UP CLOSE AND PERSONNEL: If we didn't know better- and since we don't, we do- we'd think that the Kaua`i County Council was avoiding the real issues surrounding the long-delayed move to chuck our Personnel Services Department and institute a Human Resources Department.
An article in today's local newspaper stumbled and bungled around the subject but as our readers know it's not really a simple matter of restructuring.
As we mentioned briefly in July, when the new "consent calendar" system of further obscuring council business hit the floor new Councilmember Kipukai Kaua`i` nearly threw a conniption fit over the appearance of the routine quarterly report from Personnel Director Malcolm Fernandez on the calendar. Although we're not quite sure of why, we certainly hope Kuali`i has an inkling of the past problems with the way jobs are doled out on Kaua`i and the FBI's involvement in late 2008 and early 2009.
In a nutshell, as we described in a September 2008 article, Councilmember Mel Rapozo and then member Shaylene Iseri Carvalho started getting suspicious of why the mayor's cronies seemed to be showing up in civil service positions at an alarming rate.
It all became clear when, as we described at the time,
(D)uring this year’s budget discussions the council finally included in the ordinance a requirement that, when the administration changes a council-funded position to another job, they must at least notify the council.
And the first such transfer was contained in a brief communication (2008-256) requesting a “reallocation” of the position of a “Solid Waste Program Assistant (SWPA)” to a position for a “Senior Account Clerk”.
Solid Waste’s Personnel Director Crystal Fujikawa, flanked by Personnel Director Mel Fernandez, sat before the council and was asked to explain why they were asking for a change a mere three months after they requested the SWPA in the budget that the council approved.
Fujikawa explained that since the SWPA had left the job- although she amazingly couldn’t remember when- this change was a “downward reallocation” to an “entry level” position, raising some eyebrows and objections, especially from the Council Vice Chair, mayoral candidate Mel Rapozo and his ally Shaylene Iseri Carvalho.
“We just budgeted that position” said Iseri. And knowing how badly the Solid Waste Division has been in need of expertise, she wondered aloud why personnel didn’t recruit for and fill the position instead of hiring just a clerk.
What Fujikawa said next revealed the true nature of cronyism in Kaua`i government and showed exactly how powerful the mayor is in terms of patronage even though legally he or she only gets to hire department heads.
According to Fujikawa, when a county position opens up the first thing they do is to try to see if there is a current county employee with the required expertise who wants to fill it. Nothing wrong with that, as all councilmembers agreed.
But then, if there is no county employee with the specific qualifications who wants the job, instead of trying to recruit someone qualified to fill the position from those on the island or, if not, elsewhere- one who might be able to, as Rapozo said, “hit the ground running”- the county simply eliminates the skilled position and downgrades it to fit the qualifications of the employee they want to promote or hire.
And, if necessary they’ll even make it an entry level job to accommodate someone’s auntie or uncle... or campaign supporter.
Well it turned out Rapozo and Iseri weren't the only ones interested in the traditional cronyism and patronage on Kaua`i and, as we exclusively reported that December, the FBI had taken up the cause, according to Iseri who revealed in open council session that they had interviewed dozens of Kaua`i officials and employees on the matter.
Around the same time we reported anecdotally an event that made it clear that then new Mayor Bernard Carvalho was preparing to continue the patronage. We showed up to a county office in mid December and asked "Where's Lou?" (not his real name) who had always handled our business.
The woman sitting there at Lou's desk matter-of-factly explained that Lou had retired and she was being forced to do double duty because, she stated, "with the election and all Bernard hasn't decided who's going to get the job."
Well Rapozo lost the election and had to sit out the 2008-2010 council but now that he's back apparently he's learned to be good little boy, seemingly abandoning what appeared to be a quest to clean up the personnel system, leaving it to Kuali`i- who probably hasn't a clue as to what happened in '08- to try to dig through the paperwork until a light bulb goes on for him.
Just changing the title from Personnel to Human Resources seems to fit the MO of Kaua`i charter changes just as the title of administrative assistant was changed during the last election, with no corresponding change in function.
The deck chairs on the Titanic seem destined for repositioning once again. And as long as we keep electing captains who use the "ship of state" as their own little fiefdom, we can change the charter all we want to no avail.
Anyone got any donuts to wager to our dollars that Fernandez will be the head of the new Human Resources Department? We didn't think so.
Showing posts with label FBI probe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FBI probe. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
COME HELL OR HIGH BONG WATER
COME HELL OR HIGH BONG WATER: No one seems to know for sure what will happen this afternoon when the appointed time for Councilmember Mel Rapozo’s and County Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho’s anti-marijuana rally comes around.
But only two things seem certain at press time- a bunch of counter demonstrators will likely show up and so will Mel Rapozo.
The rest is a subject for the Babooze Comedy Hour starring the Keystone Cops.
The curtain opened with Act 1 this morning at 10:36 when the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) issued the following fishy sounding press release.
Anti-drug rally cancelled
LĪHU'E – An anti-drug rally that was scheduled at 4 pm this afternoon in front of the Historic County Building has been cancelled due to the threat of flash flooding for Kaua`i County.
A flash watch is in effect for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau through tomorrow morning.
The rally was planned to raise awareness and inform the community of the pending marijuana legislation now being considered by the state Legislature.
It’s not clear if anyone bought that excuse after our article yesterday exposed the use of county resources to plan the rally and an order from Iseri that attendance was “mandatory” for her staff attorneys and, ahem, strongly encouraged for the rest of the staff... with a suggestion that they “rearrange” their “schedule” to attend.
But in Act 2, at 12:23 p.m.- less than couple of hours after the first release- it disappeared from the county’s press release page, replaced with the following release, this one from the office of County Attorney Al Castillo:
Update on anti-drug rally
LĪHU'E – County officials said this morning that they received a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding the anti-drug rally that was scheduled at 4 pm this afternoon in front of the Historic County Building.
“We are in receipt of the ACLU complaint and my office is reviewing it,” said County Attorney Alfred Castillo.
The rally was cancelled due to the complaint and for safety concerns due to the threat of flash flooding for Kaua`i County.
A flash watch is in effect for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau through tomorrow morning.
The rally was planned to raise awareness and inform the community of the pending marijuana legislation now being considered by the state Legislature.
Oh to be a fly on the wall to witness all that went into that release.
But Act 3 was on it’s way and at 1 p.m. a “Breaking News” update appeared at the local newspaper’s web site from new cops and court reporter Jessica Musicar with a headline of “Rapozo: Anti-drug rally still a go”
Musicar wrote:
Is it canceled or isn't it?
Whether an anti-drug rally will be held at 4 p.m. remains unclear, as the county and a member of its council have indicated conflicting answers.
Kaua`i County Council member Mel Rapozo, who said he originally scheduled the rally, plans to show up at the historic County Building with other participants, regardless of the county's notice of cancellation. The rally was intended to raise awareness and inform the community about pending marijuana legislation under consideration by the state Legislature.
This morning, however, the county canceled the rally, citing a weather warning. It later noted this afternoon in a press release that the cancellation is also tied to a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Rapozo said he is upset that the county was hiding behind the weather.
"To use the weather as an excuse is unacceptable," Rapozo said. "The reason for the cancellation wasn't the weather. It was the ACLU's concerns."
Although the county has not specified the nature of the complaint, stating only that County Attorney Alfred Castillo is reviewing it, Rapozo said the organization took issue with the county using public resources to host the rally.
Acting as a citizen of the county, rather than a councilman, Rapozo added he will be at the rally with church and youth groups...
We can see it now. Since county employees and any solicited attendees- like the island’s pastors and their minions who Rapozo urged to attend- most likely had heard about the “official” cancellation and the counter demonstrators- especially those who read the local newspaper on-line where, in the comments column, the protest was originally organized- probably either haven’t heard or heard Rapozo will be there, we expect to see Mel facing down a group of pissed off citizens.
.
But in all seriousness canceling the anti-pot-party after a complaint from the ACLU cannot be allowed to be where this ends. We urge a full investigation by at least the attorney general’s office if not the FBI- since of course KPD and the prosecutor are the alleged “perps”- as well as ethics complaints against Chief Darryl Perry whose underlings organized the KPD’s involvement, Councilmember Rapozo and, especially, Prosecuting Attorney Iseri... all of whom are or should be well aware of the laws.
It’s high time to take a page from the prosecutor’s playbook and make an example of those involved so that this type of thing never happens again.
But only two things seem certain at press time- a bunch of counter demonstrators will likely show up and so will Mel Rapozo.
The rest is a subject for the Babooze Comedy Hour starring the Keystone Cops.
The curtain opened with Act 1 this morning at 10:36 when the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) issued the following fishy sounding press release.
