UNDER FURTHER REVIEW: Our, shall we say, less than enthusiastic “endorsement” of now Governor-elect Neil Abercrombie was partially based on years of disappointment in the appointments of appointed appointees.
Though those of the departing Republican Governor Linda “Ding-a” Lingle were particularly egregious we’ve watched equally in horror at most of the democratic governors’ department heads, especially those at the helm of the all powerful position of the head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).
And though we saw the petition effort to see former Kaua`i State Senator Gary Hooser appointed DLNR director as a nice thought but doomed to failure, we couldn’t believe our ears last night when we heard that Waianae harbormaster and environmental and kanaka activist Bill Aila will be in charge of the many-tentacled department- if he’s confirmed by the state senate.
Laura Thielen, the current DLNR Director- who also sits as Chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) where most of the nitty gritty decisions effecting the future of “land and power in Hawai`i” are made- has been an unmitigated disaster. Under her mismanagement developers have received rubber stamps from republican appointees to the Board like developer’s friend Ron Agor, our Kaua`i Rep.
Aila, a former Sierra Club Executive Committee member who ran for governor in 2006 will have a chance to, among other things, fix the broken State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) which has bungled the treatment of `iwi kupuna (burials), kill the planned commercialization of Koke`e and stop the onslaught of state redistricting of agricultural lands that are now required under the Judge Ibarra Hokulia ruling ending de facto resorts on ag lands.
For the uninitiated, Hawai`i has two levels of approval for land classification. While the county “zones” land in classifications like agricultural, rural, open, urban and resort, laid on top of that is a template of state “districting” which classifies land in the four basic categories that dictate county zoning.
While in law zoning is supposed to follow districting the practice has been to have counties approve zoning and the state follow suit with redistricting. But sometimes the applicants have been afraid of rejection by the DLNR-chief-chaired Land Use Commission (LUC) for redistricting so they just don’t apply once they have “bought” county approval, especially in the case of ag lands that have been cut up into high-priced “gentleman farmers' estates”.
But recently, because of the Ibarra ruling which said “no- you can’t do that anymore,” projects have been going before the LUC before the counties get to rubber stamp these projects.
We’re used to being disappointed and will certainly be watching and holding Aila’s feet to the fire- just as we would have done were Gary to have been appointed. But with Aila at the head of the table it might just be possible to do things like stop the theft of access at Lepe`uli or reverse the theft and sale of Koke`e cabin leases to the highest bidder.
We’ve seen the position corrupt people with good intentions before. But then we’ve never started from this kind of “advantage: environment” arrangement before.
We aren’t exactly ready to break out the rose colored glasses but we can’t imagine anyone better in the seat from which springs all clout in the islands.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
G-MEN AND THE TWO C-MEN
G-MEN AND THE TWO C-MEN: The sudden resignation of Planning Director Ian Costa was apparently forced due to a current FBI investigation of the Kaua`i Planning Department focusing on Costa and his Deputy Imai Aiu.
According to an extremely reliable source close to the investigation, the bureau has been focusing on the planning department in recent weeks. This was also confirmed by a second source independent of the first one.
Anyone who watched the planning commission meeting last Tuesday couldn’t help but be convinced that Costa didn’t simply resign- the measured hesitating speeches, the down-looking faces, the references to a “sad day”, the reassurances by Mayor Bernard Carvalho that “no matter what” there would be “good days ahead for Costa”, even comments from commission members referring to “the situation we’re in” and “the steps we’ve taken.”
Prior to Costa’s “resignation”, at their October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director.”
The investigation may be related to the cases upon which we reported recently that were brought before the Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE).
They involved the practice of department employees of taking outside work that came back to the department for approval. And it wasn’t limited to underlings but extended to Costa himself who was reportedly the subject of a complaint that he did architectural work on projects his department later approved.
Not only is this kind of thing a violation of the local Code of Ethics, if the FBI finds that there was say, a link between their work and the approvals or that the amount of work was not really commensurate with the amount they were paid or even that a kickback scheme existed, indictments could be ahead... not just for the actions themselves but under conspiracy and racketeering laws if it were found to be pervasive in the department.
But aside from the inherent nature of Carvalho’s “ode to cronyism” speech to the commission- in which he pledged to give Costa another job because their “relationship goes back to ‘hanabata’ days” and talked of how “it’s all about the relationships,” his attempt to use his “ex-officio” membership on the planning commission to promote and lobby for Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig as interim planning director is a huge ethics violation in and of itself.
Ethics and Sunshine watchdog Rob Abrew made it plain in his testimony before the commission.
The Kaua`i County Charter makes the mayor an “ex-officio”, non-voting member of every county board and commission. And as a member of a board or commission- which is the capacity in which Carvalho wrote he was acting in his letter to the commission- one is not permitted to lobby for a vote except during a duly agendaed and called-to-order meeting. To do so beforehand- and to make sure, as Carvalho did, that everyone saw it when it was printed on the front page of the local newspaper - is a blatant violation of HRS 92.
But that isn’t the worst ethics violation inherent in Carvalho’s request.
