(From 2009)
(PNN)-- April 1— LIHU`E--
More than ten thousand people on island of Kaua`i were indicted and
arrested on racketeering charges today as a result of what the FBI
called “the biggest corruption and fraud investigation in the bureau’s
history.”
“We finally pulled the trigger and busted em all” said
Special Agent Richard Stauber. “We were going to arrest just the mayor,
his department heads, the county council and most business leaders but
after extensive investigation we found complicity from almost every
citizen on Kaua`i. most of whom knew about it all but “nevah like say
nahting” .
“We busted the whole lot of ‘em with the exception of a
few radical activists who turned in the rest and a handful of hippies
living in Kalalau Valley and on Secret Beach along with some organic
farmers who were blissfully ignorant of anything political.”
“I
told ya so,” said news commentator and blogger Andy Parx who, in his
daily on-line column, ratted out his neighbors and what he called “my
good friends down at the county offices”.
“I knew the corruption
ran deep but even I never knew the depth of the entrenched good old
boy’s and girls network who either turned a blind eye or actively
perpetuated the multitudinous revolving-door, pay-to-play scams,
extortion rackets and kickback schemes” said Parx whose reports also
served as grand jury evidence.
Standing before a 50 foot by fifty
foot chart diagramming the connections between those arrested, Stauber,
who spent years undercover disguised as “that funny foreign guy who
harasses the county council”, explained how he “disappeared” a few years
back after he had gathered enough evidence to start putting together
the cases.
“I can’t believe they all fell for the German accent
and the slightly off-kilter persona” he said. “It just goes to show the
arrogance that made the case so easy.”
Since only one local
attorney, Daniel Hempey wasn’t arrested he was appointed to defend those
who are currently being held at Vidinha Stadium awaiting processing.
“I
have little hope for the higher-ups but am considering pleading
“plantation mentality” on the part of the regular working people who
didn’t benefit from the system but who knew and were silent” he said.
The cases will be tried in federal court because there were no Kaua`i judges that escaped arrest either.
“Why
me” asked Mayor Bernard Carvalho from the federal detention center in
Honolulu where he and Council Chair Kaipo Asing are sharing a cell.
“I
just got here and was just doing what mayors have done for years-
hiring my friends and big campaign contributors for county jobs and
looking the other way while everybody took their cut... as long as I got
mine” said the 300 pound behemoth while downing a box of malasadas.
Also
indicted but not arrested were former Mayor Bryan Baptiste who, it was
revealed in the indictments, faked his death last year and escaped to
somewhere in South America, shortly after being interrogated by the FBI.
Parx said he’s not surprised but is dismayed because now he won’t have endless daily material for his column.
“With
all these guys finally off the streets, I got nothin’ in the immediate
future. But I am confident that Kaua`i people will do what they’ve
always done- elect some equally or even more corrupt politicians to take
their places” he said.
Former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and Police
Chief Darryl Perry escaped arrest and are believed to be hold up in a
secret love-nest/fortress in Koke`e where they are reportedly intent on
setting up a government-in-exile.
State Department of
Conservation and Enforcement officers are said to be closing in on them
after the pair stumbled into DLNR’s meth lab in the Alaka`i swamp.
In
other news today paramedics rushed to the offices of Governor Linda
Lingle where she and Attorney General Mark Bennett were working on legal
strategies for the ceded lands and Superferry cases. Efforts to remove
their heads from their butts were as yet unsuccessful at press time.
Showing posts sorted by date for query revolving door. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query revolving door. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Monday, June 9, 2014
COUNCIL TO TRY TO GUT CHARTER'S ETHICS PROVISION WITH BALLOT MEASURE
It's a little know fact: Kaua`i does, in fact, have a "Code
of Ethics." But it's not for lack of trying that county
officials have failed to undermine it.
And after many attempts to make a joke of our County Charter provision that simply doesn't allow an "officer or employee of the county" to "(a)ppear on behalf of private interests before any county
The proposed
change would eliminate all that and make the provision apply only to
someone appearing before their own board or commission- or, in the
case of an employee, their own "agency"- by adding "on
which the officer or employee sits or is employed" to the end of
the prohibition.
This means that the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your" prohibition will be dead except in the narrowest of situations.
Right now if a member of the salary commission is a lawyer for a developer, he or she could represent their client asking to rezone 1000's acres of ag land to build a resort and then turn around and give all the councilmember raises. Or a member of the Civil Service Commission could ask for $100,000 for a pet project their non-profit is pursuing and then make sure the swing vote on the council's uncle got a nice cushy county job. Or a member of the Board of Review could do the same and then rule for a councilmember's- or for that matter her family, friend or business associate- appeal of the assessment value of their home.
We could go on but you get the picture as to why this standard provision is an important part of our charter's code of ethics.
But when the resolution to put the measure on the ballot came before the council two weeks ago many councilmembers sat there nodding their heads as Yukimura decried how her mucky-muck friends were having ethical problems simply because they had a blatant conflict of interest- as if the highest an mightiest of the Kaua`i Good Old Boys and Girls were the only ones who could possibly serve on these boards and commissions.
Apparently Yukimura, the former champion of the little guy has been hanging out with the ruling elite long enough that she sees them as irreplaceable, as they flit from board to commission and back again, round and round the revolving door, while at the same time coming for a handout that they could conceivably repay with their vote the next time they need to rule on something a councilmember might want.
This goes for all the board and commission members like the planning commissioner or police commission and, conversely goes for the member's families and even friends.
Oh no" they say "these people would never abuse their positions. Why we resent the implication."
But that isn't the issue. It's the appearance of a conflict of interest that is to be avoided if government is ever to have the confidence of the electorate. It's one reason you don't see much of a turnout at the polls.
You don't need a "quid pro quo" - giving something to get something- to have an apparent or potential conflicts of interest. It's that simple.
If the council approves the resolution tomorrow it would go on the November ballot. You can send testimony to the council at counciltestimony@kauai.gov
For more read PNN's three part series
on the Board of Ethics debacle, Unethical culture- Government service with a personal “touch”
For more on the Board of Ethics click here
For more specifically on Charter Article 20.02(D) click here
And after many attempts to make a joke of our County Charter provision that simply doesn't allow an "officer or employee of the county" to "(a)ppear on behalf of private interests before any county
board,
commission, or agency," Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura wants to
try to gut
the provision at tomorrow’s (6/10) County Council meeting.
The
provision in 20.02(D)
of the charter means that, for instance, the chair of the Board
of Ethics (BOE) which rules on ethical issues, cannot come to the
council and ask for money for the non-profit he chairs and then turn
around and give a councilmember a pass on a questions about their own
ethics that may come before the BOE for a ruling.
And
that's not a hypothetical- it actually happened when BOE Chair Mark
Hubbard came to the council for money for the Kaua`i Action and
Planning Alliance. And when BOE member Judy Lenthall got cash for the
Kaua`i Food Bank of which she was the executive director- and when,
possibly the worst of all, when attorney Lorna Nishimitsu came to
the council representing the Kikia`ola Land Corporation, developers
of the humongous Kukui`ula development in Po`ipu.
Later
Councilmember Mel Rapozo got a pass from the BOE on contracting with
the county even though the amount of those contracts was over the
legally permitted amount. And of course the BOE found nothing wrong
with theie own actions.
This means that the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your" prohibition will be dead except in the narrowest of situations.
Right now if a member of the salary commission is a lawyer for a developer, he or she could represent their client asking to rezone 1000's acres of ag land to build a resort and then turn around and give all the councilmember raises. Or a member of the Civil Service Commission could ask for $100,000 for a pet project their non-profit is pursuing and then make sure the swing vote on the council's uncle got a nice cushy county job. Or a member of the Board of Review could do the same and then rule for a councilmember's- or for that matter her family, friend or business associate- appeal of the assessment value of their home.
We could go on but you get the picture as to why this standard provision is an important part of our charter's code of ethics.
But when the resolution to put the measure on the ballot came before the council two weeks ago many councilmembers sat there nodding their heads as Yukimura decried how her mucky-muck friends were having ethical problems simply because they had a blatant conflict of interest- as if the highest an mightiest of the Kaua`i Good Old Boys and Girls were the only ones who could possibly serve on these boards and commissions.
Apparently Yukimura, the former champion of the little guy has been hanging out with the ruling elite long enough that she sees them as irreplaceable, as they flit from board to commission and back again, round and round the revolving door, while at the same time coming for a handout that they could conceivably repay with their vote the next time they need to rule on something a councilmember might want.
This goes for all the board and commission members like the planning commissioner or police commission and, conversely goes for the member's families and even friends.
Oh no" they say "these people would never abuse their positions. Why we resent the implication."
But that isn't the issue. It's the appearance of a conflict of interest that is to be avoided if government is ever to have the confidence of the electorate. It's one reason you don't see much of a turnout at the polls.
You don't need a "quid pro quo" - giving something to get something- to have an apparent or potential conflicts of interest. It's that simple.
If the council approves the resolution tomorrow it would go on the November ballot. You can send testimony to the council at counciltestimony@kauai.gov
For more read PNN's three part series
on the Board of Ethics debacle, Unethical culture- Government service with a personal “touch”
For more on the Board of Ethics click here
For more specifically on Charter Article 20.02(D) click here
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
WE SHOULD BE TOGETHER
WE SHOULD BE TOGETHER: You've gotta be baffled at today's
Civil Beat article on the Center for Food Safety's new office in
Hawai`i and the tome's "Follow the Money" angle.
The point is what? That a public interest group is successfully raising money to fight the attempts by the chemical biotech industry to adulterate and control our food supply and spray it with more and more poisons?
Oh noooo- someone is challenging the pesticide purveyors and promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy food. And they're successfully raising money to do it. Katy bar the door.
Or is the point that a tiny percentage of CFS's money comes from people who are actually producing healthy foods? Perish the thought that organic farmers and stores should support organic farming. And how dare some of them get so big, because people want to eat healthy food, that they can afford to give CFS money?
Because we all know that, given the choice people eschew healthy eating for toxic "Frankenfoods."
Just why do you think it is that all these consumer protection groups are donating money? Could it be because people overwhelmingly want to eat healthier foods? Oh those evil foundations- protecting the public interest when we all know money should only be used to make more money and nothing else... what are they some kind of communists?
Sarcasm aside and pesticides and despoilment of the lands notwithstanding, no matter how many times the chemical and biotech industry repeats "the Big Lie"- that eating genetically modified foods is proven to be safe- their inability to follow basic scientific precautionary principles or produce their supposed "studies" in full (just try to find a link to one of them at Monsanto's web site) belies those claims... not to mention their well-documented revolving door control of the FDA and the massive funding of virtually all major university agricultural research.
Apparently they're not fooling anyone as evidenced by the millions raised by CSF.
To read the article you get the feeling that even the most virulent of industry shills like Jon Entine apparently accept the anti-GMO movement's characterizations except they try to play the print equivalent of scary music in the background while calling eating healthy food "elitist." Is that your best argument- "if I have to eat poison, you have to eat poison?".
The fact is that healthy, pesticide-free, heirloom, unpatented foods are not really much more expensive any more and the prices are becoming more and more the same every day. What keeps them a little more expensive is not the cost of producing them organically but industry propaganda that seeks to maintain their patents on our food supply by convincing farmers to stick with the corporate program. Just ask Wal-Mart which has recently announced that it has discovered it's more profitable to switch than fight.... and to do it at the same prices
Yes, to quote a the popular song from the 60's- "Everything that say we are, we are- and we are very proud of ourselves."
The point is what? That a public interest group is successfully raising money to fight the attempts by the chemical biotech industry to adulterate and control our food supply and spray it with more and more poisons?
Oh noooo- someone is challenging the pesticide purveyors and promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy food. And they're successfully raising money to do it. Katy bar the door.
Or is the point that a tiny percentage of CFS's money comes from people who are actually producing healthy foods? Perish the thought that organic farmers and stores should support organic farming. And how dare some of them get so big, because people want to eat healthy food, that they can afford to give CFS money?
Because we all know that, given the choice people eschew healthy eating for toxic "Frankenfoods."
Just why do you think it is that all these consumer protection groups are donating money? Could it be because people overwhelmingly want to eat healthier foods? Oh those evil foundations- protecting the public interest when we all know money should only be used to make more money and nothing else... what are they some kind of communists?
Sarcasm aside and pesticides and despoilment of the lands notwithstanding, no matter how many times the chemical and biotech industry repeats "the Big Lie"- that eating genetically modified foods is proven to be safe- their inability to follow basic scientific precautionary principles or produce their supposed "studies" in full (just try to find a link to one of them at Monsanto's web site) belies those claims... not to mention their well-documented revolving door control of the FDA and the massive funding of virtually all major university agricultural research.
Apparently they're not fooling anyone as evidenced by the millions raised by CSF.
To read the article you get the feeling that even the most virulent of industry shills like Jon Entine apparently accept the anti-GMO movement's characterizations except they try to play the print equivalent of scary music in the background while calling eating healthy food "elitist." Is that your best argument- "if I have to eat poison, you have to eat poison?".
The fact is that healthy, pesticide-free, heirloom, unpatented foods are not really much more expensive any more and the prices are becoming more and more the same every day. What keeps them a little more expensive is not the cost of producing them organically but industry propaganda that seeks to maintain their patents on our food supply by convincing farmers to stick with the corporate program. Just ask Wal-Mart which has recently announced that it has discovered it's more profitable to switch than fight.... and to do it at the same prices
Yes, to quote a the popular song from the 60's- "Everything that say we are, we are- and we are very proud of ourselves."
Sunday, April 20, 2014
THE ILLUSION OF SUSTAINABILITY- AT WAIPAKE IT'S 'NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON'T'
It's no secret that the "sustainability movement" on
Kaua`i is being squeezed.
To the west is a experimental pesticide industry with multinational chemical companies who gobble up state land leases and land-rich legacy corporations' acreage to test how well and how much genetically modified commodities can withstand poisons.
To the east farm lands have been sliced and diced into legally-questionable luxury residences that have driven up farm land prices until crop cultivation is economically unfeasible.
Whether the fast disappearing remaining "vacant" agriculturally zoned and districted land will grow organic crops or mansions for the rich and famous is up for grabs.
But depending on who is painting the picture, the lawyers or the community, the the Kahu `Aina Plantation Subdivision in Waipake could go either way.
------
Last Wednesday a meeting of the Planning Committee of the Kaua`i County Council once again took up what appears to be the last remaining obstacle in the way of Falko Partners' owner Larry Bowman's and his manager Shawn Smith's plans for 76 "luxury residential lots" as they were at one time advertised: the final official establishment of horizontal and lateral beach access which is guaranteed in the Hawai`i State Constitution, and whether it will include an ancient lateral trail system called "The Ala Loa" that gently meanders for miles adjacent to the coast and provides many points of easy beach access as it currently runs.
Even though the state actually has fee-simple ownership in the by-way that according to elders connects the towns of Anahola and Kilauea, the landowners have been using a series of flimflams, supposed legal loopholes, threats of lawsuits, fake maps, revolving door government regulators and the political intimidation of already bought and paid for government officials to gobble up the Ala Loa and easy beach access in an attempt to create what amounts to miles of a de facto privatized coastline... all in a state where no one can own the beaches.
They've gone as far as to get the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to accept maps that show the Ala Loa to be far inland from where actually is in one of the most "are you going to believe me or your lyin' eyes" boondoggles anyone has ever seen... or not seen as the case may be.
How the battle for access turns out though seems at times to be almost (but not really) secondary for Bowman, Smith and Falko to the urgency for it to actually "turn out"- finally and permanently.