Anti-drug rally cancelled
LĪHU'E – An anti-drug rally that was scheduled at 4 pm this afternoon in front of the Historic County Building has been cancelled due to the threat of flash flooding for Kaua`i County.
A flash watch is in effect for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau through tomorrow morning.
The rally was planned to raise awareness and inform the community of the pending marijuana legislation now being considered by the state Legislature.
It’s not clear if anyone bought that excuse after our article yesterday exposed the use of county resources to plan the rally and an order from Iseri that attendance was “mandatory” for her staff attorneys and, ahem, strongly encouraged for the rest of the staff... with a suggestion that they “rearrange” their “schedule” to attend.
But in Act 2, at 12:23 p.m.- less than couple of hours after the first release- it disappeared from the county’s press release page, replaced with the following release, this one from the office of County Attorney Al Castillo:
Update on anti-drug rally
LĪHU'E – County officials said this morning that they received a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) regarding the anti-drug rally that was scheduled at 4 pm this afternoon in front of the Historic County Building.
“We are in receipt of the ACLU complaint and my office is reviewing it,” said County Attorney Alfred Castillo.
The rally was cancelled due to the complaint and for safety concerns due to the threat of flash flooding for Kaua`i County.
A flash watch is in effect for Kaua`i and Ni`ihau through tomorrow morning.
The rally was planned to raise awareness and inform the community of the pending marijuana legislation now being considered by the state Legislature.
Oh to be a fly on the wall to witness all that went into that release.
But Act 3 was on it’s way and at 1 p.m. a “Breaking News” update appeared at the local newspaper’s web site from new cops and court reporter Jessica Musicar with a headline of “Rapozo: Anti-drug rally still a go”
Musicar wrote:
Is it canceled or isn't it?
Whether an anti-drug rally will be held at 4 p.m. remains unclear, as the county and a member of its council have indicated conflicting answers.
Kaua`i County Council member Mel Rapozo, who said he originally scheduled the rally, plans to show up at the historic County Building with other participants, regardless of the county's notice of cancellation. The rally was intended to raise awareness and inform the community about pending marijuana legislation under consideration by the state Legislature.
This morning, however, the county canceled the rally, citing a weather warning. It later noted this afternoon in a press release that the cancellation is also tied to a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Rapozo said he is upset that the county was hiding behind the weather.
"To use the weather as an excuse is unacceptable," Rapozo said. "The reason for the cancellation wasn't the weather. It was the ACLU's concerns."
Although the county has not specified the nature of the complaint, stating only that County Attorney Alfred Castillo is reviewing it, Rapozo said the organization took issue with the county using public resources to host the rally.
Acting as a citizen of the county, rather than a councilman, Rapozo added he will be at the rally with church and youth groups...
We can see it now. Since county employees and any solicited attendees- like the island’s pastors and their minions who Rapozo urged to attend- most likely had heard about the “official” cancellation and the counter demonstrators- especially those who read the local newspaper on-line where, in the comments column, the protest was originally organized- probably either haven’t heard or heard Rapozo will be there, we expect to see Mel facing down a group of pissed off citizens.
.
But in all seriousness canceling the anti-pot-party after a complaint from the ACLU cannot be allowed to be where this ends. We urge a full investigation by at least the attorney general’s office if not the FBI- since of course KPD and the prosecutor are the alleged “perps”- as well as ethics complaints against Chief Darryl Perry whose underlings organized the KPD’s involvement, Councilmember Rapozo and, especially, Prosecuting Attorney Iseri... all of whom are or should be well aware of the laws.
It’s high time to take a page from the prosecutor’s playbook and make an example of those involved so that this type of thing never happens again.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
PAUL HARVEY’S REVENGE
PAUL HARVEY’S REVENGE: It feels like “Let’s All Blow Smoke Up Bruce Laymon’s Ass Week” what with Laymon getting the kid-glove treatment from our friend Joan Conrow yesterday and again much more so from out no-so-much-friend Leo Azambuja in today’s local newspaper, all over Laymon’s hatemongering and intimidation campaign at Lepeuli (Larsen’s).
From multiple reports we’ve heard, the level of fear and loathing out there has increased exponentially with reports of confrontational incidents spurred by Laymon against beach goers since he withdrew his request for a state permit recently... as those who can read between the lines of Conrow’s and the paper’s reports can tell.
But one “comment” on Conrow’s post struck us as needing further exposure, that of Lepeuli activist Richard Spacer.
While many on both sides of the issue have criticized Spacer for both his tactics and his position on some of the issues- and although we don’t necessarily agree with him on all points- we thought his rebuttal needed exposure especially regarding some of the history of prescriptive rights and the case law concerning nudity. We also think his “report” regarding the FBI’s visit to Laymon investigating possible hate crimes- which we have independently confirmed- needs more exposure.
The rest, we need to point out, we can neither confirm or refute but are lending today’s column to his side of a story that was presented so one-sidedly, especially in today’s newspaper.
The third part was originally “edited” by Conrow but we requested and received that portion from Spacer today and have included it below.
Here are his comments, all “sic.”
Seems like Bruce Laymon has got to you as well, Ms. Conrow.
The reason the public has the right to access the ala loa trail THROUGH Waioli Corporation land because under the Highways Act of 1892, passed during the reign of Queen Lililoukalani, all roads, trails, etc, at that time were guaranteed to be public forever. The trail through Lepeuli existed in 1892. There are official maps from 1878 clearly showing the trail. There is Native Hawaiian testimony. Waioli Corporation is crying foul becasue they do not like that 1892 law that Lililoukalani had the wisdom to install as she saw the changes coming, and how arrogant haole landowners would keep Hawaiians off the land. A court case on the Big Island concerning an ala loa there was resolved with maps and Native Hawaiian testimony. It is not a private property issue. That is PR spin from Waioli and Laymon becasue they do not want the public to know about the Highways Act of 1892. Google it, see for yourselves.
The same is true in next door Kaakaaniu, owned by Patricia Hanwright. DLNR's Curt Cottrell in 2007 sent her a letter essentially saying to get ready and let them in, as the state claims a coastal trail through there. Patricia Hanwright won't budge. The same stubborness as Waioli. Waioli and Patricia Hanwright are united in denying this trail exists. I have discussed this on KKCR.
The FBI investigated because the KPD has a long history of racism against Caucasians and activists feel little to no vaule will come from filing complaints against Bruce Laymon's hate speech with KPD. How coincidental was the Caucasian guys were at Laymon's home at the time of the FBI visit. Was the FBI visit scheduled in advance or did they make a surprise visit? Do you honestly think the macho he-man local boy police officer would do anything about a gay, lesbian or naturist being attacked? Whether his father is or is not Caucasian or anything else is irrelevant. Bruce Laymon's behavior stands on its own. Bruce Laymon on March 6 told Colorado beachgoer Dennis Bosio at 9:30 am that next week he was going to have 50 Hawaiians down at Larsen's and RUN the f****** haoles out. At 11:30 am the same day he told me he would have 100 Hawaiians there and said he was "taking back the beach." Whatever that is supposed to mean. Exactly HOW are the whites going to be "RUN" out of a PUBLIC beach? With guns, knives, machetes, spearguns, pit bulls?? Mr. Bosio made a notarized statement of the incident and this document is in the posession of the activists, DLNR, KPD, and attorney Colin Yost. It is publically accesible. It clearly documents Bruce Laymon's desire to drive white people out of Larsen's Beach. That means he is a bigot.
The Conservation District Use Permit (now void) granted to Bruce Laymon stated there would be no driving accross Waioli property to access the beach, unless it is NOAA or emergency vehicles. This is violated almost weekly by Filipino and Hawaiian associates of Bruce Laymon including Sherwood Iida who use Schoolhouse Road to set up camps, leave unattended fishing poles, and generally harass beachgoers. Funny how Bruce Laymon leaves that bit out.
Part 2.
The steep, un-maintained easement trail to the beach the Hawaiians mention is just that, an EASEMENT. We do not own it, Waioli does. If you read the easement document, and I assume you did because you were at county council July 7, 2010 when it was introduced, you would know Waioli reserves the right to erect walls or fencing on it. Waioli Attorney Don Wilson's theatrical on-camera denials notwithstanding, the legal document language reserves the right of Waioli to close it off.
Multiple times I have asked county spokesperson Mary Daubert to ask public works when they are going to maintain the county right-of-way trail we obtained in 1979 and the easment trail. I never get an answer as to when, and no improvement has been made to either trail in over a year. My latest request was referred to the county attorney. Why does Kauai County need to ask their lawyer before weed-whacking trails?
