SOMEBODY FLUSHED AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Well, well, well, apparently it's time to go out there and NOT vote for a bunch of crooks, know-it-alls and folks who care passionately about their showing in the next election.

The folks who have devoted themselves to making their neighborhood and the world around them a better place are no longer in office. And most aren't even running.


As to the ones who used to be there, when I ask about their plans each election cycle, they either give me one of those "hush uppa yo' face 'fore I hush it up fo' you" looks or have, against all odds, taken up the non-elective fight 27/7 after learning what I learned decades ago- elective office is no place for politics.

Or, in at least a couple of cases, because doing it killed them.

So let's start at the bottom since that's really the top when it comes to the really important day-to-day officeholders- the local ones.

There's really no one among the 14 running for KAUA`I COUNTY COUNCIL to vote "FOR." But those offices will be filled no matter what we do so at this point it's a matter of harm reduction.

The ones with the biggest potential for reducing harm are:


1) MASON K CHOCK- Mason is the only incumbent worth returning to office and should really be separated from others on this list. He's a reliable progressive vote and somehow manages to deal with the other council knuckleheads.


2) ADAM PROVERSI- Adam comes highly recommended as an environmental attorney (now with the county attorney's office) and a former organic farmer. On paper he's hard to beat. Don't include him in the "harm reduction" crew. He sounds a whole lot better than that. I've never met him but you couldn't ask for better credentials.


3) FELICIA COWDEN- Felicia hosts a public affairs radio program on community radio and ran for council in 2016. She'd be a hell of a lot better than any of the others and thinks and acts progressively. I am enthusiastic about the potential for seeing her round out a council majority along with


4) LUKE EVESLIN-- HAHAHA- PSYCH- FAKED YOU OUT. Yeah, after much consternation I'm gonna say "yes, you too Luke." And it isn't even that I've known him since he was in swaddling clothes and his dad for lo these 40 years. His failure to oppose the POISON FARMS in Waimea is still a big matzoh ball out there between us and I will do my best to figure out why Luke would support GM food since he's so pragmatic- or at least studied- in so many other areas. Perhaps I just need to show him the real dangers of eating genetically modified foods, "back-of-the-envelope" style. Other than that I'll vote for Luke enthusiastically and I promise I will do my best to change his mind on GMOs by the next election (or die trying). Anyway, I could get used to hearing him in the background every Wednesday. At least maybe he'd drown out Idiot Boy.

The next category is The Truly Horrific (vote for the plague before these candidates)- aka the DO NOT VOTE FOR council list, aka the KAUA`I LEAST WANTED list.

1) I suppose it would have to start with SHAYLENE LEI MAILE ISERI, (formerly SHAYLENE ISEI-CARVALHO), the person who has done so much to disgrace her name that she has gone to great lengths to disguise it on the ballot. If you don't remember "all of the horrible things she's done" (off to see the wizard?) search her name in the search box (just Shaylene is enough) on my "got windmills blog" http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/ . While I can't exactly accuse her of killing Tim Bynum because that would be libelous, I sure can think it.


2) ROSS KAGAWA, Mel Rapozo's Mini-me comes next but is really the worst. Ross is known by many simply as "Idiot Boy" because, among other things, it can be physically painful to listen to him think. He's famous of late for trying to explain why he (and others on the council) turned down a $100,000 grant to study what more we can do locally to fight climate change. The video is floating around Facebook. I can't even list all the stupid stuff he says and does.


3) ARTHUR BRUN is actually a Vice President of one of the west side chemical companies and was the one overseeing the place the day a national inspector just happened to be there on another matter when they caught them not using standard procedures to keep workers a safe time and distance from a super-poison being sprayed (yeah- I'm sooo sure it was only that one day). Workers had to go to the hospital. The company was originally fined millions.


4) ARRYL KANESHIRO is a chip off the old Grove Farm block and seems to be working for them in his council decision making.


5) KIPUKAI KUALII- There's a reason why his name doesn't seem to appear on any "who to vote for" lists. This article ( https://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/2012/09/separating-white-from-rice.html ) would be a wonderful place to start reading about both Kipukai and Shaylene. Don't forget to follow the links to read more about "Rice-Cooker-Gate"... If you're new enough here to have never heard about it there's no time like the present for education.


Oh- and there's that pesky Mayoral Race where Mel Rapozo is running against Derek Kawakami.

And one of them will be mayor in December (hand me my vomit bucket emoji- there must be one).

Rather than endorse/not endorse I am recommending people read the first three chapters of a book called "KPD Blue" by former Honolulu Star-Bulletin Kaua`i Bureau Chief Anthony "Tony" Sommer to find out more about former KPD Sgt. Mel Rapozo who was the only cop in uniform and on duty and in the fondling room at the station house the night the "Lap Dancer" made her infamous"personal appearance." (The juicy part is in the first three chapters).


You can order it from Amazon. Or let me know and I'll get you in touch with Tony and you can buy it directly from him (he makes more pennies that way). Or if you're cheap or in a hurry (even though Amazon delivers, like, yesterday) you can find Chapter by Chapter links to the book at the top of the "left rail" at my blog (which covers my decades of journalism, covering politics and government on Kaua`i. got windmills? is at http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/ Or try the library for "KPD Blue."


Voting starts Oct. 23 at the Kaua`i County Building Annex and you DO NOT- let me repeat DO NOT- need to be registered. The legislature passed a law this past May saying that you can register when you vote (no matter what you hear from anyone including the elections website itself). Election day is November 6.

Sometimes I feel like my life has been a political failure local, state and national wise. So if you are on the mainland and there's any chance people where you are might be electing a (play spooky "screech, screech, screech" music) Republican, as a LIFE LONG GREEN and former GREEN NATIONAL COMMITTEE DELEGATE, I'm asking you (and/or giving you permission) to PLEASE VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRAT- even one of those sucky ones. I've never asked people to do that before. It's that bad.

WHO TO VOTE AGAINST ON KAUA`I- 2018

No, it's not time to chose who to vote FOR any more these days. It's 2018 and there are seemingly only candidates to vote against... and a handful that we will vote for by default.


So here's my ill-considered and uninformed list of what my- and I do hope your- ballot will look like in the upcoming primary/special election, ending August 11. Ballots are either in your mailbox now or, if you haven't signed up for permanent mail-in ballots (please do- it's really convenient), early voting will be available soon and you can now register and vote on "primary" election day, August 11.--------
We'll start at home in our "non-partisan" Mayoral and County Council races.


The race for KAUAI MAYOR has four candidates with a realistic shot and three are disgusting. Only JOANN YUKIMURA is worth voting for if we ever want to get a grip on our current, horrendous over-development. While she is not the same JoAnn she was back in the '80's and '90's, when compared to the rest, she shines. I would gladly vote FOR her even if the others were not so nauseating.


The other three are former KPD Sgt. Mel Rapozo of "The Lap Dancer at the Station House" fame and Derek "Mr Big Save" Kawakami, replete with silver spoon still lodged in his mouth and Lenny Rapozo who spent the Carvalho administration as Parks and Recreation head, which, if you've seen our parks, speaks for itself.


With 24 COUNTY COUNCIL candidates you'd think there would be more than three you might want to vote for... but of course you'd think wrong if you did. You get seven votes- DO NOT use them all. USE ONLY THREE


1) Vote for MASON CHOCK, who, as an incumbent has been the only fresh air blowing through the council chambers for the last two years now.
2) While it's hard to really pin down FELICIA COWDEN on very much she can be probably be trusted to make the right decisions. But if you make it, we'll be watching Felicia.
3) The third is ADAM ROVERSI who is a former farmer from Kilauea who went back to school and studied environmental law. He now works in the county attorney’s office. I've never met him but people I know and trust tell me we can't go wrong in voting for him. Google him and checkout his website.


Watch out though- there are some real pigs running. Among them are disgraced former prosecuting attorney Shaylene Iseri, Ross "Idiot Boy" Kagawa who causes actual pain in those who attempt to watch him think and corrupt former councilmember Kipukai Kualii.


All three voted to continue to allow the chemical companies to poison people, voting against "the bill" back in the day- among other horrific actions/inactions. Same goes for Grove Farm Vice President, former councilmember Arryl Kaneshiro. Chemical company Vice President, council incumbent Arthur Brun fills out the "basket of deplorables".


Which brings us to Luke Evslin.


I've known Luke since he was a little boy. He is bright, articulate and inquisitive but has one blind spot- he fully supports the chemical companies' experimental genetic modification operations on the West side. I can't bring myself to support someone who makes that kind of political decision over the health of his potential constituents. It indicates the types of votes he would cast in the future. Sorry Luke- no support from this direction.


