TAKING THE MINOTAUR BY THE HORNS: People are always claiming "I hate to tell you 'I told you so,' but..."
Yet who are we kidding?- we love to do it.
So today we'll set up what will most assuredly be a little "see?" moment, sometime in the near future.
The agenda for next Wednesday's council meeting contains the following item:
C 2012-98 Request (03/13/2012) from the Police Commission for authorization to expend funds up to $10,000.00 to retain special counsel to represent the Police Commission in filing a complaint with the Fifth Circuit Court and asking for a declaratory judgment as to who has the authority to supervise and/or discipline the Chief of Police.
In addition the council has scheduled a closed-door, executive session (ES 535) for
a briefing on the retention of special counsel to represent the Police Commission in filing a declaratory action to determine who has the authority to supervise and/or discipline the Chief of Police.
But let us save you some time and money folks- neither judge on Kaua`i is going to even rule on the matter. Both of them will tell you that essentially this is a political matter that needs a political solution.
Fifth Circuit Judges Randall Valenciano and Kathleen Watanabe have both shown this propensity for "punting" before and it's doubtful they will change now.
We've found it amusing that both "sides"- the administration of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. vs. Police Chief Darryl Perry and the Kaua`i Police Commission- both adamantly claim the charter gives them the power to discipline the chief.
But, as we've said a number of times there is nothing in the charter or Kaua`i County Code- or for that matter state law- regarding who has the authority to discipline or suspend the chief.
Hiring and/or firing him or her does rest with the police commission. But otherwise the law is "silent."
Watenabe has a history of punting these kinds of things. For example, in her decisions regarding various cases of disturbances of `iwi kupuna- the bones of native Hawaiians- by developers, she adamantly refused to rule, saying that the laws and regulations regarding the individual island burial councils and the State Historical Preservation Department (SHPD) that oversees the process, are unclear and that the legislature needs to clear thing up.
Our description is an oversimplification. But what is clear is that Watanabe did indicate that the solution was a political decision, not a judicial one.
As to Valenciano he was recently asked by Council members Mel Rapozo and Kipukai Kuali`i to clear up the use of the word "shall" in a matter regarding the Kaua`i Salary Commission's March 15 deadline for submission of their yearly "recommendations." County Attorney Al Castillo had written an opinion that, in this case, ""shall" was used "administratively" and therefor has to be read as "should."
But when the two council members went before Valenciano's court, he also said that it was a political matter and not only didn't the two have standing but that they should look to changing the law to make things clear rather than asking him to essentially split a baby.
Does anyone think that in this case either of the judges are going to get involved? Both come from a government background and perspective, Watanabe having served as county attorney and in other government jobs and Valenciano having been a long-time council member, even running for mayor one time. Both have a healthy respect for letting the government wheels turn as freely as possible and apparently do not want to get involved in inter-agency squabbles like the one over who should discipline the chief.
The ball here is clearly and fully in the council's court as we said in the post cited above.
Section 7.05 of the Kaua`i County Charter details the "Powers, Duties and Functions" of the mayor.
There are 13 "Powers, Duties and Functions" The very last one reads:
M. Exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this charter or by ordinance. (emphasis added)
This means that the council can actually pass an ordinance regardless of whether the charter defines a specific power of the mayor or not. This is somewhat unusual in that powers not designated in a controlling document cannot normally just be taken in an inferior document (such as the charter and an ordinance respectively)... unless, as it is in this case, it is specifically granted.
The council also has the power to put a charter amendment before the electorate via a resolution.
But either way the problem here is that it exists in the political realm. It is doubly political in that the council must make a political decision as to which entity they want to give that power to- whether they do so via an ordinance or a charter amendment.
Should they give it to the mayor or to the police commission? They will no doubt face criticism for doing either. If they passed an ordinance, first they would have to decide themselves which way to go. If they proposed a charter amendment, they could only propose one or the other for the electorate to vote for- there's no provision for having a referendum type of charter amendment- so they face the same dilemma.
In either scenario, if the council decides to spent the $10,000, the money is completely wasted.
And we're pretty confident that if they do approve the expenditure, we'll wind up with a nice "we told you so" to tack up on the wall with all the others.
Showing posts with label Minotaurs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minotaurs. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
ASSORTED SECRET VALENTINES
ASSORTED SECRET VALENTINES: Although those involved with events surrounding the harassment compliant and subsequent shakeup in the Kaua`i Police Department have been tight lipped as to the "result" of Tuesday's Kaua`i Police Commission executive sessions on the matter, the Kaua`i County Council will apparently get some kind of closed-door briefing their own selves tomorrow, if only a session with the county attorney discussing the legality of Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s "removal" of Police Chief Darryl Perry a couple of weeks back.
Apparently Perry, along with Roy Asher and Ale Quibilan- the two Assistant Chiefs Perry he put on leave the day before Carvalho's ax similarly fell on him- remain on paid administrative leave pending who knows what.
But the council has scheduled its own closed door briefing tomorrow with an agenda notice that reads:
ES-524 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and section 3.07(e) of the Kaua'i County Charter, the Office of the County Attorney, on behalf of the Council, requests an executive session with the Council to provide the Council with a briefing on the Mayor's authority to exercise direct supervision over or discipline of the Chief of Police. The briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item.
But although the public will not be privy to what presumably County Attorney Al Castillo tells them, citizens will be permitted to public vent their frustrations, not just for the council's edification but for that of the viewing public.
Also on the agenda is an interesting little item that, although also scheduled for a clandestine confab, reveals that someone in the county has been busy with shenanigans of their own.
Communication 2012-52 requests council's "authorization to expend funds up to $50,000.00 to retain special counsel to represent the Board of Ethics in BOE 11-003 and BOE 11-004 and related matters."
And what exactly are BOE 11-003 and 11-004? According to the December 9, 2011 Board of Ethics agenda:
BOE 11-003 Letter dated 11/25/11 requesting the BOE to initiate an investigation into allegations that an employee or officer of the county has improperly used county resources
BOR 11- 004 Letter dated 11/25/11 alleging an employee or officer of the county has improperly disclosed information and used their (sic) position to secure a benefit, privilege or exemption for them selves (sic) or others
This of course could be anything from simple theft to abuse of power. But it could also have to do with the alleged misconduct, primarily in the Department of Personnel, regarding filings for sick and vacation leave, as we reported the day the story of the suspension of the two assistant chiefs broke.
Whichever it is, it will certainly be one to watch.
And, in a followup to the story of the closing of the Jailhouse Pub and Grill and how it will effects the county's efforts to somehow return the municipal Wailua Golf Course to it's "enterprise fund" status- essentially a place where the county at least breaks even on running it, money-wise- one problem, albeit apparently a political one, is that has been that the way because of the way the charter reads and how fee setting has "worked" since the golf course's inception.
Currently it is the council that sets the rates per round. But a public discussion of the matter has already been held and it's obvious that the council doesn't want to be held responsible for raising ridiculously low rates for seniors and youth- especially in an election year. Yet the county attorney has verbally opined that they are somehow stuck doing it due to charter provisions that disallow the administrative setting of the rates by the Department of Parks and Recreation- where the council would much rather the authority reside.
The argument is that the rates need changing over and over in order to find the "point of diminishing returns"- the place where the cost of a round will not discourage people from playing in Wailua rather than the half a gazillion commercial golf courses- thus finding the "just right price" to optimize revenue.
Why they need to do this in executive session is anyone's guess but apparently the verbal expression of the legal situation by Castillo wasn’t enough and so tomorrow they will be:
consult(ing) with the County Attorney regarding the Council's release of the County Attorney's written legal opinion dated January 17,2012, regarding the delegation of fee setting for Wailua Golf Course and related matters.
As usual all the "good stuff" tomorrow will be done in executive session. Although the Minotaur has departed the labyrinth, "Uncle Kaipo Potter's Council Chamber of Secrets" is alive and functioning well. There's an unsubstantiated rumor going around (spread by us) that they’re working on creating a banner- costing $5,000 and to be funded in executive session- saying "Under New Management."
Perhaps they can borrow a practically brand new one from the Jailhouse Pub and Grill.
Apparently Perry, along with Roy Asher and Ale Quibilan- the two Assistant Chiefs Perry he put on leave the day before Carvalho's ax similarly fell on him- remain on paid administrative leave pending who knows what.
But the council has scheduled its own closed door briefing tomorrow with an agenda notice that reads:
ES-524 Pursuant to HRS sections 92-4, 92-5(a)(4), and section 3.07(e) of the Kaua'i County Charter, the Office of the County Attorney, on behalf of the Council, requests an executive session with the Council to provide the Council with a briefing on the Mayor's authority to exercise direct supervision over or discipline of the Chief of Police. The briefing and consultation involves consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and/or liabilities of the Council and the County as they relate to this agenda item.
But although the public will not be privy to what presumably County Attorney Al Castillo tells them, citizens will be permitted to public vent their frustrations, not just for the council's edification but for that of the viewing public.
Also on the agenda is an interesting little item that, although also scheduled for a clandestine confab, reveals that someone in the county has been busy with shenanigans of their own.
Communication 2012-52 requests council's "authorization to expend funds up to $50,000.00 to retain special counsel to represent the Board of Ethics in BOE 11-003 and BOE 11-004 and related matters."
And what exactly are BOE 11-003 and 11-004? According to the December 9, 2011 Board of Ethics agenda:
BOE 11-003 Letter dated 11/25/11 requesting the BOE to initiate an investigation into allegations that an employee or officer of the county has improperly used county resources
BOR 11- 004 Letter dated 11/25/11 alleging an employee or officer of the county has improperly disclosed information and used their (sic) position to secure a benefit, privilege or exemption for them selves (sic) or others
This of course could be anything from simple theft to abuse of power. But it could also have to do with the alleged misconduct, primarily in the Department of Personnel, regarding filings for sick and vacation leave, as we reported the day the story of the suspension of the two assistant chiefs broke.
Whichever it is, it will certainly be one to watch.
And, in a followup to the story of the closing of the Jailhouse Pub and Grill and how it will effects the county's efforts to somehow return the municipal Wailua Golf Course to it's "enterprise fund" status- essentially a place where the county at least breaks even on running it, money-wise- one problem, albeit apparently a political one, is that has been that the way because of the way the charter reads and how fee setting has "worked" since the golf course's inception.
Currently it is the council that sets the rates per round. But a public discussion of the matter has already been held and it's obvious that the council doesn't want to be held responsible for raising ridiculously low rates for seniors and youth- especially in an election year. Yet the county attorney has verbally opined that they are somehow stuck doing it due to charter provisions that disallow the administrative setting of the rates by the Department of Parks and Recreation- where the council would much rather the authority reside.
The argument is that the rates need changing over and over in order to find the "point of diminishing returns"- the place where the cost of a round will not discourage people from playing in Wailua rather than the half a gazillion commercial golf courses- thus finding the "just right price" to optimize revenue.
Why they need to do this in executive session is anyone's guess but apparently the verbal expression of the legal situation by Castillo wasn’t enough and so tomorrow they will be:
consult(ing) with the County Attorney regarding the Council's release of the County Attorney's written legal opinion dated January 17,2012, regarding the delegation of fee setting for Wailua Golf Course and related matters.
As usual all the "good stuff" tomorrow will be done in executive session. Although the Minotaur has departed the labyrinth, "Uncle Kaipo Potter's Council Chamber of Secrets" is alive and functioning well. There's an unsubstantiated rumor going around (spread by us) that they’re working on creating a banner- costing $5,000 and to be funded in executive session- saying "Under New Management."
Perhaps they can borrow a practically brand new one from the Jailhouse Pub and Grill.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
ROOM AT THE TOP
ROOM AT THE TOP: When former County Clerk Peter Nakamura was fired- or, according to some, quit amidst council executive-session-protected investigations of various and sundry allegations of wrong doing- we didn't really expect to hear anything until the decision on a new clerk was a "done deal."
So when our sources at council services told us that ads were placed in both the local and Honolulu newspapers soliciting applications and that there were a significant number of applicants- even from the mainland- though it was nice to think that there might be a little public scrutiny of the list, we didn't hold out much hope.
And we haven't been disappointed in our pessimism.
The job description of the position of clerk is not just "the council's lackey" even though Nakamura's stint under former Chair Kaipo Asing might have given that impressions. He- or she (yeah- that'll happen)- is also the county's chief elections officer and has numerous other important public duties and responsibilities.
But of course the process- and the names of the applicants- has been a tightly held secret with closed-to-the-public, executive sessions the order of the day for review of those seeking the job.
But given the brouhaha over the release of the judicial appointment list and the Office of Information Practices' (OIP) original stance that the names should have been made public- with which a circuit court judge agreed before the judicial selection committee decided was the best policy on their part after all- we wondered if there might be enough of a public interest in release of the names of county clerk applicants to overcome the privacy concerns in the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA), HRS Chapter 92F.
Silly wabbit.
We gave a call to the attorney of the day at OIP and got an interesting if negatory answer. Staff Attorney Carlotta Amerino wrote:
This email responds to your telephone call to the Office of Information Practices (OIP) on November 17, 2011. You explained that the Kauai County Council is in the process of filling a vacant county clerk position and would be meeting on this matter on November 21. You asked whether you may know the names of all the applicants.
The Uniform Information Practices Act (Modified), Chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes (UIPA) requires generally that government records are available to the public. HRS section 92F-11. However, the UIPA does not require disclosure of records which, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. HRS section 92F-13(1). Applications for government positions carry significant privacy interests under HRS section 92F-14(b)(4), which, when balanced against the public interest in disclosure, have often outweighed the public interest. See OIP Ltrs. No 90-14, 91-8, and 95-2. In Opinion 03-03, OIP found that a list of judicial nominees could be disclosed publicly, but that opinion was based in part upon the fact that judges have a great impact upon the public.
The UIPA also allows government agencies to withhold information if disclosure would cause the frustration of a legitimate government function. HRS section 92F-13(3). While OIP has not been asked to issue a formal opinion on your specific question, and has not discussed this matter with the County Council, it would not unreasonable for the Council to invoke the "frustration" exception if it feels that qualified applicants would not apply for government jobs if that fact is made public even for the unsuccessful applicants.
I hope this information is helpful.
Carlotta Amerino
Staff Attorney
Basically it's not really an answer because although the judicial selection process is cited, that process is detailed in both the Hawai`i State Constitution and in law and administrative rules whereas the county clerk simply serves "at the pleasure" of the council
That leaves what Amerino refers to as the "frustration" exception which says that things may be kept secret if revealing them would "frustrate a legitimate government function."
In the case of the judicial nominees, Governor Neil Abercrombie claimed the frustration clause in that it would have a "chilling effect" on attorneys causing many to decline to apply. But even that doesn't seem to be the case with the county attorney position any more than any other job where one might not want their current employer to know they were seeking another job. And, of course, in any event, the court struck down such an exception in the judicial selection case.
We haven't formally requested the list of applicants mostly because it would take at least a few weeks just to get an answer from the council- which we know would be "no" anyway- and then we would have to submit that refusal to the OIP for disposition and they are so "busy" and toothless these days we'd be lucky to get a "formal opinion" at all and if we did it could take months if not years.
And by then, most likely we'll have a new clerk.
It may be best to wait for the appointment and then ask for the list- we might have more of a chance then because there would be no way the release could effect the outcome due to political pressures, which Amerino suggested to us on the phone might be applicable in this situation.
It's been noted in national surveys that Hawai`i has one of the best sunshine/open records laws in the country- and one of the worst records for actually keeping meetings open and releasing records.
The minotaur thinks the labyrinth is working just the way it's been designed, thank you very much.
So when our sources at council services told us that ads were placed in both the local and Honolulu newspapers soliciting applications and that there were a significant number of applicants- even from the mainland- though it was nice to think that there might be a little public scrutiny of the list, we didn't hold out much hope.
And we haven't been disappointed in our pessimism.
The job description of the position of clerk is not just "the council's lackey" even though Nakamura's stint under former Chair Kaipo Asing might have given that impressions. He- or she (yeah- that'll happen)- is also the county's chief elections officer and has numerous other important public duties and responsibilities.
But of course the process- and the names of the applicants- has been a tightly held secret with closed-to-the-public, executive sessions the order of the day for review of those seeking the job.
But given the brouhaha over the release of the judicial appointment list and the Office of Information Practices' (OIP) original stance that the names should have been made public- with which a circuit court judge agreed before the judicial selection committee decided was the best policy on their part after all- we wondered if there might be enough of a public interest in release of the names of county clerk applicants to overcome the privacy concerns in the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA), HRS Chapter 92F.
Silly wabbit.
We gave a call to the attorney of the day at OIP and got an interesting if negatory answer. Staff Attorney Carlotta Amerino wrote:
This email responds to your telephone call to the Office of Information Practices (OIP) on November 17, 2011. You explained that the Kauai County Council is in the process of filling a vacant county clerk position and would be meeting on this matter on November 21. You asked whether you may know the names of all the applicants.
The Uniform Information Practices Act (Modified), Chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes (UIPA) requires generally that government records are available to the public. HRS section 92F-11. However, the UIPA does not require disclosure of records which, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. HRS section 92F-13(1). Applications for government positions carry significant privacy interests under HRS section 92F-14(b)(4), which, when balanced against the public interest in disclosure, have often outweighed the public interest. See OIP Ltrs. No 90-14, 91-8, and 95-2. In Opinion 03-03, OIP found that a list of judicial nominees could be disclosed publicly, but that opinion was based in part upon the fact that judges have a great impact upon the public.
The UIPA also allows government agencies to withhold information if disclosure would cause the frustration of a legitimate government function. HRS section 92F-13(3). While OIP has not been asked to issue a formal opinion on your specific question, and has not discussed this matter with the County Council, it would not unreasonable for the Council to invoke the "frustration" exception if it feels that qualified applicants would not apply for government jobs if that fact is made public even for the unsuccessful applicants.
