PROSECUTE THIS: When county furloughs were ended earlier this year in conjunction with their end, the office of Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri Carvalho lobbied the county council to include some money for them to "catch up" on what they called a furlough-caused backlog of cases.
As we wrote on February 8:
For those who missed the circus, when furloughs were first discussed Mayor Bernard Carvalho assured the council the “public safety employees” would not be furloughed.
But, long story short, they were- including non-sworn officers in the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD), which caused all kinds of constipation as the prosecutor’s office, already backed up by the furloughs in the state courts, had to begin letting people loose- people KPD had arrested- because they couldn’t process them as fast as the law required.
After a huge fight over whether money for the prosecutor’s office to “catch up” on the backlog- supposedly created by furloughs- was truly “related to furloughs” (as the bill’s “purpose” stated) the money was included in the bill.
Well although, as we wrote, the lifeguards were denied back pay in the money bill- even though "public safety" related jobs were supposed to be exempt- Iseri got her money.
But we failed to report a little wrinkle in the proceedings.
When the original request was made it was claimed that while the attorneys in the office were working during the furlough period they were unable to get the needed support to be able to go through the cases and now would have to work overtime to clear the backlog.
That, the council was told, was what the money was for.
But after that claim had rolled around in the minds of councilmembers through the public hearing and a couple of committee meetings a light bulb seemed to go off in the mind of Councilmember Tim Bynum who asked a very basic question.
"Wait- aren't the prosecutors on salary?"
This set off some verbal scrambling because salaried people don't get paid for overtime. After some hemming and hawing the council was told that the extra money would be going for overtime pay for the support staff in the prosecutor's office to get the paperwork done and enable the individual prosecutors to catch up.
But even though Iseri had essentially misrepresented the need for the "catch-up" money, the new explanation seemed to hold water and of course it was a matter of the public's safety so the money for the staff overtime was appropriated.
So why do we bring this up now?
Because, after a three month investigation, PNN has learned that shortly after the bill passed Iseri instituted a new cost cutting policy, telling the support staff that the doors to the office would be locked promptly at 5 p.m. every day and no overtime would be paid.
Many sources describe the Kaua`i prosecutor's office as "a mess". They say that virtually all the long-time prosecutors have either been fired or were "quitted"- as in "you can't fire me, I quit"- along with career support staff. The newbies are all inexperienced attorneys, fresh out of law school, imported from the mainland, with no knowledge of the local community much less courtroom experience. There is only one attorney that is a long time Kaua`i resident left in the office.
The same goes for staff where employees with decades of experience have quit in disgust. One precipitating episode was that when Iseri took over in 2008, in order to "keep and eye on" everything, she took the offices of many staff members away and put them all in partitioned cubicles in a main area, and then used the vacated offices for "storage."
Also, according to multiple sources, Iseri fired one attorney when the attorney announced she was pregnant and needed legally mandated maternity leave. That cost the county a cool $30,000 after County Attorney Al Castillo quickly settled the resulting EEOC complaint after the council's equally prompt approval since the unlawful termination case was so outrageously obvious.
But those matters pale in comparison to something we've heard about from multiple sources who are in positions to know.
Apparently Iseri recently sat her "team" down and issued orders that certain local attorney's clients are not to be offered plea bargains.
If this is true- and we have no reason to believe it is not- it would be an outrageous violation of not just the code of professional conduct for attorneys but a severe violation of the public's trust that our prosecutor runs her office in the name of justice, not the petty vendettas and personal power grabs that appear to be Iseri's hallmark.
But all is not lost. We've been hearing all over town that Deputy County Attorney Justin Kohler who works with the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) is telling anyone who will listen that he is going to oppose Iseri in 2012 and, as a result, people say that Iseri will try to return to the county council in next year's election.
Those are just the things we can verify to our satisfaction from sources close to the prosecutor's office who fear retribution if we were to use their names. There are other stories that are single sourced- even though the sources are reliable- and we've been unable to confirm them. Others that would burn your ears off cannot be told due to the privacy concerns of the principles.
We have urged all our sources to come forward and file complaints with the Hawai`i State Bar and/or the Office of the Attorney General, as appropriate.
This reign of terror must end.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
INCOMING
INCOMING: It's that's time of year when all the hard work at the legislature pays off like a Vegas slot with three lemons.
But as the members of the firing squad within the conference committee system load their Uzis for next week's inevitable blood bath somehow some bills manage to hide under the sanguine slaughtered and make it to a vote in both chambers.