The rest aren't worth a second look. Don't forget- you don't need to vote for seven and if you're voting for a person based on some kind of "feeling," a family tie or some other tenuous connection you could defeat the candidate(s) you really do want to see with your vote. "Plunking," as it's called, is a long-time tradition on Kaua`i where we can vote for all seven "at-large" candidates but usually don't. It's not hard to see why.

If anyone wants to research those I've mentioned above- or at least those with a record- I've written about many extensively in my "Got Windmills- the Daily Tilt" blog at http://parxnewsdaily.blogspot.com/ where you can enter their names in the search box at the top of the page and you will get all the articles I've written about them. The same goes for those below.


------------
Next, to the state legislature


STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 16

These could be the two biggest races on Kaua`i ballots. On the West side DEE MORIKAWA stuck her neck out to pass the pesticide bill in the legislature- it wouldn't have happened without her. Stephanie Iona is a lobbyist for the chemical companies, sent to defeat Dee. I'm sure you know how important this race is. I wish I could vote for Dee.

STATE HOUSE DISTRICT 15

Jimmy (James) Tokioka is THE wost excuse for a human being- much less a legislator- that I've ever seen. He is corrupt to the core. Yet he gets reelected every two years. I wish I lived in the district. I don't know Elaine Daligdig but she's GOT to be better than Jimmy. PLEASE vote for ELAINE DALIGDIG.

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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1

First let me say I don't live in District 1. No one on Kaua`i does. But it's rare to find such a long list of candidates to "vote against."

But one stands out as one of the worst turds Hawai`i has ever sent to DC, Ed Case. He managed to slip into a seat in a plurality election where the two popular candidates split the vote and he slipped into an the "interim" seat when the Sainted Patsy Mink passed away just before an election. Get a history book- it hurts too much to have to remember that fiasco.

One problem is that Kaniela Ing is a great candidate, according to those on Maui that know him. But he also got into some trouble over "misreporting" campaign contributions and was severely fined for it. If I lived there I'd vote for him. Bu he might not have a shot to stop Case because he's really outspoken- in a good way.

Doug Chin needs to beat Case because the rest of the field is just that disgusting. Making it easier is that Chin hates Trump and, when he was our attorney general, he led the national effort to block the infamous "Muslim Ban" in court.

I'm glad I don't have to vote in this one.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2

I do have to vote in this one. And I feel kind of queasy over having to vote for Tulsi Gabbard and so will be voting for Sherry Alu Campagna who, some say, has really good progressive credentials (Her web site is kind of wishy-washy). Gabbard will win no matter what I do.

Gabbard kind of gets all "Stepford Wives" when you ask her about her childhood- and apparently current- guru Cris Butler and while I don't care what religion/cult someone might be/join unless it gets in the way of governing, there's something about Tulsi's reaction to being asked about it that's really really creepy (and I don't often use two "reallys." Really.

But she's also an early Bernie supporter and says and does some great stuff in congress and that's probably what counts.

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LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Oh Goodie, goodie. We get to vote FOR someone.

KIM COCO IWAMOTO is a "true progressive" (I'd say democratic socialist but my Democratic Party friends would have a conniption fit) and, although I've never met her she appears to be the real deal. It's too bad Josh Green is running for Lt. Governor also.

If you play all those tic-tac-toe political games you're probably, to mix a metaphor, still twiddling your thumbs. But if you like voting with integrity like I do and you'll be voting for "Kim Coco."

--------------

GOVERNOR
We'd run out of arm before we run out of candidates on the list for governor. But since everyone I know will be "pulling" a Democratic ballot we are told that "if you want your vote to count" you'd better choose between former Chief Cook and Bottle Washer (along with every other political position imaginable) Colleen Hanabusa and David "Wow, how the heck did I get here" Ige (D).


The problem is choosing which one nauseates us more- or less as the case may be. Many had already tentatively made up our minds not to vote for Ige, based on four years of getting our faces slapped by him- especially through his Dept of Ag lackey Scott Enright who has allowed multi-national chemical companies to engage in school, home and road-side poisonings under the "jobs, jobs, jobs" banner for those who survive the daily toxic deluge.

But just as we were about to accept anybody- repeat ANYBODY- to get rid of him and Enright we looked up and saw- ARRGGGH, the ghost of elections past- the Hanabusa machine.

Who makes us sicker, who makes us sicker... all summer was gonna be spent measuring who made us sicker.

But a last minute a "here's your damn bill-choke on it" effort on the part of Ige and his Legislative 76 Stooges gave us a watered down but acceptable law, banning one of the worst of the restricted use chemicals, stopping poison spraying within 7 millimeters of a school, oh let's say 150 years from now (something like that) and, the one substantive measures, a complete list of "What the Heck Are They Spraying?" which was how this who thing got started in the first place.

So, although I've promised myself I'm too old to vote for this worst evil crap and I should be choosing a Green Party ballot to vote for candidate Jim Brewer since there's a Green on the ballot. But he'll be there in November. So you have my permission to make sure we don't have to look at Colleen on the news every night but rather listen to the nasal stylings of Ige and the Indecisive-tones.

Vote Early- And Often.

Keeping Up With The Kealohas

Yes it's local TV's Latest Hit Show HNN's "Keeping Up With The Kealohas." Last night's special featured a blast of foul smelling stinkerino from the past in the name of Jake Delaplane. For newbies or those with short memories he was disgraced former Kaua`i Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri's second-alcoholic-and-respondent-in-command who is now apparently, they say, representing a couple of the "co-conspirators" in HPD's spin-off "Pimp My Mail Box."
Does sleaze know no bottom rung? We'll see.
But do read up on Jake's involvement in the Kaua`i "Rice-Cooker-Gate" in a few investigative pieces I penned in 2012 and thereabouts... and look for Judge Watenabe's from-the-bench chiding of self same Delaplane.

SWEEPING NEW KAUA`I COUNCIL RULE CHANGES IMBUE RAPOZO WITH KINGLY POWERS

The Great Dictator

(PNN) In a move by new Chair Mel Rapozo that removes the rights of councilmember to introduce legislation, move bills out of committee to a final vote by the full council, initiate workshops and even cuts the amount of time allotted for them to speak on measures on the agenda by half, the new Kaua`i County Council majority rammed through wholesale changes to longstanding rules at Monday's usually inaugural meeting of the Kaua`i County Council.


The rights of the public were also severely curtailed by cutting the mandatory length for public testimony in half, removing the right to petition the council, severely restricting exchanges between councilmembers and testifiers and forcing the public to one again wait for hours to testify.


The County Charter requires adoption of the rules at the usually pro-forma first meeting which turned into a protracted, almost four hour long losing battle to protect the rights of councilmembers and the public after Rapozo attempted to sneak new rules past due consideration by the council by circulating them unformatted, without using the standard "Ramseyer" format that shows changes to legislation. That way a quick glance made those reading them think there were no changes at all.


A PNN article on Saturday which detailed a small handful of the proposed changes apparently alarmed Councilmember Gary Hooser who then "shared" the article on Facebook. That spurred an email from Rapozo sent only to those who had contacted him after seeing the article, attempting unsuccessfully to play down and in fact misrepresent the changes. That email itself was followed by a detailed point-by-point Facebook post refuting Rapozo's email from Hooser who was outraged over the not just the rules themselves but the attempt to dupe the council into adopting changes.


Among the changes is one previously unreported provision that would allow committees and their chairs to prevent the full council from taking a final vote on a bill or resolution by holding the bill in committee permanently, thus killing it.


While giving chairs this kind of power is common at the federal and state level it is rarely part of the rules for local jurisdictions. Kaua`i is the first county in Hawai`i to pass a rule like this, although Hawai`i Island briefly considered and quickly rejected a similar measure this week after their chair attempted a similar secret maneuver.


According to Roberts Rules of Order which governs parliamentary procedure, only the full body can determine the ultimate fate of any measure with a majority or more (depending on the type of measure) of the full body carrying the outcome. But under the Rule-a-la-Rapozo a "receipt for the record" or in fact any vote other than approval by a five-voting-member committee of the seven member council would cause the measure to remain in committee until the chair allows it to come up again- conceivably not at all. That would allow three votes- or even less depending on how many are in attendance for the vote- to essentially kill a bill or resolution.


