ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES: When we wrote our "how-to" instruction manual for how one breaks into the county's old boy network a week ago- using the case of former KIUC Board Member, now County Energy Coordinator, Ben Sullivan as an example- we might have made it seem like the system was an invention of current Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr.
Hardly.
The "flack catcher" model has been the prime modus operandi of up-and-comers for decades, with administrations going back to statehood and before, picking the best and the brightest of those willing to stick their neck out, draw a dotted line and place it on the chopping block, somehow surviving to populate many if not most of the county's appointed positions.
The only difference is that Carvalho has established the ability to "take one for the team" as the only pre-requisite for a job in his administration.
But when Joan Conrow broke the story on Tuesday about the absurd plans of Grove Farm to tear down the most affordable of all housing, the old sugar-cane-era "Koloa Camp", to build "affordable housing,"- here defined as almost half-a-million-dollar homes that people need to make around $75,000 to get a mortgage for- we realized that we touched only on those entering the county's revolving door system.
We were reminded that the spokesperson for Grove Farm is VP Mike Tresler whose rise to the plantation-era company- now owned by AOL founder Steve Case, cousin of senate candidate Ed Case- is a prime example of what one can accomplish on the back end if one is inclined to fall on swords on a regular basis.
You can read Conrow's coverage at her Kaua`i Eclectic blog and her account of last night's meeting with Koloa residents at the web site of "For Kaua`i" for all the gory details- except for this "what the 'f' was he thinking?" quote from Tresler, obtained by Vanessa Van Voorhis of the local newspaper:
“(The eviction is) a tenant-landlord issue. That’s a private issue … They’re trying to make it a public issue and we’ll push back and just say it’s nobody’s business. We’re required to give that notice, so we’re going to give them that notice. … have we applied for any permits or anything yet? No. Are we in the whole planning stages of it? Yes, we are.”
Tresler- who, perhaps because of the publication of the ill-advised quote, was not at the meeting because, Conrow says, he allegedly had a flight to Honolulu last night- didn't just stumble upon his high paying job as a Grove Farm's chief henchman.
Tresler earned it as Director of Finance for the county and his role in putting the final nail in the coffin of the police career of former Kaua`i Police Department (KPD) Chief KC Lum by, when all else had failed, canceling his contract with the county on orders from... well, let's just say from above because, although Mayor Brian Baptiste was in charge at the time, anyone paying attention knew that forces behind the effort to slander and fire Lum was former Council Chair Kaipo Asing and current Councilmember Mel Rapozo.
We've detailed the stories of both Lum and Tresler in these pages before, describing details of secret investigations and pseudo trials as well as the covering up of secret documents, including the one written by the administrative judge in Lum's hearing containing exculpatory language actually clearing Lum. When the document was leaked and a member of the public tried to submit it to the council as part of his testimony, Asing actually refused to allow council services to take possession of the report.
But none of that was legally enough to fire Lum. The only way to do that, according to the county charter, was apparently by getting the Director of Finance to cancel Lum's contract.
Tresler, a sycophant of Baptiste, whose loud rants in the county building halls attempting to intimidate those who had publicly charged Baptiste with a variety of unethical and politically unsound actions was legendary among the "nitpickers,"- the council regulars who "got" what was going on as Lum, along with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Police Commission, got the shaft.
Well, as if you couldn't guess, canceling Lum's contract was one of Tresler's last actions as Finance Director and it wasn't more than a twinkling of an eye before he landed his cushy VP job with Grove Farm.
Has Tresler gone too far getting caught in a callous sounding quote? If you think so, you haven't been paying attention. A raise and a promotion seem more like it. Or did you forget that this is Kaua`i?
----
Look for light posting next week- we need a break.
Showing posts with label Grove Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grove Farm. Show all posts
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
PARKYAKARKUS
PARKYAKARKUS: It was only a matter of time and everyone knew it.
So when the land gluttons Grove Farm announced they were putting up a gate and no trespassing signs at Kipu Falls after countless deaths over the decades- deaths of both locals and tourists, press reports notwithstanding- it wasn't unexpected.
But what was, if not surprising at least gut-grabbing, was the fact that they had offered to turn the area over to the county for a park and the county turned them down due to "liability" according to at least half a dozen press reports.
What- or more to the point "who"- the words "the county" refers to isn't stated but one can only assume it was the administration of Mayor Bernard Carvalho who, without letting anyone know, gave up the chance to obtain an incredible asset for the people of Kaua`i.
What's more it really isn't the administration's decision to make. The county charter makes it plain that the acquisition of property comes under the purview of the county council which apparently was not even asked since any communication would have had to have been placed on the council's agenda for any discussion to have taken place.
Instead, as is typical of Carvalho's administration, the decision was made behind closed doors with no input from the public.
