audited-recounted in the first place). However, there are no recounts unless a candidate or 30 voters have concrete evidence that there was fraud or error and that the fraud/error changed the result.

A very high standard for very low election security.

In other words the only way the “paper” is ever seen again - or even a first time- is if 30 people can prove there was something wrong with the totals. And that, if that’s true it would have changed the winner

Many people think it’s futile to vote because good people don’t become candidates- almost by definition- and many can’t even get on the ballot in many states.

And if they do manage to run, only those with lots of money from dubious sources – as well as those who don’t just represent but actually ARE the special interests- can get the media recognition to tell people they are “viable” or “ electable”.

But the with the privatized elections systems used in every state these days- which results in the proprietary nature of the counting software- and other ridiculously convoluted rules for ever actually checking the results, the supposed confidence-building “paper trails” do nothing to negate, and in fact facilitate, the opportunities for election fraud. .

So, that said, don’t forget to vote Saturday kiddies... It’s apparently a sucker’s game but it’s probably the only “right” you have left.

SAME OLD DOGS, SAME OLD TRICKS

SAME OLD DOGS, SAME OLD TRICKS: Though there are few benevolent bright bulbs running for council along with the usual sucking black holes, the same can’t be said about this year’s Mayor’s race.

It’s Slim Pickens out there and we’d probably vote for him if he was running before one of the four headless horsemen. It’s one of those elections where the “none of the above” crazes come out of the woodwork.

Having an NOTA choice on the ballot might make some fools feel better but is an exercise in futility.

NOTA as an electoral choice only make matters worse. It forces another vote, usually for an even worse slate. It makes you wonder where all the NOTA people were when others were filing to run.

Sometimes there is a candidate who fills the NOTA niche- a candidate who, we’re told, has no chance of winning but who everyone agrees with on the issues. Such an apparent non-sequitor is informative of the sorry state of what passes for democracy in our two-party-addled system.

This year on Kaua`i even our NOTA candidate is a malahini high school teacher with no government experience whose only campaign promise is that he will give his salary back to the taxpayers.

For all we know, if elected he may even need to watch one of those 50’s film strips on “How a Bill Becomes a Law” replete with talking cartoon documents, narrated by the condescending Mr. Know-It-All.

At least during the last election, among the usual “electable” dregs we had good-governance aficionado and current council candidate Bruce Pleas to vote for for mayor. It gave people an opportunity vote their conscience and at least use their vote to make an NOTA statement.

But Rolf Bieber could be a Ralph Cramdon or a Ralph Richardson but he’s no Ralph Nader and no one is lining up to support his policies because he doesn’t appear to have any.

As for the “aboves”, Bernard Carvalho would be four more years of even more of the headless chicken dance that passed for an administration under Bryan Baptiste- same department heads, same private interests sitting on all the boards and commissions, same cronies, same time, same station.

All the corruption, secrecy and general inactivity you’re come to know and love will dig itself in a little deeper, approve few more hotels, sell off a few more beach accesses and generally run the place into the ground.

Bernard can best be described as the lack of brains behind Baptiste, putting together secret task forces and done deals and generally exhibiting an expertise only in paper shuffling.

The reason his ads say “together we can” is because he has no idea how to do it himself. He hasn’t got a clue and needs all the help he can get from anyone who’ll give it.

Not that he’ll take it from us. He’s usually already made his decision based on what the various and sundry crooks have told him because he knows he’s not capable of rendering a learned one. Few other than he himself will disagree that he treats you and your required public testimony as a bothersome nuisance.

It’s hard to imagine anyone worse for our future but perhaps only if you hadn’t met that piece of work they call Mel “tail-gunner-Joe” Rapozo.

There actually is a shot in hell of him ripping into some of the sleaze in county government but only if it’s someone Mel has it in for anyway. He can be petty and vindictive and isn’t above abusing his position with the witch hunts and cover-ups that have characterized his tenure on the council.

It usually depends on who’s got what on him at the time.

And that leaves our sister JoAnn Yukimura. She’s a shell of the activist she once was- the one dedicated to public service who spoke and acted her mind and was wildly popular for it..

Now she’s ditched all service but the lip kind and become the consummate politician.

She is single-handedly responsible for continuing vacation rentals in non-tourism areas, the thousand acres of million-plus-dollar homes at Kukui`ula and keeping official legal opinions and council public policy decisions away from public eyes..... all the while claiming to have ended the vacation rental crisis and led “affordable” housing efforts and verbally championing the sunshine law.

But she’s also the one of the smartest people in government– or at least she used to be until she thought she lost the ‘94 election because she didn’t make everybody happy.

Then she took one of those Steve Covey “Seven Irritating Habits of Highly Annoying A-holes” seminars and became the developer’s best friend, creating “win-win” situations by losing what had already been won.

