NOT BUT WITH A WHIMPER: As if there was any doubt as to the outcome or the specifics the council passed an even more loophole ridden version of the TVR bill yesterday with (predictably) Dickie Chang and (disappointingly but not unpredictably) Lani Kawahara joining Jay Furfaro, Darryl Kaneshiro and bill author Tim Bynum voting “yea” and Derrick Kawakami and Chair Kaipo Asing voting in the negatory.
That information comes no thanks to the lazy dullard on the government beat at the local newspaper who apparently couldn’t stay up as late enough to file a story on the all important vote but Joan Conrow who “juggled work with time in the Council Chambers to see for myself how the vote on the transient vacation rental (TVR) bill went down,” filed her post at 11:16 last night.
The added poison to the already toxic legislation says, according to Conrow:
you don’t actually have to be engaged in bonafide farming, as evidenced by tax returns, to get approval for your TVR on agricultural land. You can still get a permit if the planning commission finds intensive agriculture is prohibited by the shape, size, topography, surrounding land uses OR — and this is today’s big giveaway — for any other reason.
And as far as “Mr. Wala`au”, also predictably Joan quoted Dickie Chang as saying “(w)hether it’s right or wrong, we need to move forward” saying that apparently “that answers the question of whether his private pau hana briefing by beer-bearing county attorneys had any effect on his decision. 'Cause he was against the bill before that little meeting.”
But the big question is whether this will really be the political game changer many are predicting.
There is palpable fury over this bill among not just the usual suspects but those who ordinarily don’t give politics a second thought except for every two years in November.
Many felt that they were sold down the river when the grandfathering bill was passed but thought that the restrictions and difficulty of the process- replete with provisions for public scrutiny- would serve to phase out the existing TVRs in residential areas.
But not only did the corrupt planning department refuse to follow the guidelines but the planning commission didn’t seem to care. And now instead of seeking to strengthen the bill the council has essentially torn it up and thrown in a plum giving the most egregious illegality- those TVRs on ag- a path to legality to boot.
Other than those who stand to gain financially it’s hard to find anyone- even among those who ordinarily support the land rape of Kaua`i- who has supported the mess.
So how will this shake out- or shake up Kaua`i politics?
The questions are first, will this be the end of the political careers of Furfaro and more importantly Bynum as many have vowed to make it and on the flip side will the animosity over Asing’s reign of terror and the disappointment over the misplaced hopes some had for Kawakami last election be negated by their somewhat meaningless votes?
Furfaro’s popularity has always been an enigma. But his vote wasn’t disappointing anyone. His unflinching support for tourism development has always been a hallmark of his tenure on the council. But his growing pomposity and ego driven bombast recently has become more and more irritating, at least for those who catch it on TV.
Is the anti incumbent feeling this year enough to push him out? Don’t count on it.
Bynum is the big question mark. Before the TVR debacle his growing popularity in supporting what was seen as Kawahara’s push for openness and free-flowing information allowed him to ride her ample coattails which many predicted would lead her near or to the top of the polling this year.
But with Kawahara out of the race after being beaten to a bloody pulp by the likes of Asing, Kawakami and Kaneshiro voters may not put as much stock in the need for Bynum’s “second” to what was perceived, rightly or wrongly, as the fight her “new blood” introduced into the council dynamic.
With “his” TVR bill, as well as other votes that are seen as hypocritical of his words on sustainability and land use in general, that may well be the defining issue upon which Bynum’s continued incumbency depends.
That leads to Chang who slipped in last time due to name recognition alone. But really his victory in ’08 was a numbers game- one that may again be the more important factor this November.
With two “vacancies” in ’08 there was a dearth of viable candidates to fill the two slots other than Kawahara. A virtual unknown, Kipukai Kuali`i even came close without any endorsements from the progressives that a social workers and organizer might have gotten if organizations like the Sierra Club- and admittedly observers like us- hadn’t put all their eggs in the Kawahara basket.
This year is quite the opposite. The two who created the vacancies- Mel Rapozo ad JoAnn Yukimura who both ran for mayor and lost- are back and are virtual shoo-ins for election.
But other than Nadine Nakamura- who despite having some good buzz is still is a question mark due to the wariness people have over her profession as a “planner”, which on Kaua`i may be a dirty word- and Rolf Bieber who has made a name for himself in taking on the administration and the corrupt ethics commission, viable candidates are few and far between.
Given Chang's negatives after two years of cluelessness Nakamura stands to take advantage and move into his slot.
But that may all be moot if Asing or Kawakami- or both- fall out of the top seven something that, although unlikely if you look at past elections, may be possible in a year when disgust with council incumbents has made dents in their usual bases of support.
The question for Furfaro and Bynum may not be their negatives as much as how effective a charge Bieber or Kuali`i can make and how far the once mighty have fallen.
We have few illusions. To quote John Lennon- and perhaps explain Kawahara’s decision that she’d had enough-
There’s room at the top they keep telling you still
But first you must learn to smile as you kill
A working class hero is something to be
Showing posts with label Derrick Kawakami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derrick Kawakami. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
ONLY HALF BULL?
