Groups urging the Senate to reject Governor Abercrombie’s nomination of Maui real estate appraiser Ted Yamamura to the State Water Commission have distributed documents and video to bolster their case.
At a press conference yesterday, the groups hit on several key issues.
• He does NOT meet the mandatory statutory criterion that CWRM members each have “substantial experience in … water resources management” and admits