This "cattle ranching" project has little to do with cattle; it is all about keeping people away from Larsen's Beach that Bruce Laymon objects to. Who are those people? Bruce Laymon, Robert Schleck and Patricia Hanwright confidante and neighbor Steve Frailey have told us many times in public conversations, including October 16, 2009 at Larsen's. They use the euphemistic term "illegal behavior" to describe them. On January 19, 2011 a young lady who lives near the beach was attempting to use the gradual, lateral trail and was stopped by Bruce Laymon, busy installing 2 fence posts. She asked him who he was to stop her. He said he was the landowner. That is a fallacy. He is a lessee. She asked him WHY he was fencing. Bruce Laymon told her the fence is to keep campers, nudes, and gays from getting to the beach. In 2011 can you believe such bigoted speech is being uttered!? Campers on Waioli land is one thing. Gays and naturists on a public beach have legal protections and this hate speech against both groups is criminal and leaves Bruce Laymon and Waioli Corporation vulnerable to civil litigation. Being gay or lesbian in Hawaii is not illegal. Neither is topfree or nude sunbathing if you are not intending to affront of alarm (offend) someone on a NON-state park beach. A unanimous state supreme court ruling in 2000 settled this issue once and for all. A group called Kauai Naturists has been formed in response to recent events to document harassment of naturists, disseminate correct information, and to make certain this hate speech stops.
February 14, 2011 8:28 PM
Part 3 (note: only the final paragraph was permitted to be posted by Conrow. As noted above we received the first two paragraphs from Spacer):
Bruce Laymon is a Jehovah's Witness according to a member of that church I spoke with in Kapaa. This sect, many say cult, is well known for its intolerance of gays and lesbians. They consider it sinful and illegal. They also hate naturists. Bruce Laymon sees Larsen's as a sinful place and he is the appointed moral messenger to bring pure, "christian" values to that location, whether anyone agrees with him or not. Under Bruce Laymon's vision of Larsen's Beach, judge Sabrina Shizue McKenna, nominated by Governor Neil Abercrombie to sit on the state supreme court, would be excluded from this PUBLIC beach because she is gay. The passing of civil unions and the imminent signing into law of that legislation must be causing Bruce Laymon to lose his mind. Meanwhile, how is it that Robert Schleck, who is gay, is Bruce Laymon's boss, a man who hates gays?! What is that?
Of course, the joke is on Bruce Laymon because Waioli Corporation is using him as a pawn to "clean up" the land so it can be sold to the highest bidder for housing development. Waioli Vice President Charles Spitz told us that recently, as well as that Waioli spent over $40,000. in legal fees over this issue. So much for Waioli valuing preservation.
This issue has severely damaged Waioli's reputation. Ms. Conrow, you ask how to stop the "insanity". How to stop it is for the pro-access board members (there ARE pro-access members) to dump Robert Schleck, Bruce Laymon, and the anti-access trustees on the board NOW. Deed to the public in perpetuity and irrevocably the gradual trail from the Kaakaaniu line to the Waipake line. It is time for Waioli Corporation to say "aloha" instead of "kapu".
From multiple reports we’ve heard, the level of fear and loathing out there has increased exponentially with reports of confrontational incidents spurred by Laymon against beach goers since he withdrew his request for a state permit recently... as those who can read between the lines of Conrow’s and the paper’s reports can tell.
But one “comment” on Conrow’s post struck us as needing further exposure, that of Lepeuli activist Richard Spacer.
While many on both sides of the issue have criticized Spacer for both his tactics and his position on some of the issues- and although we don’t necessarily agree with him on all points- we thought his rebuttal needed exposure especially regarding some of the history of prescriptive rights and the case law concerning nudity. We also think his “report” regarding the FBI’s visit to Laymon investigating possible hate crimes- which we have independently confirmed- needs more exposure.
The rest, we need to point out, we can neither confirm or refute but are lending today’s column to his side of a story that was presented so one-sidedly, especially in today’s newspaper.
The third part was originally “edited” by Conrow but we requested and received that portion from Spacer today and have included it below.
Here are his comments, all “sic.”
Seems like Bruce Laymon has got to you as well, Ms. Conrow.
The reason the public has the right to access the ala loa trail THROUGH Waioli Corporation land because under the Highways Act of 1892, passed during the reign of Queen Lililoukalani, all roads, trails, etc, at that time were guaranteed to be public forever. The trail through Lepeuli existed in 1892. There are official maps from 1878 clearly showing the trail. There is Native Hawaiian testimony. Waioli Corporation is crying foul becasue they do not like that 1892 law that Lililoukalani had the wisdom to install as she saw the changes coming, and how arrogant haole landowners would keep Hawaiians off the land. A court case on the Big Island concerning an ala loa there was resolved with maps and Native Hawaiian testimony. It is not a private property issue. That is PR spin from Waioli and Laymon becasue they do not want the public to know about the Highways Act of 1892. Google it, see for yourselves.
The same is true in next door Kaakaaniu, owned by Patricia Hanwright. DLNR's Curt Cottrell in 2007 sent her a letter essentially saying to get ready and let them in, as the state claims a coastal trail through there. Patricia Hanwright won't budge. The same stubborness as Waioli. Waioli and Patricia Hanwright are united in denying this trail exists. I have discussed this on KKCR.
The FBI investigated because the KPD has a long history of racism against Caucasians and activists feel little to no vaule will come from filing complaints against Bruce Laymon's hate speech with KPD. How coincidental was the Caucasian guys were at Laymon's home at the time of the FBI visit. Was the FBI visit scheduled in advance or did they make a surprise visit? Do you honestly think the macho he-man local boy police officer would do anything about a gay, lesbian or naturist being attacked? Whether his father is or is not Caucasian or anything else is irrelevant. Bruce Laymon's behavior stands on its own. Bruce Laymon on March 6 told Colorado beachgoer Dennis Bosio at 9:30 am that next week he was going to have 50 Hawaiians down at Larsen's and RUN the f****** haoles out. At 11:30 am the same day he told me he would have 100 Hawaiians there and said he was "taking back the beach." Whatever that is supposed to mean. Exactly HOW are the whites going to be "RUN" out of a PUBLIC beach? With guns, knives, machetes, spearguns, pit bulls?? Mr. Bosio made a notarized statement of the incident and this document is in the posession of the activists, DLNR, KPD, and attorney Colin Yost. It is publically accesible. It clearly documents Bruce Laymon's desire to drive white people out of Larsen's Beach. That means he is a bigot.
The Conservation District Use Permit (now void) granted to Bruce Laymon stated there would be no driving accross Waioli property to access the beach, unless it is NOAA or emergency vehicles. This is violated almost weekly by Filipino and Hawaiian associates of Bruce Laymon including Sherwood Iida who use Schoolhouse Road to set up camps, leave unattended fishing poles, and generally harass beachgoers. Funny how Bruce Laymon leaves that bit out.
Part 2.
The steep, un-maintained easement trail to the beach the Hawaiians mention is just that, an EASEMENT. We do not own it, Waioli does. If you read the easement document, and I assume you did because you were at county council July 7, 2010 when it was introduced, you would know Waioli reserves the right to erect walls or fencing on it. Waioli Attorney Don Wilson's theatrical on-camera denials notwithstanding, the legal document language reserves the right of Waioli to close it off.
Multiple times I have asked county spokesperson Mary Daubert to ask public works when they are going to maintain the county right-of-way trail we obtained in 1979 and the easment trail. I never get an answer as to when, and no improvement has been made to either trail in over a year. My latest request was referred to the county attorney. Why does Kauai County need to ask their lawyer before weed-whacking trails?
This "cattle ranching" project has little to do with cattle; it is all about keeping people away from Larsen's Beach that Bruce Laymon objects to. Who are those people? Bruce Laymon, Robert Schleck and Patricia Hanwright confidante and neighbor Steve Frailey have told us many times in public conversations, including October 16, 2009 at Larsen's. They use the euphemistic term "illegal behavior" to describe them. On January 19, 2011 a young lady who lives near the beach was attempting to use the gradual, lateral trail and was stopped by Bruce Laymon, busy installing 2 fence posts. She asked him who he was to stop her. He said he was the landowner. That is a fallacy. He is a lessee. She asked him WHY he was fencing. Bruce Laymon told her the fence is to keep campers, nudes, and gays from getting to the beach. In 2011 can you believe such bigoted speech is being uttered!? Campers on Waioli land is one thing. Gays and naturists on a public beach have legal protections and this hate speech against both groups is criminal and leaves Bruce Laymon and Waioli Corporation vulnerable to civil litigation. Being gay or lesbian in Hawaii is not illegal. Neither is topfree or nude sunbathing if you are not intending to affront of alarm (offend) someone on a NON-state park beach. A unanimous state supreme court ruling in 2000 settled this issue once and for all. A group called Kauai Naturists has been formed in response to recent events to document harassment of naturists, disseminate correct information, and to make certain this hate speech stops.