She now compromises and compromises until the final product doesn’t resemble anything but the dreams of the developers and other assorted thieves and rogues. Anyone who waves a park, a road, land for an unneeded new school or some other unfathomable pet project at her is thus entitled to a private beach or some other golden-egg-laying goose in return.

But while she’s no longer smart enough to see what she’s doing to herself or us, she is smart and at one time did great things for this island.

We don’t expect her to change but at least under JoAnn we would have a mayor who knew what the right thing to do was at one time and may actually set a few things in balance.

Which is why- and even we can’t believe we’re saying this- we are urging people vote for JoAnn Yukimura for Mayor on September 20.

It could be worse... a whole lot worse.

CHASIN’ THE CHICKENS AGAIN

CHASIN’ THE CHICKENS AGAIN: Well thanks to Ian Lind’s posting of the actual filings in the latest Dance of the Headless Chicken court case, at the risk of turning into a 24/7 “All Kevin Cronin All the Time” blog, we do have more news to clarify and supplement yesterday’s review of the latest Cronin machinations.

Yesterday we reported on the old switcheroo someone pulled in getting an Aug 7 court ruling that Chrystn Eads was “disqualified” from the House race for Kirk Caldwell’s old state house seat and that he was citing her case now as the reason for allowing replacement candidate Isaac Choy to run- this after Choy had been chosen to replace Caldwell causing the Republican Party to sue saying the replacement was outside the three day window for replacement candidates.

We wondered who filed the suit heard on Aug 7- how did it get into court? We hypothesized it might have been the Republicans or the Honolulu County Clerk.

But we should have know because the filer was none other than Cronin himself.

We have no inside info as to why Cronin did so but the only reason would be that he was ready to be reversed on the Caldwell decision pegging his date of withdrawal to when the elections office received his withdrawal in writing the day after the filing deadline, not his verbal withdrawal before the deadline.

To review the actual law again HRS 11-117 says nothing about written withdrawals except in cases of “ill health”

It says:

§11-117 Withdrawal of candidates; disqualification; death; notice. (a) Any candidate may withdraw not later than 4:30 p.m. on the day immediately following the close of filing for any reason and may withdraw after the close of filing up to 4:30 p.m. on the twentieth day prior to an election for reasons of ill health. When a candidate withdraws for ill health, the candidate shall give notice in writing to the chief election officer if the candidate was seeking a congressional or state office, or the candidate shall give notice in writing to the county clerk if the candidate was seeking a county office. The notice shall be accompanied by a statement from a licensed physician indicating that such ill health may endanger the candidate's life.

Despite this as we reported exclusively earlier an official state produced Candidate Fact Sheet says that, the law be damned, ALL withdrawals must be in writing.

The fact sheet says

Candidates may withdraw for any reason not later than the day immediately following the deadline to file nomination papers. To withdraw, the candidate must submit a written notice to the Chief Election Officer (for state and federal office candidacy) or to the appropriate City/County Clerk (for county office candidacy). (HRS Section 11-117).

Yesterday we weren’t quite sure how the news reports regarding the fact sheet fit into it all. But an examination of Cronin’s filings to have Eads’ “withdrawal” re-trigger Choy’s placement on the ballot puts the false fact sheet at the heart of his case for dating Caldwell’s withdrawal.

Cronin goes to great lengths to use the fact sheet to justify his decision, even getting the Ballot Operations Section Head of the Office of Elections, Lori Tomczyk, to file an affidavit saying that all candidates got the fact sheet, even Caldwell

Cronin uses the fact sheet that misrepresents the law as the sole legal justification for his decision in the Caldwell-withdrawal-date decision he made last month and, even though this was a filing for summery judgment in court the actual citation of the relevant law- HRS 11-117- is nowhere in the brief, only many mentions of the “fact sheet”.

Oh and by the way the fact sheet says on it’s cover

This Fact Sheet is intended for informational purposes only and should not be used as an authority on the Hawaii election law and candidate deadlines... Consult the Hawaii Revised Statutes and other sources for more detailed and accurate requirements.

Cronin, under fire for the Caldwell ruling and knowing that the actual law says nothing about withdrawals being in writing in all circumstances, knew he was vulnerable if a ruling on it ever got before a judge.

Just the fact that Caldwell wasn’t challenging his ruling wasn’t enough because there was an outstanding Republican Party-filed suit contesting the “in writing” decision. And if a judge read the actual law he was pretty sure to overrule Cronin- overrule him in a case that was high profile, one for which Cronin has been under continual fire in the press and the blogs and only one of the myriad of Cronin’s actions that have put the elections chief’s job in jeopardy.

What to do, what to do?. How could he make his Caldwell decision go away?

Easy- by essentially suing himself to put the situation with Eads before a judge and getting an official ruling on her case without anyone to challenge it (because no one knew) and fait accompli allowing the Democrats to re-select Choy based on Eads case, not Caldwell’s... all before anyone knew about the done deal.