"Liability" has been the cry of past administrations in rejecting donations of property. The second access to Kaupea (Secret) beach was turned down by the Kusaka administration citing liability, although rumor has it that Carvalho has told people that he's working on getting it "donated" to the county. That's fifteen years of no access to the second beach there which often becomes inaccessible from the current county access during the winter.
Liability can and should be able to be minimized and even eliminated, if we assume we actually have people with half a brain in the Parks and Recreation Department who can properly determine signage and other safety measures. Liability is related not to the inherent, natural dangers of an area but to the degree of negligence of the owner in the unique situation that is cited in a lawsuit.
The recent determination that the state was libel for the deaths of the tourist who fell off Wailua falls was not simply because the area is state property but because the signage was so poorly designed and placed that it apparently directed the woman off the cliff.
What Carvalho is essentially saying is that there's no one in his administration competent enough to minimize the liability inherent in owning Kipu Falls.
It's hard to say which is worse; the county turning down the potential gift of one of the most beautiful and popular spots on the island and one that attracts thousands of tourists every year or that they did it secretly without even asking the body that actually has the power to make that determination... much less asking the taxpayers and citizens who would have to bear any burden of any potential liability.
It's not too late for this outrage to be overturned. If you're as pissed off as we are, contact your council at councilmembers@kauai.gov and tell them that you want them to at least look into if not accept Grove Farms offer to turn Kipu Falls over to the county.
So when the land gluttons Grove Farm announced they were putting up a gate and no trespassing signs at Kipu Falls after countless deaths over the decades- deaths of both locals and tourists, press reports notwithstanding- it wasn't unexpected.
But what was, if not surprising at least gut-grabbing, was the fact that they had offered to turn the area over to the county for a park and the county turned them down due to "liability" according to at least half a dozen press reports.
What- or more to the point "who"- the words "the county" refers to isn't stated but one can only assume it was the administration of Mayor Bernard Carvalho who, without letting anyone know, gave up the chance to obtain an incredible asset for the people of Kaua`i.
What's more it really isn't the administration's decision to make. The county charter makes it plain that the acquisition of property comes under the purview of the county council which apparently was not even asked since any communication would have had to have been placed on the council's agenda for any discussion to have taken place.
Instead, as is typical of Carvalho's administration, the decision was made behind closed doors with no input from the public.
"Liability" has been the cry of past administrations in rejecting donations of property. The second access to Kaupea (Secret) beach was turned down by the Kusaka administration citing liability, although rumor has it that Carvalho has told people that he's working on getting it "donated" to the county. That's fifteen years of no access to the second beach there which often becomes inaccessible from the current county access during the winter.
Liability can and should be able to be minimized and even eliminated, if we assume we actually have people with half a brain in the Parks and Recreation Department who can properly determine signage and other safety measures. Liability is related not to the inherent, natural dangers of an area but to the degree of negligence of the owner in the unique situation that is cited in a lawsuit.
The recent determination that the state was libel for the deaths of the tourist who fell off Wailua falls was not simply because the area is state property but because the signage was so poorly designed and placed that it apparently directed the woman off the cliff.
What Carvalho is essentially saying is that there's no one in his administration competent enough to minimize the liability inherent in owning Kipu Falls.
It's hard to say which is worse; the county turning down the potential gift of one of the most beautiful and popular spots on the island and one that attracts thousands of tourists every year or that they did it secretly without even asking the body that actually has the power to make that determination... much less asking the taxpayers and citizens who would have to bear any burden of any potential liability.
It's not too late for this outrage to be overturned. If you're as pissed off as we are, contact your council at councilmembers@kauai.gov and tell them that you want them to at least look into if not accept Grove Farms offer to turn Kipu Falls over to the county.
Monday, February 14, 2011
IT’S MY PARTY AND I’LL WHINE IF I WANT TO
IT’S MY PARTY AND I’LL WHINE IF I WANT TO: You wouldn’t know it from a visit but for well over 30 years war has raged at Maha`ulepu- the moniker used to describe last stretch of undeveloped coastline on the otherwise tourist-trampled South Shore of Kaua`i.
It hasn’t been because Grove Farm hasn’t tried and tried and tried again. After a contested case hearing before the planning commission in the late 70’s failed to stop the golf course at the Hyatt, people became more and more concerned that the rest of the coastline would soon become another of those “beaches they sell to build their hotel” unless people organized a permanent effort to preserve the area.
So a decade later Malama Maha`ulepu formed to provide a permanent presence to make sure that Grove Farm’s plans would be permanently back-burnered.
This weekend the hostilities flared once again over a seemingly innocuous upcoming event at the nearby Makauwahi Cave where archeologists David and Lida Pigott Burney have been conducting their study of the “sinkhole” for the last decade plus.
When Professor Burney first made his “discovery” those seeking to preserve the area had hopes that it would become just one more reason to preserve the area. But over the years Burney has, according to most preservationists, became anything but an ally, instead crawling in bed with Grove Farm whenever possible, toeing the company line and doing anything and everything they asked as long as he could maintain “his” dig.