Most remember the case of former Police Commissioner Michael Ching who was accused of using his position on the commission to lobby for the hiring of K.C. Lum as police chief.
And although the decision was tainted by a series of manipulations by the BOE and county council to get the result they wanted, that kind of action was found to be a violation of the code of ethics which prohibits the use of one’s position to seek a special favor or benefit for another.
Ching was forced to resign and Lum’s contract was nullified.
How that case differs from the case of Planning Commission “member” Carvalho lobbying for the appointment of Dahilig as interim planning director is anything but apparent.
While details of the FBI investigation are not available just yet, it is known that they have been looking into the possibility of corruption in Kaua`i county government since the end of the Baptiste administration, as revealed by then Councilperson now Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho in an open council session.
She and others in county government revealed that they had been grilled- often for hours at a time- by FBI officials who then opened an office on the island for the first time.
There’s one more interesting note on Costa’s appointment by Carvalho to the post of deputy director of parks and recreation.
Back in the late 90’s then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka attempted to appoint the deputy director of the planning department, even though the county charter specifically calls for the appointment of a department directors who are then to hire and fire his or her own staff.
Then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, in a bizarre opinion, told Kusaka that it was all legal for her to hire the deputy.
That outraged another ethics and sunshine activist, Horace Stoessel, who waged a years-long battle to have the opinion reversed. When Baptiste was elected the first action of his new County Attorney, Lani Nakazawa, was to reverse the opinion.
The Nakazawa opinion stands to this day and would ban Carvalho from hiring a deputy director of parks and recreation.
Of course the Director of Parks and Recreation is one of Carvalho’s closest cronies, his former campaign director Lenny Rapozo so the actual appointment of Costa may be moot. But once again using one's position to secure a special favor or benefit for another- something Carvalho didn’t mince words in admitting he was doing in his testimony before the planning commission- is a violation of the county charter, section 20.02(E).
According to an extremely reliable source close to the investigation, the bureau has been focusing on the planning department in recent weeks. This was also confirmed by a second source independent of the first one.
Anyone who watched the planning commission meeting last Tuesday couldn’t help but be convinced that Costa didn’t simply resign- the measured hesitating speeches, the down-looking faces, the references to a “sad day”, the reassurances by Mayor Bernard Carvalho that “no matter what” there would be “good days ahead for Costa”, even comments from commission members referring to “the situation we’re in” and “the steps we’ve taken.”
Prior to Costa’s “resignation”, at their October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director.”
The investigation may be related to the cases upon which we reported recently that were brought before the Kaua`i Board of Ethics (BOE).
They involved the practice of department employees of taking outside work that came back to the department for approval. And it wasn’t limited to underlings but extended to Costa himself who was reportedly the subject of a complaint that he did architectural work on projects his department later approved.
Not only is this kind of thing a violation of the local Code of Ethics, if the FBI finds that there was say, a link between their work and the approvals or that the amount of work was not really commensurate with the amount they were paid or even that a kickback scheme existed, indictments could be ahead... not just for the actions themselves but under conspiracy and racketeering laws if it were found to be pervasive in the department.
But aside from the inherent nature of Carvalho’s “ode to cronyism” speech to the commission- in which he pledged to give Costa another job because their “relationship goes back to ‘hanabata’ days” and talked of how “it’s all about the relationships,” his attempt to use his “ex-officio” membership on the planning commission to promote and lobby for Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig as interim planning director is a huge ethics violation in and of itself.
Ethics and Sunshine watchdog Rob Abrew made it plain in his testimony before the commission.
The Kaua`i County Charter makes the mayor an “ex-officio”, non-voting member of every county board and commission. And as a member of a board or commission- which is the capacity in which Carvalho wrote he was acting in his letter to the commission- one is not permitted to lobby for a vote except during a duly agendaed and called-to-order meeting. To do so beforehand- and to make sure, as Carvalho did, that everyone saw it when it was printed on the front page of the local newspaper - is a blatant violation of HRS 92.
But that isn’t the worst ethics violation inherent in Carvalho’s request.
Most remember the case of former Police Commissioner Michael Ching who was accused of using his position on the commission to lobby for the hiring of K.C. Lum as police chief.
And although the decision was tainted by a series of manipulations by the BOE and county council to get the result they wanted, that kind of action was found to be a violation of the code of ethics which prohibits the use of one’s position to seek a special favor or benefit for another.
Ching was forced to resign and Lum’s contract was nullified.
How that case differs from the case of Planning Commission “member” Carvalho lobbying for the appointment of Dahilig as interim planning director is anything but apparent.
While details of the FBI investigation are not available just yet, it is known that they have been looking into the possibility of corruption in Kaua`i county government since the end of the Baptiste administration, as revealed by then Councilperson now Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho in an open council session.
She and others in county government revealed that they had been grilled- often for hours at a time- by FBI officials who then opened an office on the island for the first time.
There’s one more interesting note on Costa’s appointment by Carvalho to the post of deputy director of parks and recreation.