Of course those measure are usually half of what could have been done with some kind of red tape thrown in just to make sure nothing in done in perpetuity.
And so it goes with this year's reporters' shield legislation which, instead of making it permanent. "extends the limited news media privilege against the compelled disclosure of sources and unpublished information to 6/30/2013." for some idiotic judiciary study that was already done the first time the law passed with a 2011 sunset date.
The Hawai`i law also covers bloggers making a nasty battle over who is a journalist moot for those of us who do reporting along with commentary and analysis.
But it's real import has been in getting people to talk and being able to offer them the added protection of a law that protects us.
For decades we've given assurances to certain sources that we would never reveal their identities, especially when their safety or job security are involved. But that meant convincing them that we would go to jail to protect their identities.
After a few notable cases across the mainland in the last decade where a handful of reporters either cracked or put pressure on their sources to reveal themselves it made people think twice and forced us to abandon some investigative pieces for lack of corroborating or even primary information, despite the fact that we could sit in Kapa`a and smell a story from Kekaha.
With the shield law we have been able to tell those who would expose corruption and wrong doing that our freedom is no longer an issue.
The problem is that it only applies tothe state court system since there is no federal shield law which would have to make its way through congress where it has stalled year after year.
If you have a story to tell us give us a call (we're listed) or drop us an email (gotwindmills(at)gmail.com) and join us in giving thanks for another two years of peace of mind for whistleblowers around the state.
But as the members of the firing squad within the conference committee system load their Uzis for next week's inevitable blood bath somehow some bills manage to hide under the sanguine slaughtered and make it to a vote in both chambers.
Of course those measure are usually half of what could have been done with some kind of red tape thrown in just to make sure nothing in done in perpetuity.
And so it goes with this year's reporters' shield legislation which, instead of making it permanent. "extends the limited news media privilege against the compelled disclosure of sources and unpublished information to 6/30/2013." for some idiotic judiciary study that was already done the first time the law passed with a 2011 sunset date.
The Hawai`i law also covers bloggers making a nasty battle over who is a journalist moot for those of us who do reporting along with commentary and analysis.
But it's real import has been in getting people to talk and being able to offer them the added protection of a law that protects us.
For decades we've given assurances to certain sources that we would never reveal their identities, especially when their safety or job security are involved. But that meant convincing them that we would go to jail to protect their identities.
After a few notable cases across the mainland in the last decade where a handful of reporters either cracked or put pressure on their sources to reveal themselves it made people think twice and forced us to abandon some investigative pieces for lack of corroborating or even primary information, despite the fact that we could sit in Kapa`a and smell a story from Kekaha.
With the shield law we have been able to tell those who would expose corruption and wrong doing that our freedom is no longer an issue.
The problem is that it only applies tothe state court system since there is no federal shield law which would have to make its way through congress where it has stalled year after year.
If you have a story to tell us give us a call (we're listed) or drop us an email (gotwindmills(at)gmail.com) and join us in giving thanks for another two years of peace of mind for whistleblowers around the state.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
EVEN REPORTERS GET THE BLUES
EVEN REPORTERS GET THE BLUES: Mesmer never had TV but if he had he would have done well to use the county council's budget hearings to lull his patients into the half-sleep of passive compliance he sought.
So we'll excuse ourself for having such heavy eyelids after attempting to view the un-viewable and relying on- god help us- Leo Azumbuja's account of the council services budget requests session.
Of course he starts off his article with a total fabrication from who knows what recess of his imagination in referring to "County Clerk Peter Nakamura’s mayoral re-appointment and subsequent Kaua`i County Council confirmation in December."
The obviously click-challenged Azumbuja might have at least checked the county charter to find out that the mayor has nothing whatsoever to do with the appointment of the clerk.
But we'll have to rely on his account of a much more important matter- one so important he saved it for paragraph 18 (of 21) in noting that:
(Nakamura) also asked for a new position in Council Services for secretarial support. This new hire would provide support to increase web postings of council documents.
“As part of our goal of increasingthe presence of the council and council documents on the Web, the primary objective that we were given by the council chair was to obtain and upgrade our copier systems to multi-function systems,” said Nakamura, adding that the system would allow the office to begin such process at Nawiliwili and be able to transition directly to the network systems in the renovated Historic County Building.
Nakamura said the office should obtain the second multi-function copier within one month.
“Our hope is that it would be able to decrease the amount of steps that we currently have to do to convert paper documents into readable, searchable documents,” he said.