I hope this information is helpful.
Carlotta Amerino
Staff Attorney
Basically it's not really an answer because although the judicial selection process is cited, that process is detailed in both the Hawai`i State Constitution and in law and administrative rules whereas the county clerk simply serves "at the pleasure" of the council
That leaves what Amerino refers to as the "frustration" exception which says that things may be kept secret if revealing them would "frustrate a legitimate government function."
In the case of the judicial nominees, Governor Neil Abercrombie claimed the frustration clause in that it would have a "chilling effect" on attorneys causing many to decline to apply. But even that doesn't seem to be the case with the county attorney position any more than any other job where one might not want their current employer to know they were seeking another job. And, of course, in any event, the court struck down such an exception in the judicial selection case.
We haven't formally requested the list of applicants mostly because it would take at least a few weeks just to get an answer from the council- which we know would be "no" anyway- and then we would have to submit that refusal to the OIP for disposition and they are so "busy" and toothless these days we'd be lucky to get a "formal opinion" at all and if we did it could take months if not years.
And by then, most likely we'll have a new clerk.
It may be best to wait for the appointment and then ask for the list- we might have more of a chance then because there would be no way the release could effect the outcome due to political pressures, which Amerino suggested to us on the phone might be applicable in this situation.
It's been noted in national surveys that Hawai`i has one of the best sunshine/open records laws in the country- and one of the worst records for actually keeping meetings open and releasing records.
The minotaur thinks the labyrinth is working just the way it's been designed, thank you very much.
Monday, October 24, 2011
IN THE BEGINNING...
IN THE BEGINNING...: At least new Council Chair Jay Furfaro is trying. Problem is that he's extremely trying.
Since he took over after the de-throning of long time Minotaur and champion of opaque governance, Kaipo Asing, Furfaro has managed to continue the policies that make sure that any potentially relevant or revelatory testimony from the public is squelched. His favorite ploy is what we've come to call the "Jeopardy! Exclusion" where he cuts off discussion between members of the public and other councilpersons just when it begins to cut to the chase because the councilperson didn't put their comment in the form of a question.
But whereas Asing was sharply cunning and devious, Furfaro seems to get more and more befuddled every week by his own attempts at control and command.
As our readers know, emerging under the guise of new council rules were two measures designed to reduce that pesky "public participation in the governing process" which, in Furfaro's mind, is apparently a dastardly plan to delay lunch.
The first rule change was filed under "the old switcheroo" when a plan to allow people to testify on any council-related topic at the beginning of a meeting came back out of the rules sub-committee as a rule simply allowing for testimony on any regular agenda items at the start of the day... if and only if the testifier gives up their right to testify later in the day when the matter is taken up.
Then there was the "consent calendar," a rule to allow the council to simply ignore a slew of communications such as bill submittal letters and various reports and such. It dispenses with a public reading of the measures and allows the council to pass them all in one fell swoop, assuring that no one in the viewing public will ever know what the measures were about and stopping attendees from having an extra chance to testify on bills and resolutions being introduced.
But for some reason, after a month or more of these changes, unlike Asing who used to take advantage of new rules without even passing them (don't ask), Furfaro still can't figure out what his own rule changes actually were.
Last Wednesday Furfaro started the day supposedly taking up the new "consent calendar" by announcing that "if you talk now you can't talk when the agenda item comes up later" obviously confusing the two rule changes once again.
After some testimony- not on any items that had been placed on the consent calendar but on the "no drinking, pissing or crapping on the county building grounds" laws- he again asked if anyone wanted to talk on the consent calendar.
You could see it on the faces of the staff that they wanted to figure out a way to say "uh, Jay..." but didn't want to embarrass or confuse the easily-offended and already bemused and bewildered Furfaro any further.
Finally it took council regular Ken Taylor- ever the diplomat- to suggest that perhaps if they put the "time for the public to testify on agenda items" on the agenda itself Furfaro might see it there and finally be able to comprehend that not all the rules passed this year are called "the consent calendar."
But what's a poor Minotaur to do? With the firing (no,he quit- no, he was fired- no, he quit- no, he was fired) of former County Clerk Peter Nakamura, Furfaro's flank is exposed since acting clerk Ricky Watanabe has left it to the staff to follow and read the agenda items and none of them has the nerve to try to correct their boss- as Nakamura used to do- when he gets off into La-La land.
We know it probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things if Furfaro learns how to chair his way out of a paper bag. But it sure is fun to watch him try.
Since he took over after the de-throning of long time Minotaur and champion of opaque governance, Kaipo Asing, Furfaro has managed to continue the policies that make sure that any potentially relevant or revelatory testimony from the public is squelched. His favorite ploy is what we've come to call the "Jeopardy! Exclusion" where he cuts off discussion between members of the public and other councilpersons just when it begins to cut to the chase because the councilperson didn't put their comment in the form of a question.
But whereas Asing was sharply cunning and devious, Furfaro seems to get more and more befuddled every week by his own attempts at control and command.
As our readers know, emerging under the guise of new council rules were two measures designed to reduce that pesky "public participation in the governing process" which, in Furfaro's mind, is apparently a dastardly plan to delay lunch.
The first rule change was filed under "the old switcheroo" when a plan to allow people to testify on any council-related topic at the beginning of a meeting came back out of the rules sub-committee as a rule simply allowing for testimony on any regular agenda items at the start of the day... if and only if the testifier gives up their right to testify later in the day when the matter is taken up.
Then there was the "consent calendar," a rule to allow the council to simply ignore a slew of communications such as bill submittal letters and various reports and such. It dispenses with a public reading of the measures and allows the council to pass them all in one fell swoop, assuring that no one in the viewing public will ever know what the measures were about and stopping attendees from having an extra chance to testify on bills and resolutions being introduced.
But for some reason, after a month or more of these changes, unlike Asing who used to take advantage of new rules without even passing them (don't ask), Furfaro still can't figure out what his own rule changes actually were.
Last Wednesday Furfaro started the day supposedly taking up the new "consent calendar" by announcing that "if you talk now you can't talk when the agenda item comes up later" obviously confusing the two rule changes once again.
After some testimony- not on any items that had been placed on the consent calendar but on the "no drinking, pissing or crapping on the county building grounds" laws- he again asked if anyone wanted to talk on the consent calendar.
You could see it on the faces of the staff that they wanted to figure out a way to say "uh, Jay..." but didn't want to embarrass or confuse the easily-offended and already bemused and bewildered Furfaro any further.
Finally it took council regular Ken Taylor- ever the diplomat- to suggest that perhaps if they put the "time for the public to testify on agenda items" on the agenda itself Furfaro might see it there and finally be able to comprehend that not all the rules passed this year are called "the consent calendar."
But what's a poor Minotaur to do? With the firing (no,he quit- no, he was fired- no, he quit- no, he was fired) of former County Clerk Peter Nakamura, Furfaro's flank is exposed since acting clerk Ricky Watanabe has left it to the staff to follow and read the agenda items and none of them has the nerve to try to correct their boss- as Nakamura used to do- when he gets off into La-La land.
We know it probably doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things if Furfaro learns how to chair his way out of a paper bag. But it sure is fun to watch him try.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
THE RULING CLASS
THE RULING CLASS: We've been fairly merciless with Council Chair Jay Furfaro and his foibles and blunders, not to mention his tendency toward chest-beating blowhardism.
His insistence that his business experience in the tourism industry can be translated and applied to just about any situation has resulted in some real head-scratchers and outright bad results.
But recently, out of the blue, Furfaro has suddenly rectified one of the most blatant violations of the state Sunshine Law- one which, despite our constant whining, sniveling and even letters to the Office of Information Practices (OIP) asking them to intercede, has never been enforced on Kaua`i.
In the late 90's we made it our mission to drag the council- often kicking and screaming- as well as other boards and commissions, into compliance with the simplest of sunshine law provisions.
We joined with then Honolulu Star Bulletin Kaua`i Bureau Chief Anthony Sommer- author of KPD Blue (see left rail)- to request the listing of each specific executive session (ES) on council agendas. At the time, council chairs had always just announced that "we're going into executive session now so please clear the room."
Although the move was at first resisted by then Council Chair Ron Kouchi, it was first instituted by the Police Commission when then new Chair Michael Ching and new Vice Chair Carol Furtado acquiesced, saying they couldn’t believe it had never been done before.
Well soon Kouchi consulted then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, waking him up from his notorious perch under the air conditioner at the back of the council chambers, and finally the specific ES's began to appear routinely on council agendas, starting with ES-1 (we're now up to ES-505).
The Sunshine law provision regarding executive sessions reads
§92-4 Executive meetings. A board may hold an executive meeting closed to the public upon an affirmative vote, taken at an open meeting, of two-thirds of the members present; provided the affirmative vote constitutes a majority of the members to which the board is entitled. A meeting closed to the public shall be limited to matters exempted by section 92-5. The reason for holding such a meeting shall be publicly announced and the vote of each member on the question of holding a meeting closed to the public shall be recorded, and entered into the minutes of the meeting. (emphasis added)
But when we asked Kouchi to take a recorded, roll call vote he failed to respond and when Kaipo Asing took over as chair he continued the tradition despite years of prodding from us before we finally just gave up.
Well lo and behold a few weeks ago our ears and eyes perked up when the council was about to go into executive session and Furfaro asked then County Clerk Peter Nakamura for a roll call vote on each matter. And he's done so for each matter at each meeting since.
But of course for every step forward it's two steps backward for the Kaua`i County Council.
Furfaro is a stickler for the "council rules" which are generally passed by resolution at the inaugural meeting every two years, although they can be amended at any time by reso, as they were this year after a committee examined them.
But although community activist Bruce Pleas made it an issue a few years back, the following extremely important rule has gone back to non-enforcement status under Furfaro.
Rule 12 under Public Hearings states in Section e(4)C states that:
(C) Persons testifying shall clearly state their name, address, whom they represent, and whether they are a registered lobbyist, in compliance with H.R.S. Chapter 97, Lobbyist Law.
Not only is this a council rule but a state law.
Anyone either attending or watching the meeting on TV or on-line knows that this rule is never enforced. Recently during the debate over asking the legislature to close the loopholes in the solar hot water heater requirement for new homes, lobbyists from the Gas Company filed up to testify against the measure. They even flew one in from Honolulu. Not one identified themselves as a lobbyist, nor were they asked.
But Furfaro, who seems to constantly cite the rules, especially when it comes to limiting public testimony, seems to have somehow missed this provision.
Apparently the minotaur giveth, the minotaur taketh away.
His insistence that his business experience in the tourism industry can be translated and applied to just about any situation has resulted in some real head-scratchers and outright bad results.
But recently, out of the blue, Furfaro has suddenly rectified one of the most blatant violations of the state Sunshine Law- one which, despite our constant whining, sniveling and even letters to the Office of Information Practices (OIP) asking them to intercede, has never been enforced on Kaua`i.
In the late 90's we made it our mission to drag the council- often kicking and screaming- as well as other boards and commissions, into compliance with the simplest of sunshine law provisions.
We joined with then Honolulu Star Bulletin Kaua`i Bureau Chief Anthony Sommer- author of KPD Blue (see left rail)- to request the listing of each specific executive session (ES) on council agendas. At the time, council chairs had always just announced that "we're going into executive session now so please clear the room."
Although the move was at first resisted by then Council Chair Ron Kouchi, it was first instituted by the Police Commission when then new Chair Michael Ching and new Vice Chair Carol Furtado acquiesced, saying they couldn’t believe it had never been done before.
Well soon Kouchi consulted then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, waking him up from his notorious perch under the air conditioner at the back of the council chambers, and finally the specific ES's began to appear routinely on council agendas, starting with ES-1 (we're now up to ES-505).
The Sunshine law provision regarding executive sessions reads
§92-4 Executive meetings. A board may hold an executive meeting closed to the public upon an affirmative vote, taken at an open meeting, of two-thirds of the members present; provided the affirmative vote constitutes a majority of the members to which the board is entitled. A meeting closed to the public shall be limited to matters exempted by section 92-5. The reason for holding such a meeting shall be publicly announced and the vote of each member on the question of holding a meeting closed to the public shall be recorded, and entered into the minutes of the meeting. (emphasis added)
But when we asked Kouchi to take a recorded, roll call vote he failed to respond and when Kaipo Asing took over as chair he continued the tradition despite years of prodding from us before we finally just gave up.
Well lo and behold a few weeks ago our ears and eyes perked up when the council was about to go into executive session and Furfaro asked then County Clerk Peter Nakamura for a roll call vote on each matter. And he's done so for each matter at each meeting since.
But of course for every step forward it's two steps backward for the Kaua`i County Council.
Furfaro is a stickler for the "council rules" which are generally passed by resolution at the inaugural meeting every two years, although they can be amended at any time by reso, as they were this year after a committee examined them.
But although community activist Bruce Pleas made it an issue a few years back, the following extremely important rule has gone back to non-enforcement status under Furfaro.
Rule 12 under Public Hearings states in Section e(4)C states that:
(C) Persons testifying shall clearly state their name, address, whom they represent, and whether they are a registered lobbyist, in compliance with H.R.S. Chapter 97, Lobbyist Law.
Not only is this a council rule but a state law.
Anyone either attending or watching the meeting on TV or on-line knows that this rule is never enforced. Recently during the debate over asking the legislature to close the loopholes in the solar hot water heater requirement for new homes, lobbyists from the Gas Company filed up to testify against the measure. They even flew one in from Honolulu. Not one identified themselves as a lobbyist, nor were they asked.
But Furfaro, who seems to constantly cite the rules, especially when it comes to limiting public testimony, seems to have somehow missed this provision.
Apparently the minotaur giveth, the minotaur taketh away.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
LIKE A GLOVE
LIKE A GLOVE: It isn't like it was a surprise when Kauai County Clerk Peter Nakamura* was apparently fired this week.
After all, the first shoe had been dropped over and over throughout the years with allegations that he had cost the county a cool quarter-million in the Margaret Hanson Sueoka harassment suit along with his alleged misdoings in collecting unapproved cash-for-vacation-time from former Chair Kaipo Asing as has been splashed all over the front page of the local newspaper recently.
Not only that but the second shoe had been poised for a gravity-driven trip for months with executive sessions concerning his employ showing up on the council's agenda almost every time they met.
But the fact that Nakamura was offered and accepted a job in the planning department was a bit odd given that the revolving door was wide open for him after his performance as perhaps the best flack-catcher the county has even seen.
We've had a love/hate relationship with Nakamura throughout his tenure. Early in his tenure his penchant for providing information and documents was unique in the county if not the state, where our sunshine law has been cited nationally for being one of the best while showing up among the worst when it comes to how it actually functions.
But that was before the ascendancy of Asing and, in serving the new king, Nakamura of course took to carrying the king's sword which in Asing's case was a heavy instrument indeed.
As per Asing's instructions, Nakamura became the scrooge of public information, fighting with aplomb councilmembers' battles with the Office of Information Practices (OIP)- like the one over the infamous ES-177 that eventually resulted in the recent full de-toothification of the OIP.
Someone that is willing to fall on his sword like that is invaluable in the corporate world and Kaua`i is littered with such former county officials who have found a place in the close knit Kaua`i business community based on their ability to take a bullet for their bosses... people like current Grove Farm VP Mike Tressler who, as Finance Director, parlayed his part in the pogrom that resulted in the removal of former Police Chief KC Lum, into his current high-paying position.
Could it be that Nakamura's claim that he was returning to his first love- planning- actually be true?
Whether or not that's the full explanation, his trip across the street to the administrative offices, while unique, fits quite well into Mayor Bernard Carvalho's scheme for filling positions with "protected" cronies. Anyone who has served with the kind of blind loyalty Nakamura has exhibited over the years can't help but be an asset to Carvalho in a way few if any from the outside can be.
But would Nakamura settle for a position as a lowly planner when lucrative job the business sector beckons? Of course not.
It just so happens that the planning department has a "temporary" director right now- Mike Dahilig who, according to the county charter, is unqualified to take the position permanently. And he has done the job he was sent to do- take over the reins of a department allegedly under FBI investigation and get the feds off their backs... not to mention guiding the difficult and potentially contentious process of passing the all important ordinance that returns scrutiny of tourist accommodation permits from the council back to the planning department in compliance with the so-called citizen-petitioned General Plan charter amendment.
Nakamura- who ironically served as Planning Director under then-Mayor, now-Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura (who apparently was instrumental in his firing)- seems to be the beneficiary of a circumstance that makes his future as planning director all but a formality once the commission acts.
So all's well in the Minotaur’s labyrinth as the bone mill cranks out another bowl of that distinctly Kaua`i-flavored porridge which, while sweet-smelling to the minotaur and his minions, stinks to high heaven to the rest of the island's denizens.
-----
*Correction: We inadvertently left off Peter Nakamura's name in the first paragraph. This on-line version has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
After all, the first shoe had been dropped over and over throughout the years with allegations that he had cost the county a cool quarter-million in the Margaret Hanson Sueoka harassment suit along with his alleged misdoings in collecting unapproved cash-for-vacation-time from former Chair Kaipo Asing as has been splashed all over the front page of the local newspaper recently.
Not only that but the second shoe had been poised for a gravity-driven trip for months with executive sessions concerning his employ showing up on the council's agenda almost every time they met.
But the fact that Nakamura was offered and accepted a job in the planning department was a bit odd given that the revolving door was wide open for him after his performance as perhaps the best flack-catcher the county has even seen.
We've had a love/hate relationship with Nakamura throughout his tenure. Early in his tenure his penchant for providing information and documents was unique in the county if not the state, where our sunshine law has been cited nationally for being one of the best while showing up among the worst when it comes to how it actually functions.
But that was before the ascendancy of Asing and, in serving the new king, Nakamura of course took to carrying the king's sword which in Asing's case was a heavy instrument indeed.
