The
Kauai County Clerk has rejected Kauai Rising's sweeping proposed charter amendment on technical grounds.
The
group apparently failed to follow the correct format for creating a
petition, despite being given samples to work from. As a result, its
paperwork is invalid and all the signatures must be collected again,
within a month, for a chance to appear on the November ballot.
The 18-page anti-ag amendment would create an all-powerful Office of Environmental Health under the sole control of the County Council, impose stringent regulations on the use of toxins,
greatly expand the right of citizens to sue and recover legal fees
and damages even if they don't win, and would allow people to be found guilty of violations without requiring proof that the defendant "knew or intended that such action, activities or conduct, or failure to act, would cause or contribute to the violation."
It has
been billed as the “next step” after Bill 2491/Ordinance 960 —
the county's pesticide/GMO regulatory law. That measure targets Kauai
Coffee and four seed/chemical companies growing crops on the island.
DOW, Syngenta, BASF and Dupont-Pioneer are suing the county over the
law, due to take effect in August, and have said the charter
amendment is similarly discriminatory.
The
signatures that were turned in were not verified because the document
itself was flawed. Nor did the county resolve the question of
whether the lengthy, multi-faceted proposal is in fact an ordinance,
which would require more signatures to qualify for the ballot, or a
charter amendment.
Additionally, many signatures were collected from people who were not given a copy of the full amendment to review, but simply a summary.
Thanks for the breaking news. Your work is invaluable to the community to stay informed .
ReplyDeleteDoes it seem to anyone else that the movement purposefully does things wrong?
Joan Porter is one of the richest people on Kauai, why couldn't she contribute money for legal advice to get it right?It is a bizarre movement that just does not seem to really want change.
Is anyone really surprised? "Couldn't fill out the form correctly" will be heard more than a few times as this "movement" continues
ReplyDeleteWhether the signers of the flawed document received a complete copy, a summary or a got a tab of Purple Haze for their signature, it doesn't matter. If they are a voter, their John Hancock counts.
ReplyDeleteKauai Rising (sounds like a bakery or a GMO infused Marijuana brand) and Mrs. Porter can now ask her husband Bill, to help out, by buying every house on Kauai and kicking out all of the bad GMO people. He has the dough and then the fistees would be happy. The island would really be saved.
Another fisteee midnight ejaculatory dream is about to appear, Jackpot Bynum's last gasp bill about the "ultimate consumer" hits the Council table. No, the ultimate consumer is NOT an extreme shopaholic.
The bill is a real doozy and Walt Disney will have to revive Pinocchio to explain it. No more, George Washington Carvers, orchid hi-breds, no more Stud Farms....unless the County Council qualifies, there is enough Horse Baloney spewing forth from some of the stud muffins.
I hope the Chairman can delay this bill until after the election. I have had enough of Jackpot's intrusions into Kauai....maybe if he gave a gift of $290K back to the people that he took it from, he would be OK. He who sues his own people should go away, quietly in the night.
Thank you, Joan.....KE a real news source. How do you do it?
ReplyDeleteYou are great.
It was a dog after all.
ReplyDeleteI agree this whole thing is ridiculous and no one in their right mind should support this junk amendment.
ReplyDeleteHowever Joan, I've noticed when you really really hate something, you tend to make silly arguments and lose objectivity. There's nothing wrong with giving people a summary rather than the full text of the amendment. There are plenty of measures I support without reading the entirety of the text. It only becomes a problem if the summary is patently misleading. Is that the case here?
Wonder why Kauai rising has been quiet about their blunder, or will they sue the county for not accepting the flawed initiative ? Will they take responsibility for not getting it right , when it is so obviously not a charter amendment, but a ordinance. Poorly written over reaching, couldn't get the basics right ,and now the form itself wrong, too bad. Something is just not right.
ReplyDeleteIt's my understanding that petition gatherers must have the entire proposal available for those who wish to review it. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details and the summary omitted many of the more egregious provisions. I would encourage people to read a measure in its entirety before supporting it. These are legal documents and it's the actual language that matters, not opinions, philosophy or intent.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joan, for providing info on this egregious attempt to over-regulate and curtail rights. Some people used to laugh when the progressive left was called fascist. This amendment attempt is clear proof of it.
ReplyDelete8:09
ReplyDelete(5) The petition be signed by the required number of
qualified registered voters of the county.
B. Signatures are invalid and petitions insufficient:
(1) If signers are not given an opportunity to read the full
text of the ordinance sought to be reconsidered and if the full
text of the ordinance is not contained in or attached to each
signature paper or set of signature papers of an initiative or
referendum petition throughout circulation.
(2) If affidavits (executed by the circulators for each set
of signature papers) are not attached to the papers at the time of
filing of petitions with the clerk of the council. Each affidavit
shall attest to the effect that: a particular individual
personally circulated an identifiable set of papers; each paper
bears a stated number of signatures; each signature on a paper was
affixed in the circulator's presence; each signature is the
genuine signature or the person it purports to be.