And while it remains up in the air Falko seems to be changing the the image they are selling the community, doing a 180 and now claiming that each buyer will be "an active farmer engaged in farming" according to what lead attorney for Falko, Dennis Lombardi of the powerhouse Honolulu law firm of Case, Lombardi and Pettit told the council last Wednesday.
Huh? Could this really be true? Will this agricultural subdivision- the one that was supposed to be "the last" under the 2000 Kaua`i General Plan (it wasn't)- now be re-purposed for 76 farmers to till the land on the 376 acres and build the legally required "farm dwellings?"
Well, according to testimony Wednesday there is already an eight to ten acres plot (depending on who you ask and what day you're asking) planted in "organic" ginger root and, we've heard papayas and Olena (also known as turmeric).
And an ad recently appeared in the local Kaua`i newspaper announcing:
"Attention Non-GMO Organic Farmers:
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Kahu `Aina Plantation is currently seeking proposals for non GMO, non pesticide Organic Farming ventures of 1 to 10 acres size on our Waipake property
Ample land and irrigation water
Organic farming experience required
Send written proposals to
Shawn Smith, Falko Partners
PO Box 588, Kapaa Hi 96746"
Can this be? The buzz in the sustainability crowd has been, well, "Wow."
Well if you believe this subdivision will be an organic paradise and not just another bunch of typical gentleman’s estates that have been built on many thousands of North Shore Ag land, we've got some, well, organic farmland to sell you.
Stick with us here- it's not as complicated as those who want you to think it's all too much for your poor little brain to comprehend would have you to believe.
Don't think for a minute that this is going to be happening on each one of those 76 "luxury residential farm dwellings" for lack of a less schizophrenic description. Actually the subdivision, depending on who you believe and what set of paperwork you're looking at, had 80 plots when you count up both the subdivided and "condominiumized" lots.
(For the uninitiated, to be brief, in Hawai`i we have what are called "Agricultural Condominiums," a legal fiction that was "discovered" in the 1970's to get around a "one time subdivision" law... a loophole that, one discovered, became way too lucrative for the legislature to close).
Sooo... apparently and presumably the 8-10 acres of "organic" ginger root, turmeric and papayas and the 1-10 acres of "organic farm land" (assuming it's not the same acreage) are not part of the "luxury farm lots" (or whatever they're calling them today) and will really not have anything to do with the farming that it has now been guaranteed will occur on each and every one of the 76 lots via the hands (dirty hands? farm hands?- either way. this we've gotta see) of the owners... owners who are going to be paying millions for the best and biggest of the lots.
Right now the "ginger-Olena " farm is on the edge of the property down wind and far away from where the luxury farms dwellings are being sold so there'll be no need to smell fertilizer or hear tractors.
But we say "presumably" and "apparently" and seem to be hedging our words. Well yes... that's because we can only base them on reported observation because the Kaua`i Planning Department is refusing to answer any questions or provide the latest up-to date public information information regarding the true location of these house lots, according to Moloa`a farmer Hope Kallai.
Kallai has been trying to reconcile different maps and descriptions provided by Falko, the Planning Department, the attorneys and the DLNR for years and recently asked the Planning Department to straighten it all out.
We're going to leave out all the shenanigans regarding what Kallai calls the "shuffling and reshuffling" of "kuleana" lots and Shoreline Management Area (SMA) and Conservation District boundaries (until they magically disappeared) as well as possible "additional dwelling units" that could double the 76 permitted "farm dwellings." Just be aware that there's been a lot of "now you see it now you don't" going on.
But here's a recent email exchange regarding just a few of her questions for one planner when Kallai finally got fed up with being hung up on, having calls unreturned and getting different stories every time she asked.
"From: Hope Kallai
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2014 12:49 PM
To: Jody Galinato
Subject: Kahu`Aina
Aloha e Jody - Can you please help with the following questions about the Kahu`Aina Subdivision Phase I and Subdivision Phase II?
1. How many total House sites and Guest House site rights are attached to this project?
2. Has the Parking Lot site been identified? Size? For how many vehicles?
3. How many house sites are planned for the SMA? The Conservation District?
4. Who will be responsible for the Conservation District Use Application for the public access easement - grantee or grantor?
Mahalo, Hope Kallai"
Galinato's answer?
"I cannot answer these questions and would refer to Dale or Kenny by means of the OIP form (emphasis added) Jody"
For the uninitiated what "by means of the OIP form" means is that "we aren't giving you anything unless you file a formal request with the OIP (Office of Information Practices) under the Uniform Information Practices Act (the Hawai`i version of a freedom of information request) under which we will charge you untold amounts of money to research and segregate and if necessary redact material, possibly even having our attorney's go over it at $500 an hour.
And we can also delay the process for weeks, months or even years while we battle with OIP over what we absolutely have to release."
And all this for the current public information on the subdivision and the plans for Kahu `Aina.
So what's the big deal? Well as we said the access issue is the final barrier to approval for the project and once it's final all discretionary involvement by the county council and planning commission- and the public input and scrutinization that goes with it- is over.
And once it's all "final" the question of what exactly is going to happen on those 76 plots is up to Falko and, drum roll, the same Planning Department that won't even show the public the real maps of or give out information regarding Kahu `Aina Plantation.
And perhaps we're burying the lead here but it's no secret that the Planning Department has never- not once- actually enforced a case of a violation of one of these "farm dwelling agreements" that gentleman's estate owners must sign promising to farm their land whether on subdivided or condominiumized lots.
The history has been that, as long as you put a horse or two in the yard and plant a few fruit trees, voila!- you're a farmer.
And because they have somehow interpreted the law to say that their inspectors aren't really allowed inspect the lots without permission (unless it's for a rice-cooker.. you had to be there)- or don't have enough people or that they are "complaint driven" or whatever excuse they are using today- no one is ever "busted" for violating their agreement to farm their Ag land.
That's why the access issue is so important- not just for the access itself but because it's the last place for public testimony and/or council discretion.
That may just be what's behind this sudden turn-around by Smith and Falko because the very people likely to try to block the project by insisting on the type of access that Bowman doesn’t want to give, are the same North Shore folks who tend to see the advertised "non GMO, non Pesticide, Organic Farming ventures of 1 to 10 acres size on our Waipake property" and promises that every owner will be an active a farmer" as a reason to drop opposition to the finalization of the project.
The owner-farmer promise is just that- a promise that is not worth the paper it isn't written on, especially given the Planning Department's history of non-enforcement. And the 10 or even 20 some-odd acres of organic farming off to the side where it won't muck up the aesthetics of the "luxury farms" could be just enough to buy off those who do understand the land use issues and law or don't care when they hear the words "non GMO Organic Farms."
At last Wednesday's meeting you could see the desperation and exasperation of attorney Lombardi as he actually attempted to intimidate and threaten the council into accepting the lousy beach access which also seeks to locate the parking lot a mile from the beach, even claiming it was "not in the purview of this council to consider options relative to easement- absolutely not."
That raised the dander of most councilmembers who well understood that, despite the fact that Deputy CA Jung had, as he is wont to do, done his best at legal kow-towing to Lombardi, they do have the final say over this access issue.
Jung, who "negotiated" the proposed easement, has been bending over for land developers and local land use attorneys for years, readying himself, as many think, to enter the revolving door and eventually see his own name at the end of a partners list. He's best known for the "beer-gate" scandal when he tried to influence then Councilmember Dickie Chang to vote for a developer-friendly re-interpretation of the vacation rental laws through a beer-bearing home visit.*
Barely able to contain his rage, Lombardi tried to tell the council they had to accept the easements before them claiming there had already been 26 or 28 public hearings (a number that seem suspiciously imprecise and which no one seems to be able to remember) and then listing all the taxes and parks and housing fees they had paid (as they were legally required to do) as well as all the "millions" spent on local charity- the latter sounding suspiciously like a request for a quid pro quo bribe.
"We are good corporate citizens... I don't think we deserve what's going on here" he said of the community's demands for the access the government owns and the state constitution requires.
He also insisted that "there will be no debate" between the public and himself during the three site visits scheduled for April 30, May 30, June 27 - all at 10 am. The site visits are crafted to evade the sunshine law by having only two councilmembers at a time attend each visit and also so that the public can discuss the issues and everyone can see the lay of the land for themselves.
This didn't exactly endear him to councilmembers but the message was clear- the developers have more money than god and they will use it sue you and the taxpayers to get what we want. Put that in your November election and smoke it.
The matter will return to the Council's Planning Committee on July 2.
The question here isn't whether the community can strike a blow for "diversified agriculture"- much less those "non GMO, non Pesticide Organic Farms"- by stopping the chop-shop job on another vast agricultural swath of North Shore land, preventing it from becoming another playground for the rich and famous.
That boat has sailed. It's a fight that the community has been losing- or should we say "has lost"- since the end of the sugar cane era. All that's really left is to beg for the table scraps of being able to traverse the trail we own so as get to our beaches without risking life and limb in the process.
The original plans include a heliport and a clubhouse adjacent to what was going to be an essentially private beach where residents could walk the gently sloping access to the beach and the rest of us will have to walk miles before jumping off a cliff to get there.
This fight is actually over just how stupid they think we are and whether we can be bought off for a few acres of "silver" which may actually be nothing but an illusion cooked up in attorneys' offices here and in Honolulu.
*(The above has been corrected to reflect that Mauna Kea Trask did not attend the "beer-gate" visit.)
*(The above has been corrected to reflect that Mauna Kea Trask did not attend the "beer-gate" visit.)
To the west is a experimental pesticide industry with multinational chemical companies who gobble up state land leases and land-rich legacy corporations' acreage to test how well and how much genetically modified commodities can withstand poisons.
To the east farm lands have been sliced and diced into legally-questionable luxury residences that have driven up farm land prices until crop cultivation is economically unfeasible.
Whether the fast disappearing remaining "vacant" agriculturally zoned and districted land will grow organic crops or mansions for the rich and famous is up for grabs.
But depending on who is painting the picture, the lawyers or the community, the the Kahu `Aina Plantation Subdivision in Waipake could go either way.
------
Last Wednesday a meeting of the Planning Committee of the Kaua`i County Council once again took up what appears to be the last remaining obstacle in the way of Falko Partners' owner Larry Bowman's and his manager Shawn Smith's plans for 76 "luxury residential lots" as they were at one time advertised: the final official establishment of horizontal and lateral beach access which is guaranteed in the Hawai`i State Constitution, and whether it will include an ancient lateral trail system called "The Ala Loa" that gently meanders for miles adjacent to the coast and provides many points of easy beach access as it currently runs.
Even though the state actually has fee-simple ownership in the by-way that according to elders connects the towns of Anahola and Kilauea, the landowners have been using a series of flimflams, supposed legal loopholes, threats of lawsuits, fake maps, revolving door government regulators and the political intimidation of already bought and paid for government officials to gobble up the Ala Loa and easy beach access in an attempt to create what amounts to miles of a de facto privatized coastline... all in a state where no one can own the beaches.
They've gone as far as to get the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to accept maps that show the Ala Loa to be far inland from where actually is in one of the most "are you going to believe me or your lyin' eyes" boondoggles anyone has ever seen... or not seen as the case may be.
How the battle for access turns out though seems at times to be almost (but not really) secondary for Bowman, Smith and Falko to the urgency for it to actually "turn out"- finally and permanently.
And while it remains up in the air Falko seems to be changing the the image they are selling the community, doing a 180 and now claiming that each buyer will be "an active farmer engaged in farming" according to what lead attorney for Falko, Dennis Lombardi of the powerhouse Honolulu law firm of Case, Lombardi and Pettit told the council last Wednesday.
Huh? Could this really be true? Will this agricultural subdivision- the one that was supposed to be "the last" under the 2000 Kaua`i General Plan (it wasn't)- now be re-purposed for 76 farmers to till the land on the 376 acres and build the legally required "farm dwellings?"
Well, according to testimony Wednesday there is already an eight to ten acres plot (depending on who you ask and what day you're asking) planted in "organic" ginger root and, we've heard papayas and Olena (also known as turmeric).
And an ad recently appeared in the local Kaua`i newspaper announcing:
"Attention Non-GMO Organic Farmers:
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Kahu `Aina Plantation is currently seeking proposals for non GMO, non pesticide Organic Farming ventures of 1 to 10 acres size on our Waipake property
Ample land and irrigation water
Organic farming experience required
Send written proposals to
Shawn Smith, Falko Partners
PO Box 588, Kapaa Hi 96746"
Can this be? The buzz in the sustainability crowd has been, well, "Wow."
Well if you believe this subdivision will be an organic paradise and not just another bunch of typical gentleman’s estates that have been built on many thousands of North Shore Ag land, we've got some, well, organic farmland to sell you.
Stick with us here- it's not as complicated as those who want you to think it's all too much for your poor little brain to comprehend would have you to believe.
Don't think for a minute that this is going to be happening on each one of those 76 "luxury residential farm dwellings" for lack of a less schizophrenic description. Actually the subdivision, depending on who you believe and what set of paperwork you're looking at, had 80 plots when you count up both the subdivided and "condominiumized" lots.
(For the uninitiated, to be brief, in Hawai`i we have what are called "Agricultural Condominiums," a legal fiction that was "discovered" in the 1970's to get around a "one time subdivision" law... a loophole that, one discovered, became way too lucrative for the legislature to close).
Sooo... apparently and presumably the 8-10 acres of "organic" ginger root, turmeric and papayas and the 1-10 acres of "organic farm land" (assuming it's not the same acreage) are not part of the "luxury farm lots" (or whatever they're calling them today) and will really not have anything to do with the farming that it has now been guaranteed will occur on each and every one of the 76 lots via the hands (dirty hands? farm hands?- either way. this we've gotta see) of the owners... owners who are going to be paying millions for the best and biggest of the lots.
Right now the "ginger-Olena " farm is on the edge of the property down wind and far away from where the luxury farms dwellings are being sold so there'll be no need to smell fertilizer or hear tractors.
But we say "presumably" and "apparently" and seem to be hedging our words. Well yes... that's because we can only base them on reported observation because the Kaua`i Planning Department is refusing to answer any questions or provide the latest up-to date public information information regarding the true location of these house lots, according to Moloa`a farmer Hope Kallai.
Kallai has been trying to reconcile different maps and descriptions provided by Falko, the Planning Department, the attorneys and the DLNR for years and recently asked the Planning Department to straighten it all out.
We're going to leave out all the shenanigans regarding what Kallai calls the "shuffling and reshuffling" of "kuleana" lots and Shoreline Management Area (SMA) and Conservation District boundaries (until they magically disappeared) as well as possible "additional dwelling units" that could double the 76 permitted "farm dwellings." Just be aware that there's been a lot of "now you see it now you don't" going on.
But here's a recent email exchange regarding just a few of her questions for one planner when Kallai finally got fed up with being hung up on, having calls unreturned and getting different stories every time she asked.
"From: Hope Kallai
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2014 12:49 PM
To: Jody Galinato
Subject: Kahu`Aina
Aloha e Jody - Can you please help with the following questions about the Kahu`Aina Subdivision Phase I and Subdivision Phase II?
1. How many total House sites and Guest House site rights are attached to this project?
2. Has the Parking Lot site been identified? Size? For how many vehicles?
3. How many house sites are planned for the SMA? The Conservation District?
4. Who will be responsible for the Conservation District Use Application for the public access easement - grantee or grantor?
Mahalo, Hope Kallai"
Galinato's answer?
"I cannot answer these questions and would refer to Dale or Kenny by means of the OIP form (emphasis added) Jody"
For the uninitiated what "by means of the OIP form" means is that "we aren't giving you anything unless you file a formal request with the OIP (Office of Information Practices) under the Uniform Information Practices Act (the Hawai`i version of a freedom of information request) under which we will charge you untold amounts of money to research and segregate and if necessary redact material, possibly even having our attorney's go over it at $500 an hour.