As per Asing's instructions, Nakamura became the scrooge of public information, fighting with aplomb councilmembers' battles with the Office of Information Practices (OIP)- like the one over the infamous ES-177 that eventually resulted in the recent full de-toothification of the OIP.
Someone that is willing to fall on his sword like that is invaluable in the corporate world and Kaua`i is littered with such former county officials who have found a place in the close knit Kaua`i business community based on their ability to take a bullet for their bosses... people like current Grove Farm VP Mike Tressler who, as Finance Director, parlayed his part in the pogrom that resulted in the removal of former Police Chief KC Lum, into his current high-paying position.
Could it be that Nakamura's claim that he was returning to his first love- planning- actually be true?
Whether or not that's the full explanation, his trip across the street to the administrative offices, while unique, fits quite well into Mayor Bernard Carvalho's scheme for filling positions with "protected" cronies. Anyone who has served with the kind of blind loyalty Nakamura has exhibited over the years can't help but be an asset to Carvalho in a way few if any from the outside can be.
But would Nakamura settle for a position as a lowly planner when lucrative job the business sector beckons? Of course not.
It just so happens that the planning department has a "temporary" director right now- Mike Dahilig who, according to the county charter, is unqualified to take the position permanently. And he has done the job he was sent to do- take over the reins of a department allegedly under FBI investigation and get the feds off their backs... not to mention guiding the difficult and potentially contentious process of passing the all important ordinance that returns scrutiny of tourist accommodation permits from the council back to the planning department in compliance with the so-called citizen-petitioned General Plan charter amendment.
Nakamura- who ironically served as Planning Director under then-Mayor, now-Councilmember JoAnn Yukimura (who apparently was instrumental in his firing)- seems to be the beneficiary of a circumstance that makes his future as planning director all but a formality once the commission acts.
So all's well in the Minotaur’s labyrinth as the bone mill cranks out another bowl of that distinctly Kaua`i-flavored porridge which, while sweet-smelling to the minotaur and his minions, stinks to high heaven to the rest of the island's denizens.
-----
*Correction: We inadvertently left off Peter Nakamura's name in the first paragraph. This on-line version has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Friday, July 15, 2011
STRONG AS THE EARTH FROM WHICH HE'S BORN
STRONG AS THE EARTH FROM WHICH HE'S BORN: The labyrinth was quiet- too quiet. But that's the way the minotaur likes it.
So he was surely overjoyed at the extra layer of opaqueness the Kaua`i County Council added via their final rules changes passed at the last full council meeting (7/6).
What began with a proverbial bang during the knock down drag out battles of the summer of '10, ended with the predictable whimper when, to no one's surprise, the council made it both harder for television viewers follow what they're doing and harder still for those in attendance to speak truth to power in front of the TV viewing public.
But it wasn't even the fact that they approved the use of a "consent calendar" and continued to forbid a suggested short period before each meeting for the public to speak on non-agendaed items, it was the excuses for doing so that were the most irksome part of the discussion before the unanimous vote to approve the new rules.
It's was bad enough before if you were the average citizen who decided to try to watch a meeting or two and figure out what the heck your government is up to. Unless an item needed "approval" they weren't even read aloud but rather all lumped together and referred to by number before being "received for the record" in one fell swoop.
But now, with the institution of the consent calendar, those routine measures "for approval" will also remain unread by the clerk.
That means that, while before no one at home- especially those who might not have access to a computer and therefore the agenda- would know for instance that, according to the agenda of the 7/6 meeting, two "(s)tatement(s) of the Condition of the County Treasury," one "as of February 17, 2011" the other "as of May 16, 2011," were even available for the public to peruse, now they won't even hear about the approval, for instance, of a half a dozen grants for things like the police or prosecutor.
Do we not need to know that the prosecutor just received a "Career Criminal Prosecution Program Grant in the amount of $61,938.00" or a "Crime Victim Assistance Grant in the amount of $191,417.00 for the Kaua'i Victim Of Crime Act (VOCA) Expansion Program?"
Are those important? Who knows? But no one will know if they don't know about them. You can be sure though that if a "victim of crime" knows there is a "Crime Victim Assistance" program they might be more likely to take advantage of it.
The council's excuse for the new process? It's "a waste of time" to let the public know what they are doing.
They tried to excuse the new practice by saying that if a councilmember wants to discuss an item they can "pull" it from the consent agenda and if a member of the public who is in attendance at the meeting wants to speak on the matter they can waive frantically as the consent agenda is being approved and try to get the chair's attention.
Well, they didn't exactly say it like that but that's only because they don't seem to appreciate the little bubble in which they appear to operate to any non-councilmember.
Despite the fact they the are always hyper-aware of the cameras and play to them like a ham in a high school play, councilmembers acted like it never occurred to them that home viewers might actually be watching in order to find out what was going on and repeatedly tried to reassure the public they they weren't trying to pull a fast one or cover up anything.
It's as if they are so enraptured with their own little ego-plays that they think that the public is watching because they enjoy the performance itself rather than watching for the content.
It doesn’t seem to occur to them that the same citizens that they complain never get involved in their government are actually being discouraged from doing so because it's so incredibly frustrating to see a dozen items dispatched without even a "reading" of what's actually being voted upon.
Even worse sometimes when the item is actually read it's totally incomprehensible and receives no explanation whatsoever by anyone... but of course we don't expect miracles.
It's as if those who don't actually show up to the meetings don't matter... maybe because they can't say anything to the cameras that might embarrass councilmembers.
Speaking of which, for those who do show up, the councilmembers had their excuses for why they won't set aside 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting for people to speak for three minutes on any county government issue they choose. They do that on other islands and, as the OIP has ruled, it's permissible as long as the council refrains from addressing any non-agendaed item.
That last part of course is the key because one thing that the council has learned to do really well over the last few years is to control testimony so that the council gets the final word on any subject.
Of course the council's "final word" may be half-truths or even outright lies but the viewing audience is left with the impression that the final word is the correct word.
But that was essentially what some councilmembers stated was the problem, saying "what if what something someone says isn't true and we can't speak to correct it?"
"Why we can't have anyone speaking truth to power here- this is a public council meeting"... well they might as well have said that.
Nowadays a testifier can't even get through any semi-controversial words without Council Chair Jay Furfaro interrupting them- often with barely controlled anger virtually dripping from his mouth- "correcting" what is often their opinion.
The intimidation factor alone has been enough to discourage all but the most determined citizens from even showing up to a meeting- unless of course they are there to heap praise on Furfaro and his sycophants who, under his tutelage, have begun to engage in similar deterrence of public expression by grilling the testifier until they start losing the argument, at which point Furfaro interrupts saying "this is for questions, not a dialogue."
So sleep well my sweet bull-man knowing that all is well back at the bone mill and rest assured that the dark will remain as dark as dark can be... even darker if the council has its druthers.
So he was surely overjoyed at the extra layer of opaqueness the Kaua`i County Council added via their final rules changes passed at the last full council meeting (7/6).
What began with a proverbial bang during the knock down drag out battles of the summer of '10, ended with the predictable whimper when, to no one's surprise, the council made it both harder for television viewers follow what they're doing and harder still for those in attendance to speak truth to power in front of the TV viewing public.
But it wasn't even the fact that they approved the use of a "consent calendar" and continued to forbid a suggested short period before each meeting for the public to speak on non-agendaed items, it was the excuses for doing so that were the most irksome part of the discussion before the unanimous vote to approve the new rules.
It's was bad enough before if you were the average citizen who decided to try to watch a meeting or two and figure out what the heck your government is up to. Unless an item needed "approval" they weren't even read aloud but rather all lumped together and referred to by number before being "received for the record" in one fell swoop.
But now, with the institution of the consent calendar, those routine measures "for approval" will also remain unread by the clerk.
That means that, while before no one at home- especially those who might not have access to a computer and therefore the agenda- would know for instance that, according to the agenda of the 7/6 meeting, two "(s)tatement(s) of the Condition of the County Treasury," one "as of February 17, 2011" the other "as of May 16, 2011," were even available for the public to peruse, now they won't even hear about the approval, for instance, of a half a dozen grants for things like the police or prosecutor.
Do we not need to know that the prosecutor just received a "Career Criminal Prosecution Program Grant in the amount of $61,938.00" or a "Crime Victim Assistance Grant in the amount of $191,417.00 for the Kaua'i Victim Of Crime Act (VOCA) Expansion Program?"
Are those important? Who knows? But no one will know if they don't know about them. You can be sure though that if a "victim of crime" knows there is a "Crime Victim Assistance" program they might be more likely to take advantage of it.
The council's excuse for the new process? It's "a waste of time" to let the public know what they are doing.
They tried to excuse the new practice by saying that if a councilmember wants to discuss an item they can "pull" it from the consent agenda and if a member of the public who is in attendance at the meeting wants to speak on the matter they can waive frantically as the consent agenda is being approved and try to get the chair's attention.
Well, they didn't exactly say it like that but that's only because they don't seem to appreciate the little bubble in which they appear to operate to any non-councilmember.
Despite the fact they the are always hyper-aware of the cameras and play to them like a ham in a high school play, councilmembers acted like it never occurred to them that home viewers might actually be watching in order to find out what was going on and repeatedly tried to reassure the public they they weren't trying to pull a fast one or cover up anything.
It's as if they are so enraptured with their own little ego-plays that they think that the public is watching because they enjoy the performance itself rather than watching for the content.
It doesn’t seem to occur to them that the same citizens that they complain never get involved in their government are actually being discouraged from doing so because it's so incredibly frustrating to see a dozen items dispatched without even a "reading" of what's actually being voted upon.
Even worse sometimes when the item is actually read it's totally incomprehensible and receives no explanation whatsoever by anyone... but of course we don't expect miracles.
It's as if those who don't actually show up to the meetings don't matter... maybe because they can't say anything to the cameras that might embarrass councilmembers.
Speaking of which, for those who do show up, the councilmembers had their excuses for why they won't set aside 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting for people to speak for three minutes on any county government issue they choose. They do that on other islands and, as the OIP has ruled, it's permissible as long as the council refrains from addressing any non-agendaed item.
That last part of course is the key because one thing that the council has learned to do really well over the last few years is to control testimony so that the council gets the final word on any subject.
Of course the council's "final word" may be half-truths or even outright lies but the viewing audience is left with the impression that the final word is the correct word.
But that was essentially what some councilmembers stated was the problem, saying "what if what something someone says isn't true and we can't speak to correct it?"
"Why we can't have anyone speaking truth to power here- this is a public council meeting"... well they might as well have said that.
Nowadays a testifier can't even get through any semi-controversial words without Council Chair Jay Furfaro interrupting them- often with barely controlled anger virtually dripping from his mouth- "correcting" what is often their opinion.
The intimidation factor alone has been enough to discourage all but the most determined citizens from even showing up to a meeting- unless of course they are there to heap praise on Furfaro and his sycophants who, under his tutelage, have begun to engage in similar deterrence of public expression by grilling the testifier until they start losing the argument, at which point Furfaro interrupts saying "this is for questions, not a dialogue."
So sleep well my sweet bull-man knowing that all is well back at the bone mill and rest assured that the dark will remain as dark as dark can be... even darker if the council has its druthers.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
THE CUL-DE-SAC OF THE GOLDEN ROAD TO UNLIMITED DEACCELERATION
THE CUL-DE-SAC OF THE GOLDEN ROAD TO UNLIMITED DEACCELERATION: Glenn Mickens thought after 17 1/2 years he finally had 'um.
Silly coach.
For almost two decades the former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher and UCLA coach pitched the council a scandal of major proportion, occasionally bringing the mountain to Mohammad by hauling in pieces of asphalt and dumping them on the council's table to show that, not only our our potholed roads in terrible shape but someone was skimming said asphalt off the top resulting in the county getting less coverage per ton than the standard- as we described in detail a couple of years ago.
But that was only the beginning. Mickens suggested that- gasp- politics might be determining the way the roads made the yearly county repaving list after Hale `Ilio Road, where both Mayors Marianne Kusaka and Bryan Baptiste lived, made the list over and over during their years in office while his own Waipouli Road remained on the Tire Warehouse Enrichment and Preservation list.
Over the years, each time the yearly road resurfacing list came up for council approval Glenn tried to corral at least one councilmember into championing his cause and to get to the bottom of the apparent corruption- all to no avail.
Until, it seemed, this year.
For the last few years Coach had been unusually silent on his pet peeve. The reason? The list was never on the agenda. And the reason for that was that, while the council dutifully appropriated money for resurfacing no one in Public Works even bothered to make a list much less spend the money.
So now there was a cool $8 million accumulated in the fund. And that got someone's attention.
After hounding Chair Jay Furfaro for months to find out why on February 23 Mickens tenaciousness was rewarded with an item on the council's agenda saying
C 2011-76 Communication (02/16/2011) from Council Chair Furfaro, requesting the Administration's presence to provide the Council with an update on the County's Islandwide Road Resurfacing Program.
But as we reported on March 16 and again on March 22 new County Engineer Larry Dill didn't seem to be coming up with answers to satisfy anyone so Furfaro kept deferring the matter on March 9, March 23, April 6, April 20, and Dill kept coming up with excuses for why he couldn't answer the questions fully.
So Furfaro finally put them in writing and came up with a list of 8 questions based on Mickens' evolving 17 1/2-year-old list of queries.
And, as county engineers have done for decades, Dill kept stalling whether by just not showing up or pulling the old shuffle saying someone else had to answer the question but that person was (check one) in `O`ahu, on vacation, busy in an important meeting or some other lame excuse in the official County Engineers' Big Book of Bullsh*t Answers.
On May 3 Furfaro gave Dill two weeks so of course on May 18 Dill himself was off island.
And finally, last Wednesday, when the agenda item was called by the clerk (not in advance) the sheet with answers to the eight questions was distributed to councilmembers... all SIX of them.
Seems that June 1 was the day that, as everyone in the county knew- including of course Dill- Furfaro was in San Francisco negotiating a lower rate on the county's bonds.
The answers themselves were absurdly brief and non-responsive such as #2 which read
Q- Who is responsible for compiling and maintaining the data regarding paving and repaving
County roads?
A- The Roads Maintenance Division of the Department of Public Works.
The answer to Question #7 was quite revelatory regarding how the roads were chosen for repaving
Q- How does the Department of Public Works determine which roads should be resurfaced?
How are these roads prioritized and what type of criteria is followed?
A- A list of roads to be considered for resurfacing is maintained by the Roads Maintenance
Division. Roads are added to this last due to input from Roads Maintenance personnel or the
public. The Division Head inspects all the roads and prioritizes the roads for resurfacing,
considering:
* Pavement condition
• Volume of traffic
• Potential liability if deferred
• Grouping of roads
In other words using a totally subjective method leaving out "the ones the Mayor wants done".
The rest were a combination of double-talk and non-answers.
You'd think the six remaining councilmembers, having sat through all the crap of the past few months would be champing at the bit to tear Dill a new one. But this being Kaua`i, you'd be thinking wrong.
With Furfaro gone, a quick "Thank you Mr. Dill. Any questions? Hearing none we'll take a vote on the motion to receive this matter. All in favor say aye Motion carried" from Acting Chair Yukimura which brought an end to Mickens' hope that this year- his 80th- might be the one that yields answers and, god forbid, better roads.
Meanwhile back in his labyrinth, the Minotaur turned over, munched a few bones and went back to sleep thinking "life is good"
Silly coach.
For almost two decades the former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher and UCLA coach pitched the council a scandal of major proportion, occasionally bringing the mountain to Mohammad by hauling in pieces of asphalt and dumping them on the council's table to show that, not only our our potholed roads in terrible shape but someone was skimming said asphalt off the top resulting in the county getting less coverage per ton than the standard- as we described in detail a couple of years ago.
But that was only the beginning. Mickens suggested that- gasp- politics might be determining the way the roads made the yearly county repaving list after Hale `Ilio Road, where both Mayors Marianne Kusaka and Bryan Baptiste lived, made the list over and over during their years in office while his own Waipouli Road remained on the Tire Warehouse Enrichment and Preservation list.
Over the years, each time the yearly road resurfacing list came up for council approval Glenn tried to corral at least one councilmember into championing his cause and to get to the bottom of the apparent corruption- all to no avail.
Until, it seemed, this year.
For the last few years Coach had been unusually silent on his pet peeve. The reason? The list was never on the agenda. And the reason for that was that, while the council dutifully appropriated money for resurfacing no one in Public Works even bothered to make a list much less spend the money.
So now there was a cool $8 million accumulated in the fund. And that got someone's attention.
After hounding Chair Jay Furfaro for months to find out why on February 23 Mickens tenaciousness was rewarded with an item on the council's agenda saying
C 2011-76 Communication (02/16/2011) from Council Chair Furfaro, requesting the Administration's presence to provide the Council with an update on the County's Islandwide Road Resurfacing Program.
But as we reported on March 16 and again on March 22 new County Engineer Larry Dill didn't seem to be coming up with answers to satisfy anyone so Furfaro kept deferring the matter on March 9, March 23, April 6, April 20, and Dill kept coming up with excuses for why he couldn't answer the questions fully.
So Furfaro finally put them in writing and came up with a list of 8 questions based on Mickens' evolving 17 1/2-year-old list of queries.
And, as county engineers have done for decades, Dill kept stalling whether by just not showing up or pulling the old shuffle saying someone else had to answer the question but that person was (check one) in `O`ahu, on vacation, busy in an important meeting or some other lame excuse in the official County Engineers' Big Book of Bullsh*t Answers.
On May 3 Furfaro gave Dill two weeks so of course on May 18 Dill himself was off island.
And finally, last Wednesday, when the agenda item was called by the clerk (not in advance) the sheet with answers to the eight questions was distributed to councilmembers... all SIX of them.
Seems that June 1 was the day that, as everyone in the county knew- including of course Dill- Furfaro was in San Francisco negotiating a lower rate on the county's bonds.