ONLY HALF BULL?: Deep in the darkest recesses of the Minotaur’s labyrinth when the light of day threatens to expose all, his minions scurry to defend the perimeters at every parry of the knights of illumination.
And last Wednesday, the news that that of death of the Minotaur was premature being still unknown, his minotaur-in-waiting performed his own dance of darkness as if to prove his worthiness to ascend to the throne
Council Chair Kaipo Asing indeed filed to run for another term last Thursday despite statements in 2008 that this term would be his last.
His filing came on the heels of another slaying of the oft promised and always delayed on-line, live streaming of meetings and posting of video and agenda-related documents.
The six month deferment was accomplished through the complicity of his always rely-a-bull 3-D’s who were joined by the clueless would-be king, Jay Furfaro, whose continued confusion over how the sunshine law actually works gave the excuse for essentially the defeat of another attempt by Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara to get everyone to move off the dime and “git ’r done”
And though the local paper not only ran an article but an editorial each was, as usual, equally clueless as to the back story and Furfaro’s apparently inability to understand the basics of the state’s open meetings “sunshine” laws.
Furfaro’s confusion goes back to December of 2008 when we filed a complaint with the Office of Information Practices (OIP) after he was caught Red-Handed sending a letter to fellow councilpersons not just describing the then-new original bill calling for “non-enforcement agreements” for vacation rentals on ag land, but soliciting their support which is forbidden under any and all circumstances by law.
OIP opened a case, as we reported in Jan. of 2009 but rather than admit his blatant violation of the law Furfaro has been fighting it ever since, even somehow spending, as he said Wednesday, $1700 to do so.
The law is actually very simple. Pay attention Jay.
Councilmembers cannot discuss any matter either on an agenda or that might be on a future agenda with more than one other councilmember. And even then they cannot solicit or commit to a vote.
And, they can’t get around that by “serial one-on-one communications” or by going through a third party to do so.
The correct way to introduce anything they want to discuss is to put it on the agenda as either a communication or a bill or resolution. Otherwise it is forbidden to discuss it with more than one other member.
Once it is on the agenda the way to discuss it is to wait for the item to come up on the agenda and then say and do anything you want including introducing or even “floating” amendments to a bill.
But somehow Furfaro remains obstinate in his refusal to learn these simple procedures as evidenced by the fact that at this very meeting, during this very agenda item where he brought up his confusion in order to ask for the deferral, he referred to a 19 page letter he had sent to the Civil Service Commission regarding his thoughts on county furloughs- which the council has set for December discussion- and actually sent a copy of that letter to the rest of the council without putting it on the agenda.
All he would have had to do was send a communication with the 19 page letter to the council, have it placed on the agenda and it would have been legal. But as if to re-iterate his inability to understand a simple concept that all other council, boards and commissions in the state seem to have no trouble understanding, he just distributed it to councilmembers by placing it in their mailboxes.
Furfaro has even devised another attempted by-pass of the law lately calling for the “floating” of amendments to a bill at one committee meeting to be taken up at the next one but making them available only to the councilmembers and not to the public, according to discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.
Just as absurd were some of the other excuses used to delay implementation of the system- for which the contract has been signed and apparently all the protests have now been resolved.
What the resolution calls for in the posting of all the accompanying paperwork for all agenda items- not just the actual communications, bills and resolutions but the background documents pertaining to the item.
Right now “hard copies”- on paper- of all those are available to the public at council services as soon as the agenda is officially filed. And copies of each are made for councilpersons as part of their “packet” which they also receive when the agenda is filed.
According to sources at council services the copying machine there isn’t just some $39.99 Wal Mart special. It’s a fancy schmancy piece of work that not only makes copies but makes digital copies of each and can, with the push of a button can- drum roll please- even post them on line automatically.
But you would think that they needed a Manhattan project to figure out how to post them and then have to hire three more employees to push that bottom from the way Furfaro, Asing and Councilpersons Dickie Chang, Darryl Kaneshiro and Derrick Kawakami jumped at the chance to defer posting the documents- via the system which IT Division Chief Erik Knutzen told us a year and a half ago was ready to go- until they resolve the “county furloughs” issue and meet with staff to figure out how to push the button.... something they’ve had four years to do.
But there are no buttons at door to the labyrinth and distribution of information remains for now on a need-to-know basis.
And last Wednesday, the news that that of death of the Minotaur was premature being still unknown, his minotaur-in-waiting performed his own dance of darkness as if to prove his worthiness to ascend to the throne
Council Chair Kaipo Asing indeed filed to run for another term last Thursday despite statements in 2008 that this term would be his last.
His filing came on the heels of another slaying of the oft promised and always delayed on-line, live streaming of meetings and posting of video and agenda-related documents.
