Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Musings: Calabash

Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho is asking the Hawaii Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling that found he did not have the right to discipline the police chief.

In July, the Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled the mayor had no authority to suspend Police Chief Darryl Perry in February 2012. Though the police commission voted to reinstate Perry after the seven-day suspension, the mayor refused to allow him to return to work. The commission sued and lost in Circuit Court, but won on appeal when the ICA found that the police commission's power to discipline the chief is implied in its sole authority to hire and fire him.

The request for the high court review argues that the ICA “failed to properly contextualize the legal issue” when it focused solely on powers set forth in the County Charter and did not acknowledge the administrative limitations of the commission and the mayor's “authority to exercise direct supervision over” the department and chief.

So if the mayor supposedly has authority to directly supervise the department, why would you even need a chief and commission?

Grove Farm is using its September newsletter and website to state its side in the planned closure of an access road to Mahaulepu:

Over a year ago, complaints made by Surfrider's Kaua'i Chapter prompted the State of Hawai'i Department of Health's (DOH) Clean Water Branch to conduct numerous water sample surveys as part of their Sanitary Survey process in the Maha'ulepu watershed.

While the complainants speculated that the bacteria was caused by ongoing improvements to the area by Hawaii Dairy Farms (HDF), the State found no significant impact to the Waiopili Ditch from any activity that can be attributed to HDF or other lessees in the area.

The proposed dairy area is over a mile away from the beach and while previous cattle operations had leased the area for well over a decade, to date HDF has not brought in a single head of their cattle.

At the direction of the DOH, Grove Farm’s affiliate, Maha‘ulepu Farm LLC (Maha‘ulepu Farm), has closed its private road leading to Maha'ulepu as the DOH conducts additional testing to better determine the source of bacteria in the area. Maha‘ulepu Farm is willing to assist DOH, and will temporarily close its private roads to Maha‘ulepu to the public until DOH’s testing can be completed.

Upon completion of the testing at the end of November, Maha‘ulepu Farm intends to reopen its private roads to the public.

While fisherman access will remain unchanged, the area will be closed in an effort to preserve the quality of the testing and to ensure that test results are not compromised.

It's been fascinating to read some of the paranoid conspiracy theories circulating around this, including attempts to blame it on the Dept. of Ag seeking revenge against Surfrider. Uh, sure, right. WTF does DOA care if the road to Mahaulepu is open or closed?

And I'm still waiting for Surfrider's PR director, Robert Zelkovksy, to explain why, if the group is “anti-pollution,” and “not anti-ag,” as he claims, the group's most aggressive actions have been directed toward the dairy and seed companies, neither of which have been documented to be polluting.

In its coverage of campaign funding today, The Garden Island offered an inaccurate picture of Councilman Gary Hooser's finances. The paper reported that “Hooser has raised a total of $59,193.09” and “spent $64,542.97.” 

What it failed to note is that Hooser also took in $9,603 from “other receipts,” including matching funds, and a loan of $7,250, bringing his total receipts to $76,046. Then there's the additional $6,216.84 eligible for matching funds that was collected since the Aug. 13 disclosure report was filed.

Which brings Hooser's total receipts for this County Council campaign to a whopping $88,479.68. That's double Derek Kawakami's total of $43,775.11. And Derek came in first, while Hooser got ninth.

Guess there are some things that money just can't buy.

Hooser and Councilman Mason Chock are featured in Civil Beat's candidate profiles, with Hooser curiously neglecting to mention his presidency of the anti-GMO HAPA advocacy group under “community organizations.”

Chock, meanwhile, opines:

Our community deserves critical thinking and healthy conflict that will result in the best possible outcomes for the county.

No shit. Instead, we've gotten the exact opposite.

He then devolves into near-gibberish:

I am a leadership development facilitator by trade and believe change is best achieved through the art of mobilizing people towards a shared vision and outcome that they agree should occur. At the Council level, this requires independent thinkers who are willing to disagree in the spirit of seeking a common outcome through intense problem solving and dialogue and then commit to the direction set by the collective voice.