The problems of his possessiveness and need to be cozy with Grove Farm (GF) have put him at odds with some of the goals of Malama Maha`ulepu (MM) before but this weekend he inexplicably exploded when a poster and notice about his “appreciation celebration” was forwarded to MM’s members.
It seemed innocent enough and rather innocuous. The widely distributed email with an attached a “pdf” of a poster promoting the event opened by saying:
Please join us on Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 2pm in the Makauwahi Cave at Maha`ulepu for an appreciation celebration.
This appreciation day is in recognition of the thousands of people who have volunteered over the last two decades to help nurture the Makauwahi Cave Reserve to life!
It then described the program’s entertainment, recognitions and remembrances and gave directions- all information straight from the poster- giving the Burney’s email and phone “for more information.”
But apparently they ticked of Burney by ending it with:
Mahalo,
Malama Maha`ulepu
PO Box 658
Koloa, HI 96756
malama-mahaulepu.org
follow us on facebook at Malama Maha`ulepu
(Full disclosure: we have volunteered with Malama Maha`ulepu many times.)
That elicited a scathing letter from Burney giving his “apologies” and complaining that MM was usurping his little party to honor his wife who has the job as “manager of the Makauwahi Cave Reserve.”
Nowhere did the letter say it was an MM sponsored event. And the poster didn’t even have MM’s name on it.
Then why? Well it would do an injustice to excerpt his letter explaining why he needs to keep his lips firmly affixed to Grove Farm’s butt.
MM distributed his letter that said:
Dear friends,
It is with regret that Lida and I have to circulate this message, but we feel it is very important to make something clear: the invitation that you received today from Malama Maha`ulepu implies that they are the sponsors of an “Appreciation Day” event at Makauwahi Cave March 6. They re-named our poster file (sent out originally as “poster.pdf” to “mm.poster.makauwahi.appreciation” and attached a letter that would give anybody who didn’t know better the impression that they are the organizers of this event.
They emphatically ARE NOT, and this is why it matters: Grove Farm employees have been invited to this event, as well as our “neighbors” down there – other Grove Farm leaseholders. I know with certainty that these folks, who have all played a big role in making our project possible at the cave over the last 20 years, do not support some of the positions espoused by the Malama Maha`ulepu organization, and will not attend if the illusion is perpetrated in the community that this is an MM-sponsored event. MM members and in fact everybody is welcome at this event, but we are not seeking their co-sponsorship as this could understandably cause our project great harm by souring the cordial relationship we have with our landlord, Grove Farm, and with many others in the community. We have always strived to maintain neutrality in the sometimes heated political issues down there, and do not wish our efforts hampered by direct association with the advocacy of MM or any other group. Our mission is to research, restore, and interpret Makauwahi Cave, that is all. As long as Grove Farm continues to entrust the property to our care, we intend to make everybody welcome regardless of their political views or group affiliations.
Again, our apologies,
David A. Burney
Lida Pigott Burney
Ooooo- a little touchy aren’t we. Wonder why.
Maybe because over the years the Burneys have taken advantage of MM’s preservation efforts to publicize his project which almost always receives a prominent display at MM tabling and events. As a matter of fact their PR efforts have been the chief way his project been publicized locally.
Even though the MM letter didn’t even intimate it was theirs Burney felt the need to make perfectly clear that, despite his claim that he’s “strived to maintain neutrality in the sometimes heated political issues down there” he has indeed, as his words indicate, always supported GF in their endeavors as long as they leave his little kuleana in Maha`ulepu alone.
Malama Maha`ulepu has only one mission- to preserve and preserve access to the whole region, including “the Burneys’” cave. Burney on the other hand is okay with letting Grove Farm use him to drive a wedge between preservation efforts for the entire area and preservation of his own private- and by the way, very profitable- venture.
Grove Farm continues to covet Maha`ulepu if not as a place of future development- due predominantly to MM’s vigilance- as leverage for development elsewhere. By refusing to support preservation of anything but his own enterprise Burney erodes the efforts of the community at large to eventually fulfill the vision of a permanent Maha`ulepu preserve.
Like the missionary Wilcox family that founded Grove Farm, the Burneys came to Kaua`i to do good and have done very well indeed.
It hasn’t been because Grove Farm hasn’t tried and tried and tried again. After a contested case hearing before the planning commission in the late 70’s failed to stop the golf course at the Hyatt, people became more and more concerned that the rest of the coastline would soon become another of those “beaches they sell to build their hotel” unless people organized a permanent effort to preserve the area.
So a decade later Malama Maha`ulepu formed to provide a permanent presence to make sure that Grove Farm’s plans would be permanently back-burnered.
This weekend the hostilities flared once again over a seemingly innocuous upcoming event at the nearby Makauwahi Cave where archeologists David and Lida Pigott Burney have been conducting their study of the “sinkhole” for the last decade plus.