We had suspected that maybe in the early confusing days after the filing deadline- when the chickens were all first decapitated- someone filed a case thinking it was Eads who was being replaced by Choy rather than Caldwell due to erroneous press reports.

Eads, for those who don’t remember, did not get her papers filed with enough signatures until after the 4:30 p.m., July 22 deadline but was allowed by Honolulu County Clerk Denise Decosta to collect signatures and file at 4:50 p.m.- an action that Decosta said constituted a non-filing in a decision she made that week.

But Cronin, seeing a little wiggle room revived the filing, saying essentially that the clerk’s mistaken action in accepting the papers late constituted a filing.

And so he went to court to challenge the filing, got a ruing on Aug 7, wrote to the Democratic Party Chair Brian Schatz- who had earlier used his influence to get Decosta to accept Eads filing- who then re-selected Choy to be the replacement candidate, this time for Eads.

And that, Cronin claims, makes his Caldwell decision irrelevant, so moot.

This is sure to cause Republican’s heads to explode when they realize that Schatz’s phone call to Decosta at the 4:30 July 22nd filing deadline asking her to “err on the side of inclusion” and allow Eads to go outside, gather signatures and then file her papers, ended up assuring the Democrats would have a candidate in the race for a House seat in a Democratic stronghold district which otherwise would go to the only person left in the race, a Republican.

Cronin is claiming that even though Eads filing was not legal and should by all reason be adjudged to have never happened, because of Decosta’s error in accepting it- at Schatz’s request- Eads had to be “disqualified” for the office she never qualified for.

The file contains no briefs from anyone but Cronin and his brief goes into convoluted detail as to supposed legal reasons why no one needed to be notified or allowed to challenge it.

Even though Decosta had ruled the filing wasn’t complete, Cronin now says it wasn’t “officially” not filed until he got a ruling from the court – a ruling that re-opened the door for Schatz’s Democratic Party to re-insert Choy’s name on the ballot without having to deal with the actual law in the Caldwell decision.

We’re not sure what’s contained in it but, as reported today in an article about an appeal of a recent administrative hearings officer’s ruling blasting Cronin for selecting an overpriced, second-rate-security election system from Hart InterCivic :

The Republican Party filed another suit Aug. 8 alleging that Cronin and the Office of Elections improperly allowed Democrat Isaac Choy to stand as a state House candidate for the 24th District (Manoa).

We haven’t seen that suit but fear it will spur another chapter in the Hawai`i Shyster Chronicles... making the three main mayoral-wannabe dunces and 15 or so clueless council would-be-clowns on Kaua`i very happy we suspect..

Don’t worry- we’ll get to you

OUTFOXED AGAIN

OUTFOXED AGAIN: Just when it couldn’t get any more devoid of rationality it turns out that there’s now another wrinkle in the Dance of the Headless Chickens in the Honolulu filing deadline debacle today after Honolulu Advertiser reporter Derrick DePledge dug up an Aug 7 court ruling certifying a “replacement” for a candidate that was never an official candidate.

The replacement candidate, Isaac Choy, is the same one that was named in the Kirk Caldwell mess on July 26. But in a “that was our story and we were sticking to it but this one is much better” spiel from self declared “De Facto” Elections Chief Kevin Cronin, it is now Chrystn Eads- who never filed completed papers- that was “disqualified” to put Choy on the ballot.

And that didn’t happen until a formerly secret Aug. 7 court ruling.

Cronin claims that Eads’ whatever-it-was was not official until Aug 7 when a judge ruled on a case apparently filed by Republicans in the confusion as to who was being replaced when they filed the challenge.

Conflicting newspaper reports in the days after the filing deadline resulted in the Republicans originally challenging the “replacement” based on erroneous-at-the-time reports by Richard Borreca in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that Eads was the one that “needed” replacing

But DePledge’s report at the time that it was indeed Caldwell that was being replaced turned out to be the correct one.

Caldwell was eliminated for filing for a second office-Honolulu County Council- at the same time he was still running for his House seat. Cronin ruled Caldwell’s verbal withdrawal wasn’t sufficient and when Caldwell filed “in writing” the next day Cronin’s subsequent ruling left him not running for anything.

The Republicans challenged the date of the Caldwell withdrawal saying it happened the day of the filing deadline, July 22, and in a ruling that flies in the face of the actual law Cronin ruled that the withdrawal came the day after the filing deadline and a “three day replacement” rule let the Democrats put Choy on the ballot- and do it via telephone on a Saturday after Cronin had ruled that Caldwell’s withdrawal via telephone was not sufficient.

But, it appears the Republican case or perhaps one from Honolulu County Clerk Denise Decosta, either on her own or as a reaction to the Republican challenge in the Eads matter (the article doesn’t make it clear who filed for the court ruling), went to court and in an August 7 ruling Eads was “officially” not on the ballot, which Cronin appears to be interpreting as a “disqualification”.