Before ending on a note of insight:

Maybe if voters were to elect people into office who value listening to all points of view rather than a specific mindset or agenda, we would experience more openmindedness and objectivity from elected officials.

Guess that rules out Hooser.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Such good detective work, reporting and analysis, Joan. Thank you.
I don't know how you maintain your stamina without despairing of all of this.

Anonymous said...

The mayor is an emperor with no clothes. 2 years too long of a wait for him to go. I will take the police chief over him anytime.

Anonymous said...

Derek Kawakami is not a good person that everyone thinks he is. He has skeletons in his closet. Will they ever be exposed?

Anonymous said...

The Mayor and Chief are feminine so they should have a bikini oil wrestling contest to settle the score.

Anonymous said...

Great reporting Joan! You need to give TGI folks some training! You're right, no need police commission and no need chief if the mayor has the authority to supervise the department. I see that appeal going nowhere.
As far as Hooser and Chock, I see desperation setting in.

Anonymous said...

When Hooser win someone's gonna be eating some humble pie.

Anonymous said...

4:20

Define win....... just to make clear to everyone BEFORE the election your thoughts.....

Anonymous said...

The Chief is denied access to his own office by an underling. The underling should be fired. The Chief is the Chief. And the Underling sues the County...
Thank you for pointing out Mason's gibberish. He will be re-elected if he keeps his mouth shut. He is several slices short of a full loaf. But smart enough to sue the County and then be part of the apparatus that gives big bucks to others who sue.
Want a quick $350,000? Sue the County.
I'd rather Da Hoos just give me the ten bucks he is spending for each vote.
“In the morning I had a look so lost, a face so dead, that perhaps those whom I met did not see me.” Rimbaud

Anonymous said...

hooser is so blatant and obvious; everybody knows where he's coming from. chock is a tale teller and word crafter more clever and devious than hooser. he offers plans to restore community trust and peace demanding that leaders act bravely on behalf of the citizenry. behind the curtain, chock votes against the interests of the people and community healing. His olive branch utterances mean nothing. his actions speak way louder than his words. beware !

Anonymous said...

4:20 you'll be eating shit that coming out of your mouth. He ain't winning nothing, he'll drop below Sparks and Apalla.

Anonymous said...

Is Mason now channeling da hoos with his gibberish?

Anonymous said...

4:20

Define win, so we are all clear......

Anonymous said...

9:44 Is that you Joan? The be clear da Hoos will be reelected.

Joan Conrow said...

No, that is certainly not me. When I want to comment, I will use my name.

Anonymous said...

I don't like any politician. I think they are all sleaze bags but because I hate Joan more than Hoosier I'm voting for him and nobody else in hopes that he gets in and Joan can finally stuck a sock in it. As a note, I hate Joan and follow this dumb blog in hopes for revenge someday for her taking half my landscaping business and all my wife's cleaning business with her witch hunt against vacation rentals. My family now struggles with paying the bills for the first time in a long time thanks to you Joan.

Anonymous said...

Da Hoos manipulating his li'l Fistees may have an impact. If all of his supporters Plunk? well who knows. Da Hoos is working hard. Hitting every one, a dog digging for his bone.
Fear of loss makes men do desperate things.
Plunk, plunk, slam dunk.

But it ain't only Da Hoos that should be gone. Mason and JoAnn are cut from the same cloth.
JoAnn got brains and she has held her composure whilst getting throttled by Mel. She is a lady.
Mason is flat out deceptive. Ain't too bright, but has good manners. He wears nice Aloha shirts that add to his charm. Perhaps he should be Gary's wardrobe adviser. He is Gary's boy-child, so he at least owes it to Gary to teach him how for pick out a decent Aloha Shirt. Those long sleeved bedspreads Da Hoos wears are a blight to the eyeball.
These three are in unison with many laws and taxes that retard freedom and take money from the citizens. Don't be sidetracked by Da Hoos recent pretending that he wants to cut taxes. He, JoAnn and Mason are all tax, spend and pass laws that take away property rights, car freedom, housing and roads.
These three want everyone to live in a dinky apartment and take the bus.........unless you are amongst their wealthy NS supporters, then you can have you big ol' house and land Rover.
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.”
― Aristotle

Anonymous said...