The answers themselves were absurdly brief and non-responsive such as #2 which read
Q- Who is responsible for compiling and maintaining the data regarding paving and repaving
County roads?
A- The Roads Maintenance Division of the Department of Public Works.
The answer to Question #7 was quite revelatory regarding how the roads were chosen for repaving
Q- How does the Department of Public Works determine which roads should be resurfaced?
How are these roads prioritized and what type of criteria is followed?
A- A list of roads to be considered for resurfacing is maintained by the Roads Maintenance
Division. Roads are added to this last due to input from Roads Maintenance personnel or the
public. The Division Head inspects all the roads and prioritizes the roads for resurfacing,
considering:
* Pavement condition
• Volume of traffic
• Potential liability if deferred
• Grouping of roads
In other words using a totally subjective method leaving out "the ones the Mayor wants done".
The rest were a combination of double-talk and non-answers.
You'd think the six remaining councilmembers, having sat through all the crap of the past few months would be champing at the bit to tear Dill a new one. But this being Kaua`i, you'd be thinking wrong.
With Furfaro gone, a quick "Thank you Mr. Dill. Any questions? Hearing none we'll take a vote on the motion to receive this matter. All in favor say aye Motion carried" from Acting Chair Yukimura which brought an end to Mickens' hope that this year- his 80th- might be the one that yields answers and, god forbid, better roads.
Meanwhile back in his labyrinth, the Minotaur turned over, munched a few bones and went back to sleep thinking "life is good"
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BAMBOOZLEE
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BAMBOOZLEE: After they teach new councilmembers the secret handshake and turn over one of the seven keys to the little politician’s room, someone- probably legislative analyst Ricky Watenabe who, in case you haven't heard, is the one who really runs the whole shebang- schools the newbies in the unique etiquette of council-being on Kaua`i.
No, we're not talking Emily Post politeness although there's that element too. We're talking the sickeningly sycophantic, Alphonse and Gaston (no not that kind gutter-brain), "I won't step on your political toes if you stay the hell off mine," hide-your-roaches, back-room bamboozling demagoguery that anyone who watches four-and-a-half seconds of a meeting knows all too well.
But the dynamic of this council has suddenly thrown all that to the proverbial tradewinds of late due to a rift that threatens to bring some fireworks to the normally tedious snoozefest to which we've all become inured.
Apparently no one but us noticed the first milestone- or millstone as the case may be- which occurred with the defeat of Councilmember Mel Rapozo's thinly disguised attempt to reverse the plastic bag "ban," purportedly due to food safety concerns but actually to appeal to the piggies who can’t imagine taking home their bacon without despoiling every tree and roadside with "white kites".
The issue had been decided before the bill was introduced with Councilmembers Tim Bynum and JoAnn Yukimura- who have become thorns in the side of Rapozo and vice-versa- voting "aye" on "first reading" for the stated reason that any bill introduced deserves the "common courtesy" of a public hearing and debate... although the obvious political reason was they thought that there was enough community support for the ban to make Rapozo look like an idiot for weeks on end in trying to end the prohibition.
But that kind of smile-as-you-kill backbiting is the hallmark of Watenabian counciling. What wasn't was the final act on the bill where something occurred for the first time in our decades of council-watching.
Oh there have been bills that were defeated before. But the method for that was always to "receive" the bill "for the record," by voice vote. No one caught on the record no one having their bill actually defeated, no one embarrassed.
But Rapozo's bill was actually defeated by a roll call vote or "ayes" and "nays" putting Rapozo on the record on the losing end of a 5-1 vote (then-Councilmember Derek "Mr. Big Save" Kawakami had recused himself).
So what? Well that was just the beginning.
Normally the teeth-clenching ultra-graciousness has resulted in an unflinching yet unwritten rule that when a bill is in committee any member of the committee may request a deferral for a couple of weeks- sometime much more- in order to purportedly do "due diligence," although the real reason may be to do a little arm twisting or to gather a cadre of community members to overwhelm the others with on-camera testimony, given to quell and even reverse a building tide that's going against them.
But lately the Rapozo-Bynum/Yukimura feud has resulted in a couple of instances where that "courtesy" was denied, most recently with the defeat of the nomination of Nancy McMahon to the Historic Preservation Committee- a story that went national today when the Associated Press picked up the local newspaper story on the matter.
Chair Jay Furfaro had requested a 60 day deferral supposedly so he could check up on many of the charges made against McMahon by a slew of members of the public. But the nomination had been deferred a few times already and Rapozo said he had enough information to act right then and there.
Now Bynum has made a point of always voting for first readings and deferrals after having had a few bills defeated on first reading during the last council, due to his feud with then Chair Kaipo Asing and the Minotaur’s henchmen.
So he supported the deferral even though he made a point of saying he'd also heard enough to vote and was doing so as a "courtesy" to Furfaro.
But when the vote came for deferral it was actually a 5-2 vote against after the usually Furfaro-allied Dickie Chang voted no and Yukimura, voting last and knowing the vote was already 4-2 against, saying she was ready to "accelerate my decision making process" (we just loved that one) doing the same.
So what does all this mean? It's hard to say but the obvious indication is that Chair Furfaro is increasingly becoming more and more unable to herd his councilcats as his predecessors did.
And, speaking of sickeningly polite, "that's a good thing" Martha.
No, we're not talking Emily Post politeness although there's that element too. We're talking the sickeningly sycophantic, Alphonse and Gaston (no not that kind gutter-brain), "I won't step on your political toes if you stay the hell off mine," hide-your-roaches, back-room bamboozling demagoguery that anyone who watches four-and-a-half seconds of a meeting knows all too well.
But the dynamic of this council has suddenly thrown all that to the proverbial tradewinds of late due to a rift that threatens to bring some fireworks to the normally tedious snoozefest to which we've all become inured.
Apparently no one but us noticed the first milestone- or millstone as the case may be- which occurred with the defeat of Councilmember Mel Rapozo's thinly disguised attempt to reverse the plastic bag "ban," purportedly due to food safety concerns but actually to appeal to the piggies who can’t imagine taking home their bacon without despoiling every tree and roadside with "white kites".
The issue had been decided before the bill was introduced with Councilmembers Tim Bynum and JoAnn Yukimura- who have become thorns in the side of Rapozo and vice-versa- voting "aye" on "first reading" for the stated reason that any bill introduced deserves the "common courtesy" of a public hearing and debate... although the obvious political reason was they thought that there was enough community support for the ban to make Rapozo look like an idiot for weeks on end in trying to end the prohibition.
But that kind of smile-as-you-kill backbiting is the hallmark of Watenabian counciling. What wasn't was the final act on the bill where something occurred for the first time in our decades of council-watching.
Oh there have been bills that were defeated before. But the method for that was always to "receive" the bill "for the record," by voice vote. No one caught on the record no one having their bill actually defeated, no one embarrassed.
But Rapozo's bill was actually defeated by a roll call vote or "ayes" and "nays" putting Rapozo on the record on the losing end of a 5-1 vote (then-Councilmember Derek "Mr. Big Save" Kawakami had recused himself).
So what? Well that was just the beginning.
Normally the teeth-clenching ultra-graciousness has resulted in an unflinching yet unwritten rule that when a bill is in committee any member of the committee may request a deferral for a couple of weeks- sometime much more- in order to purportedly do "due diligence," although the real reason may be to do a little arm twisting or to gather a cadre of community members to overwhelm the others with on-camera testimony, given to quell and even reverse a building tide that's going against them.
But lately the Rapozo-Bynum/Yukimura feud has resulted in a couple of instances where that "courtesy" was denied, most recently with the defeat of the nomination of Nancy McMahon to the Historic Preservation Committee- a story that went national today when the Associated Press picked up the local newspaper story on the matter.
Chair Jay Furfaro had requested a 60 day deferral supposedly so he could check up on many of the charges made against McMahon by a slew of members of the public. But the nomination had been deferred a few times already and Rapozo said he had enough information to act right then and there.
Now Bynum has made a point of always voting for first readings and deferrals after having had a few bills defeated on first reading during the last council, due to his feud with then Chair Kaipo Asing and the Minotaur’s henchmen.
So he supported the deferral even though he made a point of saying he'd also heard enough to vote and was doing so as a "courtesy" to Furfaro.
But when the vote came for deferral it was actually a 5-2 vote against after the usually Furfaro-allied Dickie Chang voted no and Yukimura, voting last and knowing the vote was already 4-2 against, saying she was ready to "accelerate my decision making process" (we just loved that one) doing the same.
So what does all this mean? It's hard to say but the obvious indication is that Chair Furfaro is increasingly becoming more and more unable to herd his councilcats as his predecessors did.
And, speaking of sickeningly polite, "that's a good thing" Martha.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
CROSS YOUR HEART AND HOPE TO LIE
CROSS YOUR HEART AND HOPE TO LIE: To no one's surprise the yes-it-happened, no-it-didn't, I-ain't-sayin', alleged $250,000 payoff to the Kekaha shrimp farm by the Solid Waste Division of the Kaua`i Department of Public Works Department will most likely fade into the perpetual darkness of the labyrinth after Council Chair Jay Furfaro refused to adhere to his own schedule for releasing information on the matter.
For those who haven't been following (here and here) the now-you-see-it. now-you-don't payment, it all started with a blurb in some paperwork for an appropriation of $417,000 in Bill #2397 that said:
The Shrimp Farm extracted approximately $250,000 to provide assurance that the white spot syndrome would be mitigated flying trash within there (sic) property and laying (sic) in their ponds that could potentially lead to the spread of the disease. The cost of mitigation beyond the settlement is questionable as well as the negative publicity that could have a direct impact on our future landfill siting efforts (emphases added).
That elicited a promise by Furfaro that he would look into it and let council watchers Ken Taylor and Glenn Mickens know what the heck that meant and whether, in fact, the county paid the shrimp farm that's adjacent to the Kekaha landfill a quarter million dollars.
He first promised to reveal the info when the bill came back on the agenda "in seven days".
But in seven days he distributed copies of three past agenda items for executive sessions that didn't mention anything about any claim or settlement. Then he promised an answer in 10 days, conveniently three days after the bill was scheduled to pass final reading and disappear forever from public purview- at least at council meetings.
And sure enough, seven days after the "10 days" promise Wednesday, when badgered by Taylor and Mickens, Furfaro said of the three days left for him to fulfill his promise to reveal what really happened, "If I don't fulfill it in three days, I don't fulfill it in three days" telling Taylor and Mickens to see staff attorney Peter Morimoto who would help him fill out a public document request.
And of course the three days have passed and guess what- shockingly (for the impossibly naive) no info has been forthcoming from Furfaro.
Mickens says he still hasn't filed anything because he hasn't quite figured out what he is asking for- executive session minutes? settlement documents? administration communications? Not filing is apparently the sign of someone who has experience with the runaround given when the council and their clerk are committed to keeping information under wraps.
The only new thing revealed last Wednesday about those executive sessions is that the stated purpose on those agenda's back in 2009- on Sept. 23rd , Oct. 7th and Oct. 14th- was "relating to the expansion of the landfill and related matters."
The Office of Information Practices (OIP) which administrates the sunshine law says that agenda items must be specific in listing the purposes for matters discussed, which quite obviously would make these agenda items insufficient were a $250,000 claim settlement been discussed.
The one clue came from Councilperson Tim Bynum who said that he was "concerned about the secrecy" at the time and that "I put it in writing and I'm trying to get permission to share (it)."
Mickens says he's perplexed and wary of council staff which he says is apparently very eager for him to file for the information. He says he still intends to file for the documents but is trying to make sure that he covers all the bases so that if there is information or are documents that are allowed to be released his request will cover them.
In the past this kind of "put it in writing" demand for requests for documents has led to stonewalling and eventual denials with lengthy appeals to OIP which have on occasion resulted in an OIP demand to release the documents and the county's refusal to do so.
Meet the new minotaur- same as the old minotaur.
For those who haven't been following (here and here) the now-you-see-it. now-you-don't payment, it all started with a blurb in some paperwork for an appropriation of $417,000 in Bill #2397 that said:
The Shrimp Farm extracted approximately $250,000 to provide assurance that the white spot syndrome would be mitigated flying trash within there (sic) property and laying (sic) in their ponds that could potentially lead to the spread of the disease. The cost of mitigation beyond the settlement is questionable as well as the negative publicity that could have a direct impact on our future landfill siting efforts (emphases added).
That elicited a promise by Furfaro that he would look into it and let council watchers Ken Taylor and Glenn Mickens know what the heck that meant and whether, in fact, the county paid the shrimp farm that's adjacent to the Kekaha landfill a quarter million dollars.
He first promised to reveal the info when the bill came back on the agenda "in seven days".
But in seven days he distributed copies of three past agenda items for executive sessions that didn't mention anything about any claim or settlement. Then he promised an answer in 10 days, conveniently three days after the bill was scheduled to pass final reading and disappear forever from public purview- at least at council meetings.
And sure enough, seven days after the "10 days" promise Wednesday, when badgered by Taylor and Mickens, Furfaro said of the three days left for him to fulfill his promise to reveal what really happened, "If I don't fulfill it in three days, I don't fulfill it in three days" telling Taylor and Mickens to see staff attorney Peter Morimoto who would help him fill out a public document request.
And of course the three days have passed and guess what- shockingly (for the impossibly naive) no info has been forthcoming from Furfaro.
Mickens says he still hasn't filed anything because he hasn't quite figured out what he is asking for- executive session minutes? settlement documents? administration communications? Not filing is apparently the sign of someone who has experience with the runaround given when the council and their clerk are committed to keeping information under wraps.
The only new thing revealed last Wednesday about those executive sessions is that the stated purpose on those agenda's back in 2009- on Sept. 23rd , Oct. 7th and Oct. 14th- was "relating to the expansion of the landfill and related matters."
The Office of Information Practices (OIP) which administrates the sunshine law says that agenda items must be specific in listing the purposes for matters discussed, which quite obviously would make these agenda items insufficient were a $250,000 claim settlement been discussed.
The one clue came from Councilperson Tim Bynum who said that he was "concerned about the secrecy" at the time and that "I put it in writing and I'm trying to get permission to share (it)."
Mickens says he's perplexed and wary of council staff which he says is apparently very eager for him to file for the information. He says he still intends to file for the documents but is trying to make sure that he covers all the bases so that if there is information or are documents that are allowed to be released his request will cover them.
In the past this kind of "put it in writing" demand for requests for documents has led to stonewalling and eventual denials with lengthy appeals to OIP which have on occasion resulted in an OIP demand to release the documents and the county's refusal to do so.
Meet the new minotaur- same as the old minotaur.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
LOW AND OUTSIDE
LOW AND OUTSIDE: There’s nothing like watching Council Chair Kaipo Asing when he’s defending the indefensible and his latest attempt to block legislation from the agenda was as bizarre as it gets.
It was almost cringe-worthy and sad to watch the once mighty Minotaur become a babbling boob at last week’s council meeting redux of last year’s conflicts over the simple rights of councilmembers to introduce bills- events which might have informed the rote, chronological recital of events and quotes in the newspaper article about it had they been included.
This time the new wrinkle was Asing’s insistence that bills be reviewed by the county attorney (CA) before they can be introduced even though his nemesis Tim Bynum’s research showed that CA review before introduction is, at best, rare.
But the missing context wasn’t limited to our friend Leo Azambuja’s failure to go back and review last year’s coverage of the issues of councilmembers’ rights.
That would take a basic understanding of how the council services department works.
Seems that there was much made by Asing of how council “staff” had recommended that CA Al Castillo’s office review the three bills that Bynum wanted to introduce.
But Asing wasn’t talking about the various secretaries employed by the council. The staff he was referring to is the council’s own attorneys who don’t just review but actually help draft bills and have done so for decades without interference from the county attorney.
Under Asing’s tenure as chair however, use of the time of these “legislative analysts” has been strictly controlled, as has the use of any staff time for the use of other councilmembers. Who do you think prepares all of Asing’s infamous “power point presentations” given that Asing’s technical skills are such that he can’t even answer his own email?
Getting back to the analysts, although they are the ones that are supposed to make sure bills are the kuleana of county legislation and don’t conflict with state or federal statutes, all of a sudden Asing has relied on Castillo to interfere in the political process and determine public policy from the outside.
This politicization of the county attorney’s office could only happen under the Kaua`i County Charter which makes the CA’s appointment a dual responsibility of the administration and council and fails to list any component of serving the public’s interest.
In Castillo, Asing has found an all too willing ally who sees nothing wrong with the politicization that the charter seems to allow.
This has led to highly political actions coming out of the CA’s office, including the conduct of public policy behind the closed door of “executive sessions” that we’ve seen over the past few years.
Though most acknowledge that our charter’s section on the CA is lacking and it would be “necessary and desirable” to perhaps even elect our CAs, the charter review commission (CRC) seems to waste it’s time putting lengthened council terms and various districting plans on the ballot for the umpteenth time and otherwise tinkering around the edges, ignoring the one glaring deficiency that has caused untold confusion and corruption of the legislative process.
But who can blame the CRC when the most active citizens have distracted the body by pushing a “county manager system” onto the ballot despite the lack of evidence that anything would be different?
Unless and until people put pressure on the CRC to change the set-up of the county attorney’s office it will be ripe for abuse no matter who the council chair is.
It was almost cringe-worthy and sad to watch the once mighty Minotaur become a babbling boob at last week’s council meeting redux of last year’s conflicts over the simple rights of councilmembers to introduce bills- events which might have informed the rote, chronological recital of events and quotes in the newspaper article about it had they been included.
This time the new wrinkle was Asing’s insistence that bills be reviewed by the county attorney (CA) before they can be introduced even though his nemesis Tim Bynum’s research showed that CA review before introduction is, at best, rare.