Back in the late 90’s then Mayor Maryanne Kusaka attempted to appoint the deputy director of the planning department, even though the county charter specifically calls for the appointment of a department directors who are then to hire and fire his or her own staff.
Then County Attorney Hartwell Blake, in a bizarre opinion, told Kusaka that it was all legal for her to hire the deputy.
That outraged another ethics and sunshine activist, Horace Stoessel, who waged a years-long battle to have the opinion reversed. When Baptiste was elected the first action of his new County Attorney, Lani Nakazawa, was to reverse the opinion.
The Nakazawa opinion stands to this day and would ban Carvalho from hiring a deputy director of parks and recreation.
Of course the Director of Parks and Recreation is one of Carvalho’s closest cronies, his former campaign director Lenny Rapozo so the actual appointment of Costa may be moot. But once again using one's position to secure a special favor or benefit for another- something Carvalho didn’t mince words in admitting he was doing in his testimony before the planning commission- is a violation of the county charter, section 20.02(E).
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
SAIL AWAY
SAIL AWAY: For we children of the 60’s it hard to think of Thanksgiving without thinking of it as a celebration of the “let the genocide begin” moment when European white supremacists commenced the treachery upon which the American nation is based.
Back in the days of the free speech movement and academic reform there was hope that perhaps at least some of our history might finally be rewritten from the viewpoint of the vanquished.
What fools these mortals be.
A handful of PBS documentaries notwithstanding, 21st century Americans have successfully reclaimed the vapid lack of conscience not seen since the '50’s
The 2010 American political landscape has somehow once again escaped reality, as many heartlanders once again circle the wagons and retreat into their delusions of the kind of “American Exceptionalism” that allowed them to smile as they killed in the name of their savior- and verily, smite the heathen nonbelievers.
The movement to ethnically cleanse any honest depiction of the county’s history from modern textbooks in places from Texas and Tennessee has matured into a full fledged movement to turn actuality on it’s head, allowing the truly deluded to think that they are indeed the oppressed who need to “take our country back” from the unwashed and unwanted brown hoards.
When we sit down tomorrow to engage in the truly American tradition of stuffing our faces with as much as we can stomach, try to think of every calorie as one of the vanquished, every mouthful as a people enslaved and slaughtered and every second helping a nation once again devoid of conscience.
Give thanks for your white privilege and “exceptional” greed and stupidity America. It’s at the head of the list of things you’ve got to be grateful for.
Back in the days of the free speech movement and academic reform there was hope that perhaps at least some of our history might finally be rewritten from the viewpoint of the vanquished.
What fools these mortals be.
A handful of PBS documentaries notwithstanding, 21st century Americans have successfully reclaimed the vapid lack of conscience not seen since the '50’s
The 2010 American political landscape has somehow once again escaped reality, as many heartlanders once again circle the wagons and retreat into their delusions of the kind of “American Exceptionalism” that allowed them to smile as they killed in the name of their savior- and verily, smite the heathen nonbelievers.
The movement to ethnically cleanse any honest depiction of the county’s history from modern textbooks in places from Texas and Tennessee has matured into a full fledged movement to turn actuality on it’s head, allowing the truly deluded to think that they are indeed the oppressed who need to “take our country back” from the unwashed and unwanted brown hoards.
When we sit down tomorrow to engage in the truly American tradition of stuffing our faces with as much as we can stomach, try to think of every calorie as one of the vanquished, every mouthful as a people enslaved and slaughtered and every second helping a nation once again devoid of conscience.
Give thanks for your white privilege and “exceptional” greed and stupidity America. It’s at the head of the list of things you’ve got to be grateful for.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
NOTHING LIKE BEING THERE
NOTHING LIKE BEING THERE: And speaking of getting “quitted” it appears the brief tenure of the worst reporter in the local newspaper’s annuls (yes, even Lester Chang) has ended after a week or so’s absence of the name of Leo Azambuja from the paper’s pages and today’s coverage of yesterday’s council’s organizational meeting by council neophyte Vanessa Van Voorhis.
For the record Editor Nathan Eagle did not return multiple emails seeking information on Azambuja’s job status.
Although the pedestrian coverage appeared adequate we can’t help wonder whether it’s a disease or a habit of the paper’s reporters to use the kind of “lede” that first day J-school students are warned against.
Professor: They know there was a meeting yesterday because you’re writing about it. Pick something that happened there- the most important thing- and put it at the top, in 25 words or less. Then follow the “inverted triangle” format- Don’t report events chronologically but by order of importance.
But speaking of neophytes- at least as far attending or even watching council meetings- Joan Conrow has her own first hand account today.
It’s nice to occasionally have the two newspaper experience on Kaua`i but someone was obviously having a bit of fun with both Van Voorhis and Conrow on the subject of having the meeting open to the public.
As we wrote last week, a few councils have actually done their organizational business in open session. The issue is always whether they appear to have been scripted.
But Van Voorhis wrote that “(o)fficials said the meeting was unprecedented in that it was the first time a Kaua`i County Council held such a caucus open to the public” while Conrow said “in a nod to 'transparency and open government' — words rendered as meaningless as pristine and sustainability — the new County Council did its organizing for the first time in public”.