And we can also delay the process for weeks, months or even years while we battle with OIP over what we absolutely have to release."
And all this for the current public information on the subdivision and the plans for Kahu `Aina.
So what's the big deal? Well as we said the access issue is the final barrier to approval for the project and once it's final all discretionary involvement by the county council and planning commission- and the public input and scrutinization that goes with it- is over.
And once it's all "final" the question of what exactly is going to happen on those 76 plots is up to Falko and, drum roll, the same Planning Department that won't even show the public the real maps of or give out information regarding Kahu `Aina Plantation.
And perhaps we're burying the lead here but it's no secret that the Planning Department has never- not once- actually enforced a case of a violation of one of these "farm dwelling agreements" that gentleman's estate owners must sign promising to farm their land whether on subdivided or condominiumized lots.
The history has been that, as long as you put a horse or two in the yard and plant a few fruit trees, voila!- you're a farmer.
And because they have somehow interpreted the law to say that their inspectors aren't really allowed inspect the lots without permission (unless it's for a rice-cooker.. you had to be there)- or don't have enough people or that they are "complaint driven" or whatever excuse they are using today- no one is ever "busted" for violating their agreement to farm their Ag land.
That's why the access issue is so important- not just for the access itself but because it's the last place for public testimony and/or council discretion.
That may just be what's behind this sudden turn-around by Smith and Falko because the very people likely to try to block the project by insisting on the type of access that Bowman doesn’t want to give, are the same North Shore folks who tend to see the advertised "non GMO, non Pesticide, Organic Farming ventures of 1 to 10 acres size on our Waipake property" and promises that every owner will be an active a farmer" as a reason to drop opposition to the finalization of the project.
The owner-farmer promise is just that- a promise that is not worth the paper it isn't written on, especially given the Planning Department's history of non-enforcement. And the 10 or even 20 some-odd acres of organic farming off to the side where it won't muck up the aesthetics of the "luxury farms" could be just enough to buy off those who do understand the land use issues and law or don't care when they hear the words "non GMO Organic Farms."
At last Wednesday's meeting you could see the desperation and exasperation of attorney Lombardi as he actually attempted to intimidate and threaten the council into accepting the lousy beach access which also seeks to locate the parking lot a mile from the beach, even claiming it was "not in the purview of this council to consider options relative to easement- absolutely not."
That raised the dander of most councilmembers who well understood that, despite the fact that Deputy CA Jung had, as he is wont to do, done his best at legal kow-towing to Lombardi, they do have the final say over this access issue.
Jung, who "negotiated" the proposed easement, has been bending over for land developers and local land use attorneys for years, readying himself, as many think, to enter the revolving door and eventually see his own name at the end of a partners list. He's best known for the "beer-gate" scandal when he tried to influence then Councilmember Dickie Chang to vote for a developer-friendly re-interpretation of the vacation rental laws through a beer-bearing home visit.*
Barely able to contain his rage, Lombardi tried to tell the council they had to accept the easements before them claiming there had already been 26 or 28 public hearings (a number that seem suspiciously imprecise and which no one seems to be able to remember) and then listing all the taxes and parks and housing fees they had paid (as they were legally required to do) as well as all the "millions" spent on local charity- the latter sounding suspiciously like a request for a quid pro quo bribe.
"We are good corporate citizens... I don't think we deserve what's going on here" he said of the community's demands for the access the government owns and the state constitution requires.
He also insisted that "there will be no debate" between the public and himself during the three site visits scheduled for April 30, May 30, June 27 - all at 10 am. The site visits are crafted to evade the sunshine law by having only two councilmembers at a time attend each visit and also so that the public can discuss the issues and everyone can see the lay of the land for themselves.
This didn't exactly endear him to councilmembers but the message was clear- the developers have more money than god and they will use it sue you and the taxpayers to get what we want. Put that in your November election and smoke it.
The matter will return to the Council's Planning Committee on July 2.
The question here isn't whether the community can strike a blow for "diversified agriculture"- much less those "non GMO, non Pesticide Organic Farms"- by stopping the chop-shop job on another vast agricultural swath of North Shore land, preventing it from becoming another playground for the rich and famous.
That boat has sailed. It's a fight that the community has been losing- or should we say "has lost"- since the end of the sugar cane era. All that's really left is to beg for the table scraps of being able to traverse the trail we own so as get to our beaches without risking life and limb in the process.
The original plans include a heliport and a clubhouse adjacent to what was going to be an essentially private beach where residents could walk the gently sloping access to the beach and the rest of us will have to walk miles before jumping off a cliff to get there.
This fight is actually over just how stupid they think we are and whether we can be bought off for a few acres of "silver" which may actually be nothing but an illusion cooked up in attorneys' offices here and in Honolulu.
*(The above has been corrected to reflect that Mauna Kea Trask did not attend the "beer-gate" visit.)
*(The above has been corrected to reflect that Mauna Kea Trask did not attend the "beer-gate" visit.)
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
DISCORPORATION
DISCORPORATION: Those worried
about the loss of local control and perspective with the purchase of
the local Kaua`i newspaper by Canadian newspaper mogul David Black
may not be worrying big enough.
Because worse then the imposition of
"foreign" control may be the encumbrance of corporate
control if an editorial
in today's Black-owned Honolulu Star-Advertiser is any indication.
It would be one thing if the pay-walled
piece were just something concocted by the S-A editorial board. But
it actuality fairly reeks of the bio-tech industry's disinformation
campaign directed at members of the Hawai`i state senate in order to
squelch a bill (HB174
HD2) that was passed earlier by the house calling for the
labeling of GMO (genetically modified organisms) produce "imported"
into the islands.
Having failed at finding any real facts
to discourage even a committee hearing, the industry continues to
cling to half-truths and fear-mongering based on the misinformation
that there's some federal law or regulation that would somehow make
labeling laws at the state level illegal- a proposition that the 19
other states which are currently considering labeling laws have
rejected.
They editorial says:
The push for better disclosure about
food products containing a genetically modified organism has grown
more heated and energetic this year, with the introduction of state
legislation to require labeling stating that the product contains
GMOs. Unfortunately, the state lacks the power of the federal
government to address the problem, so legislation now moving through
the state Senate is unlikely to succeed.
But our state attorney general's
opinion notwithstanding- apparently he got the memo sent by
Monsanto's corporate lawyers and based his opinion on that- the fact
is that there is no federal law or regulation that prohibits states
or even smaller jurisdictions from passing laws calling for the
labeling of GMO products.
Even during the nearly $50 million
advertising campaign by the bio-tech industry that defeated a
labeling ballot initiative in California last November, no one was
seriously debating the legality of such a measure based on preemption
via federal law.
Ask yourself if you would pay $50
million to stop a law that would be illegal in the first place. The
chemical giants may be crooked but they ain't crazy.
The article is actually chock-a-block
with the usual industry misinformation as summed up in the disproven
claim that "the agricultural industry often touts the
significant increase in crop yields, and in a world plagued by
hunger, that is a trait not to be lightly dismissed."
As if.
Of course the fact is that there is no
evidence- other than industry claims based on cherry-picked anecdotal
"evidence"- that there are higher yields with GMO crops.
And if cost is a factor- especially including environmental damage-
studies have generally shown that the yield-per-dollar is less.
But of course that hasn't stopped the
bio-tech industry from using their high-priced megaphone to continue
to make claims based on flimsy, bought-and-paid-for often concocted
research "verifying" their claims- throwing money and
corporate influence around so as to make sure that any research to
the contrary either never gets completed or is discredited by
industry hacks... many of whom have moved through the revolving door
into government oversight positions such as the January 2010
appointment of former Monsanto VP Michael Taylor to the
created-just-for-him position of FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods.
But back to the claim in the editorial
that somehow such a law "would run afoul of the U.S.
Constitution" because "(f)ederal laws on food labeling
would pre-empt those issued by Hawaii or any other state, under the
supremacy clause."
That might be true except for the fact
that there is no such law or FDA regulation. And one reason is that
last year the US ended any possibility of continued controversy when
it signed on to the Codex
Alimentarius in a treaty with the European Union that essentially
forbids the US from passing a regulation or law banning the type of
labeling used throughout Europe
But that is typical of the bio-tech
industry. Their M.O. has always been to take a 20-year-old hypothesis
and then claim it as a fact... even decades after it's been
disproven.
One of our favorites is that no one has
shown any harm from eating GMOs... so far. That could be because the
industry has successfully blocked almost all study in the US and when
one does go forward it is usually a scientifically flawed analysis
designed to ignore any possible detrimental effects- or it's a short
term study of what would be a long term effect.
Nowhere has that kind of "are you
gonna believe me or your lyin' eyes" PR been more hilariously
promulgated than in the claim upon which the bio-tech grain industry
has hung its hat- and grown into the giant conglomerate we see today.
No, we're not talking about the absurd
claim that, because they have slightly changed the DNA of something
like corn or soybeans or sorghum they now "own" that form
of life- even when their altered pollen has "drifted" onto
a neighboring farmer's crop causing that farmer to pay them to use
their own seeds every year. Chemical giant Monsanto has built their
business model on that questionable proposition.
No it's not even fact that they added a
gene in order to spray the crap out of the corn with their herbicide
"Roundup" and then made the counter-intuitive claim that
because they added this "bt" gene they would somehow be
spraying less herbicide.
No, it
is the fact that now, 20 years later, the corn and other grains have
formed a "resistance" to Roundup- much as happens with the
overuse of antibiotics- forcing farmers to spray more and more each
year to achieve the same effect. In some cases it has stopped working
altogether no matter how much they spray.
So
guess what? They have finally given up on "bt" corn.
Instead they have "invented" a new type of GMO corn with a
new gene that allows the increased use of a "new"
herbicide- one containing "2,4,D," the active ingredient
in the infamously toxic Viet Nam
era defoliant "Agent Orange."
And
yet they still go around claiming they've been successful in spraying
less Roundup as if it were 1993 instead of 2013. Technically, if they
stop using Roundup entirely, they're right- they are using less... as
in zero.
Seems
like no matter what the actual facts are, Monsanto- and Sygenta and
Pioneer-DuPont and all the rest of the big chemical companies
masquerading as agricultural enterprises- continue to use decades old
suppositions that have been repeated enough times to make them appear
to be true.
Everything
old is new again- especially if we allow it to be.
Friday, June 22, 2012
HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?
HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?: It's just become too easy. Turn to the web site of our local "newspaper"- and we used the term advisedly- and prepare for LOL anomalies and goof-ups galore.
This week's winner wasn't even an actual article but rather a rare- and in this case head-scratching- "Correction and Clarification." The Tuesday notice read:
The article “Summer begins Wednesday” published Sunday should state that summer solstice is not the hottest day of the year.
Oookaaay.
Sure enough, checking the previous Sunday, in another of those "no byline" fillers that are simply press releases with a word or two changed to protect the person guilty from charges of plagiarism, a story accompanied by a NASA graphic showing the Sun and the Earth at both equinoxes and both solstices, actually said:
The four seasons are determined by the changing sunlight, which changes while the Earth tilts its axis as it orbits the Sun. This year’s summer officially begins Wednesday. The summer solstice — the longest day of the year — in the Northern Hemisphere is when the sun reaches the northernmost point in the sky. Summer solstice is also the hottest day of the year.(emphasis added)
It seems doubtful that NASA created that bit of science fiction and more likely that some aspiring hack at the local "newspaper" assumed that if it was summer it was hot and if it was the longest day of the summer, it must be the hottest day, too.
Apparently science is haaaard.
In professionally run newspapers these rewrites of press releases are noted as such in the article- a practice which our local Kaua`i paper has apparently dispensed with of late. But with who-the-hell-knows-who doing the job of editor these days, not only doesn't this vital bit of information appear any more but somehow, when changing a few words, information that would be pegged as patently absurd by a fifth-grader appears as gospel.
And speaking of factual matters and actual journalism, when discussing the criminal enterprise that is Wall Street capitalism and the felonious acts that have left us all one step from bankruptcy and homelessness, we admit to having an almost secret source of information that causes many to ask us "where the heck did you hear about that?"
The answer has always been "from Matt Taibbi of- believe it or not- Rolling Stone magazine."
Not only has his coverage been revelatory of the way America was and continues to be scammed by the 1% of the 1% that do investment capitalism's dirty work- along with tales of the revolving door of regulators and agency heads who, the day before, had been the ones who were perpetrating the very frauds they are now investigating- he does it in an understandable and ROTFLMAO manner.
But this week Matt has outdone himself with a story of a verdict in a trial that has escaped the media's perusal but is one of the more exemplary of precautionary tales when it comes to the "wha' hopp'n'd" aspect of the world financial collapse.
An early sentence seems to sum up what was at stake in the recent guilty verdict in the trial of three municipal bond dealers.
"The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia" is the story of how "the world's most powerful banks have, for years, been fixing the prices of almost every adjustable-rate vehicle on earth, from mortgages and credit cards to interest-rate swaps and even currencies."
Taibbi begins his sordid tale of greed and obliviousness on the part of the three financial executives and their cronies saying:
Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia. Of course, you won't hear the recent financial corruption case, United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm, called anything like that. If you heard about it at all, you're probably either in the municipal bond business or married to an antitrust lawyer. Even then, all you probably heard was that a threesome of bit players on Wall Street got convicted of obscure antitrust violations in one of the most inscrutable, jargon-packed legal snoozefests since the government's massive case against Microsoft in the Nineties – not exactly the thrilling courtroom drama offered by the famed trials of old-school mobsters like Al Capone or Anthony "Tony Ducks" Carollo.
But this just-completed trial in downtown New York against three faceless financial executives really was historic. Over 10 years in the making, the case allowed federal prosecutors to make public for the first time the astonishing inner workings of the reigning American crime syndicate, which now operates not out of Little Italy and Las Vegas, but out of Wall Street.
Taibbi essentially describes a "point shaving" scam that apparently goes on in every bond traders' office and has done so for at least decades.
Basically the way it works is that when a city, county or state borrows money for "capital improvements" it borrows the whole amount it needs- say $100 million to build a bridge. But it doesn’t pay out the whole $100 million all at once- it can take years to spend it first on consultants, then designers, then on each individual aspect of construction.
The rest gets deposited with "virtually every major bank and finance company on Wall Street – not just GE, but J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, UBS, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Wachovia and more" according to Taibbi.
There are usually three bids required and the highest interest rate is the one accepted by the borrower. But these financial executives have been shaving "points"- hundredths of a percent in interest- so that the winners provide the lowest amount possible with a revolving winner of the bids so that everyone gets a chance to steal.
The difference is kicked back to the executives in various manners. While that hundredth of a percent might only be, for instance, $50,000, imagine that times a gazillion with many deals going down daily in untold numbers of jurisdictions.
It adds up to billions that, instead of going back to the borrowers to use for hospitals, elderly services, aid for the homeless and other government services, goes into the pockets of the financial execs and corporate bottom lines.
Taibbi also tracks the money to "kickbacks" in the form of campaign contributions to elected officials to the tune of what Taibbi says is a return rate of 66 to 1- for every dollar "contributed" to someone's campaign it generates $66 in appropriations and returns to the "donor."
Read Taibbi's piece- it will be one of the best half hours you've ever invested in understanding how cavalierly and causally Wall St. brethren have been ripping us off daily.
Also check out Taibbi's blog post today that contains " a few interesting bits" that had to be left out of the magazine piece for space reasons.
Unless and until stories like this get some corporate media coverage it will go on for many years to come. We may have to skip today's Casey Anthony interview or tales of the Octomom's stripping routine but hey- we've all gotta make some sacrifices these days.