As we've noted over and over, the posting of the supporting documents for council agenda items that are given out routinely at the council services office has been ourand others' source of choice for uncovering corruption and malfeasance by both the administration and council and therefore the council has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the information age although they've been successful with foot dragging for years now.
As we revealed long ago, council services already has a fancy-schmancy super-duper "copy machine" right now that scans and then actually posts documents on their website- one they've used on things like minutes, agendas and summaries.
But while ignoring that- until now with their questionable claim that they need another one- their main claim has been that somehow they need a new "secretary" whose job we suppose will be to push the second button when they make hard copies of those supporting documents for the members of the council.
Now they need a second machine for the button pusher.
Of course now that they've told the lie about needing a new position for so long they are trapped into including it in the budget.
We can just imagine Nakamura calling up Personnel Director Malcolm Fernandez and asking for the civil service personnel code number for a button pusher. We're pretty sure civil service must have a special class of people with huge index fingers at the ready.
So we'll excuse ourself for having such heavy eyelids after attempting to view the un-viewable and relying on- god help us- Leo Azumbuja's account of the council services budget requests session.
Of course he starts off his article with a total fabrication from who knows what recess of his imagination in referring to "County Clerk Peter Nakamura’s mayoral re-appointment and subsequent Kaua`i County Council confirmation in December."
The obviously click-challenged Azumbuja might have at least checked the county charter to find out that the mayor has nothing whatsoever to do with the appointment of the clerk.
But we'll have to rely on his account of a much more important matter- one so important he saved it for paragraph 18 (of 21) in noting that:
(Nakamura) also asked for a new position in Council Services for secretarial support. This new hire would provide support to increase web postings of council documents.
“As part of our goal of increasingthe presence of the council and council documents on the Web, the primary objective that we were given by the council chair was to obtain and upgrade our copier systems to multi-function systems,” said Nakamura, adding that the system would allow the office to begin such process at Nawiliwili and be able to transition directly to the network systems in the renovated Historic County Building.
Nakamura said the office should obtain the second multi-function copier within one month.
“Our hope is that it would be able to decrease the amount of steps that we currently have to do to convert paper documents into readable, searchable documents,” he said.
As we've noted over and over, the posting of the supporting documents for council agenda items that are given out routinely at the council services office has been ourand others' source of choice for uncovering corruption and malfeasance by both the administration and council and therefore the council has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the information age although they've been successful with foot dragging for years now.
As we revealed long ago, council services already has a fancy-schmancy super-duper "copy machine" right now that scans and then actually posts documents on their website- one they've used on things like minutes, agendas and summaries.
But while ignoring that- until now with their questionable claim that they need another one- their main claim has been that somehow they need a new "secretary" whose job we suppose will be to push the second button when they make hard copies of those supporting documents for the members of the council.
Now they need a second machine for the button pusher.
Of course now that they've told the lie about needing a new position for so long they are trapped into including it in the budget.
We can just imagine Nakamura calling up Personnel Director Malcolm Fernandez and asking for the civil service personnel code number for a button pusher. We're pretty sure civil service must have a special class of people with huge index fingers at the ready.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
UP ON THE ROOF
UP ON THE ROOF: They say that with age comes wisdom but the real trick may be in getting to be old enough so that others see that what appeared to be a good idea 10 or 15 years ago actually was.
When solar hot water heaters were becoming ubiquitous- back before passage of the Gary Hooser legacy bill requiring new homes to be built with them- we had wondered why utilities shouldn't make it easy to help people finance not just rooftop solar hot water but solar electricity units with zero percent loans that are collected each month to be paid off with the savings the customer was realizing in the billing period.
We assumed that it was opposition from the utilities that was blocking it because, despite lip service to conservation and alternative energy, each was stuck in "we sell electricity to you" paradigm where the more electricity they sold the bigger the profit.
So we went to the State House Energy Committee Chair Mina Morita and asked what it would take would move the legislature off the dime and get them to pass enabling legislation despite the opposition from electric companies.
We assumed that the handful of providers of solar systems would be a good place to start since they could provide the resources to begin the fight.
But shockingly we found out that the main stumbling block was those self-same companies.
Seems that there were only a couple of them at the time and they had all the business they could handle, thank you very much, and they worried that if the government provided for a massive program it would bring oodles of competition into the market, cutting their monopoly into a million little pieces.
Cut to today and amazingly enough, there are plenty solar companies and so House Bill 1520 SD2 has reached a conference committee and appears to be poised for passage despite opposition from- you guessed it- the utility companies.