Oh well. If either decides to attend on a regular basis they’ll get the hang of not believing a word of what they’re hearing and only half of what they’re seeing.
But we were especially taken aback by this quip from Conrow whose malice toward Tim Bynum has been hardly concealed of late:
Tim said he was expecting Councilmembers to have “equal and equitable access to the key documents that are theirs” before going on to say he wants to structure the Council so that decisions made in Executive Session are made public. That way, you see, he won’t have to risk violating executive privilege by leaking them to a certain blogger.
Ah, engaging in libel per se now, eh Joan?
For the record our report on the Margaret Hanson Sueoka suit last month was based on having attended council meetings for many years which enabled us to go back to our notes and decipher the background of the Margaret Hanson EEOC harassment case, without any conversation whatsoever on the subject about it with Bynum.
Seeing recent executive sessions listed to evaluate Nakamura’s performance right after one to consider the Hanson settlement helped tip us off. Then, upon hearing the council’s discussion of the plethora of harassment suits including an oblique reference to a case “right here” in council services- and knowing that deputies in the county attorney’s office serve both the administration and the council- we realized that perhaps Hanson’s suit may not have had anything to do with her experiences with the administration, as we had previously theorized.
Years of leg work- something our bum back prevents us from doing these days- paid off.
We remembered the incident with Nakamura years ago and sure enough when we checked our files from the era, it turned out that it was Hanson that was the deputy county attorney assigned to the council at the time- the one who was harassed by her then-boyfriend County Clerk Peter Nakamura, according to many council regulars and employees of council services at the time.
As they say, we deny the allegation and we deny the alligator- we did not seek, receive nor use any illegally obtained information in our report.
It’s all especially strange considering Conrow’s final statement:
In the end, Tim got what he wanted in terms of committee assignments, and so did JoAnn. The question now is whether they’ll also get something else they want — an executive search firm to find a new County Clerk. Mel and Derek said they like current Clerk Peter Nakamura and Nadine had to recuse herself because he’s her brother-in-law.
I know why Tim doesn’t like Peter, but I’m not sure what JoAnn has against him. I’m pretty sure he had to go through Seven Habits when he was her planning director.....
Maybe that search is because Nakamura’s actions in harassing Hanson cost the county the $250,000.
Actually JoAnn wasn’t enamored with Steve Covey and “The Seven Habits of Truly Disingenuous and Irritating Assholes” when she was mayor. As a matter of fact it was because of her 180 from the micromanaging of where every paperclip went as mayor to seeking to become the consummate politician when the voters threw her out of office, that she turning to Covey.
Funny story here- at the actual first “public” organizational meeting of the council when Yukimura returned to elective office after a hiatus, we actually asked Yukimura whether she was going to support Nakamura’s reappointment and she replied “why wouldn’t I- he was my planning director”... which we always thought to be a strange statement in and of itself because the planning commission appoints the planning director... which of course reinforced her penchant for micromanagement reputation.
So Round and Round the Mulberry Bush they go and it helps to see every council meeting for a decade plus and report on county government for 25 years if you want to be able to tell the monkeys from the weasels.
For the record Editor Nathan Eagle did not return multiple emails seeking information on Azambuja’s job status.
Although the pedestrian coverage appeared adequate we can’t help wonder whether it’s a disease or a habit of the paper’s reporters to use the kind of “lede” that first day J-school students are warned against.
Professor: They know there was a meeting yesterday because you’re writing about it. Pick something that happened there- the most important thing- and put it at the top, in 25 words or less. Then follow the “inverted triangle” format- Don’t report events chronologically but by order of importance.
But speaking of neophytes- at least as far attending or even watching council meetings- Joan Conrow has her own first hand account today.
It’s nice to occasionally have the two newspaper experience on Kaua`i but someone was obviously having a bit of fun with both Van Voorhis and Conrow on the subject of having the meeting open to the public.
As we wrote last week, a few councils have actually done their organizational business in open session. The issue is always whether they appear to have been scripted.
But Van Voorhis wrote that “(o)fficials said the meeting was unprecedented in that it was the first time a Kaua`i County Council held such a caucus open to the public” while Conrow said “in a nod to 'transparency and open government' — words rendered as meaningless as pristine and sustainability — the new County Council did its organizing for the first time in public”.
Oh well. If either decides to attend on a regular basis they’ll get the hang of not believing a word of what they’re hearing and only half of what they’re seeing.
But we were especially taken aback by this quip from Conrow whose malice toward Tim Bynum has been hardly concealed of late:
Tim said he was expecting Councilmembers to have “equal and equitable access to the key documents that are theirs” before going on to say he wants to structure the Council so that decisions made in Executive Session are made public. That way, you see, he won’t have to risk violating executive privilege by leaking them to a certain blogger.
Ah, engaging in libel per se now, eh Joan?
For the record our report on the Margaret Hanson Sueoka suit last month was based on having attended council meetings for many years which enabled us to go back to our notes and decipher the background of the Margaret Hanson EEOC harassment case, without any conversation whatsoever on the subject about it with Bynum.