There was no explanation of how a candidate who never officially filed could be disqualified.

Therefore the state is claiming that Decosta’s ruling a few days after the filing deadline that Eads filing was incomplete wasn’t official” until the Aug. 7 ruling and therefore- get this- the Democrats had three days from Aug 7 to pick Choy (again).

And therefore, supposedly, the date of Caldwell’s withdrawal is moot because now Choy is replacing Eads.

Borreca is obviously psychic.

Actually though, the law requires that county clerks go to circuit court for these rulings and though we have some reason to believe it was Decosta who filed for the Aug 7 ruling, she refused to get a court ruling for the one she made that disqualified Caldwell.

This all means that, Cronin and the state is contending, it doesn’t matter when Caldwell withdrew for purposes of the actual Republican challenge saying that the withdrawal took place Tuesday July 22 and therefore the clock ran out on Friday- and therefore the Democrats missed the three day deadline.

And since Caldwell is not challenging when his withdrawal actually took place- even though he would be eligible to run for council if it had been “official” on July 22 instead of the 23rd- Cronin’s ruling in that case that is wasn’t official until the 23rd is for all intent and purpose now irrelevant.... and so it’s legality is no longer a question

In another odd yet relevant tidbit, today it was reported that, in trying to justify his contrary to law ruling in the Caldwell withdrawal, Cronin cited a state “Candidate Information Sheet” we exclusively reported on a week or so ago.

The sheet contains erroneous “written withdrawal required” information but contains a disclaimer that says the pamphlet may not be in compliance with the law and to check the actual law if need be

Cronin’s list of dirty deeds grows. So far he has:

-Failed to register to vote, a requirement for his job, until this month after being hired in February. He said he was too busy and always intended to take the required 30 seconds to complete, stamp and put the form in the mail. He declared himself the “De Facto” Elections Chief when the lack of voter registration came light.

-Ruled that Caldwell’s withdrawal had to be in writing despite past practices of the clerk’s and elections’ offices, and the clerk’s assurance to Caldwell that his withdrawal was official. Caldwell’s oral withdrawal was followed by a call by Decosta’s office to Cronin’s office saying he’d withdrawn. Cronin’s ruling came despite the fact that the law itself does not call for a written withdrawal except under for “health reasons”.

-Sent the ballots to the printer without the legally required review by non-partisan and party observers. Cronin said it was all ok because they turned out to be accurate- and has parsed rulings and manipulated the courts to keep them correct.

-Was severely chastised and reversed by a hearings officer for picking a known-to-be-remarkably-hackable Hart InterCivic election system- a firm he reportedly has had ties to- at a cost almost three times that of a competing bid. Cronin blamed the procurement laws rather than take responsibility

-Was reported here, in an exclusive report, to have been a defendant in a suit regarding keeping blacks off the ballot in 1988 when he was a lawyer for the Wisconsin elections office. After two lower court rulings apparently said he had acted so negligently or purposefully that he had to stand civil trial, a US appeals court ruled he had immunity from the suit- the type of immunity that all officials have for decisions in their official capacity.

We probably left out something. Perhaps the most egregious thing in all this is that the Elections Commission has given him a clean bill of health and is not even considering firing him.

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DIGGIN’ UP THE YARD

DIGGIN’ UP THE YARD: Our statement yesterday- based on various press reports- that Chief Elections Officer Kevin Cronin had no election experience in Wisconsin turns out to be wrong.

And one of the experiences he had was being sued for violating the voting rights of 80 black people in the town of Blackwell, Wisconsin in 1987 while he was legal counsel for the Wisconsin state elections board from 1983 to 1988.

The town sued Cronin apparently for giving them the advice not to allow them to vote, allegedly in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1983, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 14th and 15th amendments and Wisconsin state law..

According to filing in the US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit argued Feb. 25, 1987.and decided May 29, 1987 these were some of the facts.

The plaintiffs filed this action purporting to represent themselves and a class consisting of Blackwell Job Corps Center members who were denied their right to vote either because they were Black or because they were job corps members. The plaintiffs contended in their complaint that at a Blackwell polling place on November 6, 1984, they were asked by the defendant Henkel whether they intended to reside in Blackwell in the future. Those who did not answer in the affirmative were considered non-residents and ineligible to vote. Some apparently were not permitted to vote at all, while others were permitted to vote only in the presidential election. The plaintiffs assert that this action of Henkel and other Blackwell election officials violated the laws of Wisconsin, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

The Town and Henkel filed a third-party complaint against Cronin, an attorney for the State Election Board, wherein they alleged that Cronin advised a member of the Town Election Board that any person who indicated to election officials that he did not consider himself a resident of Wisconsin was ineligible to vote and should not receive a ballot. The third-party complaint further alleged that Blackwell election officials, acting upon this advice, refused to permit certain members of plaintiffs' class to vote. While the third-party complaint also named Nicolet National Forest as a defendant by reason of the fact that it administers the Job Corps Center at Blackwell, Nicolet was subsequently dismissed and there is no issue raised in the present appeals regarding that dismissal.