The six month deferment was accomplished through the complicity of his always rely-a-bull 3-D’s who were joined by the clueless would-be king, Jay Furfaro, whose continued confusion over how the sunshine law actually works gave the excuse for essentially the defeat of another attempt by Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara to get everyone to move off the dime and “git ’r done”
And though the local paper not only ran an article but an editorial each was, as usual, equally clueless as to the back story and Furfaro’s apparently inability to understand the basics of the state’s open meetings “sunshine” laws.
Furfaro’s confusion goes back to December of 2008 when we filed a complaint with the Office of Information Practices (OIP) after he was caught Red-Handed sending a letter to fellow councilpersons not just describing the then-new original bill calling for “non-enforcement agreements” for vacation rentals on ag land, but soliciting their support which is forbidden under any and all circumstances by law.
OIP opened a case, as we reported in Jan. of 2009 but rather than admit his blatant violation of the law Furfaro has been fighting it ever since, even somehow spending, as he said Wednesday, $1700 to do so.
The law is actually very simple. Pay attention Jay.
Councilmembers cannot discuss any matter either on an agenda or that might be on a future agenda with more than one other councilmember. And even then they cannot solicit or commit to a vote.
And, they can’t get around that by “serial one-on-one communications” or by going through a third party to do so.
The correct way to introduce anything they want to discuss is to put it on the agenda as either a communication or a bill or resolution. Otherwise it is forbidden to discuss it with more than one other member.
Once it is on the agenda the way to discuss it is to wait for the item to come up on the agenda and then say and do anything you want including introducing or even “floating” amendments to a bill.
But somehow Furfaro remains obstinate in his refusal to learn these simple procedures as evidenced by the fact that at this very meeting, during this very agenda item where he brought up his confusion in order to ask for the deferral, he referred to a 19 page letter he had sent to the Civil Service Commission regarding his thoughts on county furloughs- which the council has set for December discussion- and actually sent a copy of that letter to the rest of the council without putting it on the agenda.
All he would have had to do was send a communication with the 19 page letter to the council, have it placed on the agenda and it would have been legal. But as if to re-iterate his inability to understand a simple concept that all other council, boards and commissions in the state seem to have no trouble understanding, he just distributed it to councilmembers by placing it in their mailboxes.
Furfaro has even devised another attempted by-pass of the law lately calling for the “floating” of amendments to a bill at one committee meeting to be taken up at the next one but making them available only to the councilmembers and not to the public, according to discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.
Just as absurd were some of the other excuses used to delay implementation of the system- for which the contract has been signed and apparently all the protests have now been resolved.
What the resolution calls for in the posting of all the accompanying paperwork for all agenda items- not just the actual communications, bills and resolutions but the background documents pertaining to the item.
Right now “hard copies”- on paper- of all those are available to the public at council services as soon as the agenda is officially filed. And copies of each are made for councilpersons as part of their “packet” which they also receive when the agenda is filed.
According to sources at council services the copying machine there isn’t just some $39.99 Wal Mart special. It’s a fancy schmancy piece of work that not only makes copies but makes digital copies of each and can, with the push of a button can- drum roll please- even post them on line automatically.
But you would think that they needed a Manhattan project to figure out how to post them and then have to hire three more employees to push that bottom from the way Furfaro, Asing and Councilpersons Dickie Chang, Darryl Kaneshiro and Derrick Kawakami jumped at the chance to defer posting the documents- via the system which IT Division Chief Erik Knutzen told us a year and a half ago was ready to go- until they resolve the “county furloughs” issue and meet with staff to figure out how to push the button.... something they’ve had four years to do.
But there are no buttons at door to the labyrinth and distribution of information remains for now on a need-to-know basis.
Monday, June 14, 2010
A BLESSING ON YOUR HEAD, MAZEL TOV, MAZEL TOV
A BLESSING ON YOUR HEAD, MAZEL TOV, MAZEL TOV: No one ever said Councilperson Derrick Kawakami was an idiot.
As a scion of the two-headed Kawakami political family no one ever said he lacked political acumen to read the political winds.
And as a scion of the Kawakami “Big Save” family no one ever said he couldn’t take care of business when he had to
But who knew he was an thespian?
Not that he had to be a Brando to deliver his “I had a Dream speech” at last Wednesday’s council meeting given that his target audience was all too willing to believe any performance that led to the result they were looking for.
But this one had to be a humdinger.
With November just around the corner Kawakami looked into the abyss and saw what could be a difficult row to hoe in the coming months. And anything less than a top-two or three result just wouldn’t do for his plans for a life as a professional politician.
A loss would be a disaster. With two former councilmembers and an up and comer already in the race and none of the other six running for anything else, the math looked iffy- especially based on the demographics that put him into office in ’08.
Back then Kawakami didn’t just cash in on the local cache of the Kawakami name but took advantage of a dearth of progressive candidate endorsements to garner a large chunk of the slow-growth “Keep Kaua`i Kaua`i” crowd that was willing to “give him a chance”.
But his vehement defense of Chair Kaipo Asing and attacks on progressive darlings Lani Kawahara and Tim Bynum had put him in a position where cries of “well I won’t make that mistake again” were making it almost impossible to garner a wide swath of that portion of the electorate again.