When Professor Burney first made his “discovery” those seeking to preserve the area had hopes that it would become just one more reason to preserve the area. But over the years Burney has, according to most preservationists, became anything but an ally, instead crawling in bed with Grove Farm whenever possible, toeing the company line and doing anything and everything they asked as long as he could maintain “his” dig.
The problems of his possessiveness and need to be cozy with Grove Farm (GF) have put him at odds with some of the goals of Malama Maha`ulepu (MM) before but this weekend he inexplicably exploded when a poster and notice about his “appreciation celebration” was forwarded to MM’s members.
It seemed innocent enough and rather innocuous. The widely distributed email with an attached a “pdf” of a poster promoting the event opened by saying:
Please join us on Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 2pm in the Makauwahi Cave at Maha`ulepu for an appreciation celebration.
This appreciation day is in recognition of the thousands of people who have volunteered over the last two decades to help nurture the Makauwahi Cave Reserve to life!
It then described the program’s entertainment, recognitions and remembrances and gave directions- all information straight from the poster- giving the Burney’s email and phone “for more information.”
But apparently they ticked of Burney by ending it with:
Mahalo,
Malama Maha`ulepu
PO Box 658
Koloa, HI 96756
malama-mahaulepu.org
follow us on facebook at Malama Maha`ulepu
(Full disclosure: we have volunteered with Malama Maha`ulepu many times.)
That elicited a scathing letter from Burney giving his “apologies” and complaining that MM was usurping his little party to honor his wife who has the job as “manager of the Makauwahi Cave Reserve.”
Nowhere did the letter say it was an MM sponsored event. And the poster didn’t even have MM’s name on it.
Then why? Well it would do an injustice to excerpt his letter explaining why he needs to keep his lips firmly affixed to Grove Farm’s butt.
MM distributed his letter that said:
Dear friends,
It is with regret that Lida and I have to circulate this message, but we feel it is very important to make something clear: the invitation that you received today from Malama Maha`ulepu implies that they are the sponsors of an “Appreciation Day” event at Makauwahi Cave March 6. They re-named our poster file (sent out originally as “poster.pdf” to “mm.poster.makauwahi.appreciation” and attached a letter that would give anybody who didn’t know better the impression that they are the organizers of this event.
They emphatically ARE NOT, and this is why it matters: Grove Farm employees have been invited to this event, as well as our “neighbors” down there – other Grove Farm leaseholders. I know with certainty that these folks, who have all played a big role in making our project possible at the cave over the last 20 years, do not support some of the positions espoused by the Malama Maha`ulepu organization, and will not attend if the illusion is perpetrated in the community that this is an MM-sponsored event. MM members and in fact everybody is welcome at this event, but we are not seeking their co-sponsorship as this could understandably cause our project great harm by souring the cordial relationship we have with our landlord, Grove Farm, and with many others in the community. We have always strived to maintain neutrality in the sometimes heated political issues down there, and do not wish our efforts hampered by direct association with the advocacy of MM or any other group. Our mission is to research, restore, and interpret Makauwahi Cave, that is all. As long as Grove Farm continues to entrust the property to our care, we intend to make everybody welcome regardless of their political views or group affiliations.
Again, our apologies,
David A. Burney
Lida Pigott Burney
Ooooo- a little touchy aren’t we. Wonder why.
Maybe because over the years the Burneys have taken advantage of MM’s preservation efforts to publicize his project which almost always receives a prominent display at MM tabling and events. As a matter of fact their PR efforts have been the chief way his project been publicized locally.
Even though the MM letter didn’t even intimate it was theirs Burney felt the need to make perfectly clear that, despite his claim that he’s “strived to maintain neutrality in the sometimes heated political issues down there” he has indeed, as his words indicate, always supported GF in their endeavors as long as they leave his little kuleana in Maha`ulepu alone.
Malama Maha`ulepu has only one mission- to preserve and preserve access to the whole region, including “the Burneys’” cave. Burney on the other hand is okay with letting Grove Farm use him to drive a wedge between preservation efforts for the entire area and preservation of his own private- and by the way, very profitable- venture.
Grove Farm continues to covet Maha`ulepu if not as a place of future development- due predominantly to MM’s vigilance- as leverage for development elsewhere. By refusing to support preservation of anything but his own enterprise Burney erodes the efforts of the community at large to eventually fulfill the vision of a permanent Maha`ulepu preserve.
Like the missionary Wilcox family that founded Grove Farm, the Burneys came to Kaua`i to do good and have done very well indeed.
Monday, September 6, 2010
MUZZLED AGAIN (Part 1)
MUZZLED AGAIN (Part 1): When. business editor at the local newspaper Coco Zickos was unceremoniously fired for not kow-towing enough to the business community- as PNN exclusively reported a month ago- we knew changes were probably in the works.