Though two lower courts would not dismiss the case against Cronin the US Court of Appeals, in a very complicated rationale and convoluted ruling found that Cronin had immunity in the case and so he could not be sued.

In overturning the lower courts rulings the Appeals Court 7th said:

(T)he Town and Henkel contend that Cronin forfeited his qualified immunity by violating clearly established Wisconsin election law, Wis.Stats. Sec. 6.92 et seq. In Wisconsin, when a voter is challenged as to residence, he is to be placed under oath and asked whether he intends to make his home in the ward in which he is seeking to vote. If notwithstanding the answer given, the vote is still challenged, the voter may take an oath that, among other things, he is a resident of the ward. He may then submit a ballot under challenge which is retained separately from unchallenged ballots. The fact that Cronin's advice did not include all of the implementing details under the Wisconsin statutes is plainly insufficient to permit a finding that Cronin violated clearly established Wisconsin election laws.

We do not mean to imply in so stating that had Cronin violated a Wisconsin election law, under the facts of this case, it would have constituted a violation of clearly established federal law. Cronin would forfeit his qualified immunity for liability under federal law by violating state law only if the violation of state law provided the basis for the federal cause of action. Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 3020 n. 12, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984). We need not and do not address that issue in this case.

For the reasons stated, pursuant to the order issued in this case by this court on February 26, 1987, the cross-appeal of defendants and third-party plaintiffs Town of Blackwell and Jennie Henkel is dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction and the district court's denial of third-party defendant Kevin B. Cronin's motion to dismiss is REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions to dismiss him. Costs are taxed to defendants, third-party plaintiffs Town of Blackwell and Jennie Henkel.

In other developments and updates to yesterday’s column, the first reported- by Larry Geller at Disappeared News today- is an interesting California analysis of the Hart InerCivic voting machines that Cronin chose spurring an administrative ruling that he royally screwed up

It’s really scary to read how hackable the Hart system is and it’s clear that anyone reading what they found in California would not and could not have approved the Hart system unless they were either dumb or corrupt or both.

And Hawai`i is using those machines this November as it stands now.

Second is an interesting paragraph in an article at Wing-Nut-Central, the Hawai`i Reporter, by Republican Robert R. Kessler who says he filed two challenges to House candidate Isaac Choy’s eligibility as the Democratic replacement for Kirk Caldwell. He notes that although Cronin ruled that only Caldwell’s written withdrawal was official Cronin’s determinations may depend on what he ate for breakfast- or, for the cynical, who buttered his toast.

According to Kessler, Cronin wrote the following regarding the reporting of the replacement within the three day window the law requires.

“I authorized the Democratic Party of Hawaii to inform me of the name of the individual the Party appointed to fill the vacancy by email, fax or telephone no later than 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26, 2008. The Democratic Party so informed me timely.”

All deadlines are apparently not created equal.

Maybe that can be explained by another interesting paragraph from a July 30 article in Honolulu Weekly.

In a piece by Travis Quezon on the “dance of the headless chickens” that occurred in Honolulu on and after candidate filing deadline called “You call this democracy?; Insiders' edge helps Democrats pull a fast one on Hawai`i voters” Travis tells us that:

“In a 2002 court decision involving then-governor Ben Cayetano petitioning for a writ that directs then-Chief Election Officer Dwayne Yoshina to wave time limits mandated under HRS §11-118, the court acknowledges that the election officer has discretion to waive any or all of the law’s requirements in “special circumstances.”

We haven’t been able to track down the case to which Quezon is referring yet but if that’s the law of the land it could go a long way toward explaining the arbitrary and capaciousness of Cronin’s rulings.

ISN’T THAT FLEA BAG DEAD YET?:

ISN’T THAT FLEA BAG DEAD YET?: Well it’s all over- except it isn’t.

In case anyone hadn’t heard Honolulu County Clerk Denise Decosta “disqualified” Kirk Caldwell from the Manoa Council race based on the decision we highlighted yesterday by State Election Chief Kevin Cronin.

Ian Lind did a masterful job - with one typo- in analyzing the whole thing this morning and the articles in the two Honolulu newspapers presented their version of the facts, with the Star-Bulletin even publishing a surprisingly accurate and on-point editorial about Cronin’s shenanigans and incompetence.

We won’t recount that and readers can review our and Ian’s posts over the past few days for a catch up.

But there are numerous ways that the leads in the papers proclaiming that, since Caldwell won’t challenge the ruling it’s all over, are probably anything but accurate prognostications..