Check out ( www.perkel.com/politics/lies.htm). Lies are if you cannot keep a promise. don't promise.

Anonymous said...

It's funny how the good ol boys are supporting a light weight novice with a liberal arts degree in Apalla. I guess the plantation mentality still rises above all especially if your family have doctors and lawyers on the Wild Wild West of Hawaii.

Anonymous said...

Hooser is desperately praying his past assertions that big money buys elections is true. He is outspending all others in the council race, raking in the off-island kala to fuel his political machine in a sad attempt to claw his way back to 7th place.

Maybe he'll succeed. Maybe not. Either way it is incredibly hypocritical of him to accuse his opponents of being shills when he is the one throwing bags of 1%er cash around to buy a council seat.

Anonymous said...

Who are the good ol boys? Some person without an education ran for Mayor. If the person is "good" they will get the votes. Whether it is enough to be elected is for another days conversation.

Anonymous said...

Joan "So if the mayor supposedly has authority to directly supervise the department, why would you even need a chief and commission?"

Why in fact do we need any department heads or administrators at all? Plunk for Hooser to cut the administrative bloat.

Joan Conrow said...

Don't blame me for your bad choices, 7:08, and that includes voting for Hooser.

Joan Conrow said...

@11. Thanks for reminding us that some of Hooser's supporters probably are stupid enough to think he could single-handedly eliminate departments heads.

Anonymous said...

11:00 Hooser is the administrative bloat. He's cost the county ungodly amounts of money with 2491, including legal costs, staff overtime, public tv air time, and wasted staff time that could have otherwise been productively spent enhancing our community. Hooser can't cut department heads as that's a charter requirement not a council action. There will be no meaningful financial reform until the government unions are abolished, which in Hawaii will be never or only after each county declares bankruptcy. Only way to reduce the budget is to start cutting services. Get rid of the bus, reduce the amount of grants from the county, stop airing council meetings, and cut the elderly and housing agencies. These will reduce the budget, but it will have major consequences.

Anonymous said...

What's up with Mel Rapozo's facebook post on playing daytime football games? Is he really suggesting breaking the law and have the Fed's cite or arrest public officials for endangering a protected bird species? Why is this even a county issue? Aren't high school sports a function of the state DOE? Reckless and misinformed, he's starting to look like Donald Trump. We all get that Friday night games are preferred, but at what cost? Should we write checks for millions so Mel and Ross can get their beloved football back at night? It's thinking like this that should knock him down another position or two in the November elections.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever put on those shoulder pads, hip pads, knee pads and then a helmet and run around for 2 hours in the hot sun. If you haven't tried don't fucking knock it. It is fucking hot. Hotter now than 40 years ago.

I think it is $10,000 per bird if it dies and is considered a "take". What need to happen is everyone at the night game must understand that when a shearwater lands on the playing field, everything must stop to take care of the bird. We must have those cages available at the game. We must have some protocol to log the time of the incident and who puts it in the cage. We must alert whoever about the incident. The Announcer should be addressing this as the game progresses. All in attendance must be like one big OHANA and work together. Oh btw we need one Witten Plan for this.....from the county or state.

Anonymous said...


1146-are you sure you got the facts straight regarding the Feds and playing football on Kauai at night?

What we KNOW and we don't have to have a big 'science' debate is that putting our youth and all the fans in the stands in the afternoon is cruel. And stupid .

It's not just Mel and Ross with"their beloved football" 11:46, it's all our beloved football. And whoa to you when a dehydration fatality happens either on the field or in the stands!

This ain't half baked dairy farm or AG arguments, Dehydration----- my mom is tough, but I would not want her in that microwave of a stadium in the afternoon this time of year to watch football. I wouldn't want ME doing it!

But it's ok for the youth?

Your last sentence is backwards 11:46, that is exactly why he will remain as chairman!

Thanks Mel.

