Musings: Eyebrow-Raising

It was inevitable, given the amount of time Councilman Gary Hooser has been spending at the state Legislature, that he would eventually blow off his Council duties to be part of the action in Honolulu.

Yesterday was that day. Gary ditched a Council meeting – a meeting he is paid by the taxpayers to attend, a meeting where his own property tax freeze bill was up for a vote — to testify against Carleton Ching's appointment as Director of Land and Natural Resources.

Ching's appointment should be challenged, seeing as how he seems woefully ill-informed on such crucial matters as Hawaiian gathering rights, the PASH decision, cultural preservation and public trust resources, such as shoreline access.

But Gary didn't need to show face — especially at the cost of missing a Council meeting, a weekly duty that is one of his few responsibilities as Councilman.

Is it clear enough now that Gary doesn't really give a rip about Kauai, that his own political and personal agendas eclipse the minimal limelight afforded on the Kauai County Council, that his lobbying on behalf of his HAPA organization is more important to him than his responsibilities to the voters of Kauai?

Gary could have submitted his not-very-compelling testimony in writing. But he just can't pass up the chance to have his mug on TV, portraying himself as a champion for the resources and the people — except those who actually pay his salary.

Ching's affiliation with the Land Use Research Foundation, a pro-development group that is always on the wrong side of environmental protection, makes him a dubious choice to head DLNR, which oversees extensive public land and water resources.

“His career track is the polar opposite of the DLNR mission,” observed Randy Awo, a retired DLNR officer on Maui.

Ching should be rejected, and someone more balanced brought in. Unless, of course, it's Gov. David Ige's intent to plow full speed ahead on development, with the public resources be damned.

Still, it was a little eyebrow-raising to watch Sen. Laura Thielen grilling Ching, considering her own do-nothing reign as DLNR chief, where she followed Lingle's resource-unfriendly party line. Funny, how politicians suffer these convenient bouts of amnesia.

In other eyebrow-raising political news, Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is bringing in former Council Chair Jay Furfaro to serve as the county's director of Boards and Commissions. Paula Morikami, who currently holds that post, is moving into the mayor's office, though she isn't taking the spokeswoman position being vacated by Beth Tokioka, who has taken a job at Syngenta.

It's disconcerting to see Jay, who was rejected by the voters, rewarded by the mayor with a well-paying county post. Isn't there someone fresh and new who could benefit from a county job? 

Instead, in another disappointing display of crony politics, the mayor brings in an old pal at a higher salary than he received as Council chair, which will allow Jay to collect a heftier retirement based on his “high three” years of pay.

All on the taxpayer's dime.

Speaking of which, The Garden Island has refused to print Jay's letter explaining his side of the county's payout to auditor Ernie Pasion — a lawsuit that cost taxpayers $400,000 in legal fees and another $300,000 in a settlement, all for a guy who never did do his job. The paper's stance is troubling, considering how it ran an article letting Ernie say whatevah, and has published numerous letters from Ernie's misguided supporters talking about how great he is.

Just in case you missed Jay's statement when I previously ran it, here it is. Yet another reminder of your tax dollars not at work.

And finally, the full Senate — including Kauai Sen. Ron Kouchi — approved SB 1037, which targets only agriculture for pesticide disclosure while giving all other users a free pass.

It seems the "thank a farmer" bumper sticker should be changed in Hawaii to read, "screw a farmer and thank an anti-GMO activist." Because those are the folks spearheading this misguided attack on agriculture.