February 14, 2011 8:28 PM
Part 3 (note: only the final paragraph was permitted to be posted by Conrow. As noted above we received the first two paragraphs from Spacer):
Bruce Laymon is a Jehovah's Witness according to a member of that church I spoke with in Kapaa. This sect, many say cult, is well known for its intolerance of gays and lesbians. They consider it sinful and illegal. They also hate naturists. Bruce Laymon sees Larsen's as a sinful place and he is the appointed moral messenger to bring pure, "christian" values to that location, whether anyone agrees with him or not. Under Bruce Laymon's vision of Larsen's Beach, judge Sabrina Shizue McKenna, nominated by Governor Neil Abercrombie to sit on the state supreme court, would be excluded from this PUBLIC beach because she is gay. The passing of civil unions and the imminent signing into law of that legislation must be causing Bruce Laymon to lose his mind. Meanwhile, how is it that Robert Schleck, who is gay, is Bruce Laymon's boss, a man who hates gays?! What is that?
Of course, the joke is on Bruce Laymon because Waioli Corporation is using him as a pawn to "clean up" the land so it can be sold to the highest bidder for housing development. Waioli Vice President Charles Spitz told us that recently, as well as that Waioli spent over $40,000. in legal fees over this issue. So much for Waioli valuing preservation.
This issue has severely damaged Waioli's reputation. Ms. Conrow, you ask how to stop the "insanity". How to stop it is for the pro-access board members (there ARE pro-access members) to dump Robert Schleck, Bruce Laymon, and the anti-access trustees on the board NOW. Deed to the public in perpetuity and irrevocably the gradual trail from the Kaakaaniu line to the Waipake line. It is time for Waioli Corporation to say "aloha" instead of "kapu".
Monday, November 29, 2010
G-MEN AND THE TWO C-MEN
G-MEN AND THE TWO C-MEN: The sudden resignation of Planning Director Ian Costa was apparently forced due to a current FBI investigation of the Kaua`i Planning Department focusing on Costa and his Deputy Imai Aiu.
According to an extremely reliable source close to the investigation, the bureau has been focusing on the planning department in recent weeks. This was also confirmed by a second source independent of the first one.
Anyone who watched the planning commission meeting last Tuesday couldn’t help but be convinced that Costa didn’t simply resign- the measured hesitating speeches, the down-looking faces, the references to a “sad day”, the reassurances by Mayor Bernard Carvalho that “no matter what” there would be “good days ahead for Costa”, even comments from commission members referring to “the situation we’re in” and “the steps we’ve taken.”
Prior to Costa’s “resignation”, at their October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director.”
The investigation may be related to the cases upon which we reported recently that were brought before the Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE).
They involved the practice of department employees of taking outside work that came back to the department for approval. And it wasn’t limited to underlings but extended to Costa himself who was reportedly the subject of a complaint that he did architectural work on projects his department later approved.
Not only is this kind of thing a violation of the local Code of Ethics, if the FBI finds that there was say, a link between their work and the approvals or that the amount of work was not really commensurate with the amount they were paid or even that a kickback scheme existed, indictments could be ahead... not just for the actions themselves but under conspiracy and racketeering laws if it were found to be pervasive in the department.
But aside from the inherent nature of Carvalho’s “ode to cronyism” speech to the commission- in which he pledged to give Costa another job because their “relationship goes back to ‘hanabata’ days” and talked of how “it’s all about the relationships,” his attempt to use his “ex-officio” membership on the planning commission to promote and lobby for Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig as interim planning director is a huge ethics violation in and of itself.
Ethics and Sunshine watchdog Rob Abrew made it plain in his testimony before the commission.
The Kaua`i County Charter makes the mayor an “ex-officio”, non-voting member of every county board and commission. And as a member of a board or commission- which is the capacity in which Carvalho wrote he was acting in his letter to the commission- one is not permitted to lobby for a vote except during a duly agendaed and called-to-order meeting. To do so beforehand- and to make sure, as Carvalho did, that everyone saw it when it was printed on the front page of the local newspaper - is a blatant violation of HRS 92.
But that isn’t the worst ethics violation inherent in Carvalho’s request.
Most remember the case of former Police Commissioner Michael Ching who was accused of using his position on the commission to lobby for the hiring of K.C. Lum as police chief.
And although the decision was tainted by a series of manipulations by the BOE and county council to get the result they wanted, that kind of action was found to be a violation of the code of ethics which prohibits the use of one’s position to seek a special favor or benefit for another.
Ching was forced to resign and Lum’s contract was nullified.
How that case differs from the case of Planning Commission “member” Carvalho lobbying for the appointment of Dahilig as interim planning director is anything but apparent.
While details of the FBI investigation are not available just yet, it is known that they have been looking into the possibility of corruption in Kaua`i county government since the end of the Baptiste administration, as revealed by then Councilperson now Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho in an open council session.
She and others in county government revealed that they had been grilled- often for hours at a time- by FBI officials who then opened an office on the island for the first time.
There’s one more interesting note on Costa’s appointment by Carvalho to the post of deputy director of parks and recreation.
Back in the late 90’s then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka attempted to appoint the deputy director of the planning department, even though the county charter specifically calls for the appointment of a department directors who are then to hire and fire his or her own staff.
Then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, in a bizarre opinion, told Kusaka that it was all legal for her to hire the deputy.
That outraged another ethics and sunshine activist, Horace Stoessel, who waged a years-long battle to have the opinion reversed. When Baptiste was elected the first action of his new County Attorney, Lani Nakazawa, was to reverse the opinion.
The Nakazawa opinion stands to this day and would ban Carvalho from hiring a deputy director of parks and recreation.
Of course the Director of Parks and Recreation is one of Carvalho’s closest cronies, his former campaign director Lenny Rapozo so the actual appointment of Costa may be moot. But once again using one's position to secure a special favor or benefit for another- something Carvalho didn’t mince words in admitting he was doing in his testimony before the planning commission- is a violation of the county charter, section 20.02(E).
According to an extremely reliable source close to the investigation, the bureau has been focusing on the planning department in recent weeks. This was also confirmed by a second source independent of the first one.
Anyone who watched the planning commission meeting last Tuesday couldn’t help but be convinced that Costa didn’t simply resign- the measured hesitating speeches, the down-looking faces, the references to a “sad day”, the reassurances by Mayor Bernard Carvalho that “no matter what” there would be “good days ahead for Costa”, even comments from commission members referring to “the situation we’re in” and “the steps we’ve taken.”
Prior to Costa’s “resignation”, at their October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director.”
The investigation may be related to the cases upon which we reported recently that were brought before the Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE).
They involved the practice of department employees of taking outside work that came back to the department for approval. And it wasn’t limited to underlings but extended to Costa himself who was reportedly the subject of a complaint that he did architectural work on projects his department later approved.
Not only is this kind of thing a violation of the local Code of Ethics, if the FBI finds that there was say, a link between their work and the approvals or that the amount of work was not really commensurate with the amount they were paid or even that a kickback scheme existed, indictments could be ahead... not just for the actions themselves but under conspiracy and racketeering laws if it were found to be pervasive in the department.
But aside from the inherent nature of Carvalho’s “ode to cronyism” speech to the commission- in which he pledged to give Costa another job because their “relationship goes back to ‘hanabata’ days” and talked of how “it’s all about the relationships,” his attempt to use his “ex-officio” membership on the planning commission to promote and lobby for Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig as interim planning director is a huge ethics violation in and of itself.
Ethics and Sunshine watchdog Rob Abrew made it plain in his testimony before the commission.
The Kaua`i County Charter makes the mayor an “ex-officio”, non-voting member of every county board and commission. And as a member of a board or commission- which is the capacity in which Carvalho wrote he was acting in his letter to the commission- one is not permitted to lobby for a vote except during a duly agendaed and called-to-order meeting. To do so beforehand- and to make sure, as Carvalho did, that everyone saw it when it was printed on the front page of the local newspaper - is a blatant violation of HRS 92.
But that isn’t the worst ethics violation inherent in Carvalho’s request.
Most remember the case of former Police Commissioner Michael Ching who was accused of using his position on the commission to lobby for the hiring of K.C. Lum as police chief.
And although the decision was tainted by a series of manipulations by the BOE and county council to get the result they wanted, that kind of action was found to be a violation of the code of ethics which prohibits the use of one’s position to seek a special favor or benefit for another.
Ching was forced to resign and Lum’s contract was nullified.
How that case differs from the case of Planning Commission “member” Carvalho lobbying for the appointment of Dahilig as interim planning director is anything but apparent.
While details of the FBI investigation are not available just yet, it is known that they have been looking into the possibility of corruption in Kaua`i county government since the end of the Baptiste administration, as revealed by then Councilperson now Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho in an open council session.
