Rep.
Richard Onishi, vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee, released this statement regarding Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser's unseemly outburst at yesterday's legislative hearing, which I reported in a blog post earlier today:
After
Councilmember Hooser testified in front of the House
Agriculture Committee (AGR) he stepped out of the hearing.
Subsequently, Rep. Tokioka asked Chair Tsuji if it was possible to
accommodate Neighbor Island testifiers as they may have flights to
catch back home. He also asked if it was possible to have
testifiers who had already testified vacate their seats in the
hearing room to make room for those who had not yet testified. Those
who had already testified and wished to monitor the hearing could do
so via the closed-circuit television located immediately outside of
the conference room.
The
Chair gladly accepted the recommendation as he too realized that
there was a multitude of individuals inside and outside of the
conference room, some who had already testified and some who had not.
At the
same time, from the doorway of the conference room, Councilmember
Hooser instructed the Chair to allow neighbor islanders to testify
first. Rep. Tokioka responded saying, “don’t worry Gary, we got
it,” to which the Councilmember responded, “Bite me Jimmy, bite
me.”
This
prompted the AGR committee staffers Mr. Timothy Coughlin and Mr.
Isaac Goya to take action and intervene as to maintain decorum in the
committee hearing. The House Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms had also
stepped in to assist in this effort.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteAnd they never left back until that evening. They came later than many of the folks there too. They were shoveled in because they supposedly had flights to leave on. Yeah, a flight late in the evening!
ReplyDeleteLol, got it! Thanks for the Urban Dictionary link Joan. I love your blog -Guess some on Kauai believe we can top last year's efforts at nuttiness. But it truly is sad that our island (guilt by association) is mixed up in these semantics, unable to have a real conversation about controversial issues.
ReplyDeleteAs a resident of Kauai (proudly born and raised) I'm appalled and disgusted by this kind of behavior. It's pilau and goes against everything I was taught by my aunties and uncles.
ReplyDeleteThe council body needs to grow some eggetts and regulate it's own members. It's thier kuleana. Enough is enough. Gary has got to go! Hes more toxic than any pesticide he bitches and whines about.
unbelievably poor behavior from any elected official, worse yet, one of ours ! shame for us.
ReplyDeleteGarry is a really classless guy
ReplyDeleteWas that official council representation?
ReplyDeleteJoan, Thank you for your vigilance in making a small correction regarding when and what Gary said. The effect of his Bite me words are the same, but at least it wasn't in testimony.
ReplyDeleteGary is not stupid. He would not travel on County money. But, I hope Mel, As Chair (his kuleana) will conduct an ethics review on Gary couching himself as representing Kauai in his legislative testimony. Mason uses County letterhead in his personal pursuits also. (But Mason plays with many lettuce leaves short of a real sandwich and everyone knows he is still Gary's poolboy)
Jimmy Tokioka, Derek Kawakami and Ron Kouchi balance what is best for all of Kauai in making their decisions. Gary is on one track, he is for his personal goals and those of HAPA. There may be a national anti-everything group that will hire Gary in the future, so his antics may be just a stepping stone. Hawaii is a target for many big Mainland "environmental" cliques.
The Mayor's race is coming up sooner than we think. If Mel, or ANY Council person puts a hammer down on Gary, they will be the obvious choice to fill the number one spot.
Maybe, Kipukai will be the one to push against Hooser. He has the tact and demeanor to pull it off.
The public is sick of so much attention being given to Gary, his behavior and his off-kilter Bills.
A large and influential base of support will come out in strong allegiance to whomever puts Gary's crybaby tantrum's to bed.
By the way, Jimmy Tokioka is a mellow and caring person. Kauai is always first in his actions. He has the respect of his fellow legislators. Gary's behavior puts all of Kauai in a poor light. He is seen as Kauai's face by most of the State.
More obsessive musings. And where is the important news from yesterdayʻs legislative session. Is this the best you can come up with? Auwe!
ReplyDeleteHooser burning bridges ,,,,,,, AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteHe is losing it big time. What a disappointment for Kauai.
Was Hooser on official County business? Hooser has been to Leg daily. Are we monitoring his expense reports to make sure we aren't footing the bill?
The "important news from yesterday's legislative session" is in the first post I did today.
ReplyDeleteCom'n 5:52.