Seeing recent executive sessions listed to evaluate Nakamura’s performance right after one to consider the Hanson settlement helped tip us off. Then, upon hearing the council’s discussion of the plethora of harassment suits including an oblique reference to a case “right here” in council services- and knowing that deputies in the county attorney’s office serve both the administration and the council- we realized that perhaps Hanson’s suit may not have had anything to do with her experiences with the administration, as we had previously theorized.
Years of leg work- something our bum back prevents us from doing these days- paid off.
We remembered the incident with Nakamura years ago and sure enough when we checked our files from the era, it turned out that it was Hanson that was the deputy county attorney assigned to the council at the time- the one who was harassed by her then-boyfriend County Clerk Peter Nakamura, according to many council regulars and employees of council services at the time.
As they say, we deny the allegation and we deny the alligator- we did not seek, receive nor use any illegally obtained information in our report.
It’s all especially strange considering Conrow’s final statement:
In the end, Tim got what he wanted in terms of committee assignments, and so did JoAnn. The question now is whether they’ll also get something else they want — an executive search firm to find a new County Clerk. Mel and Derek said they like current Clerk Peter Nakamura and Nadine had to recuse herself because he’s her brother-in-law.
I know why Tim doesn’t like Peter, but I’m not sure what JoAnn has against him. I’m pretty sure he had to go through Seven Habits when he was her planning director.....
Maybe that search is because Nakamura’s actions in harassing Hanson cost the county the $250,000.
Actually JoAnn wasn’t enamored with Steve Covey and “The Seven Habits of Truly Disingenuous and Irritating Assholes” when she was mayor. As a matter of fact it was because of her 180 from the micromanaging of where every paperclip went as mayor to seeking to become the consummate politician when the voters threw her out of office, that she turning to Covey.
Funny story here- at the actual first “public” organizational meeting of the council when Yukimura returned to elective office after a hiatus, we actually asked Yukimura whether she was going to support Nakamura’s reappointment and she replied “why wouldn’t I- he was my planning director”... which we always thought to be a strange statement in and of itself because the planning commission appoints the planning director... which of course reinforced her penchant for micromanagement reputation.
So Round and Round the Mulberry Bush they go and it helps to see every council meeting for a decade plus and report on county government for 25 years if you want to be able to tell the monkeys from the weasels.
Monday, November 22, 2010
WITH A BANG, NOT A WHIMPER
WITH A BANG, NOT A WHIMPER: The future begins this week on Kaua`i and it has little to do with the new council’s makeup or leadership, which will be determined today according to a “notice” that appears nowhere but on the wall at the temporary council chambers.
But it all may be just business as usual if none of the people who claim to care about land use show up and force these upcoming changes to be positive ones.
As we said Friday, with Planning Director Ian Costa being told not to let the door hit him on the ass on his way out at tomorrow’s planning commission meeting, there is a once-in-a-decade chance to convince the commission to conduct an open process- one devoid of administration interference- in their search for a new director... one who understands controlled growth principles and is attenuated to rural- as opposed to urban- planning.
Too often when we hear “smart growth” mentioned on Kaua`i these days it is linked to California-style “walking communities” as an answer to suburban sprawl and other concepts that don’t really fit the truly rural nature of Kaua`i- a character that a vast majority of island residents say they want to protect.
The term “smart growth” is really rooted in a process of true citizen directed growth where an open process first determines whether a certain type of growth is currently appropriate and then considers where that growth should go. Then, rather than let developers who have money determine which areas will be used for growth and allow them to submit plans for rubberstamping, they compete for the right to develop the pre-citizen-determined locations, also through an open process.
We need a planning director who understands this process, especially since the first thing he or she will be doing will be to start a new charter-mandated General Plan Update process, since 10 years have passed since the last one was completed in December of 2000.
Actually, that may be the second thing the new planning director will be doing because the petition created charter amendment passed in 2008- the one that links the actual number of planning commission approved visitor accommodation units to specific growth standards set in the general plan- has finally been given form and substance in a bill set for introduction at Wednesday’s lame duck council meeting.
That means it will be going to the planning commission for analysis and approval and then returned to the council for first reading, hopefully within 60 days.
Bill 2386 (scroll down to page 40) sets up a standard for “Transient Accommodation Units” and proposes a one-and-a-half percent (1½ %) per-year growth rate with a lottery each year to determine who gets those rights to build them.
It also calls for a four-year time limit for “commenc(ing) actual construction of 20%” with one year extensions available “upon a showing of good cause by the (transient accommodation unit) certificate holder”.
The commission can also use a five-year “average of growth rate” of the one-and-a-half percent if the planning commission decides to do so upon recommendation of the planning department.
One of the provisions that may raise eyebrows is that only 10% of the certificates are reserved for developments of five units or less while the other 90% are reserved for those of six or more. This give preference to large resorts and hotels rather than “mom and pop” operations including potentially single-family vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts in designated visitor destination areas.