A summary can be misleading and leave out the small details that can change the whole. The charter amendment if written right would have been 1/2 a page, with the rest for signatures so people know what they really are signing.
Why not say its is a initiative if that is what it is? So what really is up?
And does anyone know what happened to the crackpot rules that were proposed?
Joan, can you please cover the council's agenda item today about the resolution that says if a council seat is vacant, the 8th vote getter in the last election will be appointed...which is the exact opposite what the council did when they appointed mason chock. THANKS!
ReplyDeleteFire! Fire! Is there a competent Lawyer in the House ? !!!
ReplyDeleteMuch to do about Something, that results in Nothing.
Dr Shibai
The problem with this issue is the people in control have a great media machine going with the best PR in the country. Believing the message is fine but when you really read the content , it is a far cry from the stated message.
ReplyDeleteWhile the intention may be good, the proposal makes it unlawful to violate or interfere with the right to breathe clean and healthful air. Does that include driving a car, barbecuing, smoking or farting?
ReplyDeleteWow. .. You guys are brutal in kauai.
ReplyDeleteand finally, three days later, the newspaper of record catches up to you and writes a story on the amendment being rejected. It seems if they go collect another 5% of the voters signatures with the same initiative, it will be rejected again due to being an initiative, not a charter amendment.
ReplyDeleteIf they want it to succeed, collection of 20% of the signatures and a truthful label should happen.
When will Hooser and Bynum stop targeting commercial Ag use on Kauai. Thbe latest "agronomics" bill is nothing more than another selective attack on those companies that provide over 700 jobs to our Kauai citizens. Good thing the sugar plantations are closed so they, too, don't have to endure the wrath of these blow hards. I guess since their paychecks won't change and they'll still have plenty of opportunties to sue the county to get even more, they can push their own agendas. Luckily, I don't see their support base a large enough to keep them in office, so the new coulcilmembers can begin damage control to shave off some of the zeros these Ag lawsuits will cost us taxpayers. For some of us, this year's elections won't come soon enough.
ReplyDelete" I guess since their paychecks won't change..."
ReplyDeleteIt's counterintuitive, but I would suggest that the Council should get dramatic pay raises. That way, we might be able to attract qualified candidates from the private sector. As it is now, it's a full time job that pays part-time wages ... and it tends to attract failed professionals, whack jobs and narcissistic low-level government worker types.
Tim and Gary needed the fringe/red shirt votes to get elected especially if Barca and others bring in new registered voters. The frame of their campaigns is that a vote for them is a vote against chemicals and gigantic multinationals ruining the world.
ReplyDeleteThe huge field gives incumbents the advantage.
Strange bedfellows tea partyers and Kauai Rising or not so strange?
They both keep adding bricks to their feet while trying to stay afloat in 10 feet of water. Just wait they'll soon find out what that means!
ReplyDelete50 grand a year to show up at one meeting a week
ReplyDeleteHow is that part time low wage
Plus, you get your own weekly sitcom.
ReplyDelete2:49pm, councilmember position is a PART TIME classification. We need to change that and make a seat on the council FULL TIME and pay them more to indeed attract those that are more qualified, those who are in fact in the private sector. no one will leave the private sector for $50k a year to deal with politics. The only person that works Fulltime on this council is JoAnn.
ReplyDeleteI bet no one at the Council/County clerk's office keeps track of how often the councilmembers go in to their office to work. their time sheets must be bogus
ReplyDeleteFull time? They pass all kinds of ridiculous bills working part time. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn never sleeps, but that doesn't keep her from passing bad legislation.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should separate the old JoAnn from what or who she works hardest for now. 2491's bad form was due to her changes , too bad everyone still wanted it passed that night.
Spending the most hours working to undermine what the people want, acting like she is on the side of the red shirts when clearly not ?
The reason why they past bad legislation is BECAUSE they are part time and are always rushing. Didn't you notice how much each of them always say on the floor - sorry I didn't have time to thoroughly read through this bill...but let me vote on it. WTF?!
ReplyDeleteNow we are seeing the letter to editor blaming county clerk for Kauai Rising's failure. Take responsibility people. You blew it, not the clerk.
ReplyDelete7:51 is right, it's not the County Clerk's job to be Kauai Rising's legal counsel and tell them whether or not their petition was valid.
ReplyDeleteIt was Kauai Rising responsibility to do their due diligence and make sure it was legit from the start. If they didn't read the requirements, it's their fault, not the County Clerks.
Wonder if the rising group will be smart enough to call it an initiative now and collect 20%? And if not, we can all expect that to be the second reason why a new petition would be denied. It is not up to the county to do their homework. Simple reading of the requirements is not that hard.
ReplyDelete