The bill, introduced by Morita before she left to head the Public Utilities Commission,
Directs the public utilities commission to consider implementing an on-bill financing program for residential electric utility customers to finance purchases of energy efficient or renewable energy devices and systems through their regular electric utility bills.
According to a Sierra Club's Capitol Watch email "Blue Planet Foundation is holding a rally to promote House Bill 1520 SD2 today at the capitol from 12:30-1 p.m."
Although testimony is no longer being taken at this point in the legislative session it couldn't hurt to drop an email of support to representatives (reps@capitol.hawaii.gov) and senators sens@capitol.hawaii.gov) urging their support for this long overdue measure that would start the ball rolling to decentralize carbon-free electricity distribution.
When solar hot water heaters were becoming ubiquitous- back before passage of the Gary Hooser legacy bill requiring new homes to be built with them- we had wondered why utilities shouldn't make it easy to help people finance not just rooftop solar hot water but solar electricity units with zero percent loans that are collected each month to be paid off with the savings the customer was realizing in the billing period.
We assumed that it was opposition from the utilities that was blocking it because, despite lip service to conservation and alternative energy, each was stuck in "we sell electricity to you" paradigm where the more electricity they sold the bigger the profit.
So we went to the State House Energy Committee Chair Mina Morita and asked what it would take would move the legislature off the dime and get them to pass enabling legislation despite the opposition from electric companies.
We assumed that the handful of providers of solar systems would be a good place to start since they could provide the resources to begin the fight.
But shockingly we found out that the main stumbling block was those self-same companies.
Seems that there were only a couple of them at the time and they had all the business they could handle, thank you very much, and they worried that if the government provided for a massive program it would bring oodles of competition into the market, cutting their monopoly into a million little pieces.
Cut to today and amazingly enough, there are plenty solar companies and so House Bill 1520 SD2 has reached a conference committee and appears to be poised for passage despite opposition from- you guessed it- the utility companies.
The bill, introduced by Morita before she left to head the Public Utilities Commission,
Directs the public utilities commission to consider implementing an on-bill financing program for residential electric utility customers to finance purchases of energy efficient or renewable energy devices and systems through their regular electric utility bills.
According to a Sierra Club's Capitol Watch email "Blue Planet Foundation is holding a rally to promote House Bill 1520 SD2 today at the capitol from 12:30-1 p.m."
Although testimony is no longer being taken at this point in the legislative session it couldn't hurt to drop an email of support to representatives (reps@capitol.hawaii.gov) and senators sens@capitol.hawaii.gov) urging their support for this long overdue measure that would start the ball rolling to decentralize carbon-free electricity distribution.
Monday, April 18, 2011
SLIPPIN' ON THE SLIME
SLIPPIN' ON THE SLIME: Someone who we thought would know better called to ask why new state rep Derek Kawakami didn't have to recuse himself from voting on the "plastic grocery bag fee" bill currently still alive at the legislature, as he did as a county council member with our plastic bag "ban."
There were two reason why that struck us as strange- the first being that the person didn't know that state legislators don't even have to declare conflicts-of-interest much less refrain from participating or voting on the matter, the second that, unlike many, they did know that Kaua`i voters changed our county charter to state that councilmembers with a conflict "in any matter pending before him shall make full disclosure of the conflict of interest and shall not participate in said matter."
The only problem with the provision is that the charter does not make clear who decides whether a conflict exists and so evidently leaves it up to the conflicted member to declare they have one. All the charter says is that "(t)he mayor, the council and the board of ethics shall be responsible for the enforcement of provisions of this article."
So when we saw Bill 2404 on the council's April 6 agenda which would give a $150,000 grant to this year's Kaua`i marathon, we could not believe that not only didn't Councilmember Dickie Chang recuse himself but he actually introduced the bill and it will be heard in his Economic Development Committee.
Chang, of course, hosts the local "Wala`au" television program which has gotten hours of "content" from the past two marathons- content which is the lifeblood for any television program as it generates the advertising revenue that Chang depends on for his living.
While the bill is in trouble already with Councilmember Mel Rapozo voting a rare "no" on the first reading of the bill and others expressing doubts they would vote to give money to the marathon again this year, the fact that there is a direct financial benefit to Chang from the marathon makes his failure to declare his conflict of interest unconscionable.
The charter also says that "(a)ny violation of any of the provisions of this section shall constitute cause for fine, suspension or removal from office."