There are also exemptions for existing resorts and those who started the process- or were approved- before December 5, 2008 (when the charter amendment took effect), provided they file for one within a year of the effective date of the ordinance.
And we all remember how well it worked- or more precisely, didn’t work- the last time the planning department was given a year to certify past use of transient visitor accommodations.
The bill leaves an awful lot of discretion to the planning commission and department in areas where it could make the ordinance a joke, especially a lot of those pesky “may” instead of “shall” do such-and-such phrases.
And the “five year average” could turn into just what many feared- a free for all for well connected developers who get their ducks in a row early on. Perhaps a small percentage of deviation from the one-and-a-half percent rate would be appropriate.
There is a chance for public input at Wednesday’s council meeting for the bill, as well as at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting for the opening of the planning director’s job.
It’s now or never for all those who like to kvetch and moan about unfettered growth and those who worked so hard to get the amendment on the ballot in 2008.
As usual, the spoils will go to those who show up and you can bet those who stand to make a buck off these two decisions will be there.
------
Update: It only took us an hour to find the new page for the Kaua`i County Charter. If you want to “bookmark” the page you need to go to the Public Documents page and right click and then click the appropriate line for your browser (“add to Favorites” for Internet Exploder).
But it all may be just business as usual if none of the people who claim to care about land use show up and force these upcoming changes to be positive ones.
As we said Friday, with Planning Director Ian Costa being told not to let the door hit him on the ass on his way out at tomorrow’s planning commission meeting, there is a once-in-a-decade chance to convince the commission to conduct an open process- one devoid of administration interference- in their search for a new director... one who understands controlled growth principles and is attenuated to rural- as opposed to urban- planning.
Too often when we hear “smart growth” mentioned on Kaua`i these days it is linked to California-style “walking communities” as an answer to suburban sprawl and other concepts that don’t really fit the truly rural nature of Kaua`i- a character that a vast majority of island residents say they want to protect.
The term “smart growth” is really rooted in a process of true citizen directed growth where an open process first determines whether a certain type of growth is currently appropriate and then considers where that growth should go. Then, rather than let developers who have money determine which areas will be used for growth and allow them to submit plans for rubberstamping, they compete for the right to develop the pre-citizen-determined locations, also through an open process.
We need a planning director who understands this process, especially since the first thing he or she will be doing will be to start a new charter-mandated General Plan Update process, since 10 years have passed since the last one was completed in December of 2000.
Actually, that may be the second thing the new planning director will be doing because the petition created charter amendment passed in 2008- the one that links the actual number of planning commission approved visitor accommodation units to specific growth standards set in the general plan- has finally been given form and substance in a bill set for introduction at Wednesday’s lame duck council meeting.
That means it will be going to the planning commission for analysis and approval and then returned to the council for first reading, hopefully within 60 days.
Bill 2386 (scroll down to page 40) sets up a standard for “Transient Accommodation Units” and proposes a one-and-a-half percent (1½ %) per-year growth rate with a lottery each year to determine who gets those rights to build them.
It also calls for a four-year time limit for “commenc(ing) actual construction of 20%” with one year extensions available “upon a showing of good cause by the (transient accommodation unit) certificate holder”.
The commission can also use a five-year “average of growth rate” of the one-and-a-half percent if the planning commission decides to do so upon recommendation of the planning department.
One of the provisions that may raise eyebrows is that only 10% of the certificates are reserved for developments of five units or less while the other 90% are reserved for those of six or more. This give preference to large resorts and hotels rather than “mom and pop” operations including potentially single-family vacation rentals and bed-and-breakfasts in designated visitor destination areas.
There are also exemptions for existing resorts and those who started the process- or were approved- before December 5, 2008 (when the charter amendment took effect), provided they file for one within a year of the effective date of the ordinance.
And we all remember how well it worked- or more precisely, didn’t work- the last time the planning department was given a year to certify past use of transient visitor accommodations.
The bill leaves an awful lot of discretion to the planning commission and department in areas where it could make the ordinance a joke, especially a lot of those pesky “may” instead of “shall” do such-and-such phrases.
And the “five year average” could turn into just what many feared- a free for all for well connected developers who get their ducks in a row early on. Perhaps a small percentage of deviation from the one-and-a-half percent rate would be appropriate.
There is a chance for public input at Wednesday’s council meeting for the bill, as well as at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting for the opening of the planning director’s job.
It’s now or never for all those who like to kvetch and moan about unfettered growth and those who worked so hard to get the amendment on the ballot in 2008.
As usual, the spoils will go to those who show up and you can bet those who stand to make a buck off these two decisions will be there.
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Update: It only took us an hour to find the new page for the Kaua`i County Charter. If you want to “bookmark” the page you need to go to the Public Documents page and right click and then click the appropriate line for your browser (“add to Favorites” for Internet Exploder).
Friday, November 19, 2010
(PNN) COSTA FORCED OUT AS PLANNING DIRECTOR; EXPECTED TO RESIGN TUESDAY FOLLOWING ETHICS CHARGES.