Anonymous said...

11:46 a.m. be patient, I know you don't have all the information in your hands to make this comments.

Have the military base, county of Kauai and KIUC show you their EIS and read the rest of the information before you jump to the same conclusion that you don't like Mel or Ross.

Read the EIS, the mitigation and the loss tolerance.

This item deals with the Endangered Species Act. And there should be a loss tolerance. Just like the one on another island about the Hoary bat. it's an endangered species, and they die every once in a while due to humans (yearly).

The birds, are part of the ESA, but I've got a hunch that there's more birds than we are led to think there are not. it's just a hunch, and if you want to find out, follow one of those state workers monitoring the birds during the nights. you can see for yourself.

I've ask the question before with a County worker. Why did the county spent millions to change the lights to lesson the risk of the bird kill. and they still can't use the lights during the breeding / young season. but the wording within the agreement is critical.

If you think about it, one kid dies due to the heat, but in all the years of night football, the birds fly onto the field / hit the light post, but the kids picks it up and send it on it's way. there's no evidence that a bird died during a football game. but then it's a "feel good" emotional action / reaction.

Find your facts before you go flying into anyone.

Good luck!

Hump day! Enjoy your week!

Anonymous said...

12:20 So you're saying willfully breaking the law is the way Mel stays on top? Don't get me wrong, I agree that it's stupid to put a bird's safety as priority above our children's safety, but that's what the Fed's have done. And, to pay $100K for a permit to take some allowable number of Shearwaters is not acceptable either. Knowingly breaking the law could actually put councilmen in jail. That's plain stupid and why Mel will not be the Chair.

12:15 The damn bird doesn't even have to die to be considered a take. If the lights merely attract them and cause these birds to divert from their normal flight patterns it's considered at take. The Fed's have taken wildlife protection too far, but the point was that Mel is also acting irrational by basically saying it's time to be lawbreakers and "buck the firds" and don't worry about what it costs taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

Obviously another just flown here that don't know anything about the good ol plantation Masa house slaves. Look into Kauai's historical data and see the same names from a generation ago and link them to the new masa house slaves that think that they're your masters of Kauai's universe. You don't have to go 100 years back to see the evidence of oppression from the so called high makamaka families.

Anonymous said...

Joan, question , How is the Mayors request of the Supreme Court being funded since the Council denied funding?

Anonymous said...

BTW Joan, I'm 12:43 p.m.

we just changed the subject again. From financing an election to football lights.

Football lights is a good topic to revisit since the state of Hawaii has more data on the bird population, and it's success / failure of reproduction.

At the same time, the only people who wins in any election is the advertising companies. these companies get's this money every 2 years. at the ending of the elections, we the people only has the trash to pick up for keep sake or landfill fillers. FWIW, these advertising companies are kissing the loohser's behind for his money (well, for the contributors $$$). I say this because he's got some $ to burn (he's got some supply $, to induce demand (votes))

For me, there's one person who doesn't belong in our community government. I'm just like you. there's no place for a chronic liar, a community divider, and a person who's for himself. Hope the silent majority succeeds in removing him from our community government.

good luck all.

Anonymous said...

Can you shade the lights? Or maybe the entire field.

Anonymous said...

You should be asking what REALLY happened to the missing $1 Million dollars.

Anonymous said...

I just looked at Mel's post. Where does he suggest that breaking the law is the solution? Can someone of you blowhards show me where?

"Look at the stands. This is what happens when you hold football games on Saturday afternoon."

I see no reference to breaking the law or suggesting the like. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

Mel never said to break the law and hold games in defiance of the law. He simply and correctly pointed out the absurdity of holding the games in the blazing humidity and heat and the resultant destruction of a beloved family institution in the community he's sworn to serve, as noted from his volunteer perch announcing the games. Sorry (not sorry), but Mel is the good guy here.

Anonymous said...

Let's build a super dome. Bowl games anyone....

Anonymous said...

Mel is right. It's no good to have football games at the hottest time of day, in the afternoon in the sun.