The new rules also:


-Cut the time the public is given by law to testify on an agenda item from a total of six to three minutes. It would leave granting a second three minutes to the discretion of the chair, replacing the old four additional minutes under the chair's purview. It's interesting to note that when the matter came up for discussion Councilmember Kipukai Kuali`i showed how even he- a member of the new majority who was the most vocal about how it was "disrespectful" to challenge the new rules- insisted this was not true, personally attacking Hooser over his contention that it was. It took an insistence from Hooser that the record reflect the truth for Kuali`i- obviously worried enough about how his performance would look to the electorate to later apologize and claim he was not attacking Hooser personally- to acknowledge his error demonstrating definitively that he hadn't understood or possibly even read one of the most glaring changes. The "total of six minutes" rule had been in effect on Kaua`i for decades;


-Removed the right of councilmember to have proposed legislation- or any matter- placed on the council agenda within 120 days of submittal. This provision was added a couple of years back after Rapozo's stated "mentor," former Chair Kaipo Asing, abused the requirement requiring the council chair to "initial" matters in order for them to appear on the agenda. to block legislation he disfavored from ever appearing on the agenda;


-Eliminate the right of members to hold "workshops" unless the matter is on the council agenda. Workshops are used to gather facts, input from experts. members of the administration and the community to contribute to the preparation of legislation without violating the state Sunshine Law which requires six-day notice and public testimony whenever a majority of the council gathers to deal with actual or projected council business;


-Cut from 10 to five minutes the time councilmembers may speak on an agenda item without permission from the chair;


-Eliminated the right of citizens to petition the council to consider legislation;


-Eliminated a recent rule change that had allowed members of the public to testify on any single agenda item for three minutes at the very beginning of a meeting rather than having to sit around all day- sometimes into the night- in order to testify, thus forcing them to, once again, take a full day off to speak their mind rather than just an hour or so at 9 a.m.


Rapozo claimed many of the substantive changes were merely "housekeeping" measures and that all were done with intent of "expediency (and) efficiency" and as "cost saving" measures, even suggesting much of the council's proceeding- apparently including public and council input- were "a waste of time (and) money" presenting an unsubstantiated a figure of $250 an hour to record, caption and web-cast meetings.


For the record, at one point during the meeting Rapozo personally chided PNN Publisher, Editor and Chief Correspondent Andy Parx by name over what he thought he had read in PNN's first (Saturday 11/29) article on the rules. Rapozo mockingly claimed that Parx wrote that a rule regarding "intemperate" or "abusive" language was new. However a critical-reading of the paragraph shows that the reference to "new" was made regarding the section on "Public Testimony" in which the passage is contained, not the passage itself. PNN welcomes a retraction and apology from Rapozo considering how adverse he is to litigation.


The meeting began with a... ah screw this "news" format- the rest calls for a lot less "just the facts ma’am" and a lot more Rabid Reporter bombast.


The power grab by "King Louis-Mel "I am the County" XIV, The "Blotting out the Sun(shine) King" started with a "hurry up and just pass the damn rules" push during the usually pre-fake-swearing-in snooze-fest where the gaggle of governance takes the actual oath of office while the audience swears a different kind of under-their-breath-oath. That is usually punctuated by selection of the new chair, vice chair, clerk and deputy and finally pretty much the same old rules as the last term are adopted. At least that's been the case for the at least the last 25-plus years with any substantive rule changes taking place at regular meetings throughout the term.


As the clocked ticked down to the official unofficial hour assigned to re-perform the swearing-in ceremonially in the auditorium next door approached, the new council majority became panicked when it became apparent that the minority were not happy about the elimination of their and the public's rights as Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura announced she had prepared nine amendments for the most egregious of the measures to consolidate MachiaMelli's powers.


" Hurry... only a few minutes to go" shouted dumber-than-the-usual-bear Ross "Boo-Boo" Kagawa to Yogi the Chair as the clock ticked down. "Let's just pass them and be done with it" said perennial also ran, first-time-actually-elected Rapozo-sycophant Kipukai Kuali`i who seemed outraged-to-tears (if that's possible) that someone would challenge the rights of Il Douche-A, to run roughshod over the minority.


It was only when, with mere minutes to go, Yukimura shouted "Move to amend" and a split-second later Hooser said "second" that the lap-dancer-fondling chair thought better of not recognizing the motion at the almost-didn't-happen delayed-on-line-streaming of the event and they all proceeded next door for the banal fake-coronation and insipid oratories from Hizzonah and Ghengis Mel, saving the fireworks for after the show.


Despite the opposition from the majority- which includes a long-sought seat for big Kaua`i landowner Grove Farm in the form of Silver-Spoon-Fed legacy "Missing-D," Arryl Kaneshiro (whose election, many say, was due to confusion with his father, long-serving ex-Councilmember, Darryl)- Yukimura charged on with her amendments with "seconds" from Hooser and loose support from the other member of the progressive minority Mason Chock who, with Yukimura, voted for the final rules with only Hooser voting in opposition.


The worst of the worst of the really offensive "how dare you challenge The Prince" rhetoric came from Kuali`i who had gotten the votes of many progressives in the last election despite his demonstrated support for the Rapozo, Asing and former councilmember and disgraced former County Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.


Iseri and Kuali`i were accused of colluding to throw Victim-Witness Program monies to Kualii's employer, the YWCA, with Iseri firing the V-V program employees she had just hired (causing a wrongful termination EEOC filing which the county settled) in the prosecutors office... where the program had always been housed since its inception.


This, say council-watchers guaranteed Kualii's allegiance to the Iseri/Rapozo alliance during the often bitter battles over Asing's secretive and paternalistic reign as Chair after having served nobly for years as the champion of the people in the '80's '90's and early '00's.


Of the nine amendments only one passed and that with an amendment to the amendment. But that was was perhaps the most perplexing of all because the "new" rule was the same as the old rule housed in that previously mentioned section on Public Hearings.


The council rules certainly did need some actual housekeeping measures including use of archaic language, anachronistic provisions and misogynist phrasings. But one of the most glaring had always been that there was no section regarding the rules for Public Testimony. Those rules had always been housed under "Public Hearings" which are required by charter but separate from common public testimony which is required on every agenda item at every meeting by the Hawai`i State Sunshine (open meetings) Law. The Public Hearing rules have always been treated as applying to both.


Apparently when staff pointed this out to Benito Rapozo he decided to use the opportunity to make the council train run on time.


The one and only provision that differed was that during actual Public Hearings, the council has been restricted from asking questions and having exchanges with those testifying. It had always been pretty strictly adhered to until recently when, although former Chair Jay Furfaro would often remind councilmembers of the rule, he in fact was a little lackadaisical about enforcing it.


Yet here was an amendment from Yukimura apparently seeking to allow it that during Public Hearings. Now it should be pointed out that at this juncture that although the council appeared to be working from, if not a formal Ramseyer copy of the new rules at least one that indicated changes, still neither has not been made available to the public.


And as a matter of fact one of those "housekeeping" rules made it even harder to know what the heck is going on at meetings by allowing the chair to dispense with the actual verbal reading of measures. We've tried for years to get them to read actual amendments when they're introduced- or at least before they are passed- to no avail.


Parenthetically, as a matter of fact- and we should have anticipated this- council service is traditionally about as fast as a molasses-surfing turtle when it comes to getting things posted on the county web site. Yet the new rules were posted so fast it made our head do an Exorcist and now the old rules are apparently lost to the ages.


Not so parenthetically, in some ways we were sympathetic to the impetus (if not the lack of thought) behind a few of what can only be called the new"Yukimura Rules."


There isn't one person we know who hasn't rolled their eyes and even walked out of the room asking those remaining to "let me know when she's done" after sitting through one of her interminable "thinking out loud" sessions, usually during Q&A with someone testifying. The smirks when councilmembers made veiled references to it during the debate were not as veiled as the references themselves.


So back to the actual amendment that apparently amended nothing, Yukimura's amendment seemed to seek to allow exchanges during Pubic Hearings. That would have been a change from what we remember the old rules said:


"Public hearings are held to receive testimony from the public. Councilmembers shall reserve their opinions, questions, and arguments for the appropriate Council or Committee meeting."


So after much wrangling and Yukimura's pleas that members be able to "clarify" what those speaking at Public Hearings were saying, the following was added:


";except that Councilmembers may ask clarifying questions that enable the Council to better understand the point or position of the speaker."


And THAT passed unanimously. Big whoop. It's probably the one change we would have opposed.


The afternoon session session began with His Melness attempting to run down the list of changes, often mumbling "housekeeping changes made by staff"- until it turned out they weren't- or otherwise glossing over or misrepresenting them. Then Yukimura's amendments rejected at breakneck speed, with the the Greek Chorus responding to Sophoclapozo's "I wont abuse my power" with a refrain of "No he won't abuse his power" followed by some HMS Pinafore-like


What Never?

No Never

What Never?

Well... hardly every

Hardly ever abuses Ruuuules.


Hardly ever sick at Council meetings? We suspect that for the next two year the response will be "yes always."

(PNN) ISERI RESPONDS TO ARTICLE BUT FAILS TO ADDRESS CORE RAWLS CHARGES

(PNN) Former Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri responded Sunday to our Saturday article, for the first time publicly commenting in detail and in writing on former Staff Internal Auditor Ron Rawls' charges of a conspiracy to coverup wrongdoing on the part of her and County Auditor Ernie Pasion by attempting to withhold information from a report to the county council in the Fuel Audit or "Fuel-gate" scandal.