But the missing context wasn’t limited to our friend Leo Azambuja’s failure to go back and review last year’s coverage of the issues of councilmembers’ rights.
That would take a basic understanding of how the council services department works.
Seems that there was much made by Asing of how council “staff” had recommended that CA Al Castillo’s office review the three bills that Bynum wanted to introduce.
But Asing wasn’t talking about the various secretaries employed by the council. The staff he was referring to is the council’s own attorneys who don’t just review but actually help draft bills and have done so for decades without interference from the county attorney.
Under Asing’s tenure as chair however, use of the time of these “legislative analysts” has been strictly controlled, as has the use of any staff time for the use of other councilmembers. Who do you think prepares all of Asing’s infamous “power point presentations” given that Asing’s technical skills are such that he can’t even answer his own email?
Getting back to the analysts, although they are the ones that are supposed to make sure bills are the kuleana of county legislation and don’t conflict with state or federal statutes, all of a sudden Asing has relied on Castillo to interfere in the political process and determine public policy from the outside.
This politicization of the county attorney’s office could only happen under the Kaua`i County Charter which makes the CA’s appointment a dual responsibility of the administration and council and fails to list any component of serving the public’s interest.
In Castillo, Asing has found an all too willing ally who sees nothing wrong with the politicization that the charter seems to allow.
This has led to highly political actions coming out of the CA’s office, including the conduct of public policy behind the closed door of “executive sessions” that we’ve seen over the past few years.
Though most acknowledge that our charter’s section on the CA is lacking and it would be “necessary and desirable” to perhaps even elect our CAs, the charter review commission (CRC) seems to waste it’s time putting lengthened council terms and various districting plans on the ballot for the umpteenth time and otherwise tinkering around the edges, ignoring the one glaring deficiency that has caused untold confusion and corruption of the legislative process.
But who can blame the CRC when the most active citizens have distracted the body by pushing a “county manager system” onto the ballot despite the lack of evidence that anything would be different?
Unless and until people put pressure on the CRC to change the set-up of the county attorney’s office it will be ripe for abuse no matter who the council chair is.
Monday, July 19, 2010
ONLY HALF BULL?
ONLY HALF BULL?: Deep in the darkest recesses of the Minotaur’s labyrinth when the light of day threatens to expose all, his minions scurry to defend the perimeters at every parry of the knights of illumination.
And last Wednesday, the news that that of death of the Minotaur was premature being still unknown, his minotaur-in-waiting performed his own dance of darkness as if to prove his worthiness to ascend to the throne
Council Chair Kaipo Asing indeed filed to run for another term last Thursday despite statements in 2008 that this term would be his last.
His filing came on the heels of another slaying of the oft promised and always delayed on-line, live streaming of meetings and posting of video and agenda-related documents.
The six month deferment was accomplished through the complicity of his always rely-a-bull 3-D’s who were joined by the clueless would-be king, Jay Furfaro, whose continued confusion over how the sunshine law actually works gave the excuse for essentially the defeat of another attempt by Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara to get everyone to move off the dime and “git ’r done”
And though the local paper not only ran an article but an editorial each was, as usual, equally clueless as to the back story and Furfaro’s apparently inability to understand the basics of the state’s open meetings “sunshine” laws.
Furfaro’s confusion goes back to December of 2008 when we filed a complaint with the Office of Information Practices (OIP) after he was caught Red-Handed sending a letter to fellow councilpersons not just describing the then-new original bill calling for “non-enforcement agreements” for vacation rentals on ag land, but soliciting their support which is forbidden under any and all circumstances by law.
OIP opened a case, as we reported in Jan. of 2009 but rather than admit his blatant violation of the law Furfaro has been fighting it ever since, even somehow spending, as he said Wednesday, $1700 to do so.
The law is actually very simple. Pay attention Jay.
Councilmembers cannot discuss any matter either on an agenda or that might be on a future agenda with more than one other councilmember. And even then they cannot solicit or commit to a vote.
And, they can’t get around that by “serial one-on-one communications” or by going through a third party to do so.
The correct way to introduce anything they want to discuss is to put it on the agenda as either a communication or a bill or resolution. Otherwise it is forbidden to discuss it with more than one other member.
Once it is on the agenda the way to discuss it is to wait for the item to come up on the agenda and then say and do anything you want including introducing or even “floating” amendments to a bill.
But somehow Furfaro remains obstinate in his refusal to learn these simple procedures as evidenced by the fact that at this very meeting, during this very agenda item where he brought up his confusion in order to ask for the deferral, he referred to a 19 page letter he had sent to the Civil Service Commission regarding his thoughts on county furloughs- which the council has set for December discussion- and actually sent a copy of that letter to the rest of the council without putting it on the agenda.
All he would have had to do was send a communication with the 19 page letter to the council, have it placed on the agenda and it would have been legal. But as if to re-iterate his inability to understand a simple concept that all other council, boards and commissions in the state seem to have no trouble understanding, he just distributed it to councilmembers by placing it in their mailboxes.
Furfaro has even devised another attempted by-pass of the law lately calling for the “floating” of amendments to a bill at one committee meeting to be taken up at the next one but making them available only to the councilmembers and not to the public, according to discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.
Just as absurd were some of the other excuses used to delay implementation of the system- for which the contract has been signed and apparently all the protests have now been resolved.
What the resolution calls for in the posting of all the accompanying paperwork for all agenda items- not just the actual communications, bills and resolutions but the background documents pertaining to the item.
Right now “hard copies”- on paper- of all those are available to the public at council services as soon as the agenda is officially filed. And copies of each are made for councilpersons as part of their “packet” which they also receive when the agenda is filed.
According to sources at council services the copying machine there isn’t just some $39.99 Wal Mart special. It’s a fancy schmancy piece of work that not only makes copies but makes digital copies of each and can, with the push of a button can- drum roll please- even post them on line automatically.
But you would think that they needed a Manhattan project to figure out how to post them and then have to hire three more employees to push that bottom from the way Furfaro, Asing and Councilpersons Dickie Chang, Darryl Kaneshiro and Derrick Kawakami jumped at the chance to defer posting the documents- via the system which IT Division Chief Erik Knutzen told us a year and a half ago was ready to go- until they resolve the “county furloughs” issue and meet with staff to figure out how to push the button.... something they’ve had four years to do.
But there are no buttons at door to the labyrinth and distribution of information remains for now on a need-to-know basis.
And last Wednesday, the news that that of death of the Minotaur was premature being still unknown, his minotaur-in-waiting performed his own dance of darkness as if to prove his worthiness to ascend to the throne
Council Chair Kaipo Asing indeed filed to run for another term last Thursday despite statements in 2008 that this term would be his last.
His filing came on the heels of another slaying of the oft promised and always delayed on-line, live streaming of meetings and posting of video and agenda-related documents.
The six month deferment was accomplished through the complicity of his always rely-a-bull 3-D’s who were joined by the clueless would-be king, Jay Furfaro, whose continued confusion over how the sunshine law actually works gave the excuse for essentially the defeat of another attempt by Councilpersons Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara to get everyone to move off the dime and “git ’r done”
And though the local paper not only ran an article but an editorial each was, as usual, equally clueless as to the back story and Furfaro’s apparently inability to understand the basics of the state’s open meetings “sunshine” laws.
Furfaro’s confusion goes back to December of 2008 when we filed a complaint with the Office of Information Practices (OIP) after he was caught Red-Handed sending a letter to fellow councilpersons not just describing the then-new original bill calling for “non-enforcement agreements” for vacation rentals on ag land, but soliciting their support which is forbidden under any and all circumstances by law.
OIP opened a case, as we reported in Jan. of 2009 but rather than admit his blatant violation of the law Furfaro has been fighting it ever since, even somehow spending, as he said Wednesday, $1700 to do so.
The law is actually very simple. Pay attention Jay.
Councilmembers cannot discuss any matter either on an agenda or that might be on a future agenda with more than one other councilmember. And even then they cannot solicit or commit to a vote.
And, they can’t get around that by “serial one-on-one communications” or by going through a third party to do so.
The correct way to introduce anything they want to discuss is to put it on the agenda as either a communication or a bill or resolution. Otherwise it is forbidden to discuss it with more than one other member.
Once it is on the agenda the way to discuss it is to wait for the item to come up on the agenda and then say and do anything you want including introducing or even “floating” amendments to a bill.
But somehow Furfaro remains obstinate in his refusal to learn these simple procedures as evidenced by the fact that at this very meeting, during this very agenda item where he brought up his confusion in order to ask for the deferral, he referred to a 19 page letter he had sent to the Civil Service Commission regarding his thoughts on county furloughs- which the council has set for December discussion- and actually sent a copy of that letter to the rest of the council without putting it on the agenda.
All he would have had to do was send a communication with the 19 page letter to the council, have it placed on the agenda and it would have been legal. But as if to re-iterate his inability to understand a simple concept that all other council, boards and commissions in the state seem to have no trouble understanding, he just distributed it to councilmembers by placing it in their mailboxes.
Furfaro has even devised another attempted by-pass of the law lately calling for the “floating” of amendments to a bill at one committee meeting to be taken up at the next one but making them available only to the councilmembers and not to the public, according to discussion at Wednesday’s meeting.
Just as absurd were some of the other excuses used to delay implementation of the system- for which the contract has been signed and apparently all the protests have now been resolved.
What the resolution calls for in the posting of all the accompanying paperwork for all agenda items- not just the actual communications, bills and resolutions but the background documents pertaining to the item.
Right now “hard copies”- on paper- of all those are available to the public at council services as soon as the agenda is officially filed. And copies of each are made for councilpersons as part of their “packet” which they also receive when the agenda is filed.
According to sources at council services the copying machine there isn’t just some $39.99 Wal Mart special. It’s a fancy schmancy piece of work that not only makes copies but makes digital copies of each and can, with the push of a button can- drum roll please- even post them on line automatically.
But you would think that they needed a Manhattan project to figure out how to post them and then have to hire three more employees to push that bottom from the way Furfaro, Asing and Councilpersons Dickie Chang, Darryl Kaneshiro and Derrick Kawakami jumped at the chance to defer posting the documents- via the system which IT Division Chief Erik Knutzen told us a year and a half ago was ready to go- until they resolve the “county furloughs” issue and meet with staff to figure out how to push the button.... something they’ve had four years to do.
But there are no buttons at door to the labyrinth and distribution of information remains for now on a need-to-know basis.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A CAPITAL IDEA
A CAPITAL IDEA: After explaining the difference between the real property tax “rate“ and the actual amount people pay in property taxes last month we almost facetiously suggested that in order to maintain services the council should consider raising the rate to a level where the payments would remain static.
We say facetiously because, as we described, the council has been so successful in making people believe their taxes go up only when the rate goes up that, as a victim of their success, they have apparently been refusing to consider raising the rate, especially in an election year... as evidenced by the lack of any mention of the possibility in the same breath as the proposed two-day-a-month furloughs of county employees.
But at yesterday’s budget hearing we were surprised to listen to a presentation by Councilperson Tim Bynum repeating the gist of what we wrote, sans the bombast.
Though we’re not sure what happened next since we never got back to watching the on-line coverage (not archived yet at press time) after the first break, it did get us thinking about the budget process and so we spent some time re-reading that county charter section today.
Another thing few people realize although it’s right there for their perusal is that the operating budget, is that what we commonly call “the budget” is only a portion of what we will actually spend this year because there is also a “capital budget” that goes to building new facilities.
The capital budget is for the most part supported by the sale of bonds and this year the county floated a new bond issue with a slightly better rate and also renegotiated our outstanding bonds.
Though many sort of treat the capital budget as some kind of free money, of course it’s nothing of the sort and shows up in the operating budget every year as a fixed expenditure that covers payments on the principle and the interest.
Not to say that it’s some kind of waste of money because it’s going to pay for many much needed projects like the repair of the levees in Hanapepe and Waimea and sewage treatment plants and the like- long neglected projects that have been delayed for years.
It obviously takes a lot of planning to decide on how much to borrow and how to spend it.
So it was no surprise that the county charter calls for one step that we don’t recall ever hearing or seeing.
Section 19.09B under Capital Program and Capital Budget, reads
The planning commission shall prepare the capital program for each of the ensuing five fiscal years, predicated upon the requests of the several agencies and based upon the finance director's statement of moneys likely to be available and the amount of bonds which the mayor believes would be proper for the county to issue.
We admit to being a little lax in keeping up with planning commission doings but if it ever did come before the commission it certainly wasn’t “prepared” by the commission with full public hearings and workshops to make sure that the public takes part in deciding where and how the money that’s borrowed is spent.
This isn’t just some formality. Although the mayor decides how much should be borrowed and the council approves and ultimately decides how to spend the bond money, the charter foresees the public participation part of the process as occurring before the planning commission- something that has never happened as far as we can tell.
Once again the county’s paternalistic attitudes cause corners to be cut wherever the public participation part of the process is concerned and the pervasive attitude inside the minotaur’s labyrinth- that that the public is nothing but a nuisance- rules the day.
We say facetiously because, as we described, the council has been so successful in making people believe their taxes go up only when the rate goes up that, as a victim of their success, they have apparently been refusing to consider raising the rate, especially in an election year... as evidenced by the lack of any mention of the possibility in the same breath as the proposed two-day-a-month furloughs of county employees.
But at yesterday’s budget hearing we were surprised to listen to a presentation by Councilperson Tim Bynum repeating the gist of what we wrote, sans the bombast.
Though we’re not sure what happened next since we never got back to watching the on-line coverage (not archived yet at press time) after the first break, it did get us thinking about the budget process and so we spent some time re-reading that county charter section today.
Another thing few people realize although it’s right there for their perusal is that the operating budget, is that what we commonly call “the budget” is only a portion of what we will actually spend this year because there is also a “capital budget” that goes to building new facilities.
The capital budget is for the most part supported by the sale of bonds and this year the county floated a new bond issue with a slightly better rate and also renegotiated our outstanding bonds.
Though many sort of treat the capital budget as some kind of free money, of course it’s nothing of the sort and shows up in the operating budget every year as a fixed expenditure that covers payments on the principle and the interest.
Not to say that it’s some kind of waste of money because it’s going to pay for many much needed projects like the repair of the levees in Hanapepe and Waimea and sewage treatment plants and the like- long neglected projects that have been delayed for years.
It obviously takes a lot of planning to decide on how much to borrow and how to spend it.
So it was no surprise that the county charter calls for one step that we don’t recall ever hearing or seeing.
Section 19.09B under Capital Program and Capital Budget, reads
The planning commission shall prepare the capital program for each of the ensuing five fiscal years, predicated upon the requests of the several agencies and based upon the finance director's statement of moneys likely to be available and the amount of bonds which the mayor believes would be proper for the county to issue.
We admit to being a little lax in keeping up with planning commission doings but if it ever did come before the commission it certainly wasn’t “prepared” by the commission with full public hearings and workshops to make sure that the public takes part in deciding where and how the money that’s borrowed is spent.
This isn’t just some formality. Although the mayor decides how much should be borrowed and the council approves and ultimately decides how to spend the bond money, the charter foresees the public participation part of the process as occurring before the planning commission- something that has never happened as far as we can tell.
Once again the county’s paternalistic attitudes cause corners to be cut wherever the public participation part of the process is concerned and the pervasive attitude inside the minotaur’s labyrinth- that that the public is nothing but a nuisance- rules the day.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
MIA
MIA: In two days it’ll be two weeks since Mayor Bernard Carvalho pulled his little Friday afternoon press release scam to flim-flam those opposed to putting the bike path on Wailua Beach before he conveniently slipped town all to avoid answering questions about the bogus, mealy-mouth lie that the new plan will put the path on the highway and take it off the beach.
That was exacerbated the next day by the gross negligence by the local newspaper in presenting a patently false headline and a misleading article – one still not corrected or clarified- repeating the misleading words of the mayor’s press release without digging deeper to get to the truth of the matter.
It’s understandable that that ace reporter Michael Levine may have been confused at first but its inexcusable that there’s been no update to inform an ill-informed public, especially since the arbitrary “comment deadline” of Feb. 25, set by the administration, has come and gone.
Other than the “he said, she said” style quote from Judy Dalton late in the original article claiming it’s still on the beach there’s been no inkling in the paper of the fact that the path will still be on the beach, leading many of not most on the island to believe that the mayor has now miraculously given in and realigned the path to keep it off the beach.
While the on-line community has been on the story with our Steaming pile on bike path the following Monday, Joan Conrow’s visual depiction Tuesday and a widely distributed letter from Dalton on Wednesday it’s been nothing but silence from the primary news source and “newspaper of record” on the island except for a letter to the editor- one that seems unsure of itself- from Wendy Raebeck of Wailua yesterday.
But while the newspaper certainly should take some of the blame for perpetuating a lie it’s even more baffling as to what happened to the dozens of activists who brought the issue of burials to light and the hundreds if not thousands who were outraged enough to get the mayor to put out his bogus realignment announcement.
Were they similarly bamboozled? Have they just given up?
The officials in this county have shown that they will stonewall, obfuscate and even outright lie in order to get people to just go away so that they keep their corrupt little party going. And when we give up- as many apparently have in this instance- we become just another guard at the gates of the minotaur’s labyrinth.
--------
We’ll be taking a long weekend again unless something really sets our hair on fire- see ya Monday.
That was exacerbated the next day by the gross negligence by the local newspaper in presenting a patently false headline and a misleading article – one still not corrected or clarified- repeating the misleading words of the mayor’s press release without digging deeper to get to the truth of the matter.
It’s understandable that that ace reporter Michael Levine may have been confused at first but its inexcusable that there’s been no update to inform an ill-informed public, especially since the arbitrary “comment deadline” of Feb. 25, set by the administration, has come and gone.
Other than the “he said, she said” style quote from Judy Dalton late in the original article claiming it’s still on the beach there’s been no inkling in the paper of the fact that the path will still be on the beach, leading many of not most on the island to believe that the mayor has now miraculously given in and realigned the path to keep it off the beach.