COSTA FORCED OUT AS PLANNING DIRECTOR; EXPECTED TO RESIGN TUESDAY FOLLOWING ETHICS CHARGES
(PNN) -- Long time Kaua`i County Planning Director Ian Costa is expected to resign from his post at next Tuesday’s planning commission meeting after apparently being forced out following an executive session evaluation by the commission at it’s October 26 meeting.
This comes on the heels of an Board of Ethics (BOE) October 15 finding that, according to the minutes, various planning department officials’ “actions were in violation and not permitted under the (county’s) Code (of Ethics)” after they were found to have been performing outside work on projects that were then coming before the department for approval.
Although Costa was also discovered to have been moonlighting on projects under his jurisdiction he was not one of those found to have been in violation however he was thought to be the subject of an executive session at that meeting “to consider the evaluation dismissal or discipline of an employee or officer of the county relating to a complaint filed against the employee or officer”.
Following the BOE’s actions, at it’s October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director”.
According to next Tuesday’s planning commission agenda they will first consider a “Letter (11/16/10) from Planning Director Ian K. Costa to Chairman Raco and Members of the Planning Commission offering his resignation as Director of Planning for the Commission’s acceptance”.
In addition they will consider a “Letter from Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., ex-officio Planning Commission (11/17/10) member, to Chairman Raco and Members recommending that the Commission consider the appointment of Michael A. Dahilig as Director of Planning to serve in the interim”.
The planning commission is responsible for hiring and firing of the planning director according to the Kauai County Charter, which recently disappeared from the county’s web site.
Dahilig is currently a deputy county attorney who has a degree in urban planning although he apparently lacks the administrative experience required for the position under county charter provisions.
Dahilig has faced ethical questions of his own with a public outcry over his and other deputy county attorneys’ “beer summit” with Councilperson Dickie Chang last summer in which they visited Chang’s home one evening, “coldpack” in hand, to successfully lobby for his vote for a bill to allow transient vacation rentals on ag land.
Costa, a licensed architect, has been the planning director since Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s administration when he came to the post after serving as the acting county engineer.
Though the planning officals’ action were found to be in violation of the charter’s code of ethics no charges will be brought because, according to the BOE minutes, they were relying on a 1991 BOE opinion which, the county charter says, excuses them.
(PNN) -- Long time Kaua`i County Planning Director Ian Costa is expected to resign from his post at next Tuesday’s planning commission meeting after apparently being forced out following an executive session evaluation by the commission at it’s October 26 meeting.
This comes on the heels of an Board of Ethics (BOE) October 15 finding that, according to the minutes, various planning department officials’ “actions were in violation and not permitted under the (county’s) Code (of Ethics)” after they were found to have been performing outside work on projects that were then coming before the department for approval.
Although Costa was also discovered to have been moonlighting on projects under his jurisdiction he was not one of those found to have been in violation however he was thought to be the subject of an executive session at that meeting “to consider the evaluation dismissal or discipline of an employee or officer of the county relating to a complaint filed against the employee or officer”.
Following the BOE’s actions, at it’s October 26 meeting the planning commission held an executive session “to discuss matters pertaining to the Planning Director and, if necessary, to consult with the County’s legal counsel... pertain(ing) to the evaluation of the Planning Director”.
According to next Tuesday’s planning commission agenda they will first consider a “Letter (11/16/10) from Planning Director Ian K. Costa to Chairman Raco and Members of the Planning Commission offering his resignation as Director of Planning for the Commission’s acceptance”.
In addition they will consider a “Letter from Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., ex-officio Planning Commission (11/17/10) member, to Chairman Raco and Members recommending that the Commission consider the appointment of Michael A. Dahilig as Director of Planning to serve in the interim”.
The planning commission is responsible for hiring and firing of the planning director according to the Kauai County Charter, which recently disappeared from the county’s web site.
Dahilig is currently a deputy county attorney who has a degree in urban planning although he apparently lacks the administrative experience required for the position under county charter provisions.
Dahilig has faced ethical questions of his own with a public outcry over his and other deputy county attorneys’ “beer summit” with Councilperson Dickie Chang last summer in which they visited Chang’s home one evening, “coldpack” in hand, to successfully lobby for his vote for a bill to allow transient vacation rentals on ag land.
Costa, a licensed architect, has been the planning director since Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s administration when he came to the post after serving as the acting county engineer.
Though the planning officals’ action were found to be in violation of the charter’s code of ethics no charges will be brought because, according to the BOE minutes, they were relying on a 1991 BOE opinion which, the county charter says, excuses them.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
ON A WING AND A PRAYER
ON A WING AND A PRAYER: Ever since Joan Conrow’s article a week ago in Honolulu Weekly about the county’s decision to end what she said was traditionally called “Friday Night Lights”- a term we’ve never heard used on Kaua`i to describe high school football games in 30 years of attending them- in response to the federal suit brought to protect the endangered Newell’s Shearwaters, she’s been building to something.
And today she really let loose on Mayor Bernard Carvalho, accusing him of intentionally planning the “Buck the Firds” backlash by making the county’s first and thus far only reaction to the suit to shut down the traditional night games in favor of afternoon contests- something bound to get people up in arms and blaming the birds, not the county for it’s decades of inaction in the face of federal threats to clamp down.