Though she failed to address specific charges Iseri gave a blanket denial of wrongdoing writing that "the first I heard of any purported illegal gas usage by me or anyone in my office was when Mr. Rawls filed his claim. I would be more than happy to state that there was no wrongdoing on my part or anyone else and hope that these allegations, made my a party I hardly knew, are taken to court and the truth is revealed."


In two emails Sunday (included in full below) Iseri denies also disputes accounts in local and Honolulu newspapers as well as Honolulu television news programs, various on-line publications and sources close to the situation that, as we wrote on Saturday, "(d)espite the efforts of former Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho (no relation) to indict the mayor- an effort that won her admonishment from the judge for not having enough votes on the grand jury but moving ahead as if she did- no one has been prosecuted in the case... yet."


She also addresses "the mens rea issue" although she apparently did not understand that the portion of the article dealing with the issue was quoted directly from Ron Rawls' "claim."


Other than the statement above and her discussion of what Rawls characterized as "the mens rea problem" itself, Iseri failed to address Rawls' actual charges- allegations that she and Pasion conspired to withhold information from the county council that was contained in the original investigatory report by an outside law firm and also sought to limit the investigation by covering-up similar alleged misdeeds on the part of others in county government... including Iseri herself.


We did err in saying that Iseri was on the council and voted to appoint Pasion as County Auditor. In fact Iseri had just left the council to become Prosecuting Attorney when the vote was taken. Unfortunately, due to a copy and past error, a sentence from a earlier draft wound up back in the article that was published and we have corrected the error on-line and noted it at the end of the piece. We apologize for any confusion.


Other than that we stand by everything that was published.


Here are Iseri's emails in full (all "sic"):


Email #1

Andy,


Your conspiracy claims are so bizarre. It's very apparent that you choose to publish delusions, instead of facts. It reminds me of another blogger who writes trash with no support. While I normally don't pay attention to your fiction stories, it was sent to me by Ken Taylor, who truly cares about the truth and people of Kauai, to read and address---


Let me address your points in order:


" Despite the efforts of former Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho (no relation) to indict the mayor- an effort that won her admonishment from the judge for not having enough votes on the grand jury but moving ahead as if she did- no one has been prosecuted in the case... yet."


First, I never pursued charges against the Mayor.  Neither me nor anyone from my office ever presented any charges against the Mayor.  Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


Second, there was never any admonishment by the judge for not having votes on the grand jury. Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement, especially a videotaped-recording of the proceeding wherein all judges's decisions are kept. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


Every intelligent person would know that if the grand jury isn't presented a State of Hawaii v. Bernard Carvalho Jr. Case to consider, then most definitively they could not have the opportunity to vote to indict.


"...no surprise to anyone who has paid attention over the years- Pasion, who was appointed to the then-newly created Auditor's position with the votes of Rapozo and Iseri when she was on the council. Please provide your PROOF OF FACTS of this statement. I bet you never will because it doesn't exist. It's another figment of your thwarted imagination.


I never participated in the selection of Ernesto Pasion as the County Auditor.  He was appointed unanimously by council members other than me--even by council members who you favor. (Chuckle). I knew Ernie Pasion as the Elections Clerk, then later as the Deputy County Clerk. I again, never selected him as the Deputy Clerk, nor had any input in that decision. I never  had much communications with him when I was a council member because our work requests all went through the County Clerk and it was reassigned to other staff members. I've never been to his house, I don't  even know where he lives, he's never given me any campaign contribution, we don't even go to the same church nor do we now, nor ever did, socialize. I rarely ever saw him then, and I rarely see him now.


" The results of the McCorriston-led investigations were memorialized in two reports; one regarding the mayor's use of fuel and the other regarding a parks employee's alleged misappropriation of fuel. At the outset, I note that McCorriston's May 1, 2012 report regarding the mayor's use of fuel concludes that the mayor may or may not have possessed the mens rea required to support a criminal case against him. The McCorriston report also recommended referral to law enforcement (in this case, the state's Attorney General) if the County Council decided to seek further investigation into the lack of mens rea problem."

According to you, with respect to the mens rea issue, the persons involved in the investigation recommended referral to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. As you may not know, the Hawaii Jury Instructions 3.16 ( quoted below) specifically address the mens rea element of a crime as rarely would you have a case where you would have direct evidence of a suspect's state of mind, in that a suspect would admit, " I wanted to steal gas, it was my intent to steal gas, and I stole gas. "  If this was the requirement, I am sure we would almost NEVER have convictions.  Therefore, the law requires that the mens rea and/or state of mind requirement can be met by circumstantial evidence. The mind of a suspect may be read from his/her actions and all the inferences drawn therefrom. 

3.16 STATE OF MIND - PROOF BY CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
The state of mind with which a person commits an act such as ["intentionally"] ["knowingly"] ["recklessly"] may be proved by circumstantial evidence. While witnesses may see and hear, and thus be able to give direct evidence of what a person does or fails to do, there can be no eye-witness account of the state of mind with which the acts are done or omitted. But what a person does or fails to do may or may not indicate the state of mind with which he/she does or refrains from doing an act.
Commentary


“While a defendant’s state of mind can rarely be proved by direct evidence, ‘the mind of an alleged offender may be read from his or her acts or conduct and the inferences fairly drawn from all of the circumstances.’” State v. Pudiquet, 82 Hawai#i 419, 425, 922 P.2d 1032, 1038 (App. 1996); State v. Leung, 79 Hawai#i 538, 544, 904 P.2d 552, 558 (App. 1995). "[S]ince intent can rarely be proved by direct evidence, proof by circumstantial evidence and reasonable inferences arising from circumstances surrounding the act is sufficient to establish the requisite intent." State v. Sadino, 64 Haw. 427, 430, 642 P.2d 534, 537 (1982); see also State v. Rushing, 62 Haw. 102, 612 P.2d 103 (1980); State v. Hernandez, 61 Haw 475, 605 P.2d 75 (1980); State v. Yabusaki, 58 Haw. 404, 570 P.2d 844 (1977). 

In the Mayor's case, based on what you and your counterparts have written, the following circumstances occurred: the mayor made public statements that he wasn't taking auto allowance because of the downfall of the economy; the mayor had no gas budget; the mayor used a gas card that was assigned to a different county vehicle with a county license plate;  the mayor had a private license plate, not a county one; the mayor had re-elect Bernard Carvalho for Mayor bumper stickers on his private vehicle that he filled with County gas, the Mayor took the 5th when asked to explain his side of what happened, etc...

Given your lack of credibility with false statements that are totally contradicted by videotaped recordings, I don't have much faith that these facts you state regarding the Mayor are true however, even you using your own "facts", no reasonable person could conclude that something wrong happened here. 

I never pursued charges against Janine Rapozo. The Grand Jury returned an indictment. The Grand a Jury has its own Grand Jury counsel appointed by the court. They are prohibited from consulting with the prosecutor or deputy. The Grand Jury makes its decision confidentially. The jurors are prohibited, according to the law, to tell the Prosecutor or deputy the votes in a Grand Jury. The Grand Jury counsel tells the deputy whether or not a true bill is returned. In the Rapozo case, the deputy was told that a grand jury returned a true bill and the Grand Jury foreperson signed the Indictment. It was not until later when the deputy learned that 71% votes were obtained instead of 75%. As soon as he learned of the vote, he agreed to the dismissal. The hearing was video-taped and Is made available to the public.

Email #2


Aloha Andy, 

Sorry but my draft was forwarded before I completed it. I wanted to add that the first I heard of any purported illegal gas usage by me or anyone in my office was when Mr. Rawls filed his claim. I would be more than happy to state that there was no wrongdoing on my part or anyone else and hope that these allegations, made my a party I hardly knew, are taken to court and the truth is revealed. As you know, I have always advocated for the truth and the County Attorney has settled numerous lawsuits without any investigation or trial, over my staunch objection. Also, connect the dots... The same attorney is getting rich Dan Hempey, who is involved in these settlements, who is close friends with the County Attorney. 

It's obvious after all the lies that you've stated, that are directly contradicted by tape recorded court hearings and video-taped council meetings, your only interest is to pursue your own obscene personal agenda against me. It's clearly obvious you are not interested in the truth nor find that the Kauai people are intelligent enough to make their own decisions about issues by providing objective facts, not outright lies to support your thwarted agenda. It's hypocritical you claim you enjoy democracy and freedom of speech but anyone who has an opinion different from yours is " bullsh**" ( your words not mine) should wear a scarlet letter SI and be hung. Brings back the plantation mentality syndrome....You hate Kaipo Asing, and he is Native Hawaiian. You hate Kipu Kai and he's Native Hawaiian. You hate me, and I am Native Hawaiian.....uuummmmmmmmmm your pattern of hate is clearly becoming obvious...