Beginning in the spring the pandering began in earnest with his early and unwavering support for the “I own a dog and I vote” crowd. But although that politically wise move assured the votes of some single-issue voters there was a blow back brewing. Not being an idiot, he could see that there were many out there who, though comparatively silent, saw the naked political ploy as another indication of pandering “hack-dom”.
He needed something meaty- a real issue that was uniting many leaders of the “sustainability” wing of the island’s progressives. But as luck would have it he had tried the same “get out front early” strategy that worked on the “dog path” but it was boomeranging on the farm worker’s housing bill.
When the bill first came before the council it appeared that the issue of abuse of ag land and the resulting sprawl- especially on the north shore- was causing widespread opposition to the bill. There were just too many ways to take advantage of the added density and, based on past abuses of well-meaning ag land measures, the smart growth/sustainability crowd and even most akamai farmers were lining up to oppose the measure.
Kawakami’s attempt to get out front looked like a good political move and also kept him in lock step with the Asing majority- seemingly a win-win for him when and if the issue became a winner for the majority faction.
That fell apart when the farmers and the three minority faction councilmembers in favor of the bill- minority leader Jay Furfaro (who did most of the negotiating), Bynum and Kawahara- spent almost a year negotiating a laundry list of restrictions which, although they made the bill useless to 99% of the island’s farmers, assuaged the concerns of those lining up to oppose the original bill.
All of a sudden Kawakami found himself not just not making headway with some of his ’08 constituency but actually being seen as the main reason why the now reasonable compromise would be defeated.
No doubt this did cause “sleepless nights” as Kawakami said. And there was just one way out- reverse his formerly staunch opposition to the bill which was approaching a final vote last Wednesday.
But what kind of cockamamie story could he come up with as to why he was flip-flopping at the last minute?
The reality is that Derrick is for one thing and one thing only... Derrick. And actually admitting he was changing his mind to win in November wasn’t something a smart politician would do.
Not only did the story have to be minimally convincing for those whose votes he was seeking- at least enough to just have them enjoy the victory and assure they wouldn’t ask (or care) why he changed his mind- but he would have to have a bone to throw to his base whose support came from his support of Asing and the good old boys network and whose votes he had worked so hard to put in his pocket.
Could he pull it off? He had to try.
He knew that all he had to do was convince the all-too-willing-to-believe crowd in the council chambers to take his story all at face value and that if they did he could expect another hook line and sinker job- this time swallowing the rod and reel too- by the wide mouth bass on the government beat at the local newspaper.
Spinning a phony-baloney tall tale of a beloved deceased relative coming to one in a dream in order to explain a change of one’s mind and get someone to now agree with the new position, goes at least back to author Shalom Aleichem, as immortalized in the Tevye’s Dream sequence in the Broadway play “Fiddler on the Roof”.
But mixing in the tales of old plantation days for the old boys along with support for ag on Kaua`i was pure Kawakami.
As a scion of the two-headed Kawakami political family no one ever said he lacked political acumen to read the political winds.
And as a scion of the Kawakami “Big Save” family no one ever said he couldn’t take care of business when he had to
But who knew he was an thespian?
Not that he had to be a Brando to deliver his “I had a Dream speech” at last Wednesday’s council meeting given that his target audience was all too willing to believe any performance that led to the result they were looking for.
But this one had to be a humdinger.
With November just around the corner Kawakami looked into the abyss and saw what could be a difficult row to hoe in the coming months. And anything less than a top-two or three result just wouldn’t do for his plans for a life as a professional politician.
A loss would be a disaster. With two former councilmembers and an up and comer already in the race and none of the other six running for anything else, the math looked iffy- especially based on the demographics that put him into office in ’08.
Back then Kawakami didn’t just cash in on the local cache of the Kawakami name but took advantage of a dearth of progressive candidate endorsements to garner a large chunk of the slow-growth “Keep Kaua`i Kaua`i” crowd that was willing to “give him a chance”.
But his vehement defense of Chair Kaipo Asing and attacks on progressive darlings Lani Kawahara and Tim Bynum had put him in a position where cries of “well I won’t make that mistake again” were making it almost impossible to garner a wide swath of that portion of the electorate again.
Beginning in the spring the pandering began in earnest with his early and unwavering support for the “I own a dog and I vote” crowd. But although that politically wise move assured the votes of some single-issue voters there was a blow back brewing. Not being an idiot, he could see that there were many out there who, though comparatively silent, saw the naked political ploy as another indication of pandering “hack-dom”.
He needed something meaty- a real issue that was uniting many leaders of the “sustainability” wing of the island’s progressives. But as luck would have it he had tried the same “get out front early” strategy that worked on the “dog path” but it was boomeranging on the farm worker’s housing bill.
When the bill first came before the council it appeared that the issue of abuse of ag land and the resulting sprawl- especially on the north shore- was causing widespread opposition to the bill. There were just too many ways to take advantage of the added density and, based on past abuses of well-meaning ag land measures, the smart growth/sustainability crowd and even most akamai farmers were lining up to oppose the measure.