The real solution to the whole conflict of interest problem is to make the office of councilmember a full time job and eliminate outside employment. That would of course necessitate raising the salary for the position to a level equitable with that of the mayor or department heads- about double what it is now.
But those who object to the extra approximately $350,000 a year that would take would do well to note that this not-at-all-unique expenditure is 3/7ths of that in one fell swoop and, when combined with other expenditures of a similar ilk, demonstrate that we're paying way more that 350Gs on the "back end."
Those wishing to testify on Bill 2404 can send their mana`o to counciltestimony@kauai.gov .
There were two reason why that struck us as strange- the first being that the person didn't know that state legislators don't even have to declare conflicts-of-interest much less refrain from participating or voting on the matter, the second that, unlike many, they did know that Kaua`i voters changed our county charter to state that councilmembers with a conflict "in any matter pending before him shall make full disclosure of the conflict of interest and shall not participate in said matter."
The only problem with the provision is that the charter does not make clear who decides whether a conflict exists and so evidently leaves it up to the conflicted member to declare they have one. All the charter says is that "(t)he mayor, the council and the board of ethics shall be responsible for the enforcement of provisions of this article."
So when we saw Bill 2404 on the council's April 6 agenda which would give a $150,000 grant to this year's Kaua`i marathon, we could not believe that not only didn't Councilmember Dickie Chang recuse himself but he actually introduced the bill and it will be heard in his Economic Development Committee.
Chang, of course, hosts the local "Wala`au" television program which has gotten hours of "content" from the past two marathons- content which is the lifeblood for any television program as it generates the advertising revenue that Chang depends on for his living.
While the bill is in trouble already with Councilmember Mel Rapozo voting a rare "no" on the first reading of the bill and others expressing doubts they would vote to give money to the marathon again this year, the fact that there is a direct financial benefit to Chang from the marathon makes his failure to declare his conflict of interest unconscionable.
The charter also says that "(a)ny violation of any of the provisions of this section shall constitute cause for fine, suspension or removal from office."
The real solution to the whole conflict of interest problem is to make the office of councilmember a full time job and eliminate outside employment. That would of course necessitate raising the salary for the position to a level equitable with that of the mayor or department heads- about double what it is now.
But those who object to the extra approximately $350,000 a year that would take would do well to note that this not-at-all-unique expenditure is 3/7ths of that in one fell swoop and, when combined with other expenditures of a similar ilk, demonstrate that we're paying way more that 350Gs on the "back end."
Those wishing to testify on Bill 2404 can send their mana`o to counciltestimony@kauai.gov .
Friday, April 15, 2011
ZZZZZZ
ZZZZZZ: We've spent a rousing week of evenings waiting for something to actually happen at the county council budget hearings, so it was another "huh" moment when today's local newspaper story by you-know-who proclaimed that "(s)parks were flying Thursday morning between County Council members during a heated discussion at the Nawiliwili Council Chambers."
What a witty lede. There was only one problem with it- the article never mentioned the "sparks" perhaps because in actuality these budget hearings have alternated between snooze-fest and schmooze fest since the festivities began.
You'd think that with the all-cronies-all-the-time nature of the department heads appointed by Mayor Bernard Carvalho the level of incompetence at the top that's been reported to us by the county's "we-bes"- as in "we be here when you got here, we be here when you're gone"- might have been an issue for councilmembers, whose job is, after all, oversight of the administration.
Instead, after the department heads' usual perfunctory reading of their "prepared remarks" councilmembers lobbed a few softballs before heaping the praise on them reminiscent of the post-secret-handshake "you're great, no you're great" declaration from the Tom Hanks Saturday Night Live "Fiver Timer" sketch.
Most of the questions that have been asked are invariably of the "what the bleep did you do with the money" nature with "anykine" answers sufficing as appointees stumbled and bumbled their way through the sessions until they finally ran out the clock. That was followed by councilmembers declarations of "I especially liked the way you listed..." whatever it was they listed and an "I love you too" from the person in the not-so-hot seat.
Apparently, we have it all wrong. There's no incompetence at the top in administrative departments- our experiences are illusory. It's just coincidence- the mayor's campaign workers and big contributors just happen to be the most qualified people to lead these departments.
So glad we cleared that up. Go back to your homes folks- nothing to see here.
What a witty lede. There was only one problem with it- the article never mentioned the "sparks" perhaps because in actuality these budget hearings have alternated between snooze-fest and schmooze fest since the festivities began.