Because the ruling by Cronin- upon which Decosta said she was forced to based hers- flies in the face of the actual law

HRS 11-117 says:

A candidate may withdraw not later than 4:30 p.m. on the day immediately following the close of filing for any reason and may withdraw after the twentieth day prior to an election for reasons of ill health. When a candidate withdraws for ill health, the candidate shall give notice in writing to the chief election officer if the candidate was seeking a congressional or state office, or the candidate shall give notice in writing to the county clerk if the candidate was seeking a county seat.

So a written withdrawal is required only for reasons of health. Apparently Cronin “erred” in the matter of law by saying Caldwell’s post-filing, written withdrawal was the only “official” way to withdraw

Cronin’s ruling was that Caldwell’s verbal withdrawal from his state house race before filing for county council was insufficient even though the Decosta’s office accepted it and apparently the state did too because they noted it on the official list after a phone call from the clerk’s office..

And another problem may be that Decosta was not really allowed to make the decision.

In a letter of challenge by Honolulu attorney Amy Mizono says

The Clerk must file a circuit court complaint whenever an objection “may” warrant disqualification

The elections statute requires the Clerk to file a complaint with the circuit court for a determination of an objection whenever the objection “may" warrant disqualification of a candidate. $ 12-8 (e), Haw. Rev. Stat. As such, the Clerk is not designed to be the final arbiter of whether a generally meritorious objection merits disqualification. Rather, the Clerk is charged with the statutory obligation to seek final determination in the circuit court whenever an objection "may" reasonably warrant disqualification.

So not only is the content of self-described “de facto” Election Chief Cronin’s decision wrong but Decosta- who in her “ruling” described a loosey-goosy deadline as the clerk’s office’s past policy - wasn’t even legally able to make the determination that the mainstream press has swallowed as the “final say” on the matter.

Perhaps the most insane part of yesterday’s events is Caldwell’s statement that he won’t challenge it all since he actually spurred the challenge by getting one of his own people to challenge his candidacy, supposedly in the public interest of sorting all this out. And now when we really need a ruling to avoid stupidity and confusion from reigning, he’s suddenly happy to leave “F” part of the SNAFU intact.

But for now, unless someone challenges it, Cronin’s head-scratching “what orifice did you pull that out of” determination is the “de facto” law of the land

And what concerns us on Kaua`i is how this late Friday afternoon series of events could effect our own mayor's race.

We’ll have to wait for Monday to ask County clerk Peter Nakamura but we’re not sure how this new requirement for a written withdrawal- submitted BEFORE filing for another office- will effect Councilperson and mayoral candidate Mel Rapozo.

Rapozo originally pulled papers for council on February 6 and officially filed them on Feb 22. But then he pulled papers for mayor on July 7 and filed them on July 22, the final day to file.

The question is did Rapozo withdraw in writing and did he do so before he flied for mayor?

The documents should be public information and should have date and time of receipt stamped. And if Rapozo is to stay in the Mayor’s race the Clerk should have two chronologically-successive, stamped documents, the first being Rapozo’s official written withdrawal from his council race and the next his filing for the mayor’s race.

Although the “official” list shows a “(w)” for withdrawn after Rapozo’s name on the list of council candidates, so did Caldwell’s name for his house race on the evening of July 22 after his verbal withdrawal. His “in writing” withdrawal- the one Cronin says is the only official one- came in July 23.

It seems that by law this has to go to circuit court and Decosta is required by law to file the case.

But if she doesn’t and Cronin’s and her decisions are allowed to stand- and the press plays dead as they did today- we can just imagine the game of chicken that will occur at the filing deadline for the next election

It’s 4:25 p.m.- five minutes to filing deadline Lined up at the counter stand multiple candidates with multiple filings for multiple offices and multiple withdrawal letters wagging and shoving their papers under the noses and screaming for attention from elections’ office staff while jostling each other and jockeying for positions both at the clerk’s desk and in elective office... all the while craning their necks to see what office or offices the other ones are filing for and withdrawing from.

When the music stops and they scramble for seats precisely at 4:30 p.m. they may have to figure out which office they finally wound up running for.

Conversation outside the clerk’s office at 4:31 p.m. Filing deadline day, July 2010

PNN- What’d ya’ll get?”

Candidate A- Oh! Look- State House!- just what I always wanted. I didn’t even know I filled out those papers. What’d you get?

Candidate B- (looking at paper) Prosecutor? I’m not even a lawyer.

Candidate C- Well you’d better go to law school quick because I thought I had prosecutor but wound up with county council because I didn’t get my mayor withdrawal in first.

Candidate D – Darn I got so confused I submitted the wrong withdrawal letter and now I’m not running for anything. But apparently I am somehow now entered in next year’s Brown Bags to Stardom.