It wouldn’t be the first time advertisers clamped down on content they didn’t want people to see as PNN reported on it’s Parxist Conspiracy television newsmagazine in the late 1990’s.
But little did we suspect it might be the beginning of the wholesale censoring of Kaua`i based news that reflects poorly on some the islands biggest “industries”.
Yet at least twice in the last week, while other news outlets have reported on stories of alleged illegal activities on the island the local newspaper has remained silent.
The first, as you might suspect if you read our Aug. 26 post regarding the “Informational Briefing” led by Senate Ways and Means Chair Donna Mercado Kim investigating, among other things, is about, as the agenda said, the
a. Status of the employee embezzlement investigation
b. Explanation of the overpayment, reinstatement, and settlement of the employee that walked off the job
c. Status of the Mitigation of TSA (Transportation Security Administration) fines on Kauai – mitigation
d. Costs to the State, airlines, and travelers from the security breach at Lihue Airport on September 11, 2009
(e) Grove Farm – status of the helipad expansion and status of information requested by the Committee in letter dated July 22, 2010, regarding enhancements to the access points for the Grove Farm land , the value and costs of the enhancements, and whether an enhancement fee was negotiated as part of the contract
You’d think that the paper would have at least watched the hearing on line if not sent someone to the hearing that could negatively effect tourism, the biggest industry on the island. Or maybe they could have just read the stories at the KITV web site which is apparently the only news outlet that covered the hearing.
In the first of two articles- which are much more comprehensive than the video report also available at their web site- they described how, as the headline says
Kauai Airport Supervisor Fired For Theft
She Was Put On Leave With Pay After Admitting To Stealing
The article itself reveals
A supervisor at Lihue Airport who admitted to stealing thousands of dollars in an embezzlement case has been fired after state transportation officials put her on leave with pay for nearly two months while they investigated the case.
The state transportation director admitted Tuesday what employees have complained about for years: that there's a management problem at Lihue Airport.
Sources told KITV 4 News a business services supervisor at Lihue Airport, who oversees four other people, admitted to stealing about $13,000 from the state over several months. Some of it was money that airline employees, vendors and others pay for annual airport security badges.
The state placed her on leave with pay after she admitted to airport officials in writing to the theft in early July, according to Sidney Hayakawa, an administrative services officer with the state department of transportation.
The woman, who has not yet been charged with a crime, kept collecting her paycheck for nearly two months until she was fired Thursday, he said.
Though KITV- and apparently those at the hearing- did not name the employee, by simply cross-referencing mentions of the employee’s position in earlier article with the listing at the DOT web site one of PNN's investigators has deduced the employee’s name is Finance Director Maycia Matsuyoshi.
Kim was apparently incredulous, not only at the embezzlement but at Matsuyoshi’s treatment after being caught.
"Why would she be put on leave with pay?” Kim asked during a hearing Tuesday at the state capitol.
"Because we wanted her to be available to come back, because we needed to re-interview her. And that's what's happening right now, the AGs have to re-interview her and she was available to them," Hayakawa said.
"You still have to go through an investigation and you have to verify that wrongdoing is evident and had occurred," said State Transportation Director Brennon Morioka, noting that even people who’ve admitted wrongdoing deserve due process.
Airport records show the woman was paid anywhere from $35,000 to $54,000 a year. Hayakawa said officials could have put her on unpaid leave while they investigated, but they chose not to.
The report also says KITV “found four small claims judgments against the woman since 1998.”
But that incident isn’t all the committee investigated. It goes on to say:
There are other problems at Lihue airport. It was the only airport in Hawaii to pay security fines to the Transportation Security Administration recently. Lihue paid $75,000 worth of security fines to the TSA for 15 security lapses between March of 2009 and 2010.
"The management at Kauai airport seems to be problematic. And this is just one more, on top of all the issues we've seen on Kauai," Kim said.
In another incident, an airport operations controller frustrated with management at Lihue walked off the job in late 2008 and no one bothered to notify personnel officials to stop his paycheck for weeks, so he was overpaid about $5,000.
Earlier this year, he was allowed to return to work at the airport, keeping the extra $5,000 in overpaid salary and 880 hours of accrued sick leave.
If they could rewind the situation “we would have looked at recouping the money for his salary overpayment,” Morioka said....
“It seems to me they could do a reality show at Kauai Airport,” said State Sen. Sam Slom (R-Hawaii Kai, Diamond Head, Kahala).
Want more?
In another incident, airport manager George Crabbe lost track of two people he was escorting behind security checkpoints on Sept. 11, 2009, resulting in the Lihue airport terminal being evacuated and shut down and passengers re-screened.
That disrupted scheduled flights on Kauai. “In spite of my personal embarrassment of being the cause of the disruption, the alternative of not taking this step to ensure terminal safety would have been worse,” Crabbe wrote in a statement to his superiors at the DOT.