ReplyDeleteThe person obsessing is your friend and our councilman Gary; not Joan who is merely informing us what an ass the man is. The argument was over when the court ruled. Mr. Obsession has strung this out and we are paying the bill for it. Tell your buddy Gary to get on with the business of representing all of us. Do what he was elected to do , for crimminy's sake. His one play quarterbacking is getting old
@5:52 PM - you can go read about it on your loudmouth Hooser's FB page. If you're local, you sure act fucking haole.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember when Tony Kunimura punched the guy at the Legislature for making an anti Japanese insult ? Maybe we need a little more John Wayne and little less political correctness
ReplyDeleteGary may not be stupid, but he is on a mission serving interests other than our public good. It sounds like he said what he did from the door of the hearing room during the proceedings in which case he was out of order and demeaning of other elected officials. Imagine that. It seems the RECALL provisions of the Charter may only apply to elective officers serving terms of 4 years- currently only the Mayor, and we may have to bide our time until 2016 to purge the Council of this behavior by someone squeaking onto the Council by 92 votes. At a minimum, he should be required to apologize in writing to Representative Tokioka, the House Committee on Agriculture and the people of Kauai with a copy to the Star Advertiser and Garden Island for this inexcusable "lapse". I wouldn't hold my breath for it, though. His further service is a detriment to the interest of the citizens of the County of Kauai except for the special interest groups he caters to. The rest of us have nothing to gain and a great deal to lose from any more his continued self-centered abuse of his position on the Council.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Gary is now a walk in and some other being has taken over Mr. Hooser, at least that is the way you seem to many of us, gar
ReplyDeleteAnd Hooser expects others to act respectfully to him in his committee and council meetings? He is narcissistic two-faced liar who accurately exemplifies Aesop's fable of the crab. "Do as I say; not as I do." And this ass is part of our government? No wonder he thrown out of State office. Kauai is in serious trouble! Hurry 2016, Hurry!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is Jimmy is anything but that. He is quiet and polite in real life as anyone who has spoken to him knows, even to those he disagrees with.
ReplyDeleteGary scolds people at the council meeting and then acts like this? What a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteAt least he didn't call him a "grick". Civility is not one of his more prominent qualities these days.
ReplyDeleteA peer reviewed study published in the Journal ISRN Dermatology has found that Roundup causes skin cancer in human cells at extremely low levels. The researchers have identified the molecular mechanisms by which glyphosate contributes to tumor promotion. Most disturbingly, tumor promotion occurred at levels four orders of magnitude lower than concentrations commonly used in GM agricultural applications. >http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/how-roundup-weedkiller-can-promote-cancer-new-study-reveals-1?page=1<
ReplyDeleteExtreme caution advised, GH about to flame out.
ReplyDeleteGary is probably out to get Jimmy because his former wife Beth Tokioka is moving on to work with Syngenta in March. That said, a lot of good people are bailing out from Mayor Bernard's ship. Is it because he stubbornly keeps dead wood in appointed positions and the good workers are totally disgusted?
ReplyDelete"greenmedinfo.com"
ReplyDeleteEnough said.
5:28 -- More likely Gary's sore at Tokioka for beating Baby Hoos in the election last fall.
ReplyDeleteThese people would have no problem sending those who don't agree with them to "reeducation camps". I'm surprised that they are allowed to intimidate people at the Capitol even though we saw them do it at the County Council. You would think that a complaint or two would put an end to this bullying but it's even happening to legislators themselves as witnessed by Gary's behavior.
ReplyDeleteWhat is really disgusting about this Hooser Rage is that knowing Jimmy, he had every intention of seeing what he could do to reschedule testimony. That is the way Jimmy is to Kauai residents. To Tokioka has no entourage, he has to handlers. He is modest and polite.
ReplyDeleteStop judging him. Who amongst us has not engaged in behavior that we previously condemned? And who amongst us willingly pays our taxes? And who amongst us has not had relatives who have sold drugs or committed other crimes?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete12:49PM wrote:
Stop judging him. Who amongst us has not engaged in behavior that we previously condemned? And who amongst us willingly pays our taxes? And who amongst us has not had relatives who have sold drugs or committed other crimes?
You're right. Who among us is not a narcissistic, hypocritical demagogue who perverts our public office for personal gain?
As Richard Nixon once said, "Let he who is without narcissistic, hypocritical demagoguery cast the first stone."
2/21 @1:28, that is an activist, junk science, pay-for publish journal. The study was done in vitro on mouse cells. Try reviewing all of the peer-reviewed research that has been published in RESPECTABLE, non-activist journals before you post a comment.
ReplyDeleteDawson misquoted Nixon at 12:49.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Jimmy was just trying to help the testimony along. And Gary jumped the gun and thought Jimmy was trying to keep the testimony out, talk about kicking yourself in the butt. But as you said Joan, how quick they are to contradict you even when you are not against or for anything. Another good example of the intimidation tactics these anti GMO folks are dishing out. Like the old saying goes you are either for me or against me. No middle ground, no compromise, no working together for a common solution. I believe disciplinary action is warranted.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because Jimmy tried his hardest last year to prevent a labeling bill from even getting a hearing. Easy to assume he's trying to manipulate the process again. Don't let his soft-spoken politeness fool you. He's as conniving as they come. Hooser doesn't fit with Kawakami, Kouchi and Tokioka because he 'ain't Asian...he'll never be part of that "club". The rise to power of Asian democrats on the backs of disenfranchised natives was the 2nd overthrow if the Hawaiian Nation and they remain in power today. Ige is already proving to be a backstabbing Jap. His quiet politeness not unlike Jimmy.
ReplyDelete1:06: Tokioka, Kawakami and Kouchi are all part Hawaiian. Ige is actually Okinawan and Okinawa has an independence movement not unlike the sovereignty movement here. But don't let the facts mess up your racist narrative.