She and others in county government revealed that they had been grilled- often for hours at a time- by FBI officials who then opened an office on the island for the first time.
There’s one more interesting note on Costa’s appointment by Carvalho to the post of deputy director of parks and recreation.
Back in the late 90’s then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka attempted to appoint the deputy director of the planning department, even though the county charter specifically calls for the appointment of a department directors who are then to hire and fire his or her own staff.
Then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, in a bizarre opinion, told Kusaka that it was all legal for her to hire the deputy.
That outraged another ethics and sunshine activist, Horace Stoessel, who waged a years-long battle to have the opinion reversed. When Baptiste was elected the first action of his new County Attorney, Lani Nakazawa, was to reverse the opinion.
The Nakazawa opinion stands to this day and would ban Carvalho from hiring a deputy director of parks and recreation.
Of course the Director of Parks and Recreation is one of Carvalho’s closest cronies, his former campaign director Lenny Rapozo so the actual appointment of Costa may be moot. But once again using one's position to secure a special favor or benefit for another- something Carvalho didn’t mince words in admitting he was doing in his testimony before the planning commission- is a violation of the county charter, section 20.02(E).
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
GLAD WE DIDN’T STEP IN IT
GLAD WE DIDN’T STEP IN IT: A guy walking down the street at night comes upon another guy down on his hands and knees, searching the ground underneath a streetlamp. The second guy asks the first guy what he’s doing and he says he’s looking for his keys.
“Where’d you lose them?” he asks
“Down there in the middle of the block,” the first guy replies, pointing
“Then why are you looking here?”
“Because the light is better.”
Such is apparently the logic of new County Auditor Ernie Pasion who, if an article in the local newspaper has its facts straight- a big “if” these days with little lost boy Leo Azambuja on the government beat- has turned the best and brightest hope for shining a light on rampant administration corruption and incompetence via performance audits into a busy-work office rechecking old financial audits and assorted irrelevant minutia.
Rather than diving right into long standing, well documented, scandalous situations by examining departmental shortcomings- like the patronage system in the personnel office one of the subjects that the FBI has been investigating, or in public works where multifaceted corruption was instrumental in efforts that wound up in the creation of the office of the auditor itself and in the planning department where the director seems to be unable to enforce zoning laws to name a trio- Pasion, a long entrenched good old boy appointee of the council as Deputy County Clerk, has chosen things like auditing the work of the paid financial/fiscal auditors who present the council with yearly reports replete with required actions to rectify shortcomings, as required by law.
Rather than looking into the decades long scandal over discrepancies in the amount of asphalt used on our roads he’s going to look into one single “major road maintenance program performed in the previous year”.
The well reported performance problems and allegations of corruption in the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) that triggered an attempt at council investigations in the past- and allegations that they continue today- is not on any list but the just completed fire station- which reportedly came in early and under budget- is scheduled for a look- see.
The fact that Pasion is quoted as saying he “will be analyzing implementation of the test projects, identifying successes and making recommendations when necessary” is more telling in what it doesn’t say- anything about identifying failures- than anything it does say... not to mention the “ making recommendation when necessary” part indicating that the likelihood of looking for, much less finding, anything that requires recommend changes wasn’t a likely part of the criteria for choosing a subject for audit.
The long and winding road to this latest attempt by the council to placate critics who bemoan their inability or unwillingness to hold administrations accountable while also assuring that shady administrative affairs are swept under the rug began more than a decade ago with the endless “Developers Gone Wild” hearings when the council decided to invoke section 3.17 of the county charter that enables the council to perform “investigations” in the only exception to the non-interference with administrative affairs clause provisions also in charter section 3.
But after first squabbling over how much money to appropriate then deciding which little trees in the Department of Public Works forest to investigate and finally a seemingly intentionally bungled attempt to set up rules for the investigation, many years later that effort morphed into a non-charter created in-house auditor.
After that one sat on the table unimplemented for another year or so the charter amendment creating a county auditor was finally proposed and accepted by voters- not as an independent much less elected position but as an office administratively attached to- and an individual appointed by- the council.
Worries about the lack of specific wording to stress performance audits and make sure the office was led by someone like take-no-prisoners State Auditor Marion Higa went unheard in the fake excitement over the false hope of holding the administration accountable.
So of course we are left with what appears to be a financial/fiscal auditor’s office and an auditor who has no accounting credentials whatsoever. Now they’re actually talking about hiring at least a CPA to do Pasion’s job for him.
What we’re stuck with is a financial rather than performance auditor of the already audited. The question is who is auditing the auditor?
“Where’d you lose them?” he asks
“Down there in the middle of the block,” the first guy replies, pointing
“Then why are you looking here?”
“Because the light is better.”
Such is apparently the logic of new County Auditor Ernie Pasion who, if an article in the local newspaper has its facts straight- a big “if” these days with little lost boy Leo Azambuja on the government beat- has turned the best and brightest hope for shining a light on rampant administration corruption and incompetence via performance audits into a busy-work office rechecking old financial audits and assorted irrelevant minutia.
Rather than diving right into long standing, well documented, scandalous situations by examining departmental shortcomings- like the patronage system in the personnel office one of the subjects that the FBI has been investigating, or in public works where multifaceted corruption was instrumental in efforts that wound up in the creation of the office of the auditor itself and in the planning department where the director seems to be unable to enforce zoning laws to name a trio- Pasion, a long entrenched good old boy appointee of the council as Deputy County Clerk, has chosen things like auditing the work of the paid financial/fiscal auditors who present the council with yearly reports replete with required actions to rectify shortcomings, as required by law.
Rather than looking into the decades long scandal over discrepancies in the amount of asphalt used on our roads he’s going to look into one single “major road maintenance program performed in the previous year”.
The well reported performance problems and allegations of corruption in the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) that triggered an attempt at council investigations in the past- and allegations that they continue today- is not on any list but the just completed fire station- which reportedly came in early and under budget- is scheduled for a look- see.
The fact that Pasion is quoted as saying he “will be analyzing implementation of the test projects, identifying successes and making recommendations when necessary” is more telling in what it doesn’t say- anything about identifying failures- than anything it does say... not to mention the “ making recommendation when necessary” part indicating that the likelihood of looking for, much less finding, anything that requires recommend changes wasn’t a likely part of the criteria for choosing a subject for audit.
The long and winding road to this latest attempt by the council to placate critics who bemoan their inability or unwillingness to hold administrations accountable while also assuring that shady administrative affairs are swept under the rug began more than a decade ago with the endless “Developers Gone Wild” hearings when the council decided to invoke section 3.17 of the county charter that enables the council to perform “investigations” in the only exception to the non-interference with administrative affairs clause provisions also in charter section 3.
But after first squabbling over how much money to appropriate then deciding which little trees in the Department of Public Works forest to investigate and finally a seemingly intentionally bungled attempt to set up rules for the investigation, many years later that effort morphed into a non-charter created in-house auditor.
After that one sat on the table unimplemented for another year or so the charter amendment creating a county auditor was finally proposed and accepted by voters- not as an independent much less elected position but as an office administratively attached to- and an individual appointed by- the council.
Worries about the lack of specific wording to stress performance audits and make sure the office was led by someone like take-no-prisoners State Auditor Marion Higa went unheard in the fake excitement over the false hope of holding the administration accountable.
So of course we are left with what appears to be a financial/fiscal auditor’s office and an auditor who has no accounting credentials whatsoever. Now they’re actually talking about hiring at least a CPA to do Pasion’s job for him.
What we’re stuck with is a financial rather than performance auditor of the already audited. The question is who is auditing the auditor?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
RUNNING AFTER THE HONEYWAGON
RUNNING AFTER THE HONEYWAGON: We did skip over one particularly nauseating bit of unsurprising non-news from the January 14 council meeting where, to no one’s astonishment, former councilpersons Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho’s valiant fight to clean up the county patronage–based hiring system (in the wake of the linked FBI investigation) died a quick and silent death.
As we reported in both September and again in December Personnel Services Division Malcolm “Mel” Fernandez has refused to appear before the council to answer questions regarding employment practices and the matter was “deferred” leaving one last council action on the matter now that Mel and Shay are gone from the council.
And so without comment the matter was “received for the record” by the current council last Wednesday.
But Rapozo, who lost his bid for Mayor last year, promised to follow up and guess what? He did.
Perhaps his investigative talents were lost on politics-from-the-inside because today Rapozo reports some blockbuster info at his Kaua`i Politics web site after attending yesterday’s Kaua`i Civil Service Commission Meeting.
Though many suspected as much Rapozo got them to admit two things.
The first is that despite state laws to the contrary they apparently do not administer civil service exams to many applicants for civil service positions.