While the on-line community has been on the story with our Steaming pile on bike path the following Monday, Joan Conrow’s visual depiction Tuesday and a widely distributed letter from Dalton on Wednesday it’s been nothing but silence from the primary news source and “newspaper of record” on the island except for a letter to the editor- one that seems unsure of itself- from Wendy Raebeck of Wailua yesterday.
But while the newspaper certainly should take some of the blame for perpetuating a lie it’s even more baffling as to what happened to the dozens of activists who brought the issue of burials to light and the hundreds if not thousands who were outraged enough to get the mayor to put out his bogus realignment announcement.
Were they similarly bamboozled? Have they just given up?
The officials in this county have shown that they will stonewall, obfuscate and even outright lie in order to get people to just go away so that they keep their corrupt little party going. And when we give up- as many apparently have in this instance- we become just another guard at the gates of the minotaur’s labyrinth.
--------
We’ll be taking a long weekend again unless something really sets our hair on fire- see ya Monday.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
TRANSLUCENCY
TRANSLUCENCY: We mouth off a lot about the complete lack of transparency in county government and maintain it’s not just a matter of the buffoonish bungling of incompetent imbeciles but a concerted, concentrated effort by a cabal of connected, conniving cronies to treat citizens like mushrooms by keeping them in the dark and feeding them bullshit.
It not just the unfathomable need to delay and stonewall the release of documents or the penchant of board and commissions- including of course the county council- to jump into executive session to hide politically sensitive deliberations.
It’s the way even the most basic information is kept under wraps even in the information age.
Ever try to find a complete list and directory of all county employees or, more to the point under current scrutiny, the complete list of board and commission members at the county web site?
Don’t bother looking. There’s not a link to be found and the search box is, as anyone who has tried to use it will tell you, worthless.
But today, while researching one of the more persistent guards at the gates of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, up popped the county directory which, although outdated by many months, elicits at least the heads and deputies of all the various departments and agencies as well as the members of all boards and commissions.
We’re not sure that once we provide the pdf link it won’t magically change so we are posting it in full today so the next time you’re getting the all-American runaround- sending you from department to agency, from civil servant to appointed bureaucrat- you can use the search box at the top of this page to find the person, department, board or commissions you’re looking for.
Here’s the directory as of March 11, 2009 when it was last modified. Spelling of all words and names are as listed by CofK. Boards and Commissions are listed under the department to which they are administratively attached.
----------
COUNTY OF KAUAI
http://www.kauai.gov
4396 Rice Street
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
COUNTY COUNCIL (7) (12-01-10)
CHAIR..BILL "KAIPO" ASING (D) ....241-6371
Vice-chair.......Jay Furfaro (D)....... 241-6371
Council Members
Tim Bynum (D)....... 241-6371
Dickie Chang (D).... 241-6371
Daryl Kaneshiro (D).. 241-6371
Lani Kawahara (D) .... 241-6371
Derek Kawakami (D)......... 241-6371
County Clerk
Peter A. Nakamura ......... 241-6371
Deputy County Clerk.....Ernest Pasion.... 241-6371
FAX: 241-6349
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Mo‘ikeha Building
4444 Rice Street, Suite 235
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
MAYOR ...BERNARD P. CARVALHO, JR. (D) ....(12-01-10) .. 241-4900
e-mail: mayor@kauai.gov
Administrative Assistant......Gary Heu.......... 241-4900
Executive Assistant..............Beth Tokioka ....241-4900
Executive Assistant..............Lani Nakazawa..241-4900
Administrative Aide ............Kaui Tanaka...... 241-4900
Public Information Officer ..Mary Daubert ... 241-4900
Staff Services Assistant .......Soncy Tamashiro 241-4900
FAX: 241-6877
Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator....Christina Pilkington... 241-6203
Anti-Drug Coordinator...Theresa Koki...... 241-4925
FAX: 241-5127
OFFICE OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
4444 Rice Street, Suite 150, Lihue 96766
ADMINISTRATOR.....JOHN ISOBE ...... 241-4918
Administrative Aide ...Cyndi Ayonon ....... 241-4922
FAX: 241-5127
BOARD OF ETHICS (7)
Chair ...........Leila Fuller (12-31-10)
Vice-chair....Mark Hubbard (12-31-10)
Secretary .....Christiane Nakea-Tresler (12-31-10)
Members
.Rolf Bieber.......(12-31-09)
Robert Farias.....(12-31-10)
Judith Lenthall...(12-31-09)
Paul Weil.......... (12-31-11)
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION (7)
Members
Barbara Bennett......... (12-31-09)
Jonathan Chun............(12-31-09)
Sherman Shiraishi......(12-31-11)
Carol Suzawa.............(12-31-11)
Leonard Vierra...........(12-31-10)
Matie Yoshioka......... (12-31-10)
__________________
COST CONTROL COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Tore Wistrom (12-31-09)
Vice-chair...Randy Finlay (12-01-10)
Members
Benjamin Bregman (12-31-09)
Nadine Nakamura (12-31-10)
Lorna Nishimitsu (12-31-11)
Sandy Sterker (12-31-11)
Michelle Swartman (12-31-09)
COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
Chair ............Lisa Ellen Smith (12-31-11)
Vice-chair.....Regina Carvalho (12-31-11)
Secretary .....Uli‘i Castor (12-31-11)
Members......E. Kanani Alapa (12-31-10)
Mylie Alu (12-31-09)
Jade Battad (12-31-10)
JoAnne Georgi (12-31-09)
Cherie Mooy (07-31-09)
Ann Punohu (12-31-09)
Renee Sadang (12-31-11)
Valerie Yadao (12-31-09)
Ex-officio
Darla Abbatiello (Kauai Police Department)
Malcolm Fernandez (Personnel Director)
Peter Nakamura (County Clerk's Office)
Mamo Cummings Graham (State Commissioner)
SALARY COMMISSION (7)
Chair ......Gini Kapali (12-31-09)
1st Vice-chair...Randy Hee (12-31-11)
2nd Vice-chair...Thomas Cooper (12-31-11)
Members
Bob Crowell (12-31-10)
Trinette Kaui (12-31-11)
Dawn Murata (12-31-10)
Allan Smith (12-31-09)
AGENCY ON ELDERLY AFFAIRS
COUNTY EXECUTIVE ON AGING...KEALOHA TAKAHASHI....241-4470
FAX: 241-4499
CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 100, Lihue 96766
CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATOR..MARK MARSHALL ... 241-1800
Plans & Operations Officer ..Clifford Ikeda.....241-1800
FAX: 241-1860145
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY
4444 Rice Street, Suite 220, Lihue 96766
ACTING COUNTY ATTORNEY ..DARREN SUZUKI... 241-6315
FAX: 241-6319
OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
4444 Rice Street, Suite 200, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....GEORGE COSTA..... 241-4946
Film Commissioner...Art Umezu ..... 241-4946
Energy Extension Coordinator ...Glenn Sato ..241-4946
Agriculture Specialist ..Charles W. Spitz ...... 241-4946
Tourism Specialist ..Nalani Brun ................... 241-4946
FAX: 241-6399
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
4444 Rice Street, Suite 280, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....WALLACE REZENTES, JR. ..... 241-4200
DEPUTY DIRECTOR .....BELMA BARIS ........ 241-6565
FAX: 241-6533
COUNTY BOARD OF REVIEW (5)
Chair ............Benjamin Lizama, Jr. (12-31-10)
Vice-chair.....Richard Koenig, Jr. (12-31-11)
Members
Craig DeCosta (12-31-11)
Cayetano "Sonny" Gerardo (12-31-11)
Eric Nordmeier (12-31-09)
FIRE DEPARTMENT
4444 Rice Street, Suite 295, Lihue 96766
FIRE CHIEF.....ROBERT WESTERMAN ....241-4980
DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF ....JOHN BLALOCK.... 241-4980
FAX: 241-6508
FIRE COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........George Simpson (12-31-11)
Vice-chair...Darnney Proudfoot (12-31-10)
Members
Guy Croydon (12-31-10)
Basilio Fuertes (12-31-09)
Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto (12-31-09)
Wayne Mukai (12-31-11)
Jan Rudinoff (12-31-09)
COUNTY OF KAUAI HOUSING AGENCY
DIRECTOR...EUGENE JIMENEZ.... 241-4444
Executive on Housing ....Kenneth Rainforth .... 241-4444
FAX: 241-4495
DEPARTMENT OF LIQUOR CONTROL
4444 Rice Street, Suite 120, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR.....ERIC HONMA ....241-4966
FAX: 241-6585
LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Clifford Nakea (12-31-11)
Vice-chair...Gerald Matsunaga (12-31-09)
Members
Shirley Akita (12-31-10)
William Gibson (12-31-10)
Gary Pacheco (12-31-11)
Myles Shibata (12-31-10)
Pauline Ventura (12-31-09)
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
4444 Rice Street, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....LEONARD RAPOZO, JR. ... 241-4456
DEPUTY DIRECTOR .....KYLAN DELA CRUZ... 241-4456
FAX: 241-5126
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL SERVICES
4444 Rice Street, Suite 140, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR.......MALCOLM FERNANDEZ .... 241-4956
FAX: 241-6593
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION (7)
Chair .........Rick Haviland, Jr. (06-30-09)
Vice-chair...Lani Aranio (12-31-10)
Members
Suzanne Aquiar (12-31-10)
Gilbert F. Maerina (12-31-10)
Ann Sokei (12-31-10)
Cathy Adams (12-31-11)
Ryan Dela Pena (12-31-09)
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING
4444 Rice Street, Suite 473, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....IAN COSTA... 241-6677
DEPUTY DIRECTOR ..IMAI KALANI AIU...... 241-6677
FAX: 241-6699
HISTORIC PRESERVATION (9)
Chair/Architecture.....Patricia Sheehan (12-31-09)
Vice-chair/Hawaiian Culture .....Kaimi Molly Summers (12-31-11)
Members:
Archeology
Alan E. Faye, Jr. (12-31-10)
L. Kehaulani Kekua (12-31-09)
Architecture
Dennis Alkire (12-31-11)
__________________
Hawaiian Culture
Danita Aiu (12-31-11)
History
__________________
Planning
Randolph Wichman (12-31-09)
PLANNING COMMISSION (7)
Chair/Environmentalist ...James Nishida (12-31-10)
Vice-chair/Business .....Caven Raco (12-31-09)
Members:
At-Large
Camilla Matsumoto (12-31-09)
Business
Kurt Akamine (12-31-10)
Herman Texeira (12-31-10)
Environmentalist
Hartwell Blake (12-31-11)
Labor
Jan Kimura (12-31-11)
PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE & NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION (9)
Chair/At-Large ........Roger Caires (12-31-11)
Vice-chair/At-Large...Caren F. Diamond (05-01-11)
Members:
Anahola-Haena .....Beryl Blaich (05-01-10)
At-Large....Johanna Gomez (12-31-10)
Hanapepe-Eleele..Jean Nishida Souza (05-01-09)
Kapaa-Wailua......Eugene Punzal (12-31-10)
Koloa-Kalaheo....Theresita Kinnaman (05-01-09)
Lihue-Hanamaulu...Puna Dawson (12-31-09)
Waimea-Kekaha ...Randall Uyehara (12-31-09)147
POLICE DEPARTMENT
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 200, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF POLICE....DARRYL PERRY ... 241-1600
DEPUTY CHIEF .......MARK BEGLEY ..... 241-1602
FAX: 241-1604
POLICE COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Russell Grady (12-31-10)
Vice-chair...Charles Fulks, Jr. (12-31-09)
Members
Leon Gonsalves (12-31-09)
Thomas Iannucci (12-31-11)
Alfred Nebre (12-31-11)
Rowena Tachibana (12-31-09)
__________________
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
4444 Rice Street, Suite 275, Lihue 96766
COUNTY ENGINEER....DONALD FUJIMOTO..... 241-4922
DEPUTY COUNTY ENGINEER .....ED RANAUD...241-4922
Solid Waste Coordinator..........Troy Tanigawa ......... 241-4839
FAX: 241-6604
BUILDING DIVISION
4444 Rice Street, Suite 175, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF BUILDING.....DOUGLAS HAIGH....... 241-4854
FAX: 241-6806
DIVISION OF ENGINEERING
4444 Rice Street, Suite 175, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF ENGINEERING.....WALLACE KUDO ..... 241-4883
FAX: 241-6609
DIVISION OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE
4444 Rice Street, Suite 255, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF FIELD OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE...RYAN NISHIKAWA.... 241-4847
FAX: 241-6204
DIVISION OF WASTEWATER
4444 Rice Street, Suite 500, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF WASTEWATER ....EDWARD TSCHUPP.... 241-6610
FAX: 241-6859
BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS (7)
Chair/Engineering.....Larry Dill (12-31-09)
Vice-chair/Fire ...Michael S. Kano (12-31-10)
Members:
At-Large.....Jose Diogo (12-31-09)
Building.....Rodney Pascua (12-31-09)
Electrical....Norbert Watanabe (12-31-09)
Fire .....__________________
Plumber...Gaylord Fukumoto (12-31-10)
KAUAI WAR MEMORIAL CONVENTION HALL
4191 Hardy Street, Lihue 96766
HALL MANAGER...EDWARD SARITA... 241-6623
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY
4396 Rice Street, Suite 103, Lihue 96766
EXECUTIVE ON
TRANSPORTATION ...JANINE RAPOZO..... 241-6410
FAX: 241-6417148
DEPARTMENT OF WATER
4398 Pualoke Street, Lihue 96766
ACTING MANAGER &
CHIEF ENGINEER...WYNNE USHIGOME...245-5408
FAX: 246-8628
BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY (7)
Chair ........Leland Kahawai (12-31-10)
Vice-chair...Randall Nishimura (12-31-10)
Secretary .....Dee Crowell (12-31-09)
Member
Roy Oyama (12-31-09)
Ex-officio (voting)
Ian Costa (Planning Director)
Donald Fujimoto (County Engineer)
Raymond McCormick (Acting Engineer Program Manager, State Dept. of Transportation)
OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 210
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY...SHAYLENE ISERI CARVALHO....241-1888
FIRST DEPUTY ......LORI WADA..... 241-1888
VICTIM WITNESS PROGRAM/ DIVISION DIRECTOR ..DIANA GAUESPOHL-WHITE..241-1898
FAX: 241-1758
It not just the unfathomable need to delay and stonewall the release of documents or the penchant of board and commissions- including of course the county council- to jump into executive session to hide politically sensitive deliberations.
It’s the way even the most basic information is kept under wraps even in the information age.
Ever try to find a complete list and directory of all county employees or, more to the point under current scrutiny, the complete list of board and commission members at the county web site?
Don’t bother looking. There’s not a link to be found and the search box is, as anyone who has tried to use it will tell you, worthless.
But today, while researching one of the more persistent guards at the gates of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, up popped the county directory which, although outdated by many months, elicits at least the heads and deputies of all the various departments and agencies as well as the members of all boards and commissions.
We’re not sure that once we provide the pdf link it won’t magically change so we are posting it in full today so the next time you’re getting the all-American runaround- sending you from department to agency, from civil servant to appointed bureaucrat- you can use the search box at the top of this page to find the person, department, board or commissions you’re looking for.
Here’s the directory as of March 11, 2009 when it was last modified. Spelling of all words and names are as listed by CofK. Boards and Commissions are listed under the department to which they are administratively attached.