This week's winner wasn't even an actual article but rather a rare- and in this case head-scratching- "Correction and Clarification." The Tuesday notice read:
The article “Summer begins Wednesday” published Sunday should state that summer solstice is not the hottest day of the year.
Oookaaay.
Sure enough, checking the previous Sunday, in another of those "no byline" fillers that are simply press releases with a word or two changed to protect the person guilty from charges of plagiarism, a story accompanied by a NASA graphic showing the Sun and the Earth at both equinoxes and both solstices, actually said:
The four seasons are determined by the changing sunlight, which changes while the Earth tilts its axis as it orbits the Sun. This year’s summer officially begins Wednesday. The summer solstice — the longest day of the year — in the Northern Hemisphere is when the sun reaches the northernmost point in the sky. Summer solstice is also the hottest day of the year.(emphasis added)
It seems doubtful that NASA created that bit of science fiction and more likely that some aspiring hack at the local "newspaper" assumed that if it was summer it was hot and if it was the longest day of the summer, it must be the hottest day, too.
Apparently science is haaaard.
In professionally run newspapers these rewrites of press releases are noted as such in the article- a practice which our local Kaua`i paper has apparently dispensed with of late. But with who-the-hell-knows-who doing the job of editor these days, not only doesn't this vital bit of information appear any more but somehow, when changing a few words, information that would be pegged as patently absurd by a fifth-grader appears as gospel.
And speaking of factual matters and actual journalism, when discussing the criminal enterprise that is Wall Street capitalism and the felonious acts that have left us all one step from bankruptcy and homelessness, we admit to having an almost secret source of information that causes many to ask us "where the heck did you hear about that?"
The answer has always been "from Matt Taibbi of- believe it or not- Rolling Stone magazine."
Not only has his coverage been revelatory of the way America was and continues to be scammed by the 1% of the 1% that do investment capitalism's dirty work- along with tales of the revolving door of regulators and agency heads who, the day before, had been the ones who were perpetrating the very frauds they are now investigating- he does it in an understandable and ROTFLMAO manner.
But this week Matt has outdone himself with a story of a verdict in a trial that has escaped the media's perusal but is one of the more exemplary of precautionary tales when it comes to the "wha' hopp'n'd" aspect of the world financial collapse.
An early sentence seems to sum up what was at stake in the recent guilty verdict in the trial of three municipal bond dealers.
"The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia" is the story of how "the world's most powerful banks have, for years, been fixing the prices of almost every adjustable-rate vehicle on earth, from mortgages and credit cards to interest-rate swaps and even currencies."
Taibbi begins his sordid tale of greed and obliviousness on the part of the three financial executives and their cronies saying:
Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia. Of course, you won't hear the recent financial corruption case, United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm, called anything like that. If you heard about it at all, you're probably either in the municipal bond business or married to an antitrust lawyer. Even then, all you probably heard was that a threesome of bit players on Wall Street got convicted of obscure antitrust violations in one of the most inscrutable, jargon-packed legal snoozefests since the government's massive case against Microsoft in the Nineties – not exactly the thrilling courtroom drama offered by the famed trials of old-school mobsters like Al Capone or Anthony "Tony Ducks" Carollo.
But this just-completed trial in downtown New York against three faceless financial executives really was historic. Over 10 years in the making, the case allowed federal prosecutors to make public for the first time the astonishing inner workings of the reigning American crime syndicate, which now operates not out of Little Italy and Las Vegas, but out of Wall Street.
Taibbi essentially describes a "point shaving" scam that apparently goes on in every bond traders' office and has done so for at least decades.
Basically the way it works is that when a city, county or state borrows money for "capital improvements" it borrows the whole amount it needs- say $100 million to build a bridge. But it doesn’t pay out the whole $100 million all at once- it can take years to spend it first on consultants, then designers, then on each individual aspect of construction.
The rest gets deposited with "virtually every major bank and finance company on Wall Street – not just GE, but J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, UBS, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Wachovia and more" according to Taibbi.
There are usually three bids required and the highest interest rate is the one accepted by the borrower. But these financial executives have been shaving "points"- hundredths of a percent in interest- so that the winners provide the lowest amount possible with a revolving winner of the bids so that everyone gets a chance to steal.
The difference is kicked back to the executives in various manners. While that hundredth of a percent might only be, for instance, $50,000, imagine that times a gazillion with many deals going down daily in untold numbers of jurisdictions.
It adds up to billions that, instead of going back to the borrowers to use for hospitals, elderly services, aid for the homeless and other government services, goes into the pockets of the financial execs and corporate bottom lines.
Taibbi also tracks the money to "kickbacks" in the form of campaign contributions to elected officials to the tune of what Taibbi says is a return rate of 66 to 1- for every dollar "contributed" to someone's campaign it generates $66 in appropriations and returns to the "donor."
Read Taibbi's piece- it will be one of the best half hours you've ever invested in understanding how cavalierly and causally Wall St. brethren have been ripping us off daily.
Also check out Taibbi's blog post today that contains " a few interesting bits" that had to be left out of the magazine piece for space reasons.
Unless and until stories like this get some corporate media coverage it will go on for many years to come. We may have to skip today's Casey Anthony interview or tales of the Octomom's stripping routine but hey- we've all gotta make some sacrifices these days.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
SchMUSINGS
SchMUSINGS: It was actually a dark and stormy night. The rain was harder than the two feet in three days last weekend and hail was pelting the window so hard it woke us up. But we don't have dogs to walk, the electricity was off and the last time we saw the dawn- or even got up, got out of bed and went outside in the dark- was probably 30 years ago when seeing the sunrise was a result of an all-nighter. So we grabbed another blanket and some ear plugs, rolled over and went back to sleep.
Our apologies to Joan Conrow but since we're going to flit around and do it between games today it seems an appropriate way to commence.
First comes the news that former local Kaua`i newspaper editor Nathan Eagle, the other half of the dynamic duo, has landed a gig with his former cohort, joining ace reporter Mike Levine at Civil Beat.
No surprise on this end since whenever, against all odds, our local paper ends up mysteriously hiring someone even halfway competent, they eventually leave for a real publication. But congrats to CB and Nathan. We can only hope that maybe with two (count 'em two) ex-Kaua`i residents CB will treat Kaua`i like we exist.
Better news on the medical marijuana front. SB 2262 which "clarifies that the medical use of marijuana is considered to be consistent with the Pain Patients' Bill of Rights" has passed the senate and first reading in the house. Passage of the bill will mean that chronic pain patients will now have the right to receive medical marijuana in addition to all other appropriate medications.
That is coupled with the death of House Bill 1963 which was the horrendous effort courtesy of Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety Keith Kamita- an effort also backed by Kaua`i Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri Carvalho- that would have actually removed chronic pain as a condition for which medical marijuana could be recommended. HB 1963 miraculously didn't get a hearing scheduled by the house Judiciary Committee.
Of course in the "now you see it now you don't" Hawai`i State Legislature, nothing is ever approved until it actually gets signed into law and nothing is ever-ever-ever really dead.
Then, from the "shocked-shocked" file, according to Civil Beat, Kaua`i State Senator Ron Kouchi has jumped on the ethically-bankrupt, legalized-bribery bandwagon by holding a Honolulu fundraiser during the legislative session. Last Night's soiree was a hundred-bucks-a-head affair held at the Mandalay restaurant.
Some states ban the practice of holding fund-raisers during a legislative session. But of course in catch-me-if-you-can-Hawai`i, legislators routinely cash in by holding these events in the hopes of scooping up some cash from those who have an interest in seeing the recipient's vote go a certain way on certain soon-to-be-considered bills. Since quid pro quo's are hard if not impossible to prove it's a practice that is looked upon with disgust by good governance and campaign reform mavens everywhere.
The fundraiser by-the-by is being organized by former Kaua`i Deputy County Attorney Harrison Kawate who worked under perennially county-government-employed former County Attorney Lani Nakazawa. We could go on with many more revolving door connections but the next game is starting soon.
Last but certainly not least is the latest dust up involving our always bafflingly buffoonish Prosecutor, the aforementioned reefer-madness adherent, Shaylene Iseri Carvalho.
Those who missed the real story behind the vague coverage in the local newspaper of the horse-abuse case will want to check in with the aforementioned Joan Conrow and read her coverage beginning last Friday.
Seems dear Shay actually threatened to use her prosecutorial discretion to drop the infamous animal cruelty case because one of the animal control officers at Kaua`i Human Society (KHS) got into a dust up with one of Shay's cousin over a complaint about the cousin's barking dogs and then his lack of dog licenses. Shay claimed the officer was trespassing and is a habitual liar whose testimony in the horse case would be unreliable, so Iseri wanted KHS to fire her.
It's a lot more juicy than that so read Joan's coverage.
But Iseri is back this week with more questionable behavior in a series of emails received by most of the attorneys on Kaua`i regarding the formation of a "Kaua'i Bar Bench Committee"- a "working group of attorneys [formed to] discuss and present issues to our judges [regarding] matters pertaining to judicial administration" according to one local attorney.
The group is being put together through the efforts of local attorney Rosa Flores who, after apparently putting in hours of volunteer time on behalf of the "Kaua`i Bar," innocently sent the following email confirming the "members" of the group, apparently "BCCing" almost all of the attorneys on Kaua`i
Subject: Re: KBA Bench Bar Committee Members
Hi Everyone,
I am very happy to announce the Bench Bar Committee Members. We are very fortunate to have had such an amazing amount of interest and support in the creation of this Committee.
Civil (Circuit Court): Dan Hempey
Collections (District Court): Tim Tobin
Landlord/Tenant, Self-Help Center, Legal Aid, Indigent Services: Emiko Meyers
Criminal Defense: June Ikemoto
Family Law: Caren Dennemeyer
Public Defenders: revolving
Prosecutors Office: revolving/unknown
County Attorneys: Justin Kollar
KBA President/Chair: Rosa Flores
KBA Vice-President/Vice-Chair: Shauna Cahill
The private attorneys on the Committee all wear many hats with various specialties, so we'll have a great overlap in coverage at all times. Please feel free to direct concerns, inquiries, comments, etc. that you would like to bring to the attention of our judges to the Committee member representing your particular area of interest. Everyone is also welcome to direct any inquiries to myself or Shauna Cahill anytime.
Committee Members, I will be in touch soon with all of you.
Thank you,
Rosa
This seemingly pleasant note, apparently following a lot of hard work on Flores' part, elicited a disturbing response from Iseri addressed Flores and CCed to around 75 local attorneys (with the original email in the thread) as well as the Kaua`i judges.
Subject: Re: KBA Bench Bar Committee Members
Aloha Rosa,
It would have been considerate of you to have contacted our office to inquire who would be the representative for the OPA because I would have told you clearly, that it would be me. Please put my name down as the representative of our office.
Shay
Okey-dokey. Apparently because the email was sent to the entire Kaua`i bar, Flores felt compelled to reply to the content and the tone of Iseri's response. She wrote:
Talk about a slap in the face for the best of intentions. Thank you for everyone else for their support in this endeavor, and to the volunteer representatives who took the initiative to contact me.
But Iseri wasn't done with Flores and, CCing the other, wrote back:
We did contact you. Your response is very unprofessional.
Unprofessional? Flores had had just about enough and felt she had to set the record straight. She wrote back saying:
As you very well know, I responded to you directly last week following your assertion that your agency should be represented, and in my response I agreed that your agency should be represented. No mention was made from you as to who would be the representative, and I do not have the time to hunt down attorneys from every possible section to see who is willing to attend the meetings. Yours was not the only agency which did not have name for their rep, but they were nonetheless indicated as being part of the committee.
If anyone else is offended that I did not put their names, please know that it was not intentional; my psychic mind-reading skills are not developed to the point at which I would like them to be. And I apologize for yet another unprofessional response from me.
Not having appeared rude and offensive enough Iseri first wrote:
It definitely is another unprofessional response.
finally adding
I also do not want to be a party to anymore unprofessional emails
Finally Flores realized who she was dealing with and ended the futile conversation by stating
Duly noted. Thank you and God Bless!
Isn't this an election year? Seems everyone knows that but Shaylene.
Our apologies to Joan Conrow but since we're going to flit around and do it between games today it seems an appropriate way to commence.
First comes the news that former local Kaua`i newspaper editor Nathan Eagle, the other half of the dynamic duo, has landed a gig with his former cohort, joining ace reporter Mike Levine at Civil Beat.
No surprise on this end since whenever, against all odds, our local paper ends up mysteriously hiring someone even halfway competent, they eventually leave for a real publication. But congrats to CB and Nathan. We can only hope that maybe with two (count 'em two) ex-Kaua`i residents CB will treat Kaua`i like we exist.
Better news on the medical marijuana front. SB 2262 which "clarifies that the medical use of marijuana is considered to be consistent with the Pain Patients' Bill of Rights" has passed the senate and first reading in the house. Passage of the bill will mean that chronic pain patients will now have the right to receive medical marijuana in addition to all other appropriate medications.
That is coupled with the death of House Bill 1963 which was the horrendous effort courtesy of Assistant Director of the Department of Public Safety Keith Kamita- an effort also backed by Kaua`i Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri Carvalho- that would have actually removed chronic pain as a condition for which medical marijuana could be recommended. HB 1963 miraculously didn't get a hearing scheduled by the house Judiciary Committee.
Of course in the "now you see it now you don't" Hawai`i State Legislature, nothing is ever approved until it actually gets signed into law and nothing is ever-ever-ever really dead.
Then, from the "shocked-shocked" file, according to Civil Beat, Kaua`i State Senator Ron Kouchi has jumped on the ethically-bankrupt, legalized-bribery bandwagon by holding a Honolulu fundraiser during the legislative session. Last Night's soiree was a hundred-bucks-a-head affair held at the Mandalay restaurant.
Some states ban the practice of holding fund-raisers during a legislative session. But of course in catch-me-if-you-can-Hawai`i, legislators routinely cash in by holding these events in the hopes of scooping up some cash from those who have an interest in seeing the recipient's vote go a certain way on certain soon-to-be-considered bills. Since quid pro quo's are hard if not impossible to prove it's a practice that is looked upon with disgust by good governance and campaign reform mavens everywhere.
The fundraiser by-the-by is being organized by former Kaua`i Deputy County Attorney Harrison Kawate who worked under perennially county-government-employed former County Attorney Lani Nakazawa. We could go on with many more revolving door connections but the next game is starting soon.
Last but certainly not least is the latest dust up involving our always bafflingly buffoonish Prosecutor, the aforementioned reefer-madness adherent, Shaylene Iseri Carvalho.
Those who missed the real story behind the vague coverage in the local newspaper of the horse-abuse case will want to check in with the aforementioned Joan Conrow and read her coverage beginning last Friday.
Seems dear Shay actually threatened to use her prosecutorial discretion to drop the infamous animal cruelty case because one of the animal control officers at Kaua`i Human Society (KHS) got into a dust up with one of Shay's cousin over a complaint about the cousin's barking dogs and then his lack of dog licenses. Shay claimed the officer was trespassing and is a habitual liar whose testimony in the horse case would be unreliable, so Iseri wanted KHS to fire her.
It's a lot more juicy than that so read Joan's coverage.
But Iseri is back this week with more questionable behavior in a series of emails received by most of the attorneys on Kaua`i regarding the formation of a "Kaua'i Bar Bench Committee"- a "working group of attorneys [formed to] discuss and present issues to our judges [regarding] matters pertaining to judicial administration" according to one local attorney.
The group is being put together through the efforts of local attorney Rosa Flores who, after apparently putting in hours of volunteer time on behalf of the "Kaua`i Bar," innocently sent the following email confirming the "members" of the group, apparently "BCCing" almost all of the attorneys on Kaua`i
Subject: Re: KBA Bench Bar Committee Members
Hi Everyone,
I am very happy to announce the Bench Bar Committee Members. We are very fortunate to have had such an amazing amount of interest and support in the creation of this Committee.