Kawakami’s attempt to get out front looked like a good political move and also kept him in lock step with the Asing majority- seemingly a win-win for him when and if the issue became a winner for the majority faction.
That fell apart when the farmers and the three minority faction councilmembers in favor of the bill- minority leader Jay Furfaro (who did most of the negotiating), Bynum and Kawahara- spent almost a year negotiating a laundry list of restrictions which, although they made the bill useless to 99% of the island’s farmers, assuaged the concerns of those lining up to oppose the original bill.
All of a sudden Kawakami found himself not just not making headway with some of his ’08 constituency but actually being seen as the main reason why the now reasonable compromise would be defeated.
No doubt this did cause “sleepless nights” as Kawakami said. And there was just one way out- reverse his formerly staunch opposition to the bill which was approaching a final vote last Wednesday.
But what kind of cockamamie story could he come up with as to why he was flip-flopping at the last minute?
The reality is that Derrick is for one thing and one thing only... Derrick. And actually admitting he was changing his mind to win in November wasn’t something a smart politician would do.
Not only did the story have to be minimally convincing for those whose votes he was seeking- at least enough to just have them enjoy the victory and assure they wouldn’t ask (or care) why he changed his mind- but he would have to have a bone to throw to his base whose support came from his support of Asing and the good old boys network and whose votes he had worked so hard to put in his pocket.
Could he pull it off? He had to try.
He knew that all he had to do was convince the all-too-willing-to-believe crowd in the council chambers to take his story all at face value and that if they did he could expect another hook line and sinker job- this time swallowing the rod and reel too- by the wide mouth bass on the government beat at the local newspaper.
Spinning a phony-baloney tall tale of a beloved deceased relative coming to one in a dream in order to explain a change of one’s mind and get someone to now agree with the new position, goes at least back to author Shalom Aleichem, as immortalized in the Tevye’s Dream sequence in the Broadway play “Fiddler on the Roof”.
But mixing in the tales of old plantation days for the old boys along with support for ag on Kaua`i was pure Kawakami.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
WE’LL NEVER SEE KANSAS NOW, TOTO
WE’LL NEVER SEE KANSAS NOW, TOTO: There’s nothing like watching malahini get genuinely dazed and still remain confused at politics on Kaua`i.
Keone Kealoha’s account of yesterday’s somewhat bizarre but predictable council organizational meeting spread like electronic wildfire last night and by this morning his houses-are-falling-from-the-sky account of Kaipo Asing’s 4-3 re-grabbing of the council reins was the talk of both Joan Conrow’s and Katy Rose’s blogs this morning as they joined in on the munchkin hand wringing.
Kealoha opened his epistle by saying:
Today showed the true power of running a hui on council. In a rare occurrence (first time ever?), the council was exposed to a public mtg when making their choice of chair, vice-chair and all committee members. It was stunning to watch Kaipo Asing take over completely with a predetermined hui of four and proceed to announce the new committee structures, committee chairs, vice-chairs and new members all with four members completely aware of the decisions and three others left with lots of questions.
Actually, as we explained earlier this month, council organizational meetings have been pseudo-public since they were declared to fall under a legal loophole to the Sunshine Law since they weren’t meetings of councilmembers but councilmembers-elect.
Although the OIP has strongly “recommended” the meetings themselves remain public, pre-meeting discussion of commitments to vote- which would also be illegal under the law if they were actually on the council- have gone on since the opinion was issued.
But strangely- or perhaps not so strangely for someone who hasn’t really watched Kaua`i politics in action up-close- Kealoha ended by bemoaning the “division” on the council saying:
It appears all council members need to have a call, some a call of condolence, others, a wake up call that a divided council is not what is going to best serve Kaua`i in the coming years. The hope remains that some good policy can come out of this divisive style of politicing but that's not usually the case when out of the gate we're playing hardball.
The count is 4-3; whether you take a walk or consider you're self out, the outcome will appear to be the same in every case
With two bloggers, a community activist and the local paper all describing the meeting you’d think someone would recognize the real news- we have a real council with a real live minority faction... and on Kaua`i that’s not just a step but a leap forward.
As a matter of fact “unanimity” is the least democratic form of governance around and by condemning “division” we play right into unfettered support for every development and sneaky, secretive ploy at the root of the corruption of Kaua`i government that we all condemn.
Let’s not forget- there has only been one council “faction” for at least the last 10 years with virtually every single vote coming out 7-0.
But after yesterday’s meeting those who are fed up can take heart that Lani Kawahara’s distaste for council politics as usual has taken Jay Furfaro’s and Tim Bynum’s formerly impotent and whiney urges to occasionally “take exception” to “Uncle Chair’s” dictatorial paternalism and formed them into a faction that is one vote away from stopping much of the utter crap that has passed for legislation.
But it may be that Kealoha had a little more going than disappointment at the organizational results that shut out the minority faction from a majority on any committee and restructured the committees to give at least two of them the chairs of less than desirable working groups.