“I take sole responsibility for the events that led to this disruption and I cannot fully express the mortification and regret my momentary lapse of attention caused,” Crabbe said in the statement.
The second article deals with the resignation of former Deputy Transportation Director Brian Sekiguchi who is now involved in an ethics probe for allegedly “accepting free tickets from an airport vendor to attend the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., in April of 2009 (and) not put(ting) in for vacation leave for one day of that same April vacation.”
But late in the article it refers back to what apparently caused Sekiguchi to resign three weeks ago saying:
Several other incidents and problems raised questions about the management of the airports division, which Sekiguchi oversaw since 2003 before resigning in August.
On July 27, state Procurement Office Administrator Aaron Fujioka found the state Department of Transportation violated procurement law when it hired two airport security consultants through Securitas Security Services USA, an airport security contractor.
The incident was previously reported to involve dealings with former county Finance Director Mike Tressler, now a vice president at Grove Farm which handsomely profited by the overpayment which paid out more than double what the property was really worth.
Tomorrow in part 2 we’ll let you know about an even bigger blockbuster ignored by the local “news”paper- one that could have severe repercussions that bode ill for the future of agriculture on Kaua`i.
------
It’s time to send letter to stop Linda Lingle’s lame duck attempt to make horrendous wholesale changes to the conservation district rule which the Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing. Go to Marti Townsend’s KAHEA website for a handy-dandy way to do so.
It wouldn’t be the first time advertisers clamped down on content they didn’t want people to see as PNN reported on it’s Parxist Conspiracy television newsmagazine in the late 1990’s.
But little did we suspect it might be the beginning of the wholesale censoring of Kaua`i based news that reflects poorly on some the islands biggest “industries”.
Yet at least twice in the last week, while other news outlets have reported on stories of alleged illegal activities on the island the local newspaper has remained silent.
The first, as you might suspect if you read our Aug. 26 post regarding the “Informational Briefing” led by Senate Ways and Means Chair Donna Mercado Kim investigating, among other things, is about, as the agenda said, the
a. Status of the employee embezzlement investigation
b. Explanation of the overpayment, reinstatement, and settlement of the employee that walked off the job
c. Status of the Mitigation of TSA (Transportation Security Administration) fines on Kauai – mitigation
d. Costs to the State, airlines, and travelers from the security breach at Lihue Airport on September 11, 2009
(e) Grove Farm – status of the helipad expansion and status of information requested by the Committee in letter dated July 22, 2010, regarding enhancements to the access points for the Grove Farm land , the value and costs of the enhancements, and whether an enhancement fee was negotiated as part of the contract
You’d think that the paper would have at least watched the hearing on line if not sent someone to the hearing that could negatively effect tourism, the biggest industry on the island. Or maybe they could have just read the stories at the KITV web site which is apparently the only news outlet that covered the hearing.
In the first of two articles- which are much more comprehensive than the video report also available at their web site- they described how, as the headline says
Kauai Airport Supervisor Fired For Theft
She Was Put On Leave With Pay After Admitting To Stealing
The article itself reveals
A supervisor at Lihue Airport who admitted to stealing thousands of dollars in an embezzlement case has been fired after state transportation officials put her on leave with pay for nearly two months while they investigated the case.
The state transportation director admitted Tuesday what employees have complained about for years: that there's a management problem at Lihue Airport.
Sources told KITV 4 News a business services supervisor at Lihue Airport, who oversees four other people, admitted to stealing about $13,000 from the state over several months. Some of it was money that airline employees, vendors and others pay for annual airport security badges.
The state placed her on leave with pay after she admitted to airport officials in writing to the theft in early July, according to Sidney Hayakawa, an administrative services officer with the state department of transportation.
The woman, who has not yet been charged with a crime, kept collecting her paycheck for nearly two months until she was fired Thursday, he said.
Though KITV- and apparently those at the hearing- did not name the employee, by simply cross-referencing mentions of the employee’s position in earlier article with the listing at the DOT web site one of PNN's investigators has deduced the employee’s name is Finance Director Maycia Matsuyoshi.
Kim was apparently incredulous, not only at the embezzlement but at Matsuyoshi’s treatment after being caught.
"Why would she be put on leave with pay?” Kim asked during a hearing Tuesday at the state capitol.
"Because we wanted her to be available to come back, because we needed to re-interview her. And that's what's happening right now, the AGs have to re-interview her and she was available to them," Hayakawa said.
"You still have to go through an investigation and you have to verify that wrongdoing is evident and had occurred," said State Transportation Director Brennon Morioka, noting that even people who’ve admitted wrongdoing deserve due process.
Airport records show the woman was paid anywhere from $35,000 to $54,000 a year. Hayakawa said officials could have put her on unpaid leave while they investigated, but they chose not to.
The report also says KITV “found four small claims judgments against the woman since 1998.”