Civil (Circuit Court): Dan Hempey
Collections (District Court): Tim Tobin
Landlord/Tenant, Self-Help Center, Legal Aid, Indigent Services: Emiko Meyers
Criminal Defense: June Ikemoto
Family Law: Caren Dennemeyer
Public Defenders: revolving
Prosecutors Office: revolving/unknown
County Attorneys: Justin Kollar
KBA President/Chair: Rosa Flores
KBA Vice-President/Vice-Chair: Shauna Cahill
The private attorneys on the Committee all wear many hats with various specialties, so we'll have a great overlap in coverage at all times. Please feel free to direct concerns, inquiries, comments, etc. that you would like to bring to the attention of our judges to the Committee member representing your particular area of interest. Everyone is also welcome to direct any inquiries to myself or Shauna Cahill anytime.
Committee Members, I will be in touch soon with all of you.
Thank you,
Rosa
This seemingly pleasant note, apparently following a lot of hard work on Flores' part, elicited a disturbing response from Iseri addressed Flores and CCed to around 75 local attorneys (with the original email in the thread) as well as the Kaua`i judges.
Subject: Re: KBA Bench Bar Committee Members
Aloha Rosa,
It would have been considerate of you to have contacted our office to inquire who would be the representative for the OPA because I would have told you clearly, that it would be me. Please put my name down as the representative of our office.
Shay
Okey-dokey. Apparently because the email was sent to the entire Kaua`i bar, Flores felt compelled to reply to the content and the tone of Iseri's response. She wrote:
Talk about a slap in the face for the best of intentions. Thank you for everyone else for their support in this endeavor, and to the volunteer representatives who took the initiative to contact me.
But Iseri wasn't done with Flores and, CCing the other, wrote back:
We did contact you. Your response is very unprofessional.
Unprofessional? Flores had had just about enough and felt she had to set the record straight. She wrote back saying:
As you very well know, I responded to you directly last week following your assertion that your agency should be represented, and in my response I agreed that your agency should be represented. No mention was made from you as to who would be the representative, and I do not have the time to hunt down attorneys from every possible section to see who is willing to attend the meetings. Yours was not the only agency which did not have name for their rep, but they were nonetheless indicated as being part of the committee.
If anyone else is offended that I did not put their names, please know that it was not intentional; my psychic mind-reading skills are not developed to the point at which I would like them to be. And I apologize for yet another unprofessional response from me.
Not having appeared rude and offensive enough Iseri first wrote:
It definitely is another unprofessional response.
finally adding
I also do not want to be a party to anymore unprofessional emails
Finally Flores realized who she was dealing with and ended the futile conversation by stating
Duly noted. Thank you and God Bless!
Isn't this an election year? Seems everyone knows that but Shaylene.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
(PNN) PROSECUTOR ISERI UNDER FIRE FOR MISMANAGEMENT AND MALTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES OF VICTIM WITNESS PROGRAM
(PNN) PROSECUTOR ISERI UNDER FIRE FOR MISMANAGEMENT AND MALTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES OF VICTIM WITNESS PROGRAM; LETTER TO COUNCIL FROM LAID-OFF COUNSELOR CHARGES PROGRAM IS INEFFECTIVE, IN DISARRAY
(PNN) 17.
That's the answer usually given by former and current employees at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (OPA) to many of the questions as to why there are so many charges of mismanagement and ill-treatment of employees in Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho's office.
That's because 17 is the number of "Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA" according to a scathing letter to the Kaua`i County Council by Erin Wilson, a former Victim Witness Counselor at the OPA.
Wilson's letter- which is published here in full (below at the end of this article)- was submitted as testimony on a communication at yesterday's (January 11, 2012) council meeting. The communication asked for Iseri to come before the council to discuss "the status of the Victim Witness Program and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney."
The matter was deferred for two weeks until January 25 however because Iseri submitted a letter saying she was "sick," according to Council Chair Jay Furfaro.
The issues Iseri will discuss in two weeks, according to the agenda, include:
1) Case backlog caused by furloughs.
2) Funding - how utilized and whether sufficient to address concerns.
3) Levels of staffing and level of service for the Victim Witness program.
4) Caseload open, closed and pending
The issue dates back to May 6, 2009 according to Councilmember Tim Bynum when Iseri was summoned to appear before the council to answer the same questions but never did because, Bynum said the minutes of that meeting show, he was cut off from his line of questioning by then Council Chair Kaipo Asing.
Asing claimed Bynum's questioning of Iseri was a Sunshine (open meetings) Law violation because it was off the subject of the agenda. However according to Bynum, more than a year later the Office of Information Practices (OIP), which oversees the Sunshine Law, ruled his line of questioning did not violate the law.
Bynum famously feuded with Asing over many matters of council process and rules during Asing's tenure and is currently involved in a well-known, long-standing feud with Iseri dating back to her days on the council with Bynum.
Until yesterday the latest chapter in the conflict has been what Bynum claims is his malicious, first-of-its-kind prosecution by Iseri for a permitting violation, apparently spurred by Bynum having had a rice cooker in a family room of his home which, Iseri claims, is a zoning violation because technically, with the presence of a sink, it created a unpermitted separate living unit.
Wilson spoke of the number "17" by saying:
After asking many employees at OPA why the delay on the above referenced case and others I had been assigned to, I was consistently referred to one number...17. This number was significant because there had been 17 Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA. 17 was a significant number because the prosecutor’s office is a relatively small office to begin with. 17 was a significant number because all of these 17 former employees had left the office since the current OPA Leadership was elected into office. Most importantly, 17 was a significant number because it answered some of my questions about why a large backlog of cases had either sat for long periods of time without victims being contacted, defendants being indicted, or passed on from deputy to deputy through the revolving door at OPA.
Some of the allegations in Wilson's letter are that:
- NOTHING could be done without the direct approval and oversight of the elected prosecutor. In fact, office staff received an email from the Prosecutor’s Office leadership, stating that staff was not to send emails to any outside agencies unless discussed with the OPA leadership prior to sending. Furthermore, OPA Leadership asked to be cc’ed on all other emails to outside agencies.
- The process by which OPA would receive completed investigations and then assigned to the appropriate Deputy and Victim Witness Counselor was ambiguous. The time frame with which the assignment would take place was even more vague and varied week to week. Sometimes cases would be reviewed by the Prosecutor and assigned to a Deputy Attorney and Victim Witness Counselor right away. Other times, as I found out with my caseload, would take months upon months before even being assigned to a Deputy or Counselor for any action to be taken.
- In a letter to County Council dated January 19, 2011 regarding furloughs, the Elected Prosecutor, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, states that as a result of furloughs,
'OPA, the sole agency to file the criminal documents with the court and/or prepare for hearings, wasn’t able to accomplish its duties in a number of cases because there was insufficient staff to prepare them in an expedited and timely manner.'
I beg to differ. I would suggest instead, it is the constant revolving door of employees that has caused a tremendous backlog of cases at OPA. Even the office letterhead is constantly changing and currently reflects that about half of the Deputies that were listed on the above referenced letter, dated January 19th, 2011, have left OPA within the past year. All, I would suggest, to the detriment of Kauaiian families and community.
- The elected prosecutor demoted the former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and effectively eliminated the Director position altogether. What did this mean for the Victim Witness program? It meant that our Victim Witness program no longer had a leader in Victim Witness services to provide oversight of day to day operations and management of the program. It also resulted in drastic changes in the scope of services that Victim Witness Counselors were allowed to offer... After the Victim Witness Director position was eliminated, these components of our comprehensive program diminished or ceased to exist.
- The current OPA Leadership also promotes the perception that Victim Witness Counselors have little importance within the office and are perceived as such by many of the attorneys, clerks, and other staff at OPA.
- I am no longer employed with the Prosecutor’s Office as I was informed on November 9th that I was being laid off and my position as Victim Witness Counselor was being eliminated from the office due to “lack of work”. This “lack of work” described in the letter that OPA gave me is in stark contrast to the much needed Victim Witness Counselor that the elected prosecutor requested monies for, in her letter (just a few months ago) to County Council dated June 13th, 2011. Despite this “lack of work” the office has hired several people including a Receptionist, a Process Server, two (2) Law Clerks, and a Law Office Assistant position which was created for the previous Secretary--all since my last day of employment, November 23rd, 2011. Furthermore, OPA has done nothing to preserve my employment despite that the County of Kauai Employee Handbook (page 17) Layoff Policy states that they will give 90 days’ notice prior to instilling a Reduction in Workforce or Layoff. I am certain that the victims who call OPA on a daily basis requesting an update on their case status or the victims of the most recent surge of crime on Kauai, could have used the services I provided as a Victim Witness Counselor.
At yesterday's meeting, while Bynum was trying to give the history of the issues being aired before the council and the Asing/Sunshine Law/OIP matter, Councilperson Mel Rapozo, famously an extremely close ally and employee of Iseri's, tried to stop Bynum from speaking by claiming the statement he was making violated the Sunshine Law, interrupting Bynum twice and appealing to Furfaro to stop Bynum.
After getting huffy at the notion that he was being accused of ducking the issue- even though Bynum said no such thing- Furfaro allowed Bynum to finish his statement.
Rapozo serves summonses for Iseri's office despite a ban on councilmembers doing more than $500 worth of work for the county. He and Iseri have thus far successfully circumvented the provision by breaking the contracts up into parcels of less than $500 each and also have claimed that Rapozo is the only one on the island who can do the work based on the fact that no one else bid on it.
Part of the intent of the law is to make sure that councilmembers cannot use their power to intimidate others from bidding on a contract upon which the councilmember is bidding.
Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura- who sent the communication to the council requesting Iseri's presence- referred to Wilson's letter and asked that staff contact former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and request that she be present to testify at the January 25 meeting.
Iseri is up for reelection this year and will face current Deputy County Attorney with the Kaua`i Police Department, Justin Kollar.
-------
Erin Wilson's letter to the Kaua`i County Council
Date: January 10, 2012
To: Jay Furfaro, Chair
Joann Yukimura, Vice Chair
Tim Bynum
Dicky Chang
KipuKai Kuali’i
Mel Rapozo
Nadine Nakamura
From: Erin Wilson, Former Victim Witness Counselor at OPA
Re: Council Meeting Agenda Item C 2012-08
First of all let me say thank you for your time and providing an opportunity for public comment on the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (OPA) and Victim Witness Program (VWP) at your meeting today. I believe my circumstance is unique to any other and I appreciate the opportunity to share some of my experiences with you in hopes that you will consider what I have to say as an opportunity to improve services at OPA and the Victim Witness Program.
I am a single mom who moved to Kauai in August 2011 from Colorado with my 6 year old son because I was offered a position as a Victim Witness Counselor at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. This was in my mind, a dream job, where I could use my passion for helping others, advocating for victims of crime. Within a few days of working, I was assigned to work on the most serious of crimes including murder, negligent homicide, assault, robbery, theft, etc. In this position, my responsibilities included making contact with victims to find out how they were coping, finding out what their needs are, helping victims apply for Crime Victim Compensation, finding local resources, getting victims registered for SAVIN (a victim notification system), and let victims know about other civil remedies. Most importantly, my job was to listen to our victims.
I quickly learned at OPA that NOTHING could be done without the direct approval and oversight of the elected prosecutor. In fact, office staff received an email from the Prosecutor’s Office leadership, stating that staff was not to send emails to any outside agencies unless discussed with the OPA leadership prior to sending. Furthermore, OPA Leadership asked to be cc’ed on all other emails to outside agencies. I was very surprised by this as I had not worked in such an environment where communication with related agencies (agencies we interface with) was restricted in such a manner.
The process by which OPA would receive completed investigations and then assigned to the appropriate Deputy and Victim Witness Counselor was ambiguous. The time frame with which the assignment would take place was even more vague and varied week to week. Sometimes cases would be reviewed by the Prosecutor and assigned to a Deputy Attorney and Victim Witness Counselor right away. Other times, as I found out with my caseload, would take months upon months before even being assigned to a Deputy or Counselor for any action to be taken.
In one case that was assigned to me, there were several victims of a violent crime. Prior to making initial contact with the victims, I reviewed the police reports so as to be fully prepared when I contacted the victims and their families, being fully aware of what happened. What I was unable to prepare for was the anger and frustration these families felt when I met with them the first time in our office and learned that after 17 months, I was the first person to contact them from the Prosecutor's Office. In those 17 months, none of the victims or their families had been contacted by anyone at the Prosecutor’s office to offer condolences (there had been a death resulting from the crime) or inform the families about their rights to Victim Witness services, Crime Victim Compensation, or any other related community services that they were entitled to. It was not that the Deputies or Victim Witness Counselors were not working hard on their caseloads, but rather, the victims’ receipt of services could have occurred much earlier in this case and many others, had the case(s) been assigned by OPA Leadership in a timelier manner. Many of the cases I came across had sat waiting for screening and prosecution or declination for long periods of time. Cases had sat for so long that in some situations, the statute of limitations had run out on certain counts of crimes and the defendants could no longer be charged, leaving victims helpless.
After asking many employees at OPA why the delay on the above referenced case and others I had been assigned to, I was consistently referred to one number...17. This number was significant because there had been 17 Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA. 17 was a significant number because the prosecutor’s office is a relatively small office to begin with. 17 was a significant number because all of these 17 former employees had left the office since the current OPA Leadership was elected into office. Most importantly, 17 was a significant number because it answered some of my questions about why a large backlog of cases had either sat for long periods of time without victims being contacted, defendants being indicted, or passed on from deputy to deputy through the revolving door at OPA.
In a letter to County Council dated January 19, 2011 regarding furloughs, the Elected Prosecutor, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, states that as a result of furloughs,
“OPA, the sole agency to file the criminal documents with the court and/or prepare for hearings, wasn’t able to accomplish its duties in a number of cases because there was insufficient staff to prepare them in an expedited and timely manner.”
I beg to differ. I would suggest instead, it is the constant revolving door of employees that has caused a tremendous backlog of cases at OPA. Even the office letterhead is constantly changing and currently reflects that about half of the Deputies that were listed on the above referenced letter, dated January 19th, 2011, have left OPA within the past year. All, I would suggest, to the detriment of Kauaiian families and community.
There was another significant factor that limited the scope of Victim Witness Services at OPA. The elected prosecutor demoted the former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and effectively eliminated the Director position altogether. What did this mean for the Victim Witness program? It meant that our Victim Witness program no longer had a leader in Victim Witness services to provide oversight of day to day operations and management of the program. It also resulted in drastic changes in the scope of services that Victim Witness Counselors were allowed to offer. For example, before the Director position was eliminated, the VWP offered services such as Outreach programs, crime scene support upon request, alliances with multiple community agencies. After the Victim Witness Director position was eliminated, these components of our comprehensive program diminished or ceased to exist. Another downfall to eliminating the Director position was the inability to maintain relationships with agencies that the VWP interfaces with on Kauai, in the state of Hawaii (ex. Victim Witness Coordinator meetings) as well as nationwide organizations such as National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA). These former relationships made our Victim Witness program at the Prosecutor’s Office stand out among others in the Pacific region.
Losing the Victim Witness Director at OPA, we also lost accountability for an equitable distribution of workloads among the Counselors. For example, each Counselor is assigned to certain types of cases such as Property, Crimes Against Persons, Firearms, etc. without regard to the intensity of the case or the needs of the victims and witnesses. The current OPA Leadership also promotes the perception that Victim Witness Counselors have little importance within the office and are perceived as such by many of the attorneys, clerks, and other staff at OPA. For example, in one conversation I had with a Deputy Attorney at OPA, two Victim Witness Counselors were referred to as “worthless.” In a separate conversation I had with a Prosecutor, it was stated that ‘Victim Witness Counselors were not needed because deputy attorney’s already make contact with their victims, without the help of a Counselor.’ Based on my experience working at OPA, I disagree. Furthermore, the notion that the Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys have the same job responsibilities as a Victim Witness Counselor, is misleading.