Shaylene Iseri

For your information, Bernard Carvalho Jr. Is my, daughter's godfather. Do you want to see the picture of him and my family at the church and celebration of her baptism? Also, the Mayor was also the emcee for my wedding. Do you want to see the pictures of him at my wedding doing the honors? Unlike you, I have evidence and proof to support my facts. :-) :-) 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AN AUDITOR'S OFFICE NOT SO FAR, FAR AWAY

You don't have to wear a tin-foil hat to swallow the hook, line and sinker of conspiracy theories. Some otherwise normal, rational people seem to think that "they can't say it on the internet if it ain't true... can they?" Or the newspaper for that matter, especially on Kaua`i. Sometimes it feels like there's some national Confederacy of Dunces that's a strong enough alliance to make those of us who require more than speculation and innuendo to determine veracity, think that there actually is a conspiracy- one to designed to obliterate Americans' critical thinking and reading skills.

Kaua`i has it's own brand of conspiracy theorist who is more than happy to connect the disparate dots to form a picture of his or her own design.


The latest of these concerns "Fuel-gate"- the "scandal" surrounding the alleged misappropriation of county gasoline that came on the heels of County Auditor Ernie Pasion's report (still labeled "interim") which found irregularities and pointed fingers in the direction of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.


Despite the efforts of former Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho (no relation) to indict the mayor- an effort that won her admonishment from the judge for not having enough votes on the grand jury but moving ahead as if she did- no one has been prosecuted in the case... yet.


The scuttlebutt-narrative around town and on social media has it that, for nefarious reasons, the County Council- which by county charter is responsible for hiring and firing the Auditor- has, instead of pinning a medal on his chest, met at least 20 times by some counts in closed-door executive session to discipline and possibly fire Pasion for some type of as yet unstated misconduct.


The claim is that the council is protecting the mayor and they're all just a bunch of corrupt bums- proof positive that they must be thrown out next November en masse when all are up for re-election.


Many seemingly intelligent self-appointed county government watchdogs and other supporters of Pasion have filed up to the council testimony desk to bemoan the corruption and praise Pasion as a pillar of honesty in the cesspool of misdeeds that is Kaua`i County government.


That is, if you'll pardon my French, Bullsh*t.


The more politically astute in the community- those that actually know the players and follow the action- know the whole affair to be yet another result of the infamous reign of terror of nefarious former PA Iseri-Carvalho (now just plain Iseri... you do the math) and her proxy war on everyone else, being waged by a handful of her still-loyal compatriots.


They include Councilmembers Mel Rapozo and his trusty manservant Ross Kagawa, former Councilmember Kipukai Kuali`i, regular council gadflies Glenn Mickens and Ken Taylor, newspaper columnist Walter Lewis and- no surprise to anyone who has paid attention over the years- Pasion. *


The whys and wherefores of this cabal of Iseri-ites is a subject for a particularly complicated series of flow charts, pie charts and Venn Diagrams to be complied by another reporter on another later day. But the genesis of the council's executive sessions and the fact that Pasion's job is hanging by a still unraveling thread may be more simply explained by examining a little noted actual "claim" submitted by a former Staff Internal Auditor in the Office of the County Auditor, Ron Rawls.


In it Rawls describes how first Pasion attempted to delete possibly exculpatory material from the report which had been compiled by an outside law firm regarding Carvalho's guilt or innocence. Then Rawls says Pasion sought to change key words to strengthen the charges against the Mayor.


But when Rawls insisted that ALL county employees who were found to be using county gasoline without paying for it- including then Prosecuting Attorney Iseri- be cited in the report, Passion refused and retaliated against Rawls, first by excluding him from meetings and anything else to do with the fuel audit and eventually banishing him to a windowless office in another building with no work to do.


The sections in italics below constitutes Rawls' entire statement. It is essential reading for anyone who thought they knew anything about "Fuel-gate."


According to Rawls' notarized declaration in support of his claim:


I was employed as a staff internal auditor in the Office of the County Auditor, County of Kauai.


On June 25,2012,1 filed a complaint alleging a hostile workplace and violations of State and County law involving corruption within the Office of the County Auditor. Since that time, I suffered illegal retaliation based on what and who I reported. I was forced to resign my employment, due to the actions taken against me, and the severe and pervasive hostile work environment that followed because I spoke out about illegal activity as well as ethics violations and misconduct in the Office.


1 was assigned to conduct an audit of county fuel costs, including controls designed to ensure that fuel usage is authorized and limited to valid county business purposes. During this audit, I discovered that the county's Mayor, Bernard Carvalho, may have inappropriately used county fuel in his private car for personal use purposes and I immediately reported this to Auditor Pasion. Auditor Pasion then contracted with the law firm of McCorriston Miller Mukai and MacKinnon LLP (hereinafter "McCorriston") who performed extended audit procedures in the form of investigations into the mayor's use of county fuel for personal use purposes and other . suspected instances of fuel misuse by county employees.


Generally speaking, the purpose of the investigations was supposed to be an independent assessment of the various facts and circumstances surrounding the appearance of fuel use/misuse, with the goal of determining whether illegal acts or fraud had likely occurred. The results of the McCorriston-led investigations were memorialized in two reports; one regarding the mayor's use of fuel and the other regarding a parks employee's alleged misappropriation of fuel. At the outset, I note that McCorriston's May 1, 2012 report regarding the mayor's use of fuel concludes that the mayor may or may not have possessed the mens rea required to support a criminal case against him. The McCorriston report also recommended referral to law enforcement (in this case, the state's Attorney General) if the County Council decided to seek further investigation into the lack of mens rea problem.


According to Wikipedia:


Mens rea is Latin for "guilty mind". In criminal law, it is viewed as one of the necessary elements of some crimes. The standard common law test of criminal liability is usually expressed in the Latin phrase, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means "the act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty". Thus, in jurisdictions with due process, there must be an actus reus, or "guilty act," accompanied by some level of mens rea to constitute the crime with which the defendant is charged (see the technical requirement of concurrence). As a general rule, criminal liability does not attach to a person who merely acted with the absence of mental fault. The exception is strict liability crimes.


Anyway, that's when things really began to unravel. Rawls' claim continues saying:


Auditor Pasion submitted a summary report to the County Council based on McCorriston's May 1,2012 report. Prior to providing McCorriston report to the Council, however, Auditor Pasion and I met with the (then) Prosecuting Attorney, Shaylene Iseri- Carvalho. At the meeting, Auditor Pasion and Prosecuting Attorney Iseri-Carvalho decided to withhold from the County Council the portion of the investigators' report which indicated that the mayor may have lacked mens rea as to a potential criminal offense. Thus the report that was provided to the Council had important evidence of innocence removed, before the Council was briefed. I voiced my opposition to this decision to both Auditor Passion and (then) Prosecuting Attorney, Iseri-Carvalho.


Because I disagreed with the decision to withhold this information from the report I formally communicated my concerns to Auditor Pasion in an email message (which I sent to Auditor Pasion at 1:24 p.m. on June 5,2012). In particular, I communicated to Auditor Pasion that I felt that the councilmembers should be provided with all significant information pertaining to the investigation, including the investigators' findings regarding the mayor's possible (lawful) rationale for using county fuel in his private vehicle and the difficulty with lack of evidence regarding criminal intent. Nonetheless, Auditor Pasion removed references to the potential lack of criminal intent from the summary report that he submitted to the County Council. I also note that Auditor Pasion also declined to provide the councilmembers with full version copies of the McCorriston report, which delineates the lack of mens rea problem.

If true, that alone looks pretty bad for both Pasion and Iseri. But there was more manipulation of the report to be submitted to the council. Rawls continued:

I believe the intentional omission of potentially significant information from Auditor Pasion's report was an effort to manipulate the Council's decision regarding whether to refer this matter to law enforcement.. I further believe that this was only one of a number of instances in which Auditor Passion, along with Audit Manager Lani Nakazawa, violated government auditing standards (and hence violated legal requirements set forth in the county charter) relating to auditor independence, objectivity, impartiality, integrity and professional behavior in connection with the fuel costs audit investigations. During the course of the fuel costs audit investigations, I often spoke out about these types of instances. For example, when Ms. Nakazawa provided me with her proposed draft of a memorandum addressed to Council Chair Jay Furfaro, dated December 15, 2010, claiming that "fraud had likely occurred," I spoke out against the use of word "likely" because I felt that we did not have enough evidence to support that contention. Rather, I recommended softening the wording to "fraud may have occurred." However, Auditor Pasion and Ms. Nakazawa declined to change the wording (i.e., from "likely" to

"may"). It is important to note that the wording "fraud has likely occurred" was intentionally used by Auditor Pasion in the December 15,2010 memorandum in order to provide him with an avenue to directly report the mayor's possible misappropriation of county fuel to the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney.

