Musings: Clearly Not Over

The clouds were scrunched down on the eastern horizon, gray on top, smokey red-orange on the bottom, when the dogs and I went walking this morning, regaled by the throaty trills and joyous warbles of chubby shama thrush, who always wake before dawn with something scintillating to say.

Such was not the case the other day when former Prosecutor Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho appeared before the County Council to give another one of her “poor me” spiels about how she has been so horribly mistreated by County Attorney Al Castillo. This time Al reportedly refused, gasp, to approve funds for her to travel to Honolulu for Councilman Tim Bynum's deposition, or to fly back home to Kauai to listen to her former first deputy Jake Delaplane recite “I don't recall” for seven hours.

Shay had occasion to be there because that same “irrational” Al was asking the Council to approve, which it did, more dough for Shay's two attorneys, one of whom represents her personally, the other in her professional capacity. Seems they've already burned through $47K and need $25,000 more. So, yeah, Al probably should've approved the travel money, at least to attend Tim's depo, but it's kinda Shayme to go crying to the Council about a few hundred bucks when you've already cost the taxpayers so much dough.

And it ain't over yet.

Though it does appear to be for Principal Nathan Aiwohi, at least at Kapaa Middle School, which now has a new interim principal. Despite Aiwohi's removal, or perhaps because of it, he's slightly ahead — 322 to 279 — in the support vs remove petition drive. While some of his critics have suggested he would be better suited to a career in law enforcement, it's unclear whether he's applied for one of the KPD dispatch vacancies.

It's also unclear why Green Energy's Eric Knutzen refused to answer questions for my current Honolulu Weekly piece on biofuels. Eric is the front man for the wood-chip-burning power plant now under construction near Koloa, as well as director of the Hoouluwehi Sustainable Living Program at KCC. Now, I may be old-fashioned, but it seems reasonable that he should answer a few questions about the project, considering the company got a $73 million federal loan guarantee, wants to lease Hawaiian Homelands in Anahola and plans to sell us electricity at an undisclosed price.

Who knows, maybe Eric has something to hide. Or perhaps he resents the way I've been exposing the shibai shenanigans of this "green" project since 2007, when they first proposed growing highly invasive albezia on irrigated state land at Kalepa.

Speaking of shibai shenanigans, the TVR violations outlined in the 16-part-and-counting “Abuse Chronicles” comprise the basis for a County Council resolution authorizing a special 3.17 investigation. The resolution, scheduled for next Wednesday's Council agenda, calls for creating a three-member Council committee to investigate whether the county complied with its own, state and federal laws in processing TVR applications and building permits for properties outlined in the Chronicles.

The resolution, introduced by Councilmen Mel Rapozo and Gary Hooser, also authorizes the committee to investigate other TVRs and building permits, if warranted. The committee will have subpoena powers — yes! — and the ability to hire investigators and hold hearings. According to the resolution:

The Committee shall, where appropriate, make findings regarding any alleged misconduct related to the laws that the County of Kaua’i is charged with implementing. The Committee shall, at its conclusion, make appropriate findings and recommendations as warranted.

To quote one political observer: “Let the fireworks begin."