Other responsibilities of the Victim Witness Director that also took a backseat included the onboarding of new Counselors, ongoing training of new skills, knowledge of trends in the field, and ensuring that advocates took turns attending national conferences.
I am no longer employed with the Prosecutor’s Office as I was informed on November 9th that I was being laid off and my position as Victim Witness Counselor was being eliminated from the office due to “lack of work”. This “lack of work” described in the letter that OPA gave me is in stark contrast to the much needed Victim Witness Counselor that the elected prosecutor requested monies for, in her letter (just a few months ago) to County Council dated June 13th, 2011. Despite this “lack of work” the office has hired several people including a Receptionist, a Process Server, two (2) Law Clerks, and a Law Office Assistant position which was created for the previous Secretary--all since my last day of employment, November 23rd, 2011. Furthermore, OPA has done nothing to preserve my employment despite that the County of Kauai Employee Handbook (page 17) Layoff Policy states that they will give 90 days’ notice prior to instilling a Reduction in Workforce or Layoff. I am certain that the victims who call OPA on a daily basis requesting an update on their case status or the victims of the most recent surge of crime on Kauai, could have used the services I provided as a Victim Witness Counselor.
I request of you today, to re-evaluate the Victim Witness Program and consider that victims are not being served in this community in the full scope that they should be served, due to the changes and restraints that the elected prosecutor is putting on the Counselor’s abilities to communicate with local agencies and organizations, conduct outreach to victims, and serving victims in a timely manner through the prosecution of crimes. I believe that the County of Kauai has excellent resources to support the victims of our community. My hope is that my words will be a starting point for restoring the full scope of the Victim Witness Program back to its intended purpose for our victims, community, and ohana.
Sincerely,
Erin Wilson
(PNN) 17.
That's the answer usually given by former and current employees at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (OPA) to many of the questions as to why there are so many charges of mismanagement and ill-treatment of employees in Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho's office.
That's because 17 is the number of "Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA" according to a scathing letter to the Kaua`i County Council by Erin Wilson, a former Victim Witness Counselor at the OPA.
Wilson's letter- which is published here in full (below at the end of this article)- was submitted as testimony on a communication at yesterday's (January 11, 2012) council meeting. The communication asked for Iseri to come before the council to discuss "the status of the Victim Witness Program and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney."
The matter was deferred for two weeks until January 25 however because Iseri submitted a letter saying she was "sick," according to Council Chair Jay Furfaro.
The issues Iseri will discuss in two weeks, according to the agenda, include:
1) Case backlog caused by furloughs.
2) Funding - how utilized and whether sufficient to address concerns.
3) Levels of staffing and level of service for the Victim Witness program.
4) Caseload open, closed and pending
The issue dates back to May 6, 2009 according to Councilmember Tim Bynum when Iseri was summoned to appear before the council to answer the same questions but never did because, Bynum said the minutes of that meeting show, he was cut off from his line of questioning by then Council Chair Kaipo Asing.
Asing claimed Bynum's questioning of Iseri was a Sunshine (open meetings) Law violation because it was off the subject of the agenda. However according to Bynum, more than a year later the Office of Information Practices (OIP), which oversees the Sunshine Law, ruled his line of questioning did not violate the law.
Bynum famously feuded with Asing over many matters of council process and rules during Asing's tenure and is currently involved in a well-known, long-standing feud with Iseri dating back to her days on the council with Bynum.
Until yesterday the latest chapter in the conflict has been what Bynum claims is his malicious, first-of-its-kind prosecution by Iseri for a permitting violation, apparently spurred by Bynum having had a rice cooker in a family room of his home which, Iseri claims, is a zoning violation because technically, with the presence of a sink, it created a unpermitted separate living unit.
Wilson spoke of the number "17" by saying:
After asking many employees at OPA why the delay on the above referenced case and others I had been assigned to, I was consistently referred to one number...17. This number was significant because there had been 17 Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA. 17 was a significant number because the prosecutor’s office is a relatively small office to begin with. 17 was a significant number because all of these 17 former employees had left the office since the current OPA Leadership was elected into office. Most importantly, 17 was a significant number because it answered some of my questions about why a large backlog of cases had either sat for long periods of time without victims being contacted, defendants being indicted, or passed on from deputy to deputy through the revolving door at OPA.
Some of the allegations in Wilson's letter are that:
- NOTHING could be done without the direct approval and oversight of the elected prosecutor. In fact, office staff received an email from the Prosecutor’s Office leadership, stating that staff was not to send emails to any outside agencies unless discussed with the OPA leadership prior to sending. Furthermore, OPA Leadership asked to be cc’ed on all other emails to outside agencies.
- The process by which OPA would receive completed investigations and then assigned to the appropriate Deputy and Victim Witness Counselor was ambiguous. The time frame with which the assignment would take place was even more vague and varied week to week. Sometimes cases would be reviewed by the Prosecutor and assigned to a Deputy Attorney and Victim Witness Counselor right away. Other times, as I found out with my caseload, would take months upon months before even being assigned to a Deputy or Counselor for any action to be taken.
- In a letter to County Council dated January 19, 2011 regarding furloughs, the Elected Prosecutor, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, states that as a result of furloughs,
'OPA, the sole agency to file the criminal documents with the court and/or prepare for hearings, wasn’t able to accomplish its duties in a number of cases because there was insufficient staff to prepare them in an expedited and timely manner.'
I beg to differ. I would suggest instead, it is the constant revolving door of employees that has caused a tremendous backlog of cases at OPA. Even the office letterhead is constantly changing and currently reflects that about half of the Deputies that were listed on the above referenced letter, dated January 19th, 2011, have left OPA within the past year. All, I would suggest, to the detriment of Kauaiian families and community.
- The elected prosecutor demoted the former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and effectively eliminated the Director position altogether. What did this mean for the Victim Witness program? It meant that our Victim Witness program no longer had a leader in Victim Witness services to provide oversight of day to day operations and management of the program. It also resulted in drastic changes in the scope of services that Victim Witness Counselors were allowed to offer... After the Victim Witness Director position was eliminated, these components of our comprehensive program diminished or ceased to exist.
- The current OPA Leadership also promotes the perception that Victim Witness Counselors have little importance within the office and are perceived as such by many of the attorneys, clerks, and other staff at OPA.
- I am no longer employed with the Prosecutor’s Office as I was informed on November 9th that I was being laid off and my position as Victim Witness Counselor was being eliminated from the office due to “lack of work”. This “lack of work” described in the letter that OPA gave me is in stark contrast to the much needed Victim Witness Counselor that the elected prosecutor requested monies for, in her letter (just a few months ago) to County Council dated June 13th, 2011. Despite this “lack of work” the office has hired several people including a Receptionist, a Process Server, two (2) Law Clerks, and a Law Office Assistant position which was created for the previous Secretary--all since my last day of employment, November 23rd, 2011. Furthermore, OPA has done nothing to preserve my employment despite that the County of Kauai Employee Handbook (page 17) Layoff Policy states that they will give 90 days’ notice prior to instilling a Reduction in Workforce or Layoff. I am certain that the victims who call OPA on a daily basis requesting an update on their case status or the victims of the most recent surge of crime on Kauai, could have used the services I provided as a Victim Witness Counselor.
At yesterday's meeting, while Bynum was trying to give the history of the issues being aired before the council and the Asing/Sunshine Law/OIP matter, Councilperson Mel Rapozo, famously an extremely close ally and employee of Iseri's, tried to stop Bynum from speaking by claiming the statement he was making violated the Sunshine Law, interrupting Bynum twice and appealing to Furfaro to stop Bynum.
After getting huffy at the notion that he was being accused of ducking the issue- even though Bynum said no such thing- Furfaro allowed Bynum to finish his statement.
Rapozo serves summonses for Iseri's office despite a ban on councilmembers doing more than $500 worth of work for the county. He and Iseri have thus far successfully circumvented the provision by breaking the contracts up into parcels of less than $500 each and also have claimed that Rapozo is the only one on the island who can do the work based on the fact that no one else bid on it.
Part of the intent of the law is to make sure that councilmembers cannot use their power to intimidate others from bidding on a contract upon which the councilmember is bidding.
Council Vice Chair JoAnn Yukimura- who sent the communication to the council requesting Iseri's presence- referred to Wilson's letter and asked that staff contact former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and request that she be present to testify at the January 25 meeting.
Iseri is up for reelection this year and will face current Deputy County Attorney with the Kaua`i Police Department, Justin Kollar.
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Erin Wilson's letter to the Kaua`i County Council
Date: January 10, 2012
To: Jay Furfaro, Chair
Joann Yukimura, Vice Chair
Tim Bynum
Dicky Chang
KipuKai Kuali’i
Mel Rapozo
Nadine Nakamura
From: Erin Wilson, Former Victim Witness Counselor at OPA
Re: Council Meeting Agenda Item C 2012-08
First of all let me say thank you for your time and providing an opportunity for public comment on the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney (OPA) and Victim Witness Program (VWP) at your meeting today. I believe my circumstance is unique to any other and I appreciate the opportunity to share some of my experiences with you in hopes that you will consider what I have to say as an opportunity to improve services at OPA and the Victim Witness Program.
I am a single mom who moved to Kauai in August 2011 from Colorado with my 6 year old son because I was offered a position as a Victim Witness Counselor at the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. This was in my mind, a dream job, where I could use my passion for helping others, advocating for victims of crime. Within a few days of working, I was assigned to work on the most serious of crimes including murder, negligent homicide, assault, robbery, theft, etc. In this position, my responsibilities included making contact with victims to find out how they were coping, finding out what their needs are, helping victims apply for Crime Victim Compensation, finding local resources, getting victims registered for SAVIN (a victim notification system), and let victims know about other civil remedies. Most importantly, my job was to listen to our victims.
I quickly learned at OPA that NOTHING could be done without the direct approval and oversight of the elected prosecutor. In fact, office staff received an email from the Prosecutor’s Office leadership, stating that staff was not to send emails to any outside agencies unless discussed with the OPA leadership prior to sending. Furthermore, OPA Leadership asked to be cc’ed on all other emails to outside agencies. I was very surprised by this as I had not worked in such an environment where communication with related agencies (agencies we interface with) was restricted in such a manner.
The process by which OPA would receive completed investigations and then assigned to the appropriate Deputy and Victim Witness Counselor was ambiguous. The time frame with which the assignment would take place was even more vague and varied week to week. Sometimes cases would be reviewed by the Prosecutor and assigned to a Deputy Attorney and Victim Witness Counselor right away. Other times, as I found out with my caseload, would take months upon months before even being assigned to a Deputy or Counselor for any action to be taken.
In one case that was assigned to me, there were several victims of a violent crime. Prior to making initial contact with the victims, I reviewed the police reports so as to be fully prepared when I contacted the victims and their families, being fully aware of what happened. What I was unable to prepare for was the anger and frustration these families felt when I met with them the first time in our office and learned that after 17 months, I was the first person to contact them from the Prosecutor's Office. In those 17 months, none of the victims or their families had been contacted by anyone at the Prosecutor’s office to offer condolences (there had been a death resulting from the crime) or inform the families about their rights to Victim Witness services, Crime Victim Compensation, or any other related community services that they were entitled to. It was not that the Deputies or Victim Witness Counselors were not working hard on their caseloads, but rather, the victims’ receipt of services could have occurred much earlier in this case and many others, had the case(s) been assigned by OPA Leadership in a timelier manner. Many of the cases I came across had sat waiting for screening and prosecution or declination for long periods of time. Cases had sat for so long that in some situations, the statute of limitations had run out on certain counts of crimes and the defendants could no longer be charged, leaving victims helpless.
After asking many employees at OPA why the delay on the above referenced case and others I had been assigned to, I was consistently referred to one number...17. This number was significant because there had been 17 Deputy Attorneys who had been hired and either terminated or left on their own accord from OPA. 17 was a significant number because the prosecutor’s office is a relatively small office to begin with. 17 was a significant number because all of these 17 former employees had left the office since the current OPA Leadership was elected into office. Most importantly, 17 was a significant number because it answered some of my questions about why a large backlog of cases had either sat for long periods of time without victims being contacted, defendants being indicted, or passed on from deputy to deputy through the revolving door at OPA.
In a letter to County Council dated January 19, 2011 regarding furloughs, the Elected Prosecutor, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, states that as a result of furloughs,
“OPA, the sole agency to file the criminal documents with the court and/or prepare for hearings, wasn’t able to accomplish its duties in a number of cases because there was insufficient staff to prepare them in an expedited and timely manner.”
I beg to differ. I would suggest instead, it is the constant revolving door of employees that has caused a tremendous backlog of cases at OPA. Even the office letterhead is constantly changing and currently reflects that about half of the Deputies that were listed on the above referenced letter, dated January 19th, 2011, have left OPA within the past year. All, I would suggest, to the detriment of Kauaiian families and community.
There was another significant factor that limited the scope of Victim Witness Services at OPA. The elected prosecutor demoted the former Victim Witness Director, Diana Gausepohl-White and effectively eliminated the Director position altogether. What did this mean for the Victim Witness program? It meant that our Victim Witness program no longer had a leader in Victim Witness services to provide oversight of day to day operations and management of the program. It also resulted in drastic changes in the scope of services that Victim Witness Counselors were allowed to offer. For example, before the Director position was eliminated, the VWP offered services such as Outreach programs, crime scene support upon request, alliances with multiple community agencies. After the Victim Witness Director position was eliminated, these components of our comprehensive program diminished or ceased to exist. Another downfall to eliminating the Director position was the inability to maintain relationships with agencies that the VWP interfaces with on Kauai, in the state of Hawaii (ex. Victim Witness Coordinator meetings) as well as nationwide organizations such as National Organization for Victim Advocacy (NOVA). These former relationships made our Victim Witness program at the Prosecutor’s Office stand out among others in the Pacific region.
Losing the Victim Witness Director at OPA, we also lost accountability for an equitable distribution of workloads among the Counselors. For example, each Counselor is assigned to certain types of cases such as Property, Crimes Against Persons, Firearms, etc. without regard to the intensity of the case or the needs of the victims and witnesses. The current OPA Leadership also promotes the perception that Victim Witness Counselors have little importance within the office and are perceived as such by many of the attorneys, clerks, and other staff at OPA. For example, in one conversation I had with a Deputy Attorney at OPA, two Victim Witness Counselors were referred to as “worthless.” In a separate conversation I had with a Prosecutor, it was stated that ‘Victim Witness Counselors were not needed because deputy attorney’s already make contact with their victims, without the help of a Counselor.’ Based on my experience working at OPA, I disagree. Furthermore, the notion that the Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys have the same job responsibilities as a Victim Witness Counselor, is misleading.
Other responsibilities of the Victim Witness Director that also took a backseat included the onboarding of new Counselors, ongoing training of new skills, knowledge of trends in the field, and ensuring that advocates took turns attending national conferences.