You'd think that with the all-cronies-all-the-time nature of the department heads appointed by Mayor Bernard Carvalho the level of incompetence at the top that's been reported to us by the county's "we-bes"- as in "we be here when you got here, we be here when you're gone"- might have been an issue for councilmembers, whose job is, after all, oversight of the administration.
Instead, after the department heads' usual perfunctory reading of their "prepared remarks" councilmembers lobbed a few softballs before heaping the praise on them reminiscent of the post-secret-handshake "you're great, no you're great" declaration from the Tom Hanks Saturday Night Live "Fiver Timer" sketch.
Most of the questions that have been asked are invariably of the "what the bleep did you do with the money" nature with "anykine" answers sufficing as appointees stumbled and bumbled their way through the sessions until they finally ran out the clock. That was followed by councilmembers declarations of "I especially liked the way you listed..." whatever it was they listed and an "I love you too" from the person in the not-so-hot seat.
Apparently, we have it all wrong. There's no incompetence at the top in administrative departments- our experiences are illusory. It's just coincidence- the mayor's campaign workers and big contributors just happen to be the most qualified people to lead these departments.
So glad we cleared that up. Go back to your homes folks- nothing to see here.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
SICK BUT NOT TIRED
SICK BUT NOT TIRED: "Hi, can I ask you something" she almost shouted as we approached her place of business from 40 feet way.
What the heck is this we thought? Kapa`a is turning into barkers' paradise these days as the guy in the chicken suit down the road attested earlier.
But she wasn't trying to sell anything but attempting to buy.
In a heartbreaking story she explained that her husband and she hadn't smoked marijuana for 20 years but now he has a debilitating illness and a small amount someone had given her had given him the first good nights sleep he's had in months.
And this is what it's comes down to these days- people risking not just their job but their freedom to get medicine because of the catch-22 of the current Hawai`i state law that provides for possession of medical marijuana with a doctor's "recommendation" but gives patents no way to actually obtain it without breaking the law.
We were sorry to have to tell her we've been out of the circuit for many years too but were able to give her some hope by telling her that SB1458 SD2 HD3 which "establishes a comprehensive five-year medical marijuana distribution pilot program in an unspecified county" was hanging on by it's teeth as the state legislature draws to it's close.
And this morning, despite reports of it's demise, the bill apparently almost unanimously passed "third reading" in the house and was referred to a conference committee.
And though the bill at one time had inserted Maui as the county where the pilot program would be established, it now leaves the name of the county blank.
Of course the idiocy of leaving the whole program under the Department of Public Safety rather than moving it to the Department of Health where it belongs will apparently be status quo for another year and the measure to legalize possession of less than an ounce is also dead. It's now a matter of seeing what the conference committee will do.
Overall it's been a disappointing year after so many good bills made it through crossover only to die in the other chamber but as long as our insane hurry-up-and-wait legislative system allows single legislators to kill good bills we'll have to fight every year to achieve some degree of sanity on this and a lot of other no-brainer" issues.
What the heck is this we thought? Kapa`a is turning into barkers' paradise these days as the guy in the chicken suit down the road attested earlier.
But she wasn't trying to sell anything but attempting to buy.
In a heartbreaking story she explained that her husband and she hadn't smoked marijuana for 20 years but now he has a debilitating illness and a small amount someone had given her had given him the first good nights sleep he's had in months.
And this is what it's comes down to these days- people risking not just their job but their freedom to get medicine because of the catch-22 of the current Hawai`i state law that provides for possession of medical marijuana with a doctor's "recommendation" but gives patents no way to actually obtain it without breaking the law.
We were sorry to have to tell her we've been out of the circuit for many years too but were able to give her some hope by telling her that SB1458 SD2 HD3 which "establishes a comprehensive five-year medical marijuana distribution pilot program in an unspecified county" was hanging on by it's teeth as the state legislature draws to it's close.
And this morning, despite reports of it's demise, the bill apparently almost unanimously passed "third reading" in the house and was referred to a conference committee.
And though the bill at one time had inserted Maui as the county where the pilot program would be established, it now leaves the name of the county blank.
Of course the idiocy of leaving the whole program under the Department of Public Safety rather than moving it to the Department of Health where it belongs will apparently be status quo for another year and the measure to legalize possession of less than an ounce is also dead. It's now a matter of seeing what the conference committee will do.
Overall it's been a disappointing year after so many good bills made it through crossover only to die in the other chamber but as long as our insane hurry-up-and-wait legislative system allows single legislators to kill good bills we'll have to fight every year to achieve some degree of sanity on this and a lot of other no-brainer" issues.
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