Though he and his Malama Kaua`i associate Andrea Brower didn’t make it very public, every politically active individual on Kaua`i knows that they supported Derrick Kawakami for some insane reason they couldn’t be talked out of. But when the rubber hit the road of course Kealoha’s disillusionment with D-E-R-I-K had to be palpable.
While Kawakami didn’t make any of the progressive “lists” of “good” candidates during the campaign his support among malahini activists like the MK pair was probably what put him over the top.
It remains to be seen how- whether with Kawakami or even in the presidential realm- people will deal with disappointment after throwing their support to status quo disguised as “change”.
But what is important is that for the first time since the 80’s the Kaua`i council will be a real political body complete with political infighting, covering each other’s asses and vote stripping.
While this might sound like the type of thing that makes the average knee-jerk citizen who pays little attention to politics cry “why can’t they get along” the alternative is a rubber stamp for corruption, back-scratching, revolving door cronyism and your basic protection racket for incumbents.
What factions provide is things like having your motion get a dependable “second” from members of your bloc who will not be afraid of pissing off a unanimous majority as they would if you were a single dissident voice.
They provide support for getting items on the agenda in the first place which otherwise is used to “teach that uppity new member a lesson.”
And what it provides is a future where the majority is one big screw-up away from losing their majority. The first time innocent little Dickie sees politics in action, his penchant for supporting the chair might not be as strong. Or if Derrick sees his political fortunes as being different from that of the retiring Chair Kaipo Asing, he might just defect.
From the local newspaper accounts it seem that Lani Kawahara is the real power and motivator behind this no-nonsense structure. If she would have stepped back like all the other newbies have and “learned the ropes” from “older and wiser” council members you can bet that the Jay the Cowardly Lion and the Tim the Scarecrow would never have started down the road to the Emerald City with Dorothy.
The fact that someone on the council has, after six years of the iron fisted Asing regime, come in and refused to accept political business as usual is perhaps the most courageous move by any council member since Asing himself made up a minority of one while Ron Kouchi ran the show throughout the 90’s.
The most important message from this is that showing up to the organizational meeting is nice but if we want to take back our county government the way to do it is to show up and testify- not just to the council but to the TV viewing public- and do it every week to put the political pressure on members of the “hui” to strip off a vote on a bill or even call for a leadership change.
Don’t forget- everyone of them is already running for re-election and if what Asing has said is true, this is his last go around.
If animosity grows as he is publicly exposed on television by a real opposition wing with no real power to lose any more, everything may be up for grabs especially if Asing’s allies see that their political survival is up for grabs.
Don’t forget- for all of Asing’s fierce political power play, he has no real experience in running the in-power gang and little in the normal factionalism that usually pervades legislative affairs.
With a one vote majority he’ll have to do it all without any room for failure.
Kawahara could have cast her vote for Asing- it wasn’t like she wasn’t asked and prodded to do so.
But as Asing said in an outburst according to the newspaper article:
“You pushed it, and pushed it, and pushed it... Lani pushed it and pushed it.”
Kawahara has apparently figured out early what most politicians rarely “get”- the power to do things you really want to do comes from the doing, not the power. And if doing what you really want doesn’t get you the power at first, if you are right the rest of the power will flow to you.
Otherwise you’ll “go along to get along” for so long that by the time you realize you’re a hack- it’s long past time to do what you really wanted.
So when you go to the supermarket and run into Councilperson Kawahara make it your business to thank her for having the guts and strength to “push it” and acting on principle to send a message to the hacks that she is a force to be reckoned with...
And when you run into the others let them know that if they care for their political futures they’d be well served re-consider which side they’re on.
You can show your support by showing up to some council meetings and voicing it. Don’t forget- how long someone sticks their neck out for you is directly proportional to whether you stick out yours for them.
Because if you’re waiting for some magical Wizard to suddenly produce four decent, accountable, honest councilmembers you might just as well try clicking you heel three times and saying “there’s no place like Kukui`ula”.
Keone Kealoha’s account of yesterday’s somewhat bizarre but predictable council organizational meeting spread like electronic wildfire last night and by this morning his houses-are-falling-from-the-sky account of Kaipo Asing’s 4-3 re-grabbing of the council reins was the talk of both Joan Conrow’s and Katy Rose’s blogs this morning as they joined in on the munchkin hand wringing.
Kealoha opened his epistle by saying:
Today showed the true power of running a hui on council. In a rare occurrence (first time ever?), the council was exposed to a public mtg when making their choice of chair, vice-chair and all committee members. It was stunning to watch Kaipo Asing take over completely with a predetermined hui of four and proceed to announce the new committee structures, committee chairs, vice-chairs and new members all with four members completely aware of the decisions and three others left with lots of questions.
Actually, as we explained earlier this month, council organizational meetings have been pseudo-public since they were declared to fall under a legal loophole to the Sunshine Law since they weren’t meetings of councilmembers but councilmembers-elect.