I am no longer employed with the Prosecutor’s Office as I was informed on November 9th that I was being laid off and my position as Victim Witness Counselor was being eliminated from the office due to “lack of work”. This “lack of work” described in the letter that OPA gave me is in stark contrast to the much needed Victim Witness Counselor that the elected prosecutor requested monies for, in her letter (just a few months ago) to County Council dated June 13th, 2011. Despite this “lack of work” the office has hired several people including a Receptionist, a Process Server, two (2) Law Clerks, and a Law Office Assistant position which was created for the previous Secretary--all since my last day of employment, November 23rd, 2011. Furthermore, OPA has done nothing to preserve my employment despite that the County of Kauai Employee Handbook (page 17) Layoff Policy states that they will give 90 days’ notice prior to instilling a Reduction in Workforce or Layoff. I am certain that the victims who call OPA on a daily basis requesting an update on their case status or the victims of the most recent surge of crime on Kauai, could have used the services I provided as a Victim Witness Counselor.
I request of you today, to re-evaluate the Victim Witness Program and consider that victims are not being served in this community in the full scope that they should be served, due to the changes and restraints that the elected prosecutor is putting on the Counselor’s abilities to communicate with local agencies and organizations, conduct outreach to victims, and serving victims in a timely manner through the prosecution of crimes. I believe that the County of Kauai has excellent resources to support the victims of our community. My hope is that my words will be a starting point for restoring the full scope of the Victim Witness Program back to its intended purpose for our victims, community, and ohana.
Sincerely,
Erin Wilson
Friday, December 16, 2011
ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES
ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES: When we wrote our "how-to" instruction manual for how one breaks into the county's old boy network a week ago- using the case of former KIUC Board Member, now County Energy Coordinator, Ben Sullivan as an example- we might have made it seem like the system was an invention of current Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr.
Hardly.
The "flack catcher" model has been the prime modus operandi of up-and-comers for decades, with administrations going back to statehood and before, picking the best and the brightest of those willing to stick their neck out, draw a dotted line and place it on the chopping block, somehow surviving to populate many if not most of the county's appointed positions.
The only difference is that Carvalho has established the ability to "take one for the team" as the only pre-requisite for a job in his administration.
But when Joan Conrow broke the story on Tuesday about the absurd plans of Grove Farm to tear down the most affordable of all housing, the old sugar-cane-era "Koloa Camp", to build "affordable housing,"- here defined as almost half-a-million-dollar homes that people need to make around $75,000 to get a mortgage for- we realized that we touched only on those entering the county's revolving door system.
We were reminded that the spokesperson for Grove Farm is VP Mike Tresler whose rise to the plantation-era company- now owned by AOL founder Steve Case, cousin of senate candidate Ed Case- is a prime example of what one can accomplish on the back end if one is inclined to fall on swords on a regular basis.
You can read Conrow's coverage at her Kaua`i Eclectic blog and her account of last night's meeting with Koloa residents at the web site of "For Kaua`i" for all the gory details- except for this "what the 'f' was he thinking?" quote from Tresler, obtained by Vanessa Van Voorhis of the local newspaper:
“(The eviction is) a tenant-landlord issue. That’s a private issue … They’re trying to make it a public issue and we’ll push back and just say it’s nobody’s business. We’re required to give that notice, so we’re going to give them that notice. … have we applied for any permits or anything yet? No. Are we in the whole planning stages of it? Yes, we are.”
Tresler- who, perhaps because of the publication of the ill-advised quote, was not at the meeting because, Conrow says, he allegedly had a flight to Honolulu last night- didn't just stumble upon his high paying job as a Grove Farm's chief henchman.
Tresler earned it as Director of Finance for the county and his role in putting the final nail in the coffin of the police career of former Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) Chief KC Lum by, when all else had failed, canceling his contract with the county on orders from... well, let's just say from above because, although Mayor Brian Baptiste was in charge at the time, anyone paying attention knew that forces behind the effort to slander and fire Lum was former Council Chair Kaipo Asing and current Councilmember Mel Rapozo.
We've detailed the stories of both Lum and Tresler in these pages before, describing details of secret investigations and pseudo trials as well as the covering up of secret documents, including the one written by the administrative judge in Lum's hearing containing exculpatory language actually clearing Lum. When the document was leaked and a member of the public tried to submit it to the council as part of his testimony, Asing actually refused to allow council services to take possession of the report.
But none of that was legally enough to fire Lum. The only way to do that, according to the county charter, was apparently by getting the Director of Finance to cancel Lum's contract.
Tresler, a sycophant of Baptiste, whose loud rants in the county building halls attempting to intimidate those who had publicly charged Baptiste with a variety of unethical and politically unsound actions was legendary among the "nitpickers,"- the council regulars who "got" what was going on as Lum, along with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Police Commission, got the shaft.
Well, as if you couldn't guess, canceling Lum's contract was one of Tresler's last actions as Finance Director and it wasn't more than a twinkling of an eye before he landed his cushy VP job with Grove Farm.
Has Tresler gone too far getting caught in a callous sounding quote? If you think so, you haven't been paying attention. A raise and a promotion seem more like it. Or did you forget that this is Kaua`i?
----
Look for light posting next week- we need a break.
Hardly.
The "flack catcher" model has been the prime modus operandi of up-and-comers for decades, with administrations going back to statehood and before, picking the best and the brightest of those willing to stick their neck out, draw a dotted line and place it on the chopping block, somehow surviving to populate many if not most of the county's appointed positions.
The only difference is that Carvalho has established the ability to "take one for the team" as the only pre-requisite for a job in his administration.
But when Joan Conrow broke the story on Tuesday about the absurd plans of Grove Farm to tear down the most affordable of all housing, the old sugar-cane-era "Koloa Camp", to build "affordable housing,"- here defined as almost half-a-million-dollar homes that people need to make around $75,000 to get a mortgage for- we realized that we touched only on those entering the county's revolving door system.
We were reminded that the spokesperson for Grove Farm is VP Mike Tresler whose rise to the plantation-era company- now owned by AOL founder Steve Case, cousin of senate candidate Ed Case- is a prime example of what one can accomplish on the back end if one is inclined to fall on swords on a regular basis.
You can read Conrow's coverage at her Kaua`i Eclectic blog and her account of last night's meeting with Koloa residents at the web site of "For Kaua`i" for all the gory details- except for this "what the 'f' was he thinking?" quote from Tresler, obtained by Vanessa Van Voorhis of the local newspaper:
“(The eviction is) a tenant-landlord issue. That’s a private issue … They’re trying to make it a public issue and we’ll push back and just say it’s nobody’s business. We’re required to give that notice, so we’re going to give them that notice. … have we applied for any permits or anything yet? No. Are we in the whole planning stages of it? Yes, we are.”
Tresler- who, perhaps because of the publication of the ill-advised quote, was not at the meeting because, Conrow says, he allegedly had a flight to Honolulu last night- didn't just stumble upon his high paying job as a Grove Farm's chief henchman.
Tresler earned it as Director of Finance for the county and his role in putting the final nail in the coffin of the police career of former Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) Chief KC Lum by, when all else had failed, canceling his contract with the county on orders from... well, let's just say from above because, although Mayor Brian Baptiste was in charge at the time, anyone paying attention knew that forces behind the effort to slander and fire Lum was former Council Chair Kaipo Asing and current Councilmember Mel Rapozo.
We've detailed the stories of both Lum and Tresler in these pages before, describing details of secret investigations and pseudo trials as well as the covering up of secret documents, including the one written by the administrative judge in Lum's hearing containing exculpatory language actually clearing Lum. When the document was leaked and a member of the public tried to submit it to the council as part of his testimony, Asing actually refused to allow council services to take possession of the report.
But none of that was legally enough to fire Lum. The only way to do that, according to the county charter, was apparently by getting the Director of Finance to cancel Lum's contract.
Tresler, a sycophant of Baptiste, whose loud rants in the county building halls attempting to intimidate those who had publicly charged Baptiste with a variety of unethical and politically unsound actions was legendary among the "nitpickers,"- the council regulars who "got" what was going on as Lum, along with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Police Commission, got the shaft.
Well, as if you couldn't guess, canceling Lum's contract was one of Tresler's last actions as Finance Director and it wasn't more than a twinkling of an eye before he landed his cushy VP job with Grove Farm.
Has Tresler gone too far getting caught in a callous sounding quote? If you think so, you haven't been paying attention. A raise and a promotion seem more like it. Or did you forget that this is Kaua`i?
----
Look for light posting next week- we need a break.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
LIKE A GLOVE
LIKE A GLOVE: It isn't like it was a surprise when Kauai County Clerk Peter Nakamura* was apparently fired this week.
After all, the first shoe had been dropped over and over throughout the years with allegations that he had cost the county a cool quarter-million in the Margaret Hanson Sueoka harassment suit along with his alleged misdoings in collecting unapproved cash-for-vacation-time from former Chair Kaipo Asing as has been splashed all over the front page of the local newspaper recently.
Not only that but the second shoe had been poised for a gravity-driven trip for months with executive sessions concerning his employ showing up on the council's agenda almost every time they met.
But the fact that Nakamura was offered and accepted a job in the planning department was a bit odd given that the revolving door was wide open for him after his performance as perhaps the best flack-catcher the county has even seen.
We've had a love/hate relationship with Nakamura throughout his tenure. Early in his tenure his penchant for providing information and documents was unique in the county if not the state, where our sunshine law has been cited nationally for being one of the best while showing up among the worst when it comes to how it actually functions.
But that was before the ascendancy of Asing and, in serving the new king, Nakamura of course took to carrying the king's sword which in Asing's case was a heavy instrument indeed.
As per Asing's instructions, Nakamura became the scrooge of public information, fighting with aplomb councilmembers' battles with the Office of Information Practices (OIP)- like the one over the infamous ES-177 that eventually resulted in the recent full de-toothification of the OIP.
Someone that is willing to fall on his sword like that is invaluable in the corporate world and Kaua`i is littered with such former county officials who have found a place in the close knit Kaua`i business community based on their ability to take a bullet for their bosses... people like current Grove Farm VP Mike Tressler who, as Finance Director, parlayed his part in the pogrom that resulted in the removal of former Police Chief KC Lum, into his current high-paying position.
Could it be that Nakamura's claim that he was returning to his first love- planning- actually be true?
Whether or not that's the full explanation, his trip across the street to the administrative offices, while unique, fits quite well into Mayor Bernard Carvalho's scheme for filling positions with "protected" cronies. Anyone who has served with the kind of blind loyalty Nakamura has exhibited over the years can't help but be an asset to Carvalho in a way few if any from the outside can be.
But would Nakamura settle for a position as a lowly planner when lucrative job the business sector beckons? Of course not.
It just so happens that the planning department has a "temporary" director right now- Mike Dahilig who, according to the county charter, is unqualified to take the position permanently. And he has done the job he was sent to do- take over the reins of a department allegedly under FBI investigation and get the feds off their backs... not to mention guiding the difficult and potentially contentious process of passing the all important ordinance that returns scrutiny of tourist accommodation permits from the council back to the planning department in compliance with the so-called citizen-petitioned General Plan charter amendment.
Nakamura- who ironically served as Planning Director under then-Mayor, now-Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura (who apparently was instrumental in his firing)- seems to be the beneficiary of a circumstance that makes his future as planning director all but a formality once the commission acts.
So all's well in the Minotaur’s labyrinth as the bone mill cranks out another bowl of that distinctly Kaua`i-flavored porridge which, while sweet-smelling to the minotaur and his minions, stinks to high heaven to the rest of the island's denizens.
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*Correction: We inadvertently left off Peter Nakamura's name in the first paragraph. This on-line version has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
After all, the first shoe had been dropped over and over throughout the years with allegations that he had cost the county a cool quarter-million in the Margaret Hanson Sueoka harassment suit along with his alleged misdoings in collecting unapproved cash-for-vacation-time from former Chair Kaipo Asing as has been splashed all over the front page of the local newspaper recently.
Not only that but the second shoe had been poised for a gravity-driven trip for months with executive sessions concerning his employ showing up on the council's agenda almost every time they met.
But the fact that Nakamura was offered and accepted a job in the planning department was a bit odd given that the revolving door was wide open for him after his performance as perhaps the best flack-catcher the county has even seen.
We've had a love/hate relationship with Nakamura throughout his tenure. Early in his tenure his penchant for providing information and documents was unique in the county if not the state, where our sunshine law has been cited nationally for being one of the best while showing up among the worst when it comes to how it actually functions.
But that was before the ascendancy of Asing and, in serving the new king, Nakamura of course took to carrying the king's sword which in Asing's case was a heavy instrument indeed.
As per Asing's instructions, Nakamura became the scrooge of public information, fighting with aplomb councilmembers' battles with the Office of Information Practices (OIP)- like the one over the infamous ES-177 that eventually resulted in the recent full de-toothification of the OIP.
Someone that is willing to fall on his sword like that is invaluable in the corporate world and Kaua`i is littered with such former county officials who have found a place in the close knit Kaua`i business community based on their ability to take a bullet for their bosses... people like current Grove Farm VP Mike Tressler who, as Finance Director, parlayed his part in the pogrom that resulted in the removal of former Police Chief KC Lum, into his current high-paying position.
Could it be that Nakamura's claim that he was returning to his first love- planning- actually be true?
Whether or not that's the full explanation, his trip across the street to the administrative offices, while unique, fits quite well into Mayor Bernard Carvalho's scheme for filling positions with "protected" cronies. Anyone who has served with the kind of blind loyalty Nakamura has exhibited over the years can't help but be an asset to Carvalho in a way few if any from the outside can be.
But would Nakamura settle for a position as a lowly planner when lucrative job the business sector beckons? Of course not.
It just so happens that the planning department has a "temporary" director right now- Mike Dahilig who, according to the county charter, is unqualified to take the position permanently. And he has done the job he was sent to do- take over the reins of a department allegedly under FBI investigation and get the feds off their backs... not to mention guiding the difficult and potentially contentious process of passing the all important ordinance that returns scrutiny of tourist accommodation permits from the council back to the planning department in compliance with the so-called citizen-petitioned General Plan charter amendment.
Nakamura- who ironically served as Planning Director under then-Mayor, now-Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura (who apparently was instrumental in his firing)- seems to be the beneficiary of a circumstance that makes his future as planning director all but a formality once the commission acts.
So all's well in the Minotaur’s labyrinth as the bone mill cranks out another bowl of that distinctly Kaua`i-flavored porridge which, while sweet-smelling to the minotaur and his minions, stinks to high heaven to the rest of the island's denizens.
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*Correction: We inadvertently left off Peter Nakamura's name in the first paragraph. This on-line version has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
LOOK OUT KID, THEY KEEP IT ALL HID
LOOK OUT KID, THEY KEEP IT ALL HID: Trying to decipher the few Kaua`i county documents that are available at the web site is kind of like doing a Sudoku puzzle. They somehow add up to something but it takes a lot of work to figure out exactly what the sum is.
But since we committed yesterday to filling in the blanks through the use of the clues the county left, we’ve gotten a hold a text copy of what appears to be the thus-far “secret” proposed county charter amendments (see pp 12-18) we’ll all be voting on on November 2.
Apparently, although there’s no indication that they were ever approved by the Charter Review Commissions, a September 3 letter from County Clerk Peter Nakamura to state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago transmitted seven questions, in time for them to be included on the actual ballot.
While they appear to be “official” we’ll have to wait and see when and if they were approved, not that the county won’t go ahead with them illegally anyway if they weren’t.
We’ll go over them briefly here with deeper analysis to come.
The first is the same old question that’s been asked and answered- in the negative- innumerable times but for some reason it’s on the ballot again. The ballot question reads
"Shall the term of office for councilmembers be extended from two to four years with a limit of two consecutive four year terms?"
When will these people accept that we like being able to recall our council every two years. They’re unaccountable enough already without only having to worry about the what the electorate thinks every four years.
We want to see an amendment saying that you can’t propose the same amendment more than once every 10 years.
The second is a response to the call for a county manager and eliminates the position of administrative assistant and creates a position of “Managing Director”.