The second is that they maintain a “list” of 2-300 applicants and let the department heads just pick and choose who they- or the mayor, who appoints them- want without regard to comparative skills, talents or “merit”
Mel cites the two pertinent state laws, The first requires exams.
§76-18 Examinations. There shall be examinations for testing the fitness and ability of applicants for positions in civil service. The director shall adopt rules to administer the examination programs.
The second describes the “merit system” which requires that employment be “based on the.. fitness and ability” of the applicants.
In it’s entirety it reads
§76-1 Purposes; merit principle. It is the purpose of this chapter to require each jurisdiction to establish and maintain a separately administered civil service system based on the merit principle. The merit principle is the selection of persons based on their fitness and ability for public employment and the retention of employees based on their demonstrated appropriate conduct and productive performance. It is also the purpose of this chapter to build a career service in government, free from coercive political influences, to render impartial service to the public at all times, according to the dictates of ethics and morality and in compliance with all laws.
Is it any wonder that the hallmark of Kaua`i county is the general incompetence of many its employees? And is it any wonder that we’ve been besieged with emails and phone calls from disgruntled applicants who were amazed that they were never even offered a test or were actually given false requirements by Fernandez’s department.
Just this morning we heard again from a person after he was originally told his 20 years experience on Kaua`i in the field in which he was applying did not qualify him to even apply because he lacked a four year college degree- any four year degree in any field, related or not.
He had wondered why he was rejected without even being offered a civil service exam as just about everyone in the country must take to work for the government, a tradition going back to ancient China in order to create a “what you know, not who you know” system
He finally asked to see the rules in writing and found out that the degree was indeed not required and that his experience might be enough but only after he went down to the personnel office and demanded to know why he was given the bum’s rush.
This is Rapozo’s second recent foray into the news reporting business after his short yet full report last week on the ag land vacation rentals bill not only scooped the local paper and the Associated Press but gave a much more thorough exposition of the controversies involved rather than just regurgitating the position of the proponents of the bill as the local paper and AP did.
So welcome to the world of investigative journalism Mel Keep up the good work.
As we reported in both September and again in December Personnel Services Division Malcolm “Mel” Fernandez has refused to appear before the council to answer questions regarding employment practices and the matter was “deferred” leaving one last council action on the matter now that Mel and Shay are gone from the council.
And so without comment the matter was “received for the record” by the current council last Wednesday.
But Rapozo, who lost his bid for Mayor last year, promised to follow up and guess what? He did.
Perhaps his investigative talents were lost on politics-from-the-inside because today Rapozo reports some blockbuster info at his Kaua`i Politics web site after attending yesterday’s Kaua`i Civil Service Commission Meeting.
Though many suspected as much Rapozo got them to admit two things.
The first is that despite state laws to the contrary they apparently do not administer civil service exams to many applicants for civil service positions.
The second is that they maintain a “list” of 2-300 applicants and let the department heads just pick and choose who they- or the mayor, who appoints them- want without regard to comparative skills, talents or “merit”
Mel cites the two pertinent state laws, The first requires exams.
§76-18 Examinations. There shall be examinations for testing the fitness and ability of applicants for positions in civil service. The director shall adopt rules to administer the examination programs.
The second describes the “merit system” which requires that employment be “based on the.. fitness and ability” of the applicants.
In it’s entirety it reads
§76-1 Purposes; merit principle. It is the purpose of this chapter to require each jurisdiction to establish and maintain a separately administered civil service system based on the merit principle. The merit principle is the selection of persons based on their fitness and ability for public employment and the retention of employees based on their demonstrated appropriate conduct and productive performance. It is also the purpose of this chapter to build a career service in government, free from coercive political influences, to render impartial service to the public at all times, according to the dictates of ethics and morality and in compliance with all laws.
Is it any wonder that the hallmark of Kaua`i county is the general incompetence of many its employees? And is it any wonder that we’ve been besieged with emails and phone calls from disgruntled applicants who were amazed that they were never even offered a test or were actually given false requirements by Fernandez’s department.
Just this morning we heard again from a person after he was originally told his 20 years experience on Kaua`i in the field in which he was applying did not qualify him to even apply because he lacked a four year college degree- any four year degree in any field, related or not.
He had wondered why he was rejected without even being offered a civil service exam as just about everyone in the country must take to work for the government, a tradition going back to ancient China in order to create a “what you know, not who you know” system
He finally asked to see the rules in writing and found out that the degree was indeed not required and that his experience might be enough but only after he went down to the personnel office and demanded to know why he was given the bum’s rush.
This is Rapozo’s second recent foray into the news reporting business after his short yet full report last week on the ag land vacation rentals bill not only scooped the local paper and the Associated Press but gave a much more thorough exposition of the controversies involved rather than just regurgitating the position of the proponents of the bill as the local paper and AP did.
So welcome to the world of investigative journalism Mel Keep up the good work.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
WHO’S MINDING THE ZOO?
WHO’S MINDING THE ZOO?: Former Councilmember Mel Rapozo’s “Kaua`i Politics” blog, which was interrupted when he ran for mayor, is back and the first item up was a “poll” asking:
What do you think is the most important issue that will face Kauai in 2009?
But the available answers were limited the usual suspects:
Economy; Traffic; Affordable housing; Solid Waste; Drugs and Crime; Transportation; Superferry; GMO Crops
Yawn.
Seems the one subject Mel knows a lot about is curiously unavailable- corruption and secrecy in county government.
But though he didn’t seem interested in responding to a comment we left noting the absence of the issue from the survey he did answer a comment from someone else asking
(A)ny chance that 2009 will bring the FBI into the picture regarding the hiring practices of the county. andy parx recent post... details a little of the FBI probe. any comments to his assertions that the FBI is investigating the administration's hiring decisions?
Mel’s response regarding something that we kind of glossed over in yesterday’s article on the FBI probe of Kaua`i county corruption was:
As far as the FBI coming here to investigate the hiring practices of the County, I can only hope. I have asked to be on the Civil Service Commission agenda to inform them of what has been happening. After two deferrals, I am set to testify at their January 20th meeting at 3pm. I hope to convince them to initiate an inquiry into the practices that the personnel department has been using for many years.
The Civil Service Commission on Kaua`i is another of those supposedly independent boards and commissions- like the Planning, Police, Fire and Liquor Commissions- that hire and fire their respective administrative department heads..
But their autonomy is almost non-existent in practice because they have been corrupted over the years evolving into the dog being wagged by the administration’s tail, acting as little more than rubber stamps for whatever the mayor wants.
Sometimes we wonder if commissioners are even aware of the hiring and firing power they have especially in the case of the Planning Commission whose associated department head Ian Costa is a three-administration poster boy for cronyism and corruption on Kaua`i, yet is treated as the commission’s boss rather than an employee.
Since the mayor appoints the commission members it’s not hard to control what they do, especially since they are administratively run by the administration which “orients” the new commissioners by indoctrination in the “process” that has “always been that way”.
In the cases of all of these “hiring” commissions, the commissions have no independent staff of their own but rely on those that were hired by the department head and who are of course beholden to that administrator- not the commissioners- for their job.
And guess what- there are no administrative rules for any of them on how to remove or fire a department head. It’s not hard to imagine how much cooperation they will get from their- and not so coincidentally the department head’s- staff should they decide a change is needed.
If there is anything that challenges the authority or threatens the job of their bosses you can bet those administrate personnel will make sure the commission gets only the factual material the department head wants them to get.
And since no one wants to rock the boat - especially the new members- meetings just continue to run as they always have, including of course violations of the Sunshine Law. That’s mostly because no one ever goes to their meetings or cares what goes on except for those who get personally screwed somehow by the county and its corrupt practices.
Rapozo had actually sent a letter before the meeting we described yesterday and instead of notifying him that his communication would be on the agenda, their “protocol” called for receiving the letter and putting it on a future agenda... if they felt like it.
And because they don’t seem to want to deal with it their lest two meetings- in November and December- Rapozo is counting on them to actually listen in January.
Maybe Mel has spent too much time on the official side of the council bar but that notion is one that elicits guffaws from the longtime council watchers.
In his last few meetings Rapozo had promised to keep up his watchdog activities at council meetings and “join the nitpickers on the ‘other side’” after leaving office. We hope that his absence from the first meeting was only due to the family health problems he has reported upon at his blog and not because he is abandoning his efforts to stir up the cesspool.
His promise to pursue the Civil Service Commission action is encouraging.
Whether any of the new council members are even aware of some of the loose ends left by Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho- such as the various audits and investigations of employment and procurement practices in various departments and the mayor’s office- is anyone’s guess at this point..