----------
COUNTY OF KAUAI
http://www.kauai.gov
4396 Rice Street
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
COUNTY COUNCIL (7) (12-01-10)
CHAIR..BILL "KAIPO" ASING (D) ....241-6371
Vice-chair.......Jay Furfaro (D)....... 241-6371
Council Members
Tim Bynum (D)....... 241-6371
Dickie Chang (D).... 241-6371
Daryl Kaneshiro (D).. 241-6371
Lani Kawahara (D) .... 241-6371
Derek Kawakami (D)......... 241-6371
County Clerk
Peter A. Nakamura ......... 241-6371
Deputy County Clerk.....Ernest Pasion.... 241-6371
FAX: 241-6349
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Mo‘ikeha Building
4444 Rice Street, Suite 235
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
MAYOR ...BERNARD P. CARVALHO, JR. (D) ....(12-01-10) .. 241-4900
e-mail: mayor@kauai.gov
Administrative Assistant......Gary Heu.......... 241-4900
Executive Assistant..............Beth Tokioka ....241-4900
Executive Assistant..............Lani Nakazawa..241-4900
Administrative Aide ............Kaui Tanaka...... 241-4900
Public Information Officer ..Mary Daubert ... 241-4900
Staff Services Assistant .......Soncy Tamashiro 241-4900
FAX: 241-6877
Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator....Christina Pilkington... 241-6203
Anti-Drug Coordinator...Theresa Koki...... 241-4925
FAX: 241-5127
OFFICE OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
4444 Rice Street, Suite 150, Lihue 96766
ADMINISTRATOR.....JOHN ISOBE ...... 241-4918
Administrative Aide ...Cyndi Ayonon ....... 241-4922
FAX: 241-5127
BOARD OF ETHICS (7)
Chair ...........Leila Fuller (12-31-10)
Vice-chair....Mark Hubbard (12-31-10)
Secretary .....Christiane Nakea-Tresler (12-31-10)
Members
.Rolf Bieber.......(12-31-09)
Robert Farias.....(12-31-10)
Judith Lenthall...(12-31-09)
Paul Weil.......... (12-31-11)
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION (7)
Members
Barbara Bennett......... (12-31-09)
Jonathan Chun............(12-31-09)
Sherman Shiraishi......(12-31-11)
Carol Suzawa.............(12-31-11)
Leonard Vierra...........(12-31-10)
Matie Yoshioka......... (12-31-10)
__________________
COST CONTROL COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Tore Wistrom (12-31-09)
Vice-chair...Randy Finlay (12-01-10)
Members
Benjamin Bregman (12-31-09)
Nadine Nakamura (12-31-10)
Lorna Nishimitsu (12-31-11)
Sandy Sterker (12-31-11)
Michelle Swartman (12-31-09)
COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
Chair ............Lisa Ellen Smith (12-31-11)
Vice-chair.....Regina Carvalho (12-31-11)
Secretary .....Uli‘i Castor (12-31-11)
Members......E. Kanani Alapa (12-31-10)
Mylie Alu (12-31-09)
Jade Battad (12-31-10)
JoAnne Georgi (12-31-09)
Cherie Mooy (07-31-09)
Ann Punohu (12-31-09)
Renee Sadang (12-31-11)
Valerie Yadao (12-31-09)
Ex-officio
Darla Abbatiello (Kauai Police Department)
Malcolm Fernandez (Personnel Director)
Peter Nakamura (County Clerk's Office)
Mamo Cummings Graham (State Commissioner)
SALARY COMMISSION (7)
Chair ......Gini Kapali (12-31-09)
1st Vice-chair...Randy Hee (12-31-11)
2nd Vice-chair...Thomas Cooper (12-31-11)
Members
Bob Crowell (12-31-10)
Trinette Kaui (12-31-11)
Dawn Murata (12-31-10)
Allan Smith (12-31-09)
AGENCY ON ELDERLY AFFAIRS
COUNTY EXECUTIVE ON AGING...KEALOHA TAKAHASHI....241-4470
FAX: 241-4499
CIVIL DEFENSE AGENCY
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 100, Lihue 96766
CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATOR..MARK MARSHALL ... 241-1800
Plans & Operations Officer ..Clifford Ikeda.....241-1800
FAX: 241-1860145
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY
4444 Rice Street, Suite 220, Lihue 96766
ACTING COUNTY ATTORNEY ..DARREN SUZUKI... 241-6315
FAX: 241-6319
OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
4444 Rice Street, Suite 200, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....GEORGE COSTA..... 241-4946
Film Commissioner...Art Umezu ..... 241-4946
Energy Extension Coordinator ...Glenn Sato ..241-4946
Agriculture Specialist ..Charles W. Spitz ...... 241-4946
Tourism Specialist ..Nalani Brun ................... 241-4946
FAX: 241-6399
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
4444 Rice Street, Suite 280, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....WALLACE REZENTES, JR. ..... 241-4200
DEPUTY DIRECTOR .....BELMA BARIS ........ 241-6565
FAX: 241-6533
COUNTY BOARD OF REVIEW (5)
Chair ............Benjamin Lizama, Jr. (12-31-10)
Vice-chair.....Richard Koenig, Jr. (12-31-11)
Members
Craig DeCosta (12-31-11)
Cayetano "Sonny" Gerardo (12-31-11)
Eric Nordmeier (12-31-09)
FIRE DEPARTMENT
4444 Rice Street, Suite 295, Lihue 96766
FIRE CHIEF.....ROBERT WESTERMAN ....241-4980
DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF ....JOHN BLALOCK.... 241-4980
FAX: 241-6508
FIRE COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........George Simpson (12-31-11)
Vice-chair...Darnney Proudfoot (12-31-10)
Members
Guy Croydon (12-31-10)
Basilio Fuertes (12-31-09)
Linda Kaauwai-Iwamoto (12-31-09)
Wayne Mukai (12-31-11)
Jan Rudinoff (12-31-09)
COUNTY OF KAUAI HOUSING AGENCY
DIRECTOR...EUGENE JIMENEZ.... 241-4444
Executive on Housing ....Kenneth Rainforth .... 241-4444
FAX: 241-4495
DEPARTMENT OF LIQUOR CONTROL
4444 Rice Street, Suite 120, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR.....ERIC HONMA ....241-4966
FAX: 241-6585
LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Clifford Nakea (12-31-11)
Vice-chair...Gerald Matsunaga (12-31-09)
Members
Shirley Akita (12-31-10)
William Gibson (12-31-10)
Gary Pacheco (12-31-11)
Myles Shibata (12-31-10)
Pauline Ventura (12-31-09)
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
4444 Rice Street, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....LEONARD RAPOZO, JR. ... 241-4456
DEPUTY DIRECTOR .....KYLAN DELA CRUZ... 241-4456
FAX: 241-5126
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL SERVICES
4444 Rice Street, Suite 140, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR.......MALCOLM FERNANDEZ .... 241-4956
FAX: 241-6593
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION (7)
Chair .........Rick Haviland, Jr. (06-30-09)
Vice-chair...Lani Aranio (12-31-10)
Members
Suzanne Aquiar (12-31-10)
Gilbert F. Maerina (12-31-10)
Ann Sokei (12-31-10)
Cathy Adams (12-31-11)
Ryan Dela Pena (12-31-09)
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING
4444 Rice Street, Suite 473, Lihue 96766
DIRECTOR....IAN COSTA... 241-6677
DEPUTY DIRECTOR ..IMAI KALANI AIU...... 241-6677
FAX: 241-6699
HISTORIC PRESERVATION (9)
Chair/Architecture.....Patricia Sheehan (12-31-09)
Vice-chair/Hawaiian Culture .....Kaimi Molly Summers (12-31-11)
Members:
Archeology
Alan E. Faye, Jr. (12-31-10)
L. Kehaulani Kekua (12-31-09)
Architecture
Dennis Alkire (12-31-11)
__________________
Hawaiian Culture
Danita Aiu (12-31-11)
History
__________________
Planning
Randolph Wichman (12-31-09)
PLANNING COMMISSION (7)
Chair/Environmentalist ...James Nishida (12-31-10)
Vice-chair/Business .....Caven Raco (12-31-09)
Members:
At-Large
Camilla Matsumoto (12-31-09)
Business
Kurt Akamine (12-31-10)
Herman Texeira (12-31-10)
Environmentalist
Hartwell Blake (12-31-11)
Labor
Jan Kimura (12-31-11)
PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE & NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION (9)
Chair/At-Large ........Roger Caires (12-31-11)
Vice-chair/At-Large...Caren F. Diamond (05-01-11)
Members:
Anahola-Haena .....Beryl Blaich (05-01-10)
At-Large....Johanna Gomez (12-31-10)
Hanapepe-Eleele..Jean Nishida Souza (05-01-09)
Kapaa-Wailua......Eugene Punzal (12-31-10)
Koloa-Kalaheo....Theresita Kinnaman (05-01-09)
Lihue-Hanamaulu...Puna Dawson (12-31-09)
Waimea-Kekaha ...Randall Uyehara (12-31-09)147
POLICE DEPARTMENT
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 200, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF POLICE....DARRYL PERRY ... 241-1600
DEPUTY CHIEF .......MARK BEGLEY ..... 241-1602
FAX: 241-1604
POLICE COMMISSION (7)
Chair ..........Russell Grady (12-31-10)
Vice-chair...Charles Fulks, Jr. (12-31-09)
Members
Leon Gonsalves (12-31-09)
Thomas Iannucci (12-31-11)
Alfred Nebre (12-31-11)
Rowena Tachibana (12-31-09)
__________________
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
4444 Rice Street, Suite 275, Lihue 96766
COUNTY ENGINEER....DONALD FUJIMOTO..... 241-4922
DEPUTY COUNTY ENGINEER .....ED RANAUD...241-4922
Solid Waste Coordinator..........Troy Tanigawa ......... 241-4839
FAX: 241-6604
BUILDING DIVISION
4444 Rice Street, Suite 175, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF BUILDING.....DOUGLAS HAIGH....... 241-4854
FAX: 241-6806
DIVISION OF ENGINEERING
4444 Rice Street, Suite 175, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF ENGINEERING.....WALLACE KUDO ..... 241-4883
FAX: 241-6609
DIVISION OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION & MAINTENANCE
4444 Rice Street, Suite 255, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF FIELD OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE...RYAN NISHIKAWA.... 241-4847
FAX: 241-6204
DIVISION OF WASTEWATER
4444 Rice Street, Suite 500, Lihue 96766
CHIEF OF WASTEWATER ....EDWARD TSCHUPP.... 241-6610
FAX: 241-6859
BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS (7)
Chair/Engineering.....Larry Dill (12-31-09)
Vice-chair/Fire ...Michael S. Kano (12-31-10)
Members:
At-Large.....Jose Diogo (12-31-09)
Building.....Rodney Pascua (12-31-09)
Electrical....Norbert Watanabe (12-31-09)
Fire .....__________________
Plumber...Gaylord Fukumoto (12-31-10)
KAUAI WAR MEMORIAL CONVENTION HALL
4191 Hardy Street, Lihue 96766
HALL MANAGER...EDWARD SARITA... 241-6623
TRANSPORTATION AGENCY
4396 Rice Street, Suite 103, Lihue 96766
EXECUTIVE ON
TRANSPORTATION ...JANINE RAPOZO..... 241-6410
FAX: 241-6417148
DEPARTMENT OF WATER
4398 Pualoke Street, Lihue 96766
ACTING MANAGER &
CHIEF ENGINEER...WYNNE USHIGOME...245-5408
FAX: 246-8628
BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY (7)
Chair ........Leland Kahawai (12-31-10)
Vice-chair...Randall Nishimura (12-31-10)
Secretary .....Dee Crowell (12-31-09)
Member
Roy Oyama (12-31-09)
Ex-officio (voting)
Ian Costa (Planning Director)
Donald Fujimoto (County Engineer)
Raymond McCormick (Acting Engineer Program Manager, State Dept. of Transportation)
OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
3990 Kaana Street, Suite 210
Lihue, Hawaii 96766
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY...SHAYLENE ISERI CARVALHO....241-1888
FIRST DEPUTY ......LORI WADA..... 241-1888
VICTIM WITNESS PROGRAM/ DIVISION DIRECTOR ..DIANA GAUESPOHL-WHITE..241-1898
FAX: 241-1758
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
SAME OLD TRICKS
SAME OLD TRICKS: When veteran Arizona reporter Anthony Sommer took the job of Honolulu Star Bulletin Kaua`i Bureau Chief- a position that has long since disappeared along with the paper’s coverage of Kaua`i- although he continued to attend Kaua`i County Council meetings, the fairly in-depth weekly coverage he had provided in his brief tenure at the local Kaua`i newspaper suddenly dried up.
And what did make it into the S-B seemed to be lacking any detail. When people asked, Tony was more than forthcoming with the reason.
Seems his editor, Frank Bilge- er Bridgewater, didn’t want all that “inside baseball” stuff -as they tend to call any detail from the neighbor islands- and in fact, the choppy copy in final articles was due to the chainsaw nature of Frank’s blue pencil.
So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it took the Honolulu Advertiser’s part-time Kaua`i correspondent Diana Leone almost a year to produce her first in depth coverage of the Kaua`i council activities and almost five months to finally cover the fact that Lani Kawahara and Tim Bynum have been “prodding the state's smallest county to ‘move into the 21st century’ and post more government information online”.
Better late than never, Leone reports that:
More than four months later — and more than two years after Bynum first brought up the issues — the mavericks are claiming progress in their quest for equality among council members and better public access to information.
Kawahara calls the posting of council and committee meeting minutes on the county's official Web site since July 3 "a major accomplishment."
While the article does a good job of telling the story- and comparing what the council provides on-line with the other islands in a handy-dandy chart- what is implied but not stated is that absolutely no improvement has been made in the on-line access by the council to documents as a result of the actions of the two... at least according to the administration and Council Chair Kaipo Asing who claimed at the time that the posting of council minutes and recap summaries were a result of their own initiative not the push by Bynum and Kawahara.
Yes, the jobs of Kawahara and Bynum have been made easier with the availability of all documents addressed to the council as a whole being made available to them in a “binder in the council break room”- a “solution” that, although though it placated them still leaves the public without the ability to receive these supposedly public documents in a timely manner.
And now they apparently are able to introduce bills and resolutions unimpeded- the biggest outrage of all and one the Leone fails to mention.
The article does make note of how we are still the only county that doesn’t even make copies of bills and resolutions available on-line, still requiring a physical trip to Lihu`e if someone wants to interpret the agenda.
Although Bynum has done a good job of posting them himself on his and Kawahara’s kauaiinfo.org web site- although tomorrow’s meeting’s documents are nowhere to be found- it shouldn’t be up to him to spend every Friday afternoon holed up at his office scanning and posting all the minutia that makes it possible for people to do their homework so they can speak intelligently on items at council meetings- ironically enough a major complaint directed to members of the public from Asing and his 3-D Swiss Guard, Dickie (Chang), Darryl (Kaneshiro) and Derek (Kawakami).
Promises of presently posting not just the documents but live streaming video of meetings- and an indexed by subject archive of the video clips- were seemingly just another stonewalling device designed to make the all-to-used-to-being-ignored people, just go away- return to your homes... nothing to see here.
As we predicted when the two mavericks, as Leone calls them, decided a promise to “do better next time” from Asing- one that wasn’t worth the paper it wasn’t written on- was enough, they apparently crept back into the dark of the Minotaur’s labyrinth since they were now getting the documents they wanted even if the public was still in the dark.
But it sure was exciting for a month or two to think things might improve, wasn’t it?
And what did make it into the S-B seemed to be lacking any detail. When people asked, Tony was more than forthcoming with the reason.
Seems his editor, Frank Bilge- er Bridgewater, didn’t want all that “inside baseball” stuff -as they tend to call any detail from the neighbor islands- and in fact, the choppy copy in final articles was due to the chainsaw nature of Frank’s blue pencil.
So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it took the Honolulu Advertiser’s part-time Kaua`i correspondent Diana Leone almost a year to produce her first in depth coverage of the Kaua`i council activities and almost five months to finally cover the fact that Lani Kawahara and Tim Bynum have been “prodding the state's smallest county to ‘move into the 21st century’ and post more government information online”.
Better late than never, Leone reports that:
More than four months later — and more than two years after Bynum first brought up the issues — the mavericks are claiming progress in their quest for equality among council members and better public access to information.
Kawahara calls the posting of council and committee meeting minutes on the county's official Web site since July 3 "a major accomplishment."
While the article does a good job of telling the story- and comparing what the council provides on-line with the other islands in a handy-dandy chart- what is implied but not stated is that absolutely no improvement has been made in the on-line access by the council to documents as a result of the actions of the two... at least according to the administration and Council Chair Kaipo Asing who claimed at the time that the posting of council minutes and recap summaries were a result of their own initiative not the push by Bynum and Kawahara.
Yes, the jobs of Kawahara and Bynum have been made easier with the availability of all documents addressed to the council as a whole being made available to them in a “binder in the council break room”- a “solution” that, although though it placated them still leaves the public without the ability to receive these supposedly public documents in a timely manner.
And now they apparently are able to introduce bills and resolutions unimpeded- the biggest outrage of all and one the Leone fails to mention.
The article does make note of how we are still the only county that doesn’t even make copies of bills and resolutions available on-line, still requiring a physical trip to Lihu`e if someone wants to interpret the agenda.
Although Bynum has done a good job of posting them himself on his and Kawahara’s kauaiinfo.org web site- although tomorrow’s meeting’s documents are nowhere to be found- it shouldn’t be up to him to spend every Friday afternoon holed up at his office scanning and posting all the minutia that makes it possible for people to do their homework so they can speak intelligently on items at council meetings- ironically enough a major complaint directed to members of the public from Asing and his 3-D Swiss Guard, Dickie (Chang), Darryl (Kaneshiro) and Derek (Kawakami).
Promises of presently posting not just the documents but live streaming video of meetings- and an indexed by subject archive of the video clips- were seemingly just another stonewalling device designed to make the all-to-used-to-being-ignored people, just go away- return to your homes... nothing to see here.
As we predicted when the two mavericks, as Leone calls them, decided a promise to “do better next time” from Asing- one that wasn’t worth the paper it wasn’t written on- was enough, they apparently crept back into the dark of the Minotaur’s labyrinth since they were now getting the documents they wanted even if the public was still in the dark.
But it sure was exciting for a month or two to think things might improve, wasn’t it?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
ABSURDLY GOOD
ABSURDLY GOOD: Last week we got an email from a friend who we greatly admire and respect who does many good things for the community- including undertaking a leadership role in a non profit endeavor that works on environmental projects.
Sometimes this person represents the group before the council and planning commission but also serves on a county board.
And, to our dismay, (s)he defended this dual role because (s)he believes that, despite the notorious charter section 20,02(d) that forbids such a combination of activity it would be an “absurd result” if the law were to be enforced because (s)he was “doing good things for the community”.
So it was with great amusement that we read that Mattie Yoshioka, CEO of the Kaua`i Economic Development Board (KEDB) said exactly the same thing when, as the local newspaper’s Michael Levine reported this week, she was told by the Board of Ethics (BOE) that, despite many ruling to the contrary recently- including two favoring similarly conflicted BOE members- she and she alone would be in violation if she continued to serve on the Charter Review Commission and continue to testify before the council for KEDB.
If there was ever someone who the law was made for it would be Yoshioka and KEDB.
For the uninformed, Yoshioka was arguably one of, if not the first “old girls” in the “old boys club”, serving in any number of positions under former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and later Mayor Bryan Baptiste before parlaying her insider status into a job for KEDB.
KEDB for its part has been a relentless pro-development and sometimes shady operation started by the now disgraced and convicted Gary Baldwin who used “the board” to serve his and the business interests of his cronies such as former PMRF Commander Bob Mullins, enabling many to line their pockets with government dollars.
As reported by PNN in the 90’s on our Parxist Conspiracy TV newsmagazine, Baldwin and Mullins- who was Kusaka’s Administrative Assistant at the time- arranged to steal federal, hurricane-related, economic development money then-destined to revitalize Hanapepe and use it instead to build the West Kaua`i High Tech Center in Waimea which serves to provide office space to defense contractors doing business at the PMRF, the Navy base in Mana.