Although the OIP has strongly “recommended” the meetings themselves remain public, pre-meeting discussion of commitments to vote- which would also be illegal under the law if they were actually on the council- have gone on since the opinion was issued.
But strangely- or perhaps not so strangely for someone who hasn’t really watched Kaua`i politics in action up-close- Kealoha ended by bemoaning the “division” on the council saying:
It appears all council members need to have a call, some a call of condolence, others, a wake up call that a divided council is not what is going to best serve Kaua`i in the coming years. The hope remains that some good policy can come out of this divisive style of politicing but that's not usually the case when out of the gate we're playing hardball.
The count is 4-3; whether you take a walk or consider you're self out, the outcome will appear to be the same in every case
With two bloggers, a community activist and the local paper all describing the meeting you’d think someone would recognize the real news- we have a real council with a real live minority faction... and on Kaua`i that’s not just a step but a leap forward.
As a matter of fact “unanimity” is the least democratic form of governance around and by condemning “division” we play right into unfettered support for every development and sneaky, secretive ploy at the root of the corruption of Kaua`i government that we all condemn.
Let’s not forget- there has only been one council “faction” for at least the last 10 years with virtually every single vote coming out 7-0.
But after yesterday’s meeting those who are fed up can take heart that Lani Kawahara’s distaste for council politics as usual has taken Jay Furfaro’s and Tim Bynum’s formerly impotent and whiney urges to occasionally “take exception” to “Uncle Chair’s” dictatorial paternalism and formed them into a faction that is one vote away from stopping much of the utter crap that has passed for legislation.
But it may be that Kealoha had a little more going than disappointment at the organizational results that shut out the minority faction from a majority on any committee and restructured the committees to give at least two of them the chairs of less than desirable working groups.
Though he and his Malama Kaua`i associate Andrea Brower didn’t make it very public, every politically active individual on Kaua`i knows that they supported Derrick Kawakami for some insane reason they couldn’t be talked out of. But when the rubber hit the road of course Kealoha’s disillusionment with D-E-R-I-K had to be palpable.
While Kawakami didn’t make any of the progressive “lists” of “good” candidates during the campaign his support among malahini activists like the MK pair was probably what put him over the top.
It remains to be seen how- whether with Kawakami or even in the presidential realm- people will deal with disappointment after throwing their support to status quo disguised as “change”.
But what is important is that for the first time since the 80’s the Kaua`i council will be a real political body complete with political infighting, covering each other’s asses and vote stripping.
While this might sound like the type of thing that makes the average knee-jerk citizen who pays little attention to politics cry “why can’t they get along” the alternative is a rubber stamp for corruption, back-scratching, revolving door cronyism and your basic protection racket for incumbents.
What factions provide is things like having your motion get a dependable “second” from members of your bloc who will not be afraid of pissing off a unanimous majority as they would if you were a single dissident voice.
They provide support for getting items on the agenda in the first place which otherwise is used to “teach that uppity new member a lesson.”
And what it provides is a future where the majority is one big screw-up away from losing their majority. The first time innocent little Dickie sees politics in action, his penchant for supporting the chair might not be as strong. Or if Derrick sees his political fortunes as being different from that of the retiring Chair Kaipo Asing, he might just defect.
From the local newspaper accounts it seem that Lani Kawahara is the real power and motivator behind this no-nonsense structure. If she would have stepped back like all the other newbies have and “learned the ropes” from “older and wiser” council members you can bet that the Jay the Cowardly Lion and the Tim the Scarecrow would never have started down the road to the Emerald City with Dorothy.
The fact that someone on the council has, after six years of the iron fisted Asing regime, come in and refused to accept political business as usual is perhaps the most courageous move by any council member since Asing himself made up a minority of one while Ron Kouchi ran the show throughout the 90’s.
The most important message from this is that showing up to the organizational meeting is nice but if we want to take back our county government the way to do it is to show up and testify- not just to the council but to the TV viewing public- and do it every week to put the political pressure on members of the “hui” to strip off a vote on a bill or even call for a leadership change.
Don’t forget- everyone of them is already running for re-election and if what Asing has said is true, this is his last go around.
If animosity grows as he is publicly exposed on television by a real opposition wing with no real power to lose any more, everything may be up for grabs especially if Asing’s allies see that their political survival is up for grabs.
Don’t forget- for all of Asing’s fierce political power play, he has no real experience in running the in-power gang and little in the normal factionalism that usually pervades legislative affairs.
With a one vote majority he’ll have to do it all without any room for failure.
Kawahara could have cast her vote for Asing- it wasn’t like she wasn’t asked and prodded to do so.
But as Asing said in an outburst according to the newspaper article:
“You pushed it, and pushed it, and pushed it... Lani pushed it and pushed it.”
Kawahara has apparently figured out early what most politicians rarely “get”- the power to do things you really want to do comes from the doing, not the power. And if doing what you really want doesn’t get you the power at first, if you are right the rest of the power will flow to you.
Otherwise you’ll “go along to get along” for so long that by the time you realize you’re a hack- it’s long past time to do what you really wanted.