A much safer time would be the early morning, when it's even cooler than at night. Say, 7AM on Saturday. This will protect the athletes' health. If this is about protecting the kids, then the inconvenience will be worth it. Nothing is more important, right?

No? Then this isn't actually about the athletes' health, is it? Proponents of Friday Night Lights miss the experience, the community, the camaraderie. Saturday mornings at dawn wouldn't be the same. I get it. But don't try to tell me it's about the athletes' health, when it's not.

8:42 AM, there's an idea: Build a domed stadium with a roof that blocks the light from going out. Have Friday Night Lights again, for the cost of a few hundred million dollars. A major expense, but the State does have over 6 billion dollars in annual revenue. A covered stadium could also serve as a hurricane shelter, so federal funding could be available for construction as well.

Better to invest in capital improvements that benefit our community, than to fritter away our tax dollars on EPA fines, legally indefensible ordinances, and settlements for civil rights violations (ranging from warrantless search to harassment and retaliation) in several county departments, which could all have been prevented by hiring qualified people and giving them appropriate training to prevent their costly misconduct. And let's not forget the ten million dollars that got poured into the now-defunct county auditor's office, with nothing to show for it.

Is it a pipe dream to hope that someday we could start using our funds to build something real, instead of all this pointless waste?

It's been 6 years since the end of most Friday night games. 11 years since the first official warning was received by the County. And all we hear from the politicians is how they're unhappy about how things are now. It's well past time for our elected representatives to show us an action plan, not just the same old complaints.

Anonymous said...

Yeah just use the BIG WIG lady on Kauai. Get plenty shade under that.

Anonymous said...

MASON SAID. IF VOTERS ELECTED PEOPLE WHO LISTEN YO ALL POINTS OF VIEW RATHER THAN A SPECIFIC MINDSET OR AGENDA WE WOULD EXPERIENCE MORE OPEN-MINDEDNESS AND OBJECTIVITY FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS.

THANKS FOR GIVING ME ANOTHER REASON NOT TO VOTE FOR YUKIMURA AND HOOSER. BOTH ARE SO STUCK ON ACHIEVING THEIR PERSONAL AGENDAS; ANTI GMO/PESTICIDES, KEEP CARS OFF ROADS BY NARROWING PAVEMENT, PUTTING IN BIKE AND WALKING PATHS INSTEAD, PROMOTING RIDE THE SHUTTLE AND BUS, THEY REFUSE TO CONSIDER WHAT THE MAJORITY WANTS. MEANWHILE THEY SPEND OUR TAX DOLLARS RAMMING THEIR IDEAS DOWN OUR THROATS.

OBJECTIVITY, OPENMINDEDNESS? IT'LL BE A COLD DAY IN HELL BEFORE YOU SEE THIS FROM THESE TWO.

ELECTIONS COMING UP. REMEMBER

Anonymous said...

Easy fix. Just start the game at 6 in the morning.

All those NFL football fans at the sports bars go to the bar at 7am in the morning on Sunday's so why wouldn't they go to a 6 am KIF game on a Saturday to watch their kids play a game that only favors the families that have connections. The BEST players on Kauai don't play because of the BS favoritism. It's always been that way and the game teaches these kids about how things are ran on Kauai with regards to getting jobs. The BEST and most TALENTED don't get jobs on Kauai because of nepotism and favoritism.

Anonymous said...

stories are circulating about self styled kingmakers offering political neophytes assistance , advice, parties, to help them get elected. every politician has a support organization who believe in their candidate and voluntarily helps their person with no expectation of reward. Kingmakers offer help for selfish reasons. kingmakers exchange support for political protection and favors later.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm. Morning games might be an idea worth trying. At least on the local versus local level. It will be wet sometimes. But that is football. The worst time of day for heat/humidity is 2-4 pm. And it is still bad until 5. An 8:30 until pau game, like track and field does (because of the same reason), might just work.
We must understand that even though these kids pretend they know everything, they still think adults have thought this through. They have not. High school and college football players die every year in the hot areas of the country. Lucky most of us are acclimated. Still....