From the early stages of the audit and investigations, it was clear to me that Auditor Pasion, Audit Manager Lani Nakazawa and Prosecuting Attorney Iseri-Carvalho wanted the mayor's fuel use matter referred for criminal prosecution. By contrast, I simply tried to ensure conformity with county charter-required government auditing standards and to be a "voice of reason" and impartiality throughout the fuel audit and investigation process. This often put me at odds with Auditor Pasion.

Lani Nakazawa is the former County Attorney who was appointed when Bryan Baptiste became mayor in 2002 and began the era when the county charter was reinterpreted to say that the office's functions and responsibilities had no public component but rather only represented the council, the mayor and administration personnel.

As we characterized her our introduction to Chapter 11 of our serialization of Anthony Sommer's book "KPD Blue"


With “A New Mayor” in 2002 came a new era of mind boggling and often illegal secrecy and legal deception initiated by Bryan Baptiste’s new County Attorney, Lani Nakazawa.

In Chapter 11 of KPD Blue by Anthony Sommer we meet Nakazawa, the Red Queen of the Smokescreen and initiator of a new era of secret meetings and padlocked records, who now represents Kaua`i as a state “legislative liaison”- a cushy, low-work, high-pay, unbudgeted, lobbying position created by Baptiste without council approval- or knowledge.

Despite months of requests from the county council to have Nakazawa appear before them to go over the agenda for the last and the coming legislative sessions, she’s refused to appear with a new excuse every two weeks.

Meet her and get to know the real Bryan Baptiste in this week’s serialization of KPD Blue.

Getting back to Rawls' claim, so far so bad. But that's when things really went through the looking glass and Pasion was "forced" to step in to protect his ally Iseri.

In November 2010, during the course of the same fuel costs audit, information came to my attention that a number of county employees were using county-owned vehicles on a take home basis. Since county-purchased fuel was likely used by these employees for commuting and other personal use purposes, investigating this possible misuse of fuel clearly fell within the scope of my fuel costs audit. State law required that I look into all people who may have been misappropriating fuel, as a part of such a fuel-use audit - not just they Mayor.


HRS, Division 1, Title 9, Chapter 105, Sections 105-1 through 105-5, provides that it is unlawful for any county employee to use a county-owned vehicle for personal use, including commuting. Penalties for violating section 105-1 include a fine (up to $50) and/or imprisonment (up to 10 days). In addition to the statutory restrictions, I found that the county has a policy prohibiting unauthorized use of county-owned vehicles dating back to November 2002. The policy was prepared in order to ensure compliance with the aforementioned state law.


On August 4,2011, before the McCorriston-led investigations commenced, the Office of the County Auditor received a written allegation from an anonymous person asserting that the (then) elected Prosecuting Attorney and her First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney were routinely using county-owned vehicles for personal use purposes, including commuting, daily errands and the like. The use of county-owned vehicles and fuel by the prosecuting attorney and her first deputy was substantiated and was quite analogous to the situation involving the mayor's alleged unauthorized use of county fuel. I reported my findings and the possibility that the Prosecuting Attorney had engaged in illegal fuel use to Auditor Pasion. I strongly advocated that the information that we had already gathered regarding the possible unauthorized use of county-owned vehicles and fuel by county employees (including the prosecuting attorney and her first deputy) should be provided to the McCorriston investigators for their review and consideration. Auditor Pasion objected.


However, shortly before entering a meeting with the investigators at the McCorriston offices in Honolulu in mid-August 2011,1 was able to persuade Auditor Pasion to allow me to provide the anonymous allegation letter and other information regarding "take home vehicle" use to the investigators. At the meeting, the investigators immediately recognized that the possible unauthorized use of county vehicles and fuel by the Prosecuting Attorney, her first deputy, and multiple other county employees needed to be fully investigated in conjunction with the investigation of possible unauthorized use of fuel by the mayor. The investigators were unequivocal in their position and cited the likelihood of serious prosecutorial problems arising from the appearance of "selective prosecution" if different audit/investigation standards were applied to different individuals.


Nonetheless, in early-September 2011, Auditor Pasion contacted the McCorriston investigators and directed them to focus their efforts first on investigating the possible misuse of fuel by the mayor and, secondly, on a parks department employee who appeared to have misappropriated gasoline by way of county 5-gallon gas cans.


The same month, Auditor Pasion specifically directed the investigators to not investigate the use of fuel by any other employees, including the prosecuting attorney and her first deputy. It was clear to me that Auditor Pasion was trying to quash or postpone indefinitely any investigation into possible unauthorized use of county-purchased fuel (and a county owned vehicle) by the Prosecuting Attorney - in violation of the scope of the audit and in violation of State and County law.


I have also come to learn that Mr. Pasion is a close political ally of the former • Prosecuting Attorney. On the contrary, I have observed that Auditor Pasion openly disdains and disparages Mayor Carvalho.


Finally, when Rawls refused to shut up like a good little county employee he was retaliated against by Pasion by being shut out of all office activity and finally shut out of the office itself.


In late-April 2012, after receiving documents from the McCorriston investigations into the mayor's unauthorized use of fuel and the parks employee's possible misappropriation of fuel, I discussed the take home vehicles and fuel use/misuse matter with Auditor Pasion.


I believed that Auditor Pasion was knowingly failing to perform his duties, which are inherent in the nature of the Office of the Auditor, as defined in the county charter. In April 2012,1 spoke up about this misconduct and I openly recommended that Auditor Pasion recuse himself from further involvement in the take home vehicles investigation. I also confronted him at that time with a report that he had engaged in illegal quid pro quo dealings with the Prosecuting Attorney.


On May 10,2012,1 formally recommended that Auditor Pasion "self-assess" his ability to maintain auditor independence with respect to the take home vehicles audit/investigation .matter and that he consider recusing himself from further involvement. In response, Auditor Pasion lashed out at me.


Auditor Pasion then retaliated against me by excluding me from any further involvement in the take home vehicles matter. In particular, he re-assigned the take home vehicles audit/investigation to Ms. Iwasaki and he ordered me to turn over all of my papers relating to the take home vehicles matter to Ms. Iwasaki.


Auditor Pasion further subjected me to various forms of unlawful retaliation for my role in uncovering/revealing possible illegal activity by the prosecuting attorney and her first deputy, even though investigating and discovering this information was part of my job responsibilities.


Among other things, Auditor Passion encouraged the auditing staff to stop speaking to me about anything but the most essential work matters. He and/or the auditing staff began having daily, multiple and secretive closed door meetings at work, and all of these meetings specifically excluded me. He also hid my other fuel costs audit workpaper files in a locked file cabinet drawer (without telling me) and he directed Ms. Iwasaki to take control of the file cabinet key - so that I could not access the key or the contents of the office file cabinet.


On June 5,2012, Auditor Pasion called for an impromptu staff meeting in which Auditor Pasion and Ms. Nakazawa ridiculed me with false accusations about the quality and timeliness of my work. This was done in the presence of my co-worker, Ms. Iwasaki, At least three times during the meeting I told Auditor Pasion that I felt that his and Ms. Nakazawa's comments and attacking tone, as well as the subject matter (i.e., my work performance) were inappropriate for an open staff meeting and I asked him to stop it. He declined each of my requests to stop the verbal attacks.


The June 5,2012 impromptu staff meeting was held at approximately 2:30 p.m., which was approximately one hour after I submitted the aforementioned email to Auditor Pasion citing my disagreement with his decision to omit significant information from the proposed audit report to the council regarding the investigation into the mayor's use of fuel.


It should also be noted that, in the moments immediately prior to the June 5th staff meeting, Auditor Pasion held a closed door meeting with Ms. Nakazawa and Ms. Iwasaki.


Between June 5th and June 25th, Auditor Pasion subjected my cash management audit different standards than were applied to audits conducted by my coworkers. On June 25, 2012,1 filed a complaint alleging a hostile workplace and corruption within the Office of the County Auditor. Shortly thereafter, I was offered a workspace in a separate building.


Even though I was physically located in a separate workspace, I was ready, willing and able to conduct audits as required by my job description.. In July 2012, Auditor Pasion assigned me to work on an audit of parks maintenance and improvement activities, for which I promptly began performing background research (a normal audit planning phase activity).


However, beginning in early-August 2012, Ms. Pasion began taking my assignments away from me without any explanation or logical reason. More specifically: • On August 8, Auditor Pasion re-assigned the remaining portion of my responsibility for the fuel costs audit to Ms. Iwasaki. Auditor Pasion offered no explanation for this change.