She writes that:
the outcry over the end of Friday Night Lights was never based in reason or reality. Otherwise, people would have been calling for Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s head. Because as leader of the county, and former director of Parks and Recreation, he’s the one responsible for the decision to end the games.
And make no mistake, it was a calculated decision, a diversionary tactic intended to take the heat off the county and instead, as one friend noted, “make people want to stomp the birds and the Sierra Clubbers.”
She cites an email from a reader “who has been close to the action” and was similarly enraged over the ploy, who wrote
one thing you failed to mention was that the county did not have to go to this extreme in shutting off all the lights and canceling night football games. They could have focused on other areas such as Kilauea, and other games such as night soccer or tennis courts. The county cut the Friday night games to spite the state and the feds and to turn public sentiment against the birds. It's absolutely disgusting the way they handled it and what they did and I think your article should have been tougher on them.
But while, in the rest of the post, she searches for answers from the administration, an examination of events before the county council for the last decade or so reveals what’s at the core of the county’s malfeasance in ignoring those warnings.
The Carvalho administration isn’t the first to ignore the feds when they told the county as far back as the 1990’s that they had to at least start mitigating the effect on endangered birds of county facilities including, but not limited to, lights.
But rather than getting started and then developing an ongoing mitigation program, which is all the feds really asked at the time, the council, which controls the purse-strings to get the work done, decided in their incredible arrogance and stupidity to demand a list of precisely what the feds wanted the county to do and seek assurances from the feds that, once they had jumped through these specified hoops, they would be free to kill as many birds as they wanted.
Instead of heeding the answer of “just get started already” they all agreed that until they had an “end point” in a list of everything they needed to do in order to not get fined for “taking” any more birds, they wouldn’t do anything.
Eventually by the mid ‘00’s the council’s position, most often expressed by Mr. Liability, Councilmember Jay Furfaro, became that they would do nothing until they council was assured that there would never be any problems again with the feds over the `a`o- the real name for the shearwaters.
The feds of course finally threw up their hands at trying to get the county to get with the program and sued them.
While Carvalho- or most likely his chief henchwoman Beth Tokioka- is certainly to blame for the treacherous decision to whip up the misplaced community backlash there’s certainly enough blame to go around for the predicament in which the county has found itself today.
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We’re taking a long weekend. Be back Monday.
And today she really let loose on Mayor Bernard Carvalho, accusing him of intentionally planning the “Buck the Firds” backlash by making the county’s first and thus far only reaction to the suit to shut down the traditional night games in favor of afternoon contests- something bound to get people up in arms and blaming the birds, not the county for it’s decades of inaction in the face of federal threats to clamp down.
She writes that:
the outcry over the end of Friday Night Lights was never based in reason or reality. Otherwise, people would have been calling for Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s head. Because as leader of the county, and former director of Parks and Recreation, he’s the one responsible for the decision to end the games.
And make no mistake, it was a calculated decision, a diversionary tactic intended to take the heat off the county and instead, as one friend noted, “make people want to stomp the birds and the Sierra Clubbers.”
She cites an email from a reader “who has been close to the action” and was similarly enraged over the ploy, who wrote
one thing you failed to mention was that the county did not have to go to this extreme in shutting off all the lights and canceling night football games. They could have focused on other areas such as Kilauea, and other games such as night soccer or tennis courts. The county cut the Friday night games to spite the state and the feds and to turn public sentiment against the birds. It's absolutely disgusting the way they handled it and what they did and I think your article should have been tougher on them.
But while, in the rest of the post, she searches for answers from the administration, an examination of events before the county council for the last decade or so reveals what’s at the core of the county’s malfeasance in ignoring those warnings.
The Carvalho administration isn’t the first to ignore the feds when they told the county as far back as the 1990’s that they had to at least start mitigating the effect on endangered birds of county facilities including, but not limited to, lights.
But rather than getting started and then developing an ongoing mitigation program, which is all the feds really asked at the time, the council, which controls the purse-strings to get the work done, decided in their incredible arrogance and stupidity to demand a list of precisely what the feds wanted the county to do and seek assurances from the feds that, once they had jumped through these specified hoops, they would be free to kill as many birds as they wanted.
Instead of heeding the answer of “just get started already” they all agreed that until they had an “end point” in a list of everything they needed to do in order to not get fined for “taking” any more birds, they wouldn’t do anything.
Eventually by the mid ‘00’s the council’s position, most often expressed by Mr. Liability, Councilmember Jay Furfaro, became that they would do nothing until they council was assured that there would never be any problems again with the feds over the `a`o- the real name for the shearwaters.
The feds of course finally threw up their hands at trying to get the county to get with the program and sued them.
While Carvalho- or most likely his chief henchwoman Beth Tokioka- is certainly to blame for the treacherous decision to whip up the misplaced community backlash there’s certainly enough blame to go around for the predicament in which the county has found itself today.
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We’re taking a long weekend. Be back Monday.
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