Mullins then quit the Kusaka administration, joined “the board” and got a job heading up defense contractor Textron’s Kaua`i operations and promptly moved into one of the offices the money paid for.
That was just one of many KEBD shenanigans designed to pad the bank accounts of various private interests, investors, developers and assorted greedy bastards using county money to do it.
And Baldwin also served on the Planning Commission in blatant violation of 200.02(d)
Although Baldwin fled the island after his shady past was reveled and was then convicted of defrauding a doctor on the mainland before he ever came to Kaua`i, his creation KEDB has continued to serve in a similar manner under a series of directors including now Yoshioka
We’re sure that Yoshioka- just like our friend- really believes that she does “good” for the island but we’re just as sure that each would think what the other does many times interferes with the good they are doing.
And that’s the point in this whole business of ignoring the charter provision. Even if a “good for the island” standard was adopted- which would certainly be unconstitutionally vague if enacted- who is the arbiter of “good” as blogger Charley Foster asked Tuesday in an excellent analysis of the law and the lack of enforcement.
And that’s why the law is there- it even handedly makes sure that no one can use their influence as a county official to further their own idea of good. because to do otherwise would lead to the “absurd result” we have today of a small handful of revolving-door, well- connected old boys and girls enriching themselves and their cronies by serving both the public and private sector.
It’s a positive development for the BOE to finally tell someone “no”. Now the question is whether they will revisit their recent decision regarding a few others- and even delve into the dozens of those whose disclosure forms reveal similar conflicts.
We’re not holding our breath for a BOE that serves as the Minotaur’s gatekeepers to suddenly stop doing what’s wrong as long as they can.
Sometimes this person represents the group before the council and planning commission but also serves on a county board.
And, to our dismay, (s)he defended this dual role because (s)he believes that, despite the notorious charter section 20,02(d) that forbids such a combination of activity it would be an “absurd result” if the law were to be enforced because (s)he was “doing good things for the community”.
So it was with great amusement that we read that Mattie Yoshioka, CEO of the Kaua`i Economic Development Board (KEDB) said exactly the same thing when, as the local newspaper’s Michael Levine reported this week, she was told by the Board of Ethics (BOE) that, despite many ruling to the contrary recently- including two favoring similarly conflicted BOE members- she and she alone would be in violation if she continued to serve on the Charter Review Commission and continue to testify before the council for KEDB.
If there was ever someone who the law was made for it would be Yoshioka and KEDB.
For the uninformed, Yoshioka was arguably one of, if not the first “old girls” in the “old boys club”, serving in any number of positions under former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and later Mayor Bryan Baptiste before parlaying her insider status into a job for KEDB.
KEDB for its part has been a relentless pro-development and sometimes shady operation started by the now disgraced and convicted Gary Baldwin who used “the board” to serve his and the business interests of his cronies such as former PMRF Commander Bob Mullins, enabling many to line their pockets with government dollars.
As reported by PNN in the 90’s on our Parxist Conspiracy TV newsmagazine, Baldwin and Mullins- who was Kusaka’s Administrative Assistant at the time- arranged to steal federal, hurricane-related, economic development money then-destined to revitalize Hanapepe and use it instead to build the West Kaua`i High Tech Center in Waimea which serves to provide office space to defense contractors doing business at the PMRF, the Navy base in Mana.
Mullins then quit the Kusaka administration, joined “the board” and got a job heading up defense contractor Textron’s Kaua`i operations and promptly moved into one of the offices the money paid for.
That was just one of many KEBD shenanigans designed to pad the bank accounts of various private interests, investors, developers and assorted greedy bastards using county money to do it.
And Baldwin also served on the Planning Commission in blatant violation of 200.02(d)
Although Baldwin fled the island after his shady past was reveled and was then convicted of defrauding a doctor on the mainland before he ever came to Kaua`i, his creation KEDB has continued to serve in a similar manner under a series of directors including now Yoshioka
We’re sure that Yoshioka- just like our friend- really believes that she does “good” for the island but we’re just as sure that each would think what the other does many times interferes with the good they are doing.
And that’s the point in this whole business of ignoring the charter provision. Even if a “good for the island” standard was adopted- which would certainly be unconstitutionally vague if enacted- who is the arbiter of “good” as blogger Charley Foster asked Tuesday in an excellent analysis of the law and the lack of enforcement.
And that’s why the law is there- it even handedly makes sure that no one can use their influence as a county official to further their own idea of good. because to do otherwise would lead to the “absurd result” we have today of a small handful of revolving-door, well- connected old boys and girls enriching themselves and their cronies by serving both the public and private sector.
It’s a positive development for the BOE to finally tell someone “no”. Now the question is whether they will revisit their recent decision regarding a few others- and even delve into the dozens of those whose disclosure forms reveal similar conflicts.
We’re not holding our breath for a BOE that serves as the Minotaur’s gatekeepers to suddenly stop doing what’s wrong as long as they can.
Friday, August 28, 2009
AS LONG AS THEY CAN
AS LONG AS THEY CAN: By far the most often violated ethics provision in the document dump provided by reporter Michael Levine- whose article on the $3 million the county has spent on outside attorneys since Jan 2007 appears in today’s print version of the local newspaper and is far more extensive than his preliminary report posted on-line Tuesday night- is of course the oft-flouted section 20.02(d) of the county charter which states that “(n)o officer or employee of the county shall (a)ppear in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency”
Far and away the grand prize winner in the batch with at least 14 violations is Roger M. Caires, the CEO of CLS Hawaii Land Surveying & Mapping who according to the CLS web site
is a life long resident of Kauai. He started this business after retiring from the State of Hawaii, Department of Transportation, with twenty-five (25) years of experience. Mr. Caires leads a team of land surveyors using the latest surveying technologies including the GPS (Global Positioning System), total stations, electronic data collection, and CAD equipment.
According to his disclosure statement Caires sits on the Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission and his “(c)lients represented before Kauai County Planning Commission during 2008 for subdivision applications” include “Perl Kato, Marilyn Planas, Robert Keown, Rodney Soares, Andrew Baik, Bruce Narramore, Daryl Kaneshiro , Rick Haupt, Kurt Bosshard, Kapaa 382 LLC, Stephen Gatchell, Seatrace Inc., Alan Packer, (and) Kevin P. Hurst.
Caires and his wife Susan C., who apparently also works for CLS, reported a combined income from the company of $31,600.
The Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission is administratively attached to the planning department and commission which means that, unlike other apparent violations recently exposed Caires serves in the same department as the one he has appeared before.
Is Caires a “bad guy” because he is in violation of the county charter? Probably not.
But should he be serving on a county board or commission while “(a)ppear(ing) in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency”. Certainly not.
Nonetheless, in the upside down, black is white and up is down world of the county’s Board of Ethics (BOE) where the county ordinance can overrule the county charter- and that of the county attorney who can’t seem to provide simple legal advice without jumping down the rabbit hole and that of a mayor who can’t seem to find qualified people to serve among the 99% of the local people who never “(a)ppear in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency”- all in hunky-dory is Lihu`e la-la land.
It is presumably the job of the BOE to review these disclosure forms for conflicts-of-interest. That’s why the charter mandates they be delivered to the BOE. But despite blatant violations such as the ones we detailed yesterday and Wednesday there has never been a conflict of interest charge filed by the BOE itself based on the information provided on any disclosure form... presuming they can even read some of them, another matter the BOE seemingly ignores.
The fact that Caires so cavalierly lists his clients before the planning commission either means he doesn’t read the newspaper or more likely has chosen to drink CA Al Castillo’s Kool-aid. And until someone files suit to force the BOE to follow the charter’s code of ethics the dysfunctional labyrinth of the minotaur will keep filling the crevices of the maze and posting Sergeant Schultz clones at the gates with those who are willing to do what’s wrong as long as they can.
Far and away the grand prize winner in the batch with at least 14 violations is Roger M. Caires, the CEO of CLS Hawaii Land Surveying & Mapping who according to the CLS web site
is a life long resident of Kauai. He started this business after retiring from the State of Hawaii, Department of Transportation, with twenty-five (25) years of experience. Mr. Caires leads a team of land surveyors using the latest surveying technologies including the GPS (Global Positioning System), total stations, electronic data collection, and CAD equipment.
According to his disclosure statement Caires sits on the Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission and his “(c)lients represented before Kauai County Planning Commission during 2008 for subdivision applications” include “Perl Kato, Marilyn Planas, Robert Keown, Rodney Soares, Andrew Baik, Bruce Narramore, Daryl Kaneshiro , Rick Haupt, Kurt Bosshard, Kapaa 382 LLC, Stephen Gatchell, Seatrace Inc., Alan Packer, (and) Kevin P. Hurst.
Caires and his wife Susan C., who apparently also works for CLS, reported a combined income from the company of $31,600.
The Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission is administratively attached to the planning department and commission which means that, unlike other apparent violations recently exposed Caires serves in the same department as the one he has appeared before.
Is Caires a “bad guy” because he is in violation of the county charter? Probably not.
But should he be serving on a county board or commission while “(a)ppear(ing) in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency”. Certainly not.
Nonetheless, in the upside down, black is white and up is down world of the county’s Board of Ethics (BOE) where the county ordinance can overrule the county charter- and that of the county attorney who can’t seem to provide simple legal advice without jumping down the rabbit hole and that of a mayor who can’t seem to find qualified people to serve among the 99% of the local people who never “(a)ppear in behalf of private interests before any county board, commission or agency”- all in hunky-dory is Lihu`e la-la land.
It is presumably the job of the BOE to review these disclosure forms for conflicts-of-interest. That’s why the charter mandates they be delivered to the BOE. But despite blatant violations such as the ones we detailed yesterday and Wednesday there has never been a conflict of interest charge filed by the BOE itself based on the information provided on any disclosure form... presuming they can even read some of them, another matter the BOE seemingly ignores.
The fact that Caires so cavalierly lists his clients before the planning commission either means he doesn’t read the newspaper or more likely has chosen to drink CA Al Castillo’s Kool-aid. And until someone files suit to force the BOE to follow the charter’s code of ethics the dysfunctional labyrinth of the minotaur will keep filling the crevices of the maze and posting Sergeant Schultz clones at the gates with those who are willing to do what’s wrong as long as they can.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
PORRIDGE FOR HIS PORRIDGE BOWL
PORRIDGE FOR HIS PORRIDGE BOWL: The headline in the local paper today says it all: Council kills proposed rule changes.
But did anyone expect anything different?
As we sit here watching the unfolding debacle on the next-day airing of the meeting- another symbol of the Minotaur’s labyrinth that keeps the dark as dark as can be- as Ed Coll detailed in a letter to the editor in today’s local paper- we’re amazed that anyone thought there would be a different outcome, one we foresaw yesterday.
As Joan Conrow remarked today:
But who, really, besides the politically naïve, imagined that things would be significantly different after the recent brouhaha, or that “reform” was ever going to be an item on the Council’s agenda?
Who? We’ll certainly the formerly outraged malihini among us such as blogger Brad Parsons who wrote at his Aloha Analytics site today.
I think the public is ready to move on and hoping that Kaipo is a man of his word, per his statements to keep the agenda open to all Council members.
With all due respect, Parsons- who since he arrived here last year after years of activism on Maui and has done a great job of assimilating some of the political absurdities and Catch-22’s of Kaua`i government and informing other community members- apparently doesn’t seem to have a sense of the pent up rage that has exploded locally, not just among the north shore progressive “settler” community- as our friend Katy Rose is fond of calling them- but among the dismayed and indeed fed up local community across the island.
Because much to the contrary of the “white man’s burden” mentality of those settlers, those who know all too well the history of oppression aren’t stupid and are feeling less and less cowed and more and more pissed-off over the past couple of months now that they actually have at least two if not three members of the council willing to attest to the nudity of the emperor Asing and his sycophantic palace guard.
They’ve seen the issue plastered all over the local newspaper- where today, we’re sure, reporter extraordinaire Michael Levine did as good a job as possible in describing yesterday’s slap in the face of reform given the space he had to report it.
And while it’s likely they will be not among those who will be “lighting up” the letters to the editor page- as Parsons reported one councilmember predicted- it is likely they have long memories of the type of plantation-mentality paternalism that comes with the suppression of democracy the council majority has exhibited.
And yesterday’s actions only cemented the building rage.
As Joan said:
It brings to mind a conversation I had with a relative newcomer to the island who approached me on Tuesday saying, “Isn’t it great that the Council is going to be more open?” And that prompted me to reply, “I don’t think anything is really going to change,” to which he responded, grudgingly, “Well, maybe not, but at least it’s all out on the table.”
Perhaps the recent events will serve to more thoroughly inform some of the newbies of just how Kauai politics work, and how deeply entrenched the system is, so they can drop their dreamy-eyed vision that a) any one of them has a prayer of getting elected and b) any sort of meaningful change or progressive movement will come from that body, at least so long as the voting majority continues to elect the people they do.
The positive in all this is that not just the locals who know what the score is but Joan’s “newbies” can’t avert their gaze from which side of the labyrinth gate the remaining councilmembers are on.
Anyone who thought that Derek Kawakami or Dickie Chang were anything but hacks and shills for the Minotaur are certainly no longer so deluded. And Council minority “leader” Jay Furfaro’s reported support can’t be a bad sign although his past wavering leave any predictions about the future still in flux.
Some will wait for leadership from Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara in maintaining the fight for democracy, open government and transparency. Others will wait for the other shoe to drop when, not if, the rights of the public and even councilmembers are trampled upon once again.
But the coals are still glowing hot and tinderbox is getting drier every day.
Though elections might seem a long way off, Joan’s dreary observations notwithstanding anyone who has the gumption to stand, sword drawn and enter the domain of the half man/half bull would be well served to start preparing for November 2010 so we can turn that 3-4 into at least a 4-3.
We’ll have more on the particulars once we have a chance to witness the debacle for ourselves but for now, if the past two weeks are any indication, the outrage and backlash against the majority is what will inform the story yet to be told and that can’t help but build after yesterday’s repudiation of the rights of the people of Kaua`i.
But did anyone expect anything different?
As we sit here watching the unfolding debacle on the next-day airing of the meeting- another symbol of the Minotaur’s labyrinth that keeps the dark as dark as can be- as Ed Coll detailed in a letter to the editor in today’s local paper- we’re amazed that anyone thought there would be a different outcome, one we foresaw yesterday.
As Joan Conrow remarked today:
But who, really, besides the politically naïve, imagined that things would be significantly different after the recent brouhaha, or that “reform” was ever going to be an item on the Council’s agenda?
Who? We’ll certainly the formerly outraged malihini among us such as blogger Brad Parsons who wrote at his Aloha Analytics site today.
I think the public is ready to move on and hoping that Kaipo is a man of his word, per his statements to keep the agenda open to all Council members.
With all due respect, Parsons- who since he arrived here last year after years of activism on Maui and has done a great job of assimilating some of the political absurdities and Catch-22’s of Kaua`i government and informing other community members- apparently doesn’t seem to have a sense of the pent up rage that has exploded locally, not just among the north shore progressive “settler” community- as our friend Katy Rose is fond of calling them- but among the dismayed and indeed fed up local community across the island.
Because much to the contrary of the “white man’s burden” mentality of those settlers, those who know all too well the history of oppression aren’t stupid and are feeling less and less cowed and more and more pissed-off over the past couple of months now that they actually have at least two if not three members of the council willing to attest to the nudity of the emperor Asing and his sycophantic palace guard.
They’ve seen the issue plastered all over the local newspaper- where today, we’re sure, reporter extraordinaire Michael Levine did as good a job as possible in describing yesterday’s slap in the face of reform given the space he had to report it.
And while it’s likely they will be not among those who will be “lighting up” the letters to the editor page- as Parsons reported one councilmember predicted- it is likely they have long memories of the type of plantation-mentality paternalism that comes with the suppression of democracy the council majority has exhibited.
And yesterday’s actions only cemented the building rage.
As Joan said:
It brings to mind a conversation I had with a relative newcomer to the island who approached me on Tuesday saying, “Isn’t it great that the Council is going to be more open?” And that prompted me to reply, “I don’t think anything is really going to change,” to which he responded, grudgingly, “Well, maybe not, but at least it’s all out on the table.”
Perhaps the recent events will serve to more thoroughly inform some of the newbies of just how Kauai politics work, and how deeply entrenched the system is, so they can drop their dreamy-eyed vision that a) any one of them has a prayer of getting elected and b) any sort of meaningful change or progressive movement will come from that body, at least so long as the voting majority continues to elect the people they do.
The positive in all this is that not just the locals who know what the score is but Joan’s “newbies” can’t avert their gaze from which side of the labyrinth gate the remaining councilmembers are on.
Anyone who thought that Derek Kawakami or Dickie Chang were anything but hacks and shills for the Minotaur are certainly no longer so deluded. And Council minority “leader” Jay Furfaro’s reported support can’t be a bad sign although his past wavering leave any predictions about the future still in flux.
Some will wait for leadership from Tim Bynum and Lani Kawahara in maintaining the fight for democracy, open government and transparency. Others will wait for the other shoe to drop when, not if, the rights of the public and even councilmembers are trampled upon once again.
But the coals are still glowing hot and tinderbox is getting drier every day.
Though elections might seem a long way off, Joan’s dreary observations notwithstanding anyone who has the gumption to stand, sword drawn and enter the domain of the half man/half bull would be well served to start preparing for November 2010 so we can turn that 3-4 into at least a 4-3.
We’ll have more on the particulars once we have a chance to witness the debacle for ourselves but for now, if the past two weeks are any indication, the outrage and backlash against the majority is what will inform the story yet to be told and that can’t help but build after yesterday’s repudiation of the rights of the people of Kaua`i.
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