Candidate E- Aw damnit- I wound up with Mayor- I’m gonna be sick

Candidate D – Oh good. If you’re sick then you can withdraw for health reasons and name me as your replacement. Lemme look in my wallet...

Candidate C Wait a minute Would you take an appointment to the planning commission and two other appointments for your cronies to be named later?

Candidate B- I’m out. All I got is all these filing and withdrawal papers and oh, look... the clerk’s office’s time stamp.

Candidate A- That’s ok guys- I’ll just make sure you all get appointed judges.

Head of the Chamber of Commerce- When you guys sort it all out gimme a call. I gotta know who to bribe next year.

NO LITTLE KIRK, WE SAID YOU COULD HAVE “A” DOG

NO LITTLE KIRK, WE SAID YOU COULD HAVE “A” DOG: Curiouser and curiouser is an apt description after 10 days down the rabbit hole in the case of the deadline-missing candidates.

Because a “preliminary” half-ruling by former “de facto” State Elections Chief Kevin Cronin has determined half the equation in saying that soon-to-be-former House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell did not withdraw from running for his old post until after the filing deadline- doing so on Wed. July 23, not before the filing deadline on the 22nd- enabling the Democratic Party to pick their replacement candidate, Isaac Choy

But as to whether Caldwell- or anyone- broke the law as the ruling infers, by illegally filing for a second office without withdrawing from the one he had previously filed for, Cronin exercised his “I’m not here” privilege and was silent.

According Ian Lind who today provided the pdf file of Cronin’s ruling:

That appears to bounce the issue of Caldwell’s candidacy for the city council back to city clerk Denise Decosta, who by law (Section 12-8 HRS) must decide on challenges to candidates for county office. Now that Cronin has ruled that Caldwell remained a candidate in his House district until sometime on the morning following the filing deadline, and state law prohibits a candidate from filing for more than one office, Decosta appears to have less wiggle room in determining whether Caldwell’s council filing was valid.

So Decosta, who if she wasn’t a law-breaker herself at best aided and abetted Caldwell in breaking the law prohibiting the filing for more than one office, will be the one to decide whether Caldwell’s filing for council is valid regardless of how the insufficient-valid-signatures issue with Caldwell’s filing plays out.

If she rules Caldwell, having had his filing accepted by her office, legally filed for council she would be the one who was the scoff-law for allowing him to file for two offices at once. But if she rules that her office made a mistake in accepting it and bans Caldwell from the ballot, it’s all’s well that ends well- for her... unless of course Caldwell sues her for screwing him- despite the fact that he apparently didn’t know or intentionally broke the law despite the fact that he makes the laws..

Caldwell’s kind of like the guy with two girlfriends. He’s thinking the worst that could happen is that he’ll have to chose one or the other if they find out about each other. But when they do uncover his scheme they both ditch him.

It appears that Kirk is in for a rude awakening when he wakes up to find that after diddling around with two constituencies his new bed in the political gutter.

And you know it couldn’t happen to a nicer- or at least more appropriate- guy.

Anyone who observes- or cares about- the legislature knows Caldwell primarily for his blind devotion to Speaker Calvin Say and for his penchant for obstructing legislation by assuring it gets killed, if not by him then through his support of powerful committee chairs.

If the speaker didn’t like a bill or it didn’t serve their leadership faction politically he was the hatchet man. He and Say killed dozens of good bills this session- the kind people look at and say “how did that not get passed?”- and pulled the same crap when veto overrides were proposed, denying a vote on many of them by claiming, as he did during session, that “there weren’t enough votes”, without even bother to hold one.

He’s been a real champ at these political moves, shielding legislators from having to commit on controversial issues in an election year.

Cronin also has more problems of his own today after breaking another law and running up against common sense because he reportedly already ordered the ballot to be printed without allowing the parties to examine them (in violation of state law) and included Caldwell’s name on the ballots even though his ruling practically obviates the rejection Caldwell’s council filing

It’s quite the biblical parable. But presumably there will be some other twist such as Cronin’s decision being nullified because perhaps his self-proclaimed “de facto” leadership status might be insufficient to allow him to make the decision in the first place.

We just heard the Mad Hatter say to stay un-tuned

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And in a follow-up to our SuperScamFerry story yesterday there are two seemingly conflicting stories out of ferry-builder Austal’s home town newspaper, the Mobile Press-Register, regarding the copmpany’s military contracts and plans to build warships for the Navy.

The first, published Wednesday, is headlined

Audit: Austal failed to keep tabs on LCS Company didn't keep Navy managers informed

It tell us that the big Navy shipbuilding contract they are depending on might be on shaky ground saying:

Austal USA failed to keep Navy managers informed about the cost and schedule of the littoral combat ship under construction at its Mobile yard, according to a recent report that also faults the Navy and the project's lead contractor, General Dynamics Corp., for failing to ride herd on the company.