• On August 10,2012, 1 submitted a detailed, seven page audit "scoping statement" to Auditor Pasion, which provided an overall framework for a proposed audit of the county parks department maintenance and improvement activities. However, instead of reviewing and approving the scoping statement as he normally does, Auditor Pasion inexplicably declined to allow me to proceed with any meaningful work on this audit. By late-September 2012, this audit completely "stalled out" when Auditor Pasion discontinued all contact with me regarding this assignment. As a result of these actions, I was no longer allowed to work on meaningful audit assignments. In short, I was denied virtually all opportunity to do my job.


Also in August 2012, Auditor Pasion sent Ms. Nakazawa and Ms. Iwasaki to a three day national governmental accounting and auditing training conference in San Diego, California. I was not told about this conference nor was I allowed to attend an alternative training conference, as normally would have been the case. I was denied this in retaliation for my insisting that the Council be provided with evidence of the Mayor's potential innocence as well as guilt, and for my suggestion that the audit also cover allegedly similar fuel misuse by the Prosecuting Attorney, the auditor's political ally.


On August 30,2012,1 formally reported the ongoing retaliation by my supervisor against ' me to the County Council, as well as the county's Human Resources department and the Office of the County Attorney. I reported that the retaliation was having an adverse impact on my ability to do my job and I requested that immediate action be taken to stop the retaliation. (Note: The council hired an investigator in September 2012, but this action did not stop the retaliation.)


Between September 2012 and November 2012, the retaliation continued and I reported it to the council's investigator. For example, I reported that my responsibility as the Office's liaison with the external. CP A firm that performed the annual financial statement audit of the county's comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR) was taken away from me without any notice. A representative from the audit engagement partner for the CPA firm told me that Auditor Pasion had informed the firm something to the effect that "Ron Rawls no longer works for the Office of the Auditor" and that all communications between the CPA firm and the Office of the Auditor should be directed to Auditor Pasion. To my knowledge, the council's investigator provided substantial documentation regarding the retaliation to the County Council in mid-November 2012. Again, however, no discernible action was taken to stop the retaliation.


Consequently, I was left sitting in a small windowless office with no audit work assignments from mid-August 2012 through my last day of work, on January 7,2013. These working conditions and the continuing retaliation and hostile work environment became so intolerable that I felt I had been constructively discharged from my employment.

Quite the tale of fear and loathing but hardly unique in the annuls of Kaua`i County.

The slew of EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaints and resulting "right to sue" letters- a few of which sprang forth from the actions of Iseri herself- stand as testimony to the fact that the county "just doesn't get it."

In fact the line of former employees that are trying to submit their cases to the EEOC to obtain the required determination to file suit is so long that finding local attorneys to take the cases is at best difficult and sometimes impossible because so many have conflicts-of-interest, having sued many of the same supervisors and department heads before on behalf of various other clients.

For completeness we've included the rest of the claim which discusses the damages Rawls was/is seeking.

Thus, I have lost, at a minimum, the following money and income due directly to Mr. Pasion's unlawful retaliation:


Increase in monthly expenses:
Expense Category Kaua'i Oahu
Net Increase in Monthly Expenses
Rent $ 850 $ 1,850 $ 1,000
Utilities: Electricity, and Cable TV 0 150 150
Parking at state parking garage 0 50 50
Groceries, household items 160 260 100
Meals out 200 280 80
Inter-island flights 0 220 220
Cab fares to/from HNL or parking at HNL 0 80 80
Golf 60 180 120
Total $ 1,800


On average, my general living costs in Honolulu are approximately $1,800 per month more than my cost of living on Kauai. This equates to $21,600 per year. I have nine working years remaining before my planned retirement age of 65, and therefore the projected additional cost for me to live and work in Honolulu until I reach retirement age is $194,400.


In addition, I believe my future earnings potential has been significantly damaged. As an auditor for the Office of the Auditor on Kaua'i, I was the likely candidate to advance into the audit manager position after Lani Nakazawa retired. And I was a likely candidate to be selected for the county auditor position upon Mr. Pasion's retirement. The annual salary for the county's audit manager position is currently $103,000 per year and the annual salary for the county auditor position is nearly $115,000 per year, whereas my current annual salary as an audit manager for the Office of the State Auditor in Honolulu is $91,000. Therefore, I have lost additional future earnings potential in the amount of $12,000 to $24,000 per year. Using $18,000 per year as an average, this equates to an additional $162,000.


Together, my lost earnings potential and the additional cost of living and working in Honolulu until retirement age can be reasonably projected to be $356,400.


I am hereby making a claim against the County in this amount ($356,400). As I incur attorney's fees to protect my right to work in a place that is free from illegal activity and retaliation for reporting the same, my demand my substantially increase. I am requesting that the County engage in dialogue with my attorney, Daniel Hempey, within 30 days of receiving this claim.


April 8,2013


The story about Rawls' claim was originally reported and his statement posted by Joan Conrow last May 31 but seemingly none of Iseri's minions- nor the conspiracy theorists- have bothered to read the claim... unless of course they simply chose to ignore it. We haven't heard of any even attempting to refute it.


We don't know what the council has found in the many executive sessions over the past year. We don't even know if Rawls' statement is true or made up out of whole cloth. Certainly some of it is verifiable and if sworn depositions are taken one would have to wonder how far Iseri, Pasion and their backers would go to protect them. Perjury is after all a serious crime.


But the notion that the council is protecting the mayor is patently ludicrous. The council is made up of seven individuals who, to varying degrees, support and oppose the mayor many times depending on the issue although permanent grudges and feuds are commonplace.


And there's certainly no love lost between Iseri and Mayor Carvalho or certain other councilmembers. Rapozo has been a proxy for Iseri in almost all matters before the council which may go a long way to explaining what the hold-up in dismissing Pasion is all about.


But to think that councilmembers would all agree to coverup crimes during official (and tape recorded) meetings is nonsensical, especially when one considers how well the narrative of Iseri's political alliances and her past alleged crimes- which include multiple alleged abuses of her prosecutorial powers and retaliation against those who tried to expose them- mesh with Rawls' allegations.


But the "don't confuse me with the facts" crowd will no doubt ignore and try to defame Rawls even though his account is the one thing that makes sense through it all.


(Note: the text of Rawls' sworn statement was derived by using optical character recognition software on the PDF linked above. Although we reviewed it for accuracy OCR can contain "typos.")

 
*(Correction: Shaylene Iseri was no longer on the council when Ernie Passion was appointed to the position of County Auditor. We apologize for the error which has been corrected.)

PROGRAM, GET YER PROGRAM

PROGRAM, GET YER PROGRAM: What would a game be without a rundown of the players, the games they're currently playing and what kind of pitch will work on each- and for that matter who not to even bother to pitch to.

Here's the third inning morning line for those betting on passage of Bill 2491 (regarding pesticides and GMOs)... with the prospects for each of the Crudville 7.

Of course Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum are the people's champions. Follow their lead. It's that easy.

Mel Rapozo is with Ross Kagawa and both are in the pockets of the biotexters- don't be fooled by anything either might say or do. The two of them are trying to kill the bill, currently by keeping it in committee where they may have the votes to do so permanently, waiting for a legal opinions that will never come.

Don't let Mel trick you into thinking he is genuinely doing anything but trying to kill the bill. Don't forget- he and Ross both didn't care how much it's going to cost to defend Mel's palsy-walsy Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho and both he and Ross said so just a couple of weeks ago. Mel is a snakey-wakey and may slither into some other corner next week but for now he's coiled to delay the bill in committee forever. Don't misunderestimate Mel. Ross would be helpless without him.

Gary and Tim need to get the bill out of committee to the floor of the full council (where the vote count will be tied at 2) and work amendments and votes there. One big problem in committee is that Gary is the chair and cannot make a motion or a second- including to offer an amendment- so even presuming he has a motion or a second from JoAnn Yukimura, unless Nadine Nakamura goes along with what he wants he cannot even get it considered in committee. (Tim is not on the committee; nor is Council Chair Jay Furfaro).

As far as JoAnn goes, she will most likely support most of the bill especially on the pesticide "right-to-know" section. But she could also allow some not-so-great amendments and may even allow Mel and Ross to bamboozle her with the legally non-existent "preemption" crap in order to find the equally non-existent "win-win."

Nadine is not as much of a "no" as her vote to defer last Monday might make you think- she just wants it all to go away and will probably go with the majority on anything, including amendments. She is known for trying "compromise away" the meat of a measure but probably feels powerless to do that on this one. She apparently only voted to defer because that was going to be the outcome anyway- don't forget, technically Gary voted for the deferral too.

Jay may be genuinely on the fence. He is a lifelong corporate man but likes to see himself as a Hawaiian defender of the environment. In terms of his legacy he sees a lot of it as being his grandchildren and a protector of the `aina... that kind of thing. Don't forget he is retiring and probably understands that no matter what he does this will be his legacy- whether he likes it or not he will be remembered for what he does on this bill. He can be convinced but will not like "doing the work" on the council floor (as opposed to in committee). He can be lobbied hard on a "do what's right for your grandchildren" basis.