The question on the ballot will be:
"Shall the Mayor's Administrative Assistant, whose title shall be changed to Managing Director, be required to have appropriate job qualifications and perform certain duties?"
Here’s the exact language to be added to the charter, describing those “job qualifications” and “duties”
The mayor shall appoint and may remove a managing director. The managing director shall be a citizen of the United States not less than thirty (30) years of age and a resident elector of the county at least three years immediately prior to his appointment. The managing director shall have at least five years experience in an administrative or managerial position with at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in public administration, business or a related field.
A. Powers, Duties and Functions. Except as otherwise provided and under the supervision of the Mayor, the managing director shall:
(1) Serve as the mayor's principal administrative aide.
(2) Oversee the administrative functioning of all administrative departments.
(3) Prescribe standards of administrative practice to be followed and evaluate the management and performance of all administrative departments under the director's oversight.
(4) Attend meetings of the council and its committees upon request and provide information and reports as they may require.
(5) Perform all other duties as required by the charter or assigned by the mayor.
B. The salary for the managing director shall be set pursuant to Article
XXIX of this Charter.
Better than nothing.
The third is a new one on us and we’ll have to take a good look at it to figure it out. The question on the ballot asks:
"Shall the Charter provisions relating to centralized purchasing and disposition of surplus property be changed to conform with State law?"
The wording contains many additions and deletions and can be viewed on p 15 of the pdf linked above.
Number four is pretty self explanatory and the ballot question will read:
"Shall the dollar limit without competitive bidding for contracts with County officers, employees or firms in which an officer or employee has a substantial interest, be increased from $500 to $1,000?"
On first blush unless someone can make a pretty good case for it anything that makes corruption easier- as this would by allowing people to get paid twice as much by the county without triggering a competitive bid- $1000 rather than the current $500. If anything what's been called “the $500 loophole”- with the law having been avoided through serial $500 contracts- should be being plugged.
Number five is pretty self explanatory and reads:
"Shall the County extend from six months to one year the timeframe prohibiting the County from entering into a contract with a former County employee or a firm that is represented by a former County employee, for those contracts where the former County employee participated in the subject matter while employed with the County?"
This sounds like an improvement although we’d like to see two years or more to stop the “revolving door” which is one of the most corrupt of practices in the county and elsewhere.
Sixth is an amendment that apparently plugs a loophole on disclosures and asks
"Shall any employee delegated to act on behalf of the Director or Deputy Director of Finance be required to file a disclosure statement with the County Board of Ethics?"
We’re not sure what the problem is but apparently some in the finance department can act for the director and don’t have to disclose their potential conflicts of interest. It sounds good but we’ll have to take a good look at it in total.
Finally number seven is one we’ve been expecting and we’re ready to fight tooth and nail. It asks:
"Shall the time in which the County Board of Ethics has to render advisory opinions be extended from 30 days to 45 days, which opinions shall be binding on the Board, unless changed or revoked by the Board?"
The incompetence and even malfeasance of the Board of Ethics (BOE) has been well documented in this space (see left bar for our special report or click the link above for all our coverage of the BOE).
Why can't they make their decisions in a timely manner? To increase the time allotment just gives them more time to fumble and futz around trying to misread the plain reading of the charter and law. If they need to call special meetings, so be it. If they don’t have enough people for a quorum, get people who can show up.
An extra 15 days won’t really help these people. Thirty days has been plenty for over 40 years and it’s only the appointees under this and the last administration that seem to have a problem getting these advisory opinions done promptly instead of throwing the person- and sometimes the county- into a crisis because they can't decide what the law says... or more often just don’t want to deliver the bad news or are in the same conflict themselves.
Well that’s the seven- read ‘em and weep. Maybe sometime before the election we’ll get the official word.
But since we committed yesterday to filling in the blanks through the use of the clues the county left, we’ve gotten a hold a text copy of what appears to be the thus-far “secret” proposed county charter amendments (see pp 12-18) we’ll all be voting on on November 2.
Apparently, although there’s no indication that they were ever approved by the Charter Review Commissions, a September 3 letter from County Clerk Peter Nakamura to state Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago transmitted seven questions, in time for them to be included on the actual ballot.
While they appear to be “official” we’ll have to wait and see when and if they were approved, not that the county won’t go ahead with them illegally anyway if they weren’t.
We’ll go over them briefly here with deeper analysis to come.
The first is the same old question that’s been asked and answered- in the negative- innumerable times but for some reason it’s on the ballot again. The ballot question reads
"Shall the term of office for councilmembers be extended from two to four years with a limit of two consecutive four year terms?"
When will these people accept that we like being able to recall our council every two years. They’re unaccountable enough already without only having to worry about the what the electorate thinks every four years.
We want to see an amendment saying that you can’t propose the same amendment more than once every 10 years.
The second is a response to the call for a county manager and eliminates the position of administrative assistant and creates a position of “Managing Director”.
The question on the ballot will be:
"Shall the Mayor's Administrative Assistant, whose title shall be changed to Managing Director, be required to have appropriate job qualifications and perform certain duties?"
Here’s the exact language to be added to the charter, describing those “job qualifications” and “duties”
The mayor shall appoint and may remove a managing director. The managing director shall be a citizen of the United States not less than thirty (30) years of age and a resident elector of the county at least three years immediately prior to his appointment. The managing director shall have at least five years experience in an administrative or managerial position with at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in public administration, business or a related field.
A. Powers, Duties and Functions. Except as otherwise provided and under the supervision of the Mayor, the managing director shall:
(1) Serve as the mayor's principal administrative aide.
(2) Oversee the administrative functioning of all administrative departments.
(3) Prescribe standards of administrative practice to be followed and evaluate the management and performance of all administrative departments under the director's oversight.
(4) Attend meetings of the council and its committees upon request and provide information and reports as they may require.
(5) Perform all other duties as required by the charter or assigned by the mayor.
B. The salary for the managing director shall be set pursuant to Article
XXIX of this Charter.
Better than nothing.
The third is a new one on us and we’ll have to take a good look at it to figure it out. The question on the ballot asks:
"Shall the Charter provisions relating to centralized purchasing and disposition of surplus property be changed to conform with State law?"
The wording contains many additions and deletions and can be viewed on p 15 of the pdf linked above.
Number four is pretty self explanatory and the ballot question will read:
"Shall the dollar limit without competitive bidding for contracts with County officers, employees or firms in which an officer or employee has a substantial interest, be increased from $500 to $1,000?"
On first blush unless someone can make a pretty good case for it anything that makes corruption easier- as this would by allowing people to get paid twice as much by the county without triggering a competitive bid- $1000 rather than the current $500. If anything what's been called “the $500 loophole”- with the law having been avoided through serial $500 contracts- should be being plugged.
Number five is pretty self explanatory and reads:
"Shall the County extend from six months to one year the timeframe prohibiting the County from entering into a contract with a former County employee or a firm that is represented by a former County employee, for those contracts where the former County employee participated in the subject matter while employed with the County?"
This sounds like an improvement although we’d like to see two years or more to stop the “revolving door” which is one of the most corrupt of practices in the county and elsewhere.
Sixth is an amendment that apparently plugs a loophole on disclosures and asks
"Shall any employee delegated to act on behalf of the Director or Deputy Director of Finance be required to file a disclosure statement with the County Board of Ethics?"
We’re not sure what the problem is but apparently some in the finance department can act for the director and don’t have to disclose their potential conflicts of interest. It sounds good but we’ll have to take a good look at it in total.
Finally number seven is one we’ve been expecting and we’re ready to fight tooth and nail. It asks:
"Shall the time in which the County Board of Ethics has to render advisory opinions be extended from 30 days to 45 days, which opinions shall be binding on the Board, unless changed or revoked by the Board?"
The incompetence and even malfeasance of the Board of Ethics (BOE) has been well documented in this space (see left bar for our special report or click the link above for all our coverage of the BOE).
Why can't they make their decisions in a timely manner? To increase the time allotment just gives them more time to fumble and futz around trying to misread the plain reading of the charter and law. If they need to call special meetings, so be it. If they don’t have enough people for a quorum, get people who can show up.
An extra 15 days won’t really help these people. Thirty days has been plenty for over 40 years and it’s only the appointees under this and the last administration that seem to have a problem getting these advisory opinions done promptly instead of throwing the person- and sometimes the county- into a crisis because they can't decide what the law says... or more often just don’t want to deliver the bad news or are in the same conflict themselves.
Well that’s the seven- read ‘em and weep. Maybe sometime before the election we’ll get the official word.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
JAWS OF DEFEAT/SAY IT AIN’T SO
JAWS OF DEFEAT: About a week or so back we got a thus-far-unpublished letter to the editor from Horace Stoessel, the father of the 20.02(D) controversy- the man who first had the temerity to ask the Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE) to enforce the charter.
In it he surprisingly said he would compromise and support the “carve out” exemption for charitable organizations when county officials appear on behalf of private interests before county boards, commissions and agencies in order to get the rest of the provision enforced.
So today’s news that the Ethics Board has (had a) change of heart and voted to uphold the law after all the silliness of the past couple of years came as something of a shock.
Even Mark Hubbard who fought the hardest to make a mockery of the law voted for it although, according to reporter Mike Levine he still has remnant schizophrenic, double-talking tendencies in refusing to admit the past rulings clearing Hubbard and others were a mistake.
And of course, as the people’s champion former BOE member Rolf Bieber told Levine the proof will be in the pudding since, as we’ve seen, just because a clear statue exists it doesn’t mean people with conflicts will do what Hubbard suggested in saying exactly what we’ve written dozens of times:
(W)ith this interpretive rule, it’s now different than we’ve voted in the past, and I would have been in error in going before the County Council. I should not do that again, or I should quit my position on the Board of Ethics. I have a choice.”
It’s certainly a black eye for the gang of administration stooges at County Attorney Alfred “E. what me worry” Castillo’s office who didn’t even bother to do enough research to turn up the state ethics commission letter that convinced the BOE that they didn’t have any cover to continue to carve out exemptions or create “absurd result” excuses for their illegal activities.
Throughout the whole debacle people have asked basically “what the heck is the difference?.. it’s not as if this will magically clean up the corrupt, old boy network of the board and commission system”.
No it won’t. They will still try to make sure that if you wear the kings uniform you carry the kings sword. We’ve spoken to four people currently serving as a mayoral appointees who confirm that board and commission chief John Isobe made sure that they “support the mayor” before getting an appointment.
But it will shake out the most conflicted- those with an obvious reason to play the “one hand washes the other”, revolving-door game.
It also gives heart to those who still believe that a small, dedicated, persistent group- in this case Bieber, Stoessel, Rob Abrew and Glenn Mickens who did what most or can’t do... show up- can effect change even if it is incremental. Their success couldn’t have come about without Levine’s detailed news coverage and others like Charley Foster and Joan Conrow whose blog posts helped keep the issue before the public.
If they’re anything like us, these people do battle with the entrenched cronies not for the rare victory like this but for the fight itself because they have trouble living with themselves if they don’t.
As the Happy Camper might say, “hats off”, “kudos” and “three cheers” for them the real service-oriented citizens of Kaua`i.
----------
SAY IT AIN’T SO: Speaking of Levine it looks like the inevitable is about to come to pass. According to John Temple, the editor of “Peer News”, the nascent online Hawai`i news venture (thanks to Ian Lind for the heads up):
I’m happy to report that we’ve now hired the editorial team that will launch our new news service for Honolulu and Hawaii...
(T)he reporter hosts at Peer News will include:
Mike Levine, currently a reporter and assistant news editor at The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai. Mike has worked as a journalist on Kauai for a couple of years, after picking lettuce and acting as a tour guide there. He also worked for Fodor’s to update the Kauai section of the 2010 Hawaii Guidebook and Kauai Guidebook 3rd Edition. Mike worked as a news desk editor and writer at NBA.com before moving to Kauai. He’s a graduate of Lehigh University and the rare reporter to have majored in journalism and minored in material science and engineering.
We’re not sure if this means Mike will be leaving the local newspaper and apparently he will still be covering Kaua`i even if he does. But a statewide news services is unlikely to cover the detail of local Kaua`i news that his reporting has provided.
---------
We’ve off for the weekend tracking how soon we’re eliminated from the basketball pool. We’ll be back with a tear-stained entry Monday.
In it he surprisingly said he would compromise and support the “carve out” exemption for charitable organizations when county officials appear on behalf of private interests before county boards, commissions and agencies in order to get the rest of the provision enforced.
So today’s news that the Ethics Board has (had a) change of heart and voted to uphold the law after all the silliness of the past couple of years came as something of a shock.
Even Mark Hubbard who fought the hardest to make a mockery of the law voted for it although, according to reporter Mike Levine he still has remnant schizophrenic, double-talking tendencies in refusing to admit the past rulings clearing Hubbard and others were a mistake.
And of course, as the people’s champion former BOE member Rolf Bieber told Levine the proof will be in the pudding since, as we’ve seen, just because a clear statue exists it doesn’t mean people with conflicts will do what Hubbard suggested in saying exactly what we’ve written dozens of times:
(W)ith this interpretive rule, it’s now different than we’ve voted in the past, and I would have been in error in going before the County Council. I should not do that again, or I should quit my position on the Board of Ethics. I have a choice.”
It’s certainly a black eye for the gang of administration stooges at County Attorney Alfred “E. what me worry” Castillo’s office who didn’t even bother to do enough research to turn up the state ethics commission letter that convinced the BOE that they didn’t have any cover to continue to carve out exemptions or create “absurd result” excuses for their illegal activities.
Throughout the whole debacle people have asked basically “what the heck is the difference?.. it’s not as if this will magically clean up the corrupt, old boy network of the board and commission system”.
No it won’t. They will still try to make sure that if you wear the kings uniform you carry the kings sword. We’ve spoken to four people currently serving as a mayoral appointees who confirm that board and commission chief John Isobe made sure that they “support the mayor” before getting an appointment.
But it will shake out the most conflicted- those with an obvious reason to play the “one hand washes the other”, revolving-door game.
It also gives heart to those who still believe that a small, dedicated, persistent group- in this case Bieber, Stoessel, Rob Abrew and Glenn Mickens who did what most or can’t do... show up- can effect change even if it is incremental. Their success couldn’t have come about without Levine’s detailed news coverage and others like Charley Foster and Joan Conrow whose blog posts helped keep the issue before the public.
If they’re anything like us, these people do battle with the entrenched cronies not for the rare victory like this but for the fight itself because they have trouble living with themselves if they don’t.
As the Happy Camper might say, “hats off”, “kudos” and “three cheers” for them the real service-oriented citizens of Kaua`i.
----------
SAY IT AIN’T SO: Speaking of Levine it looks like the inevitable is about to come to pass. According to John Temple, the editor of “Peer News”, the nascent online Hawai`i news venture (thanks to Ian Lind for the heads up):
I’m happy to report that we’ve now hired the editorial team that will launch our new news service for Honolulu and Hawaii...
(T)he reporter hosts at Peer News will include:
Mike Levine, currently a reporter and assistant news editor at The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai. Mike has worked as a journalist on Kauai for a couple of years, after picking lettuce and acting as a tour guide there. He also worked for Fodor’s to update the Kauai section of the 2010 Hawaii Guidebook and Kauai Guidebook 3rd Edition. Mike worked as a news desk editor and writer at NBA.com before moving to Kauai. He’s a graduate of Lehigh University and the rare reporter to have majored in journalism and minored in material science and engineering.
We’re not sure if this means Mike will be leaving the local newspaper and apparently he will still be covering Kaua`i even if he does. But a statewide news services is unlikely to cover the detail of local Kaua`i news that his reporting has provided.
---------
We’ve off for the weekend tracking how soon we’re eliminated from the basketball pool. We’ll be back with a tear-stained entry Monday.
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