ReplyDelete@1:06, racist much? "Jap"... really?????
ReplyDelete1:06 is probably showing the effects of a Whole Foods vegan diet deficient in makisushi, yakitori, musubi, andagi, rafute, na'au, loko,kalua, pinakbet,caldareta, kau yuk, harm ha pork, vinha dalhos and the other fine things we eat around here when we are lucky. Too bad for him; he should get around a bit more.
ReplyDelete1:06 must be suffering from constipation. Which makes him full of S~<^{>{>*
ReplyDeleteI'm a she, Hawaiian and born and raised like the same racists that rip Gary a new one every chance they can on this blog. What I eat is irrelavent. Don't like "Jap" but fucking haole is ok? Japanese or Okinawan no matter, they belong to same power structure in control and who are accountable for the sorry state of Hawaii today. Doesn't matter if Kawakami, Kouchi or Tokioka have Hawaiian. They're all Asian and that's what counts in local government. Right on for Okinawa.Let's hope they can free themselves from the US military grip that rapes and pillages their island and people.
ReplyDelete"Don't like "Jap" but fucking haole is ok?"
ReplyDeleteTwo wrongs don't make a right. Hooser deserves to be ripped because he's an idiot. Doesn't matter what color he is.
"Japanese or Okinawan no matter, they belong to same power structure in control and who are accountable for the sorry state of Hawaii today."
There's a big difference between Japanese and Okinawan. What sorry state of affairs? Maybe you'd prefer the Republican haole planters were still in charge with no middle class or labor movement?
A middle class that can't afford to buy a home here? Inequality, poor education, homelessness of which a large percentage are native Hawaiian. One of the highest cost of living in the nation, high taxation, poor infrastructure, traffic, over-development, one of the most militarized "states" , etc. I'd prefer the rightful reinstatement of the Hawaiian nation that existed long before the haole take-over.
ReplyDeleteDo you have video? I was there, standing in the doorway when the suggestion was made to allow visiting island testimonies. Gary was nearby and I did not hear him say "Bite me" to anyone. I had a 1pm flight to catch, so YES some of us had to leave. I got up at 4am to get there at 7am, waiting until 8:30am for hearing to start, then wait a couple hours for two minutes to testify. Who are your sources who claim he said this? Names?
ReplyDeleteYou think Hooser and the antiGMOcriwd are going to make that happen? It's another haole take over!!
ReplyDelete11:56 -- My, the denial runs deep, doesn't it? Well, as sources we have Rep. Richard Onishi, vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee, whose statement I printed here, AGR committee staffers Timothy Coughlin and Isaac Goya, the House Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms and Rep. Derek Kawakami.
ReplyDeleteI think they're a bit more credible than an anonymous "anti" who was in a snit about having to wait his/her turn to testify.
@8:30 Hooser's supporters on the council are two Asians and that's what counts in local government? But Asians won't let Gary be a part of the club? The lengths Asians will go to just to prove you're an idiot.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete8:12 AM wrote:
The lengths Asians will go to just to prove you're an idiot.
No worries, in your case they won't need to prove anything.
One look at our legislature and Asians dominate. One lookat state government employees and again Asians, primarily Japanese dominate. If you can't see who controls Hawaii you are blind.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete1:18PM
If you can't see who controls Hawaii you are blind.
If all you see is race, you have no eyes.
It must have happened or Gary himself would be denying it. Instead there's just deafening silence. Jeez...if you're not going to own up to it and apologize at least defend your actions. Instead he just pretends it didn't happen. Impressive leadership...NOT.
ReplyDeleteDawson, that is all the haole ever saw. That is why non-whites weren't allowed to vote when they came to power. Japanese were determined to prove they were worthy Americans and bought the American way hook line and sinker, to the detriment of kanaka that had the most to loose. Where are we today? At the bottom of every socio-economic catergory. And today most in politics are indifferent to the Kanaka Maoli problem. Since the coup of the Hawaiian Kingdom, race is and always has been at the core of our dysfunction, like it or not.
ReplyDeleteEvery group that came into contact with America unwillingly (natives and slaves) face the same socioeconomic problems. Poverty, drugs, alcohol, high incarceration rates, etc. Those non white groups that came to America willingly seem to be better off.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7gUJwUVGfc
ReplyDelete50:07 - 50:15. Is this when it happens? I don't hear the comment.
Gary is Fading Fast -People are learning what many on Kauai already know 1- Jimmy Tokioka is Great for Kauai 2- Gary Hooser is the worse for Kauai his Behavior is out of Hand you will never see or hear Jimmy tokioka act like that.
ReplyDeleteJimmy Tokioka is a class act
I believe in second chance But he needs to publicly say he is sorry to all of us on Kauai especially Jimmy Tokioka and get his act together I do not like the fact that he tried to feed us His Son and supported a republican this is not the first time he has shown anger toward Jimmy who has done nothing to him -I was starting to come around to Hooser Maybe giving him a break but now I can't -I believe in second chances not 3 and 4 -Gary knows who I am