JoAnn will probably vote for the bill but what amendments she will ask for is anyone's guess. She may even fall for Mel's and Ross' can't-afford-a-lawsuit drivel. She needs to be reminded who her friends are (in politispeak who her base is) but she is always doing her Steve Covey "win-win/keep the end in mind" stuff so if you speak that language, speak to her.

Don't forget- it essential to get this bill amended and out of committee ASAP to get to the real action. And for all you handicappers worried about what you know they they don't know (as opposed to what they know that you don't) remember- it's not like they don't all know this already.

CORNFUSED?

CORNFUSED?

(The following quick political appraisal for bill supporters was posted yesterday evening on Facebook)

So what the heck happened at the end (see the 9:58:00 mark) of today's Kaua`i County Council Committee meeting on Bill 2491 related to pesticides and GMOs?

Well for those who didn't get what they saw it was a semi blood bath. JoAnn Yukimura left early so Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa were able to get the bill deferred for a full month in order to try to kill it. Nadine Nakamura was no help either.

Essentially Ross and Mel- yes, Mel is definitely not ...a friend of the bill or its purpose (although he may protest he hasn't made up his mind)- are hoping the attorney general will come up with some BS reason why the law is preempted by either the state or feds, either stated or implied even though it's obviously not (which Mel knows damn well but he will play politics to the end) since the Pioneer attorneys couldn't cite any example while the Earth Justice lawyer cited case after case showing no preemption (meaning the county is able to enact the law regulating pesticides and GMOs).

Ross and Mel (and maybe Nadine) are trying to kill the bill through infinite deferral. Gary Hooser (here's his far more staid "first draft of history") tried to fend them off but didn't have even a second vote or anyone to make a motion for a two week deferral because JoAnn left early and Tim Bynum and Jay Furfaro are not on the committee. And as I said Nadine is scared for her political life and you couldn't pry her lips apart with a crow up until she went with the four week deferral vote (i.e. she voted to defer for four weeks).

While a committee cannot kill a bill outright, they can defer it forever. Gary, as chair, said (to paraphrase) "okay then I want everyone to come with all your amendments and be ready to vote on Sept 9." Good luck.

It's really up to Nadine at this point- it's time to lobby the you-know-what out of her.

This means we will not be able to keep getting and giving factual testimony and keep the ball rolling as it was this afternoon when the real science became apparent during the science and medical questioning of Dr Evslin and Dr Valenzuela of UH (sp?) as well as Kyle Smith (the attorney for the Waimea lawsuit) who is an expert on these restricted use pesticides) and others.

And because they lost the legal round in the morning so badly they are hoping they can get through to the AG to provide a trump card- he will no doubt try his damnedest to make sure the governor doesn't blow his contributions from Monsanto et. al. in '14.

And who knows what the county attorney will do- any honest appraisal will find no preemption either stated or implied either state or federal. And will find SCOTUS on our side (something even Pioneer's lawyers couldn't counter that).

But if they can't get to the county attorney (CA), Mel will try to say it's too expensive for Kaua`i to pay to defend ourselves against Big Biotech. In other words we can't pass laws when deep pockets threaten to sue us back to the stone age over them... something he has said the opposite about when it comes to money to keep defending his pal disgraced former Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri Carvalho... as did Ross, even more vehemently...

So we have to wait until September 9 and keep the momentum going while they spend another bazillion dollars on cable ads calling themselves poor seed farmers and continuing to extort and provide lying talking points to their poor employees who are caught in the middle.

Well, at least I hope they get hefty raises after testifying....

Don't forget- the only ones who are saying "the community is being torn apart" are those opposed to the bill. And the only ones against the bill are employees or their relatives or paid the shills like that UC Riverside guy today who managed to slither out of a question about funding, about which he said (under his breath) he "only" got a few private research projects a year (presumably industry funded) although his department doesn't take biotech money.

The rest of us are unified like never before by the lies and threats from the chemical companies.

Imua

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS: It not something we'd often admit to but occasionally watching a good political fight can be almost as stimulating as illicit sex.

The emotions behind the charges and counter charges of two combatants and the laughingly-obvious concerted half-truths and outright lies all leading up to an orgasmic first Tuesday in November, then, when it's over we clean it up and go back to our normal boring life.

Most of the time.

When the arguably all-time most entertaining of local campaigns- this year's often indecipherable machination of former Kaua`i Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri Carvalho's reelection campaign- came to an end we thought all we'd have were the sweet memories.

Even when an executive session item on last week's council agenda referred to a settlement of one of those on the long list of harassment complaints against Iseri- this time the one by now-rehired deputy prosecutor Rebecca Vogt- we didn't expect a "for old time's sake" post-coital, spittle-filled rant from the Queen of Xanadu (ask around).

Yet there she was on our screen (7 hours 25 minutes in), doing her best Captain Queeg impression... all that was missing were the steel balls and the claim of "that's where I had them.. with the strawberries."

Yes it's all a conspiracy folks- County Attorney Al Castillo, her opponent and now Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, Hizzonnah Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr, the council, Vogt herself and a cast of dozens- they wanted her out and would do anything to achieve their goal of stopping Iseri from protecting Kaua`i... presumably from the likes of them.

For those who missed some of the details of the federal suit revealed when veteran Kaua`i reporter Joan Conrow described them in her KauaiEclectic blog, last September 20, she wrote:

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Kauai Circuit Court on behalf of deputy Rebecca Vogt, raises concerns about equal pay, gender discrimination, free speech rights and county ethics violations. It names both the county and Iseri-Carvalho, who was sued by Councilman Tim Bynum yesterday.

Vogt alleges she was pressured to support Iseri-Carvalho, who rewarded employees she considered loyal. When Vogt did not actively campaign, she claims she was passed over for a raise, while five less-experienced male deputies who supported the prosecutor got hefty pay hikes ...

She says Iseri-Carvalho handed out the pay raises even though in March — following “sparse attendance at her major fundraiser” — she had told staff that she would be cutting salaries due to “budget cuts.”

When Vogt complained about the arbitrary nature of the raises, and their apparent unethical link to campaign support, she says Iseri-Carvalho retaliated against her, giving her more work, denying her comp time and stripping her of the authority to independently approve plea offers.

Vogt maintains Iseri-Carvalho violated the county Code of Ethics, which prohibits county employees from using their positions to secure unwarranted privileges, advantages and treatment for themselves or others. She also says her right to free speech was violated when the prosecutor punished her for speaking up.

The complaint alleges Iseri-Carvalho's actions were “willful, wanton, outrageous and oppressive,” and that Vogt suffered job insecurity, income loss, humiliation, and emotional and physical anguish as a result. The extent of the retaliation forced her to take a medical leave of absence, she alleges.

Vogt, who began working for the Office of Prosecuting Attorney in August 2010, says she had always received favorable work reviews.

Iseri claims that, as part of this vast conspiracy, the mastermind, mousey little CA Castillo- with whom Iseri had been feuding ever since she stopped answering the council's budget-time questions regarding her home-made sentencing diversion program- went off and arbitrarily decided all on his own to settle Vogt's suit without any other input, especially from Iseri herself.

So is it true? Could it possibly be true? Well, not exactly.

Because in cases of employment discrimination and wrongful terminations, you are not allowed to just go to circuit court and sue.

You are first required to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC then does its own investigation of the complaint, including requesting that the alleged offender's employer respond to the complaint... something, by the way, the county has a long history of not doing. Then, if, and only if, the EEOC finds that there is reason to believe an offense occurred, it gives permission to the complainant to sue in circuit court.

That means that it would have been impossible for Castillo to act totally on his own to settle the suit just to make Iseri look bad and insure Kollar's election because the fact that a suit was filed in 5th Circuit Court meant that the EEOC- which refuses to discuss cases, which are all "confidential" by law- had already found that there was reason to believe the complaint was valid.

This of course is just one factor. In this week's tirade before the council (which she submitted in writing to the council so it is public record now) Iseri kept repeating that no one asked her about "the settlement." But it was hard not to notice that she kept referring to "the settlement" rather than the facts in the case which presumably she has had the opportunity to refute- something she hasn't done publicly.

But admittedly we don't know, which of course is the point here.

What we do know is that Iseri was- and still is as far as we know- not talking to anyone about anything because early in 2012 she "lawyered up" and got the county to hire her an attorney rather than answer questions from the council when it asked her for the same kind of "due diligence" budgetary information it seeks every year from all department heads.

So is it over? Was Wednesday's testimony simply one last hopped-up harangue from our dear "long time comin', long time gone," Miss Loodacris Lilly?.. a final "say it don't spray it" moment from one of the most entertainingly delusional public figures Kaua`i has ever seen- and most likely will ever see again?

Guess we should just light up a cigarette knowing we'll always have POHAKU.