Musings: Gone Crazy

As someone noted in comments yesterday: The entire [Kauai county] council seems to have gone crazy.

To which I might add, it's not just the Council. Got lots of unelected nuts out there, too.

Like Lepeuli Beach regular Richard Spacer, who has asked the state Attorney General to launch a criminal investigation into former Planning Commissioner Caven Raco. Seems Richard, who is displeased with the Waipake Beach access planned through the Kahu Aina Plantation project, takes issue with Caven's testimony to the County Council last October supporting the access:

I would like all the council members to be made aware that I was a voting committee member on the Subdivision committee during the public testimony stages of this particular applicant when the original path was decided. During public testimony and deliberation it was the community that showed interest in having a foot path and not the planning dept. It is my recollection that over 100 signatures and testimonies were provided for the path. I hope that this may help clarify any confusion.

But because the planning department was unable to provide Richard with the signatures, which apparently were provided to Caven outside of a meeting, and thus not part of the department's records, Richard is convinced Caven has engaged in “public fraud.” In his letter to the AG he writes:

I would like your office to investigate what motivated Mr. Raco to make that testimony when Mr. [Dale] Cua says no such documents exist. Is there a past, present, or future benefit to Mr. Raco for making that apparently fraudulent testimony? Did the owner of the Kahu Aina subdivision Falko Partners, a company owned by Mr. Larry Bowman, or the property manager Mr. Shawn Smith offer inducements to Mr. Raco for favorable testimony?

I will also be asking the FBI Public Fraud Unit to investigate.

Oh, and I'm sure they'll get right on it. I wonder why Richard, who has told some whoppers, doesn't believe he also should be held to truthfulness. Should we ask the FBI and AG to investigate?

And then there's rabid “redshirt” Katie Horgan, who threatened to write a letter to the editor if I didn't let her comment on my blog. Truly. I'd never even heard of the wahine until she started attacking me in cyberspace, as the reds are wont to do, because I dared to question them, their “facts” and their despicable tactics.

So I checked her out. Turns out she's another one of those "redshirts" with ties to the construction industry, though she is now working for Manu Kai, a private defense contractor that helps PMRF with its electronic warfare systems. She's so freaked out by the seed companies that she drives from Kapahi to Mana every day — what do you suppose the carbon footprint of that is? — rather than live near her job. But she's apparently untroubled by the environmental damage or human health problems caused by war, so long as she's getting a paycheck. Yet she's one of those who has accused me of being a sell out because I  refused to slurp the 2491 Kool-Aid.

Then there's Kauai Rising, which doesn't know whether it has a charter amendment or an ordinance, but it wants the County Clerk to start counting the signatures anyway. Actually, they do know it's an initiative, but they're trying to pass it off as a charter amendment because fewer signatures are required to get an amendment on the ballot.

In a guest commentary today, Allan Parachini does an excellent job of outlining the insanity of this amendment, as well as the deceptive process used to collect signatures. As Allan notes:

This initiative is one of the most dangerous manifestations of the drive by the extreme political right and left to usurp the right to decisions over our basic nutrition that are really the province of individuals and families. The County Council has the authority to hold this process up until a thorough review of what the initiative actually says and means and who and what are really behind it. It must do so.

Yet even though the Council, as Chair Jay Furfaro astutely observed, isn't sure whether they've got a cat or a dog — it's a dog, Jay, take my word for it — he and all his colleagues, except for Ross Kagawa, voted to move this legal loser along. They couldn't even wait a week for a legal opinion. Cause ya know, the county clerk got nothing better to do — except repeatedly advise Kauai Rising they really should consult with an attorney to sort this shit out.

Problem is, the Kauai Rising folks don't want to pay. Instead, they're looking for freebie legal services — gee, where's Teri Tico. Earthjustice and Center for Food Safety now? You'd think Joan Porter, whose husband, Bill, has like a gazillion bucks, could kick down some kala for a legal review. If she wants this thing, why doesn't she put her money where her mouth is and hire an attorney to make it legit, instead of casting the burden on Kauai taxpayers?

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, meanwhile, joined a majority in properly slapping down the no-confidence resolution for County Attorney Al Castillo while uttering this gem:

I’m hoping this experience, as uncomfortable and awkward as it has been, has maybe been helpful to all of us to think about leadership and how each of us exercises it in the public trust.

Gee, wouldn't that be a switch.

Then we've got Matthew Lolena Samson — charged with 13 counts of continuous felony sexual assault against a girl while she was 6 to 9 years old — pleading no contest to just two counts.

“I just want to accept responsibility and get this over with already,” Samson said in his statement.

Yeah, no doubt. But no contest is not accepting responsibility. It's called copping a plea. And what about the poor girl he victimized and violated? Not so easy for her to “get this over with already.” His maximum 15 years in jail will do nothing to heal her wounds, and then he'll be out on the streets, doing it again.

And finally, the The Garden Island's comment section lit up on the story about the Kilauea man who got probation, a fine and an order to attend parenting classes for making his son walk a mile as "old school" discipline. Oh, the outcry against Judge Kathleen Watanabe, the Office of Prosecuting Attorney and the nanny state.

Too bad the reporter didn't provide the full story: A lady found the 8-year-old boy screaming and hysterical in the bushes, with no idea where he was or how to get home, so she called police.

Discipline is fine. Seriously traumatizing your kid is, fortunately, against the law.

Me, I'll take Prince's version of crazy, thank you very much.