If past is prologue, we can be sure that Chair Kaipo Asing and Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Darryl Kaneshiro will do their paternalistic best to block the efforts to expose the corrupt practices and the people perpetuating them,
We aren’t too sure which side Jay Furfaro is on in all this but without all three new members’ vocal support and willingness to speak up and speak out on these matters it will be another two years of “same old, same old”.
If people don’t care- or don’t let them know they do- it will just go away as new Mayor Bernard Carvalho and his cronies hope, FBI investigation notwithstanding.
What do you think is the most important issue that will face Kauai in 2009?
But the available answers were limited the usual suspects:
Economy; Traffic; Affordable housing; Solid Waste; Drugs and Crime; Transportation; Superferry; GMO Crops
Yawn.
Seems the one subject Mel knows a lot about is curiously unavailable- corruption and secrecy in county government.
But though he didn’t seem interested in responding to a comment we left noting the absence of the issue from the survey he did answer a comment from someone else asking
(A)ny chance that 2009 will bring the FBI into the picture regarding the hiring practices of the county. andy parx recent post... details a little of the FBI probe. any comments to his assertions that the FBI is investigating the administration's hiring decisions?
Mel’s response regarding something that we kind of glossed over in yesterday’s article on the FBI probe of Kaua`i county corruption was:
As far as the FBI coming here to investigate the hiring practices of the County, I can only hope. I have asked to be on the Civil Service Commission agenda to inform them of what has been happening. After two deferrals, I am set to testify at their January 20th meeting at 3pm. I hope to convince them to initiate an inquiry into the practices that the personnel department has been using for many years.
The Civil Service Commission on Kaua`i is another of those supposedly independent boards and commissions- like the Planning, Police, Fire and Liquor Commissions- that hire and fire their respective administrative department heads..
But their autonomy is almost non-existent in practice because they have been corrupted over the years evolving into the dog being wagged by the administration’s tail, acting as little more than rubber stamps for whatever the mayor wants.
Sometimes we wonder if commissioners are even aware of the hiring and firing power they have especially in the case of the Planning Commission whose associated department head Ian Costa is a three-administration poster boy for cronyism and corruption on Kaua`i, yet is treated as the commission’s boss rather than an employee.
Since the mayor appoints the commission members it’s not hard to control what they do, especially since they are administratively run by the administration which “orients” the new commissioners by indoctrination in the “process” that has “always been that way”.
In the cases of all of these “hiring” commissions, the commissions have no independent staff of their own but rely on those that were hired by the department head and who are of course beholden to that administrator- not the commissioners- for their job.
And guess what- there are no administrative rules for any of them on how to remove or fire a department head. It’s not hard to imagine how much cooperation they will get from their- and not so coincidentally the department head’s- staff should they decide a change is needed.
If there is anything that challenges the authority or threatens the job of their bosses you can bet those administrate personnel will make sure the commission gets only the factual material the department head wants them to get.
And since no one wants to rock the boat - especially the new members- meetings just continue to run as they always have, including of course violations of the Sunshine Law. That’s mostly because no one ever goes to their meetings or cares what goes on except for those who get personally screwed somehow by the county and its corrupt practices.
Rapozo had actually sent a letter before the meeting we described yesterday and instead of notifying him that his communication would be on the agenda, their “protocol” called for receiving the letter and putting it on a future agenda... if they felt like it.
And because they don’t seem to want to deal with it their lest two meetings- in November and December- Rapozo is counting on them to actually listen in January.
Maybe Mel has spent too much time on the official side of the council bar but that notion is one that elicits guffaws from the longtime council watchers.
In his last few meetings Rapozo had promised to keep up his watchdog activities at council meetings and “join the nitpickers on the ‘other side’” after leaving office. We hope that his absence from the first meeting was only due to the family health problems he has reported upon at his blog and not because he is abandoning his efforts to stir up the cesspool.
His promise to pursue the Civil Service Commission action is encouraging.
Whether any of the new council members are even aware of some of the loose ends left by Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho- such as the various audits and investigations of employment and procurement practices in various departments and the mayor’s office- is anyone’s guess at this point..
If past is prologue, we can be sure that Chair Kaipo Asing and Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Darryl Kaneshiro will do their paternalistic best to block the efforts to expose the corrupt practices and the people perpetuating them,
We aren’t too sure which side Jay Furfaro is on in all this but without all three new members’ vocal support and willingness to speak up and speak out on these matters it will be another two years of “same old, same old”.
If people don’t care- or don’t let them know they do- it will just go away as new Mayor Bernard Carvalho and his cronies hope, FBI investigation notwithstanding.
Monday, December 29, 2008
FBI GRILLS TOP COUNTY OFFICIALS IN CORRUPTION PROBE
FBI GRILLS TOP COUNTY OFFICIALS IN CORRUPTION PROBE
The FBI is engaged in a government corruption probe on Kaua`i and has interrogated the mayor, police chief and most if not all department heads and county council members with an eye toward opening a permanent office on the island, according to Kaua`i Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.
The FBI interviews occurred in July according to then-Councilwoman Iseri who, at the October 8 county council meeting, revealed that she was questioned for two hours on July 24 regarding “corruption (and) serious allegations of nepotism and hiring of campaign workers etc.”
The revelation came after Personnel Services Director Mel Fernandez refused to appear before the council to explain specific instances of the “downward reallocation” process that downgrades skilled positions to entry level jobs.
The move has allegedly been common practice for many years in order to place well connected but unqualified applicants in job slots that were created by the council to fill the needs for skilled workers expressed by department heads during budgeting sessions as PNN detailed on September 15.
The FBI sessions took place after the death of Mayor Bryan Baptiste and during the short reign of then acting Mayor Kaipo Asing.
“We actually had a visit by the FBI that came on July 24”. Iseri told the council and the TV cameras. “There was a meeting between the police chief and the mayor and subsequent to that there was meetings between department heads as well as the council because there was allegations by many that the FBI had wanted to establish a unit here and there were numerous questions that went on.
“An interview went on for up to two hours with myself and I’m sure that was the length of time that went on with others about corruption in government..
“And that was a serious enough concern that was taken by the FBI, so serious enough that they were thinking of establishing or providing justification to establish an office here.”
The probe was exposed by Iseri after a communication requesting that Fernandez attend the meeting to explain one “reassignment” of job a description elicited a letter saying essentially that he was not asking for a deferral but was refusing to answer any questions as to the reasons for the changes.
As part of the budget law enacted this year, for the first time the personnel services department must notify the council when jobs are reallocated.
All seven councilmembers were flabbergasted by the unprecedented absolute refusal- usually department heads use delaying and misdirection tactics to avoid council inquires.
But none more astounded than Mel Rapozo, who was livid.
“He’s basically telling us he’s done his obligation and that’s all I’m doing- without coming, without responding to our request, (saying) ‘you got a report- stop it’” Rapozo said before reading Fernandez’s letter which said:
Please be informed that I am unable to be present at the October 8 meeting relative to the above subject.
It is our belief that we have fulfilled our obligation under the general provisions changes under the budget ordinance by providing the informational report on the transferring of changing of positions within 30 days.
“This is just baffling- perplexing. I guess this is their response” said then council Chair Jay Furfaro, saying apparently all they could do was to go to the Civil Service Commission, who hires and fires the personnel services director according to the county charter.
But Rapozo said he had already written to the commission and, since the commission’s meeting are on Wednesdays at the same time the council meets, “maybe we can all march down there and testify”
“This is a total show of disrespect. It’s a slap in our faces” he said emphasizing that it is for the public’s benefit that the council asked for an explanation while calling the practice of taking a budgeted position and changing it without explanation “fraudulent”
Noting he would not be on the council come December 1 because he was running for Mayor at the time Rapozo said “I hope the seven who are here dollar fund every position that’s not filled” during the next budget session.
“Dollar funding” is a practice of creating a line item but only appropriating one dollar for it so that by controlling the purse strings by requiring approval the council can have more control over the process.
Currently if the council appropriates $90,000 for a skilled professional the department can hire three $30,000 janitors. And before this summer no one on the council would ever know it.
That’s when Iseri had apparently had enough and revealed the FBI probe to the public.,
This is the third time it’s come up on the agenda” she told the council before describing the “merit principle” that is detailed in the charter regarding hiring practices.
“For me” she said “this is pure administrative arrogance.
“We’re not talking about a simple isolated incident... this is the exact kind of thing that happens as soon as the budget is passed. It shows the budget process is really a fraud. there’s absolutely no accountability in that kind of system.”
Iseri explained that what’s been happening is that frantic overworked department heads come to the council at budget time asking them to create skilled positions to take care of the increasing workload. But when the hiring takes place the skilled position is not filled and an unskilled entry-level position is created, sometimes more than one.
She likened the process to “begging for a civil engineer and then switching to three custodians”.
She cited a recent personnel services decision where an investigator who oversaw cases for 150 prosecutors in Honolulu was deemed to be unqualified to oversee cases of 15 attorneys on Kaua`i.