But that incident isn’t all the committee investigated. It goes on to say:
There are other problems at Lihue airport. It was the only airport in Hawaii to pay security fines to the Transportation Security Administration recently. Lihue paid $75,000 worth of security fines to the TSA for 15 security lapses between March of 2009 and 2010.
"The management at Kauai airport seems to be problematic. And this is just one more, on top of all the issues we've seen on Kauai," Kim said.
In another incident, an airport operations controller frustrated with management at Lihue walked off the job in late 2008 and no one bothered to notify personnel officials to stop his paycheck for weeks, so he was overpaid about $5,000.
Earlier this year, he was allowed to return to work at the airport, keeping the extra $5,000 in overpaid salary and 880 hours of accrued sick leave.
If they could rewind the situation “we would have looked at recouping the money for his salary overpayment,” Morioka said....
“It seems to me they could do a reality show at Kauai Airport,” said State Sen. Sam Slom (R-Hawaii Kai, Diamond Head, Kahala).
Want more?
In another incident, airport manager George Crabbe lost track of two people he was escorting behind security checkpoints on Sept. 11, 2009, resulting in the Lihue airport terminal being evacuated and shut down and passengers re-screened.
That disrupted scheduled flights on Kauai. “In spite of my personal embarrassment of being the cause of the disruption, the alternative of not taking this step to ensure terminal safety would have been worse,” Crabbe wrote in a statement to his superiors at the DOT.
“I take sole responsibility for the events that led to this disruption and I cannot fully express the mortification and regret my momentary lapse of attention caused,” Crabbe said in the statement.
The second article deals with the resignation of former Deputy Transportation Director Brian Sekiguchi who is now involved in an ethics probe for allegedly “accepting free tickets from an airport vendor to attend the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., in April of 2009 (and) not put(ting) in for vacation leave for one day of that same April vacation.”
But late in the article it refers back to what apparently caused Sekiguchi to resign three weeks ago saying:
Several other incidents and problems raised questions about the management of the airports division, which Sekiguchi oversaw since 2003 before resigning in August.
On July 27, state Procurement Office Administrator Aaron Fujioka found the state Department of Transportation violated procurement law when it hired two airport security consultants through Securitas Security Services USA, an airport security contractor.
The incident was previously reported to involve dealings with former county Finance Director Mike Tressler, now a vice president at Grove Farm which handsomely profited by the overpayment which paid out more than double what the property was really worth.
Tomorrow in part 2 we’ll let you know about an even bigger blockbuster ignored by the local “news”paper- one that could have severe repercussions that bode ill for the future of agriculture on Kaua`i.
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It’s time to send letter to stop Linda Lingle’s lame duck attempt to make horrendous wholesale changes to the conservation district rule which the Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing. Go to Marti Townsend’s KAHEA website for a handy-dandy way to do so.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
MARKING THEIR TERRITORY
MARKING THEIR TERRITORY: Even from a sick bed Mayor Bryan Baptiste never forgets that his prime directive is to grease the skids of cronyism and maintain and bolster Grove Farm’s positioning within County government.
The utter lack of any ethics on the Kaua`i Ethics Board has been a well- mined cesspool for months ever since Grove Farm honcho Mark Hubbard and other clueless Board members decided that no one has to follow the ethics laws anymore because it would make it hard for Hubbard and others on the Board to personally violate the clear laws that forbid them from representing their company before the County while serving on a board or commission.
Chair Hubbard’s Board actually cleared Attorney Jonathan Chun of double-dealing, influence-peddling, conflict-of-interest type charges after Chun successfully lobbied for months before the Council for the Board of Realtors while Chairing the Charter Commission.
Now at Hubbard’s request the quid pro quo is working it’s magic as the Charter Commission is considering chucking the ethics laws in the ocean if Chun can slip it by first the Commissions and then the unsuspecting voters this November.
For those who might have missed it we’ve covered one two three four five times in the past six months the shameless ways Board members have refused with impunity to enforce the laws because the only remedy to the Ethics Board members’ own ethics violations is, quite conveniently, to go before the Ethics Board. We’ve highlighted the take by the local newspaper’s last columnist standing Walter Lewis, and government watchdog extraordinaire Horace Stoessel through essays published printed here and in the paper.
And we covered the revolving door and pick a pack of pickled posers hierarchy of the corrupt corporate revolving door.
Now this week we get news that Baptiste has submitted the name of a potential new member of the Ethics Board which is up which is for Council approval. And guess what? It’s just happens to be the wife of a former Finance Department Director who took a ride half-way through the County’s revolving door to become a Grove Farm Vice President a while back.
Toward the end of the agenda for next Wednesday’s Council meeting is this little tidbit.
Resolution No. 2008-29, RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS (Christiane Nakea-Tresler-First Term)
For those who may not recognize the name she is the wife of former Finance Director Mike Tressler who turned five years of government work into essentially a lobbying job as Grove Farm’s VP in charge of development.