So when you go to the supermarket and run into Councilperson Kawahara make it your business to thank her for having the guts and strength to “push it” and acting on principle to send a message to the hacks that she is a force to be reckoned with...
And when you run into the others let them know that if they care for their political futures they’d be well served re-consider which side they’re on.
You can show your support by showing up to some council meetings and voicing it. Don’t forget- how long someone sticks their neck out for you is directly proportional to whether you stick out yours for them.
Because if you’re waiting for some magical Wizard to suddenly produce four decent, accountable, honest councilmembers you might just as well try clicking you heel three times and saying “there’s no place like Kukui`ula”.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
PEDIGREE PERVERSION
PEDIGREE PERVERSION: We hear the Eco-Roundtable forum was a humdinger.
But buried in the local paper’s coverage was the most “duh” moment of the campaign so far.
“Chang, Hoff and Kawakami by a show of hands were the only candidates who would not support a county ban on plastic shopping bags as is under consideration in Maui and law in San Francisco.”
Would the Big Save Market heir vote for banning plastic bags? Is the bear Catholic?
And that’s apparently just for starters for Mr. Big Save Jr.... the young... the popular... the skein...the heir: Derrick Kawakami.
What happens when recycling involves the places where people got the goods? We have a farm to bet that Derrick isn’t in favor of forcing big grocery stores to take back deposit- bottles and cans.. if not accept other recyclable as they do across the country and world.
Here it’s done the way the Kawakami’s have always done it. If nothing else it’s pretty obvious his parents left him a legacy of serving the public interest by serving themselves first.
And State House Reps Richard and Bertha’s boy seems to be pretty predictable in fighting against things like banning aquatic-animal-death-traps in these islands.
Why it was just a happy coincidence when recently Derrick led the fight- and put some of that Big Save money into ads- to fight against Wal-Mart putting in a grocery store.
His parents’ never met a tourism development they didn’t like. Is Darryl just taking up the family business’?
The Kawakamis have always served the public by taking the biggest serving for themselves and their business associates. They set up and enacted many of the teeth- gnashing legislative “loopholes” that gave us things like ag condos and the vacation rentals next door.
So what does all that have to do with now?
Well for instance if Kawakami is elected does this mean the Lihu`e Town Core plan which “we” paid all that money for is going down in flames?.
As the council has heard, Big Save has not been negotiating very cooperatively regarding changes since their location is right smack dab in the middle of the Town Civic Center and proposed “park”.
No one will be surprised when Derrick wants to “talk about” the other upcoming town development plans too- some of which are already funded. Especially Hanalei,. Kapa`a, Kolo`a, `Ele`ele and Waimea where the other Big Save markets have been the main geographic and economic town hubs for many years?
And guess what. The article says “Derek Kawakami said he would implement amendments to force the county to adhere more to the 2000 General Plan”
.
What amendments might they be?. We’ve got a pretty good idea.
But buried in the local paper’s coverage was the most “duh” moment of the campaign so far.
“Chang, Hoff and Kawakami by a show of hands were the only candidates who would not support a county ban on plastic shopping bags as is under consideration in Maui and law in San Francisco.”
Would the Big Save Market heir vote for banning plastic bags? Is the bear Catholic?
And that’s apparently just for starters for Mr. Big Save Jr.... the young... the popular... the skein...the heir: Derrick Kawakami.
What happens when recycling involves the places where people got the goods? We have a farm to bet that Derrick isn’t in favor of forcing big grocery stores to take back deposit- bottles and cans.. if not accept other recyclable as they do across the country and world.
Here it’s done the way the Kawakami’s have always done it. If nothing else it’s pretty obvious his parents left him a legacy of serving the public interest by serving themselves first.
And State House Reps Richard and Bertha’s boy seems to be pretty predictable in fighting against things like banning aquatic-animal-death-traps in these islands.
Why it was just a happy coincidence when recently Derrick led the fight- and put some of that Big Save money into ads- to fight against Wal-Mart putting in a grocery store.
His parents’ never met a tourism development they didn’t like. Is Darryl just taking up the family business’?
The Kawakamis have always served the public by taking the biggest serving for themselves and their business associates. They set up and enacted many of the teeth- gnashing legislative “loopholes” that gave us things like ag condos and the vacation rentals next door.
So what does all that have to do with now?
Well for instance if Kawakami is elected does this mean the Lihu`e Town Core plan which “we” paid all that money for is going down in flames?.
As the council has heard, Big Save has not been negotiating very cooperatively regarding changes since their location is right smack dab in the middle of the Town Civic Center and proposed “park”.
No one will be surprised when Derrick wants to “talk about” the other upcoming town development plans too- some of which are already funded. Especially Hanalei,. Kapa`a, Kolo`a, `Ele`ele and Waimea where the other Big Save markets have been the main geographic and economic town hubs for many years?
And guess what. The article says “Derek Kawakami said he would implement amendments to force the county to adhere more to the 2000 General Plan”
.
What amendments might they be?. We’ve got a pretty good idea.
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