The councilmembers all noted that this was not a reflection on Asing who had just taken over the job and whose signature was not on the letter from Fernandez. As a matter of fact there wasn’t even a place for the mayor’s signature or initial as is always the norm.
Iseri had special criticism though for administrative assistant then and now Gary Heu who did initial Fernandez’s letter. Heu, she said, had earlier promised that he would make sure that the reasons for changes would be fully transparent, causing Iseri to withdraw a proposed charter amendment on the subject this past summer.
Heu was rehired in his post by new Mayor Bernard Carvalho.
According to Rapozo although the county charter prohibits the council from interfering with the “administrative function” of county government this was a matter of the legislative function of the county dealing with appropriation and budgeting.
In the past this has been interpreted as saying the council cannot compel administration personnel to testify or even appear before the council. In practice the council “requests” that they be present to discuss matter of mutual concern.
“If I’m providing my oversight on a position that we approved- that the public is paying for- you’re damn right I (should) have the opportunity to ask questions on that funding” he said loud enough for his microphone to feed back.
“The problem is not reallocating of positions for people that are qualified. The problem is that they are downgrading positions from the higher levels that require (civil service) testing and requirements that for some reason the people they want to hire don’t have.
“So they lower the classification to entry level where they can waive the test and then hire who they want and put them on their own track for on-the-job training and slowly get them incremented until they’re up to where they’re supposed to be.
“That’s not fair” he said.
He then told of one of the voluminous stories told to him and other council members in phone calls and emails after the problems were revealed at the September meeting PNN described. At that meeting Furfaro told a story about how his qualified and experienced daughter was refused a job so someone with connection but was not qualified could take a reallocated job.
Rapozo told of a local kid who came back from attending University of Northern Colorado where he had obtained a degree in industrial chemistry. When a position for a “wastewater chemist” was advertised in the local newspaper he applied and studied all he could about wastewater in preparation for the civil service test.
But he never got to take the test . Instead, after an interview only, he was told he wouldn’t get the job and they hired someone with a degree in forestry instead- someone who just happened to be a relative of a county employee.
The chemist filed a complaint with the civil service commission in Dec. of 2007 but the follow-up had just begun in Sept..
The matter was deferred and should appear on a future council agenda.
The FBI is engaged in a government corruption probe on Kaua`i and has interrogated the mayor, police chief and most if not all department heads and county council members with an eye toward opening a permanent office on the island, according to Kaua`i Prosecuting Attorney Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.
The FBI interviews occurred in July according to then-Councilwoman Iseri who, at the October 8 county council meeting, revealed that she was questioned for two hours on July 24 regarding “corruption (and) serious allegations of nepotism and hiring of campaign workers etc.”
The revelation came after Personnel Services Director Mel Fernandez refused to appear before the council to explain specific instances of the “downward reallocation” process that downgrades skilled positions to entry level jobs.
The move has allegedly been common practice for many years in order to place well connected but unqualified applicants in job slots that were created by the council to fill the needs for skilled workers expressed by department heads during budgeting sessions as PNN detailed on September 15.
The FBI sessions took place after the death of Mayor Bryan Baptiste and during the short reign of then acting Mayor Kaipo Asing.
“We actually had a visit by the FBI that came on July 24”. Iseri told the council and the TV cameras. “There was a meeting between the police chief and the mayor and subsequent to that there was meetings between department heads as well as the council because there was allegations by many that the FBI had wanted to establish a unit here and there were numerous questions that went on.
“An interview went on for up to two hours with myself and I’m sure that was the length of time that went on with others about corruption in government..
“And that was a serious enough concern that was taken by the FBI, so serious enough that they were thinking of establishing or providing justification to establish an office here.”
The probe was exposed by Iseri after a communication requesting that Fernandez attend the meeting to explain one “reassignment” of job a description elicited a letter saying essentially that he was not asking for a deferral but was refusing to answer any questions as to the reasons for the changes.
As part of the budget law enacted this year, for the first time the personnel services department must notify the council when jobs are reallocated.
All seven councilmembers were flabbergasted by the unprecedented absolute refusal- usually department heads use delaying and misdirection tactics to avoid council inquires.
But none more astounded than Mel Rapozo, who was livid.
“He’s basically telling us he’s done his obligation and that’s all I’m doing- without coming, without responding to our request, (saying) ‘you got a report- stop it’” Rapozo said before reading Fernandez’s letter which said:
Please be informed that I am unable to be present at the October 8 meeting relative to the above subject.
It is our belief that we have fulfilled our obligation under the general provisions changes under the budget ordinance by providing the informational report on the transferring of changing of positions within 30 days.
“This is just baffling- perplexing. I guess this is their response” said then council Chair Jay Furfaro, saying apparently all they could do was to go to the Civil Service Commission, who hires and fires the personnel services director according to the county charter.
But Rapozo said he had already written to the commission and, since the commission’s meeting are on Wednesdays at the same time the council meets, “maybe we can all march down there and testify”
“This is a total show of disrespect. It’s a slap in our faces” he said emphasizing that it is for the public’s benefit that the council asked for an explanation while calling the practice of taking a budgeted position and changing it without explanation “fraudulent”
Noting he would not be on the council come December 1 because he was running for Mayor at the time Rapozo said “I hope the seven who are here dollar fund every position that’s not filled” during the next budget session.
“Dollar funding” is a practice of creating a line item but only appropriating one dollar for it so that by controlling the purse strings by requiring approval the council can have more control over the process.
Currently if the council appropriates $90,000 for a skilled professional the department can hire three $30,000 janitors. And before this summer no one on the council would ever know it.
That’s when Iseri had apparently had enough and revealed the FBI probe to the public.,
This is the third time it’s come up on the agenda” she told the council before describing the “merit principle” that is detailed in the charter regarding hiring practices.
“For me” she said “this is pure administrative arrogance.
“We’re not talking about a simple isolated incident... this is the exact kind of thing that happens as soon as the budget is passed. It shows the budget process is really a fraud. there’s absolutely no accountability in that kind of system.”
Iseri explained that what’s been happening is that frantic overworked department heads come to the council at budget time asking them to create skilled positions to take care of the increasing workload. But when the hiring takes place the skilled position is not filled and an unskilled entry-level position is created, sometimes more than one.
She likened the process to “begging for a civil engineer and then switching to three custodians”.
She cited a recent personnel services decision where an investigator who oversaw cases for 150 prosecutors in Honolulu was deemed to be unqualified to oversee cases of 15 attorneys on Kaua`i.
The councilmembers all noted that this was not a reflection on Asing who had just taken over the job and whose signature was not on the letter from Fernandez. As a matter of fact there wasn’t even a place for the mayor’s signature or initial as is always the norm.
Iseri had special criticism though for administrative assistant then and now Gary Heu who did initial Fernandez’s letter. Heu, she said, had earlier promised that he would make sure that the reasons for changes would be fully transparent, causing Iseri to withdraw a proposed charter amendment on the subject this past summer.
Heu was rehired in his post by new Mayor Bernard Carvalho.
According to Rapozo although the county charter prohibits the council from interfering with the “administrative function” of county government this was a matter of the legislative function of the county dealing with appropriation and budgeting.
In the past this has been interpreted as saying the council cannot compel administration personnel to testify or even appear before the council. In practice the council “requests” that they be present to discuss matter of mutual concern.
“If I’m providing my oversight on a position that we approved- that the public is paying for- you’re damn right I (should) have the opportunity to ask questions on that funding” he said loud enough for his microphone to feed back.
“The problem is not reallocating of positions for people that are qualified. The problem is that they are downgrading positions from the higher levels that require (civil service) testing and requirements that for some reason the people they want to hire don’t have.
“So they lower the classification to entry level where they can waive the test and then hire who they want and put them on their own track for on-the-job training and slowly get them incremented until they’re up to where they’re supposed to be.
“That’s not fair” he said.
He then told of one of the voluminous stories told to him and other council members in phone calls and emails after the problems were revealed at the September meeting PNN described. At that meeting Furfaro told a story about how his qualified and experienced daughter was refused a job so someone with connection but was not qualified could take a reallocated job.
Rapozo told of a local kid who came back from attending University of Northern Colorado where he had obtained a degree in industrial chemistry. When a position for a “wastewater chemist” was advertised in the local newspaper he applied and studied all he could about wastewater in preparation for the civil service test.
But he never got to take the test . Instead, after an interview only, he was told he wouldn’t get the job and they hired someone with a degree in forestry instead- someone who just happened to be a relative of a county employee.
The chemist filed a complaint with the civil service commission in Dec. of 2007 but the follow-up had just begun in Sept..
The matter was deferred and should appear on a future council agenda.
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