Tressler- the “other” football star in Baptiste’s hui of half-wits and hubris- was a key sycophant in some of the shady book cooking that led to charges of overspending at KPD and was the one who conveniently used a provision allowing him as Finance Director, to nullify contracts, to cancel the employment contract of former Police Chief KC Lum while he was under fire from all sides for not being Darryl Perry.
And he did it despite the fact that the law specifically excludes personnel contracts from his purview. Tressler was also a key supporter and campaign worker on Baptiste’s first run for Mayor.
Did we expect anything else from Baptiste?. Certainly not. Nor do we expect anyone to show up to object when the Council approves her without a peep? Yeah, right.
Even if they hold an interview it won’t be televised because they have to leave more grip and grin time to give all those awards and certificates to every sewing circle, book review and timing association and embarrass every kid on every team that ever came in higher than eight place in a nine team league and cablecast it all with full captioning... all the while putting the kibosh on TV for prospective commissioners and board members and budget hearing every year... a problem that was not apparently remedied in this year’s budget despite promises to the contrary.
After having all their solicitors and supplicants cleared of ethics violations the Council and Mayor know who butters their bread and if they can stack the Ethics Board with those who won’t find their abominable ethics unacceptable they’ve got a get out of jail free card to play plantation monopoly and make sure they’re allowed to slip Grove Farm’s new development plan into the County’s General Plan, as they’ve planned.
Come on guys- at least make a genuine attempt to obscure what you’re doing- make our work a little more challenging.
The utter lack of any ethics on the Kaua`i Ethics Board has been a well- mined cesspool for months ever since Grove Farm honcho Mark Hubbard and other clueless Board members decided that no one has to follow the ethics laws anymore because it would make it hard for Hubbard and others on the Board to personally violate the clear laws that forbid them from representing their company before the County while serving on a board or commission.
Chair Hubbard’s Board actually cleared Attorney Jonathan Chun of double-dealing, influence-peddling, conflict-of-interest type charges after Chun successfully lobbied for months before the Council for the Board of Realtors while Chairing the Charter Commission.
Now at Hubbard’s request the quid pro quo is working it’s magic as the Charter Commission is considering chucking the ethics laws in the ocean if Chun can slip it by first the Commissions and then the unsuspecting voters this November.
For those who might have missed it we’ve covered one two three four five times in the past six months the shameless ways Board members have refused with impunity to enforce the laws because the only remedy to the Ethics Board members’ own ethics violations is, quite conveniently, to go before the Ethics Board. We’ve highlighted the take by the local newspaper’s last columnist standing Walter Lewis, and government watchdog extraordinaire Horace Stoessel through essays published printed here and in the paper.
And we covered the revolving door and pick a pack of pickled posers hierarchy of the corrupt corporate revolving door.
Now this week we get news that Baptiste has submitted the name of a potential new member of the Ethics Board which is up which is for Council approval. And guess what? It’s just happens to be the wife of a former Finance Department Director who took a ride half-way through the County’s revolving door to become a Grove Farm Vice President a while back.
Toward the end of the agenda for next Wednesday’s Council meeting is this little tidbit.
Resolution No. 2008-29, RESOLUTION CONFIRMING MAYORAL APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF ETHICS (Christiane Nakea-Tresler-First Term)
For those who may not recognize the name she is the wife of former Finance Director Mike Tressler who turned five years of government work into essentially a lobbying job as Grove Farm’s VP in charge of development.
Tressler- the “other” football star in Baptiste’s hui of half-wits and hubris- was a key sycophant in some of the shady book cooking that led to charges of overspending at KPD and was the one who conveniently used a provision allowing him as Finance Director, to nullify contracts, to cancel the employment contract of former Police Chief KC Lum while he was under fire from all sides for not being Darryl Perry.
And he did it despite the fact that the law specifically excludes personnel contracts from his purview. Tressler was also a key supporter and campaign worker on Baptiste’s first run for Mayor.
Did we expect anything else from Baptiste?. Certainly not. Nor do we expect anyone to show up to object when the Council approves her without a peep? Yeah, right.
Even if they hold an interview it won’t be televised because they have to leave more grip and grin time to give all those awards and certificates to every sewing circle, book review and timing association and embarrass every kid on every team that ever came in higher than eight place in a nine team league and cablecast it all with full captioning... all the while putting the kibosh on TV for prospective commissioners and board members and budget hearing every year... a problem that was not apparently remedied in this year’s budget despite promises to the contrary.
After having all their solicitors and supplicants cleared of ethics violations the Council and Mayor know who butters their bread and if they can stack the Ethics Board with those who won’t find their abominable ethics unacceptable they’ve got a get out of jail free card to play plantation monopoly and make sure they’re allowed to slip Grove Farm’s new development plan into the County’s General Plan, as they’ve planned.
Come on guys- at least make a genuine attempt to obscure what you’re doing- make our work a little more challenging.
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