Overall, the review by the Naval Audit Service outlines a "significant breakdown" in internal controls over the high-profile project, now some $300 million over budget and a year behind the original timetable.

Program managers "were not provided valid and reliable cost, schedule and technical performance information for decision-making purposes," the report said.

"These issues raise concerns regarding Austal's management processes impacting the timeliness, accuracy, reliability and validity of performance management data that (Navy leaders) were supposed to rely upon to manage the contracts."

But then today there’s this:

Austal begins $254M facility; Shipyard counting on expansion to win more military contracts

Austal USA is banking on a $254 million expansion of its Mobile shipyard to lay the groundwork for large-scale U.S. military work.

Austal broke ground Thursday on a modular manufacturing facility that promises faster, less expensive ship construction at a time when the Defense Department is trying to rein in costs, particularly on ships.

Whether the U.S. Navy responds with new contracts remains to be seen, but one Washington, D.C., analyst said he feels there's a good chance the multimillion-dollar gamble will pay off.

"I don't think there's ever a guarantee in life," said Jay Korman, senior Navy analyst for consulting firm Avascent Group. "But when you look at the progress they've made on their program, they are right on track. I think the military customers will come ? that's the bottom line."

Gotta file this one under “huh?”

A SCHNAUZER IS A SCHNAUZER IS A SCHNAUZER

A SCHNAUZER IS A SCHNAUZER IS A SCHNAUZER: We were going to leave it alone- after all we don’t live in Honolulu and don’t even know who the heck Chrystn Eads is other than “an aide to Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann” much less where exactly the 24th House district is.

We were happy just to have the legislature rid of an obstructionist party hack and go-fer like House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, whose resignation was a well placed cog in Tuesday’s vaudevillian amateur hour.

Yes, we enjoyed laughing about the dance of the headless chickens that apparently was staged at 4:30 filing deadline when Eads was allowed to submit her paperwork at ten-to-five, even though the deadline is apparently pretty strict, according to state law.

But now for another kick in the face we find out in this morning’s Honolulu Advertiser’s “breaking news” that another wrinkle- heck, let’s call it a bend, fold, spindle and mutilation- has been added and apparently Eads “was told yesterday that her paperwork was voided because it was incomplete.” according to the article.

And- get this- even though there was no actual official “filing” since it was “voided”, the County Clerk is apparently going to allow “the party's House District 24 council (to) name (a) replacement, although others believe it will come from top party officials and insiders.”

In case anyone was wondering the law, according to the article says "in cases of withdrawal, death or disqualification of a party candidate after filing, the vacancy may be filled by the party. The party must notify the chief elections officer 72 hours after the vacancy occurs.”

So let’s get this straight. They are saying that she didn’t get in her papers in time so there was no official filing. Yet the Democratic Party is going to be allowed to name a “replacement” because she was disqualified after filing. But if indeed she legally “filed” – a prerequisite for a “replacement” how is she being disqualified?

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. It’s like being kicked out of a club you’re not a member of.

Actually we’d been considering the case for a couple of days and it seems that if the procedures do not allow for a looser deadline based on the fact that she was there 40 minutes before the deadline but could not get her papers until a few minutes before the cut-off time, there’s something wrong- something inherently exploitable by anyone bent on taking advantage of it..

If indeed this strict policy is in effect then it leaves it wide open for allowing the Clerk and/or the Clerk’s office’s employees a wide latitude for- ahem, shall we say- “directed incompetence”.

Seems like they’re actually allowed- heck, maybe encouraged- to screw someone they don’t want to see on the ballot if they’re coming in at the last minute.

How? Well like by having no one at the counter. “Sorry we’re all out to lunch- be back at 4:31” Or like by taking their sweet little time serving someone else filing papers. Or by notifying another candidate for the office who has already filed and letting dozens of his or her supporters jam the office with requests for some of the other multiple services the Clerk’s office provides.

When one goes to vote on election day and gets there just at the closing deadline, if there is a line the doors close behind them, not in their face. It prevents any potential mischief or shenanigans

But apparently, according to their policy it’s ok for the Clerk to play these little games.

While no one in the press has suggested this was the case with Eads, who knows? Those in attendance- and seemingly it was practically a media luncheon according to multitudinous accounts- haven’t been especially forthcoming with their observations as to exactly why it too almost 40 minutes to “serve” Eads.

With all the press and observers you’d think someone would have brought this up, especially if indeed there was any intentional delays preventing her from filing on time.

Whatever happens from here, the way the situation played out makes the label of Keystone Kops that’s been thrown about in the Honolulu press quite charitable.

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Correction: It appears we interpreted the vagaries of the “breaking news” without reading the published article. Apparently what was reported was that the given reason for the “party replacement was not Eads’ non-filing, but Caldwell’s supposed withdrawal- although there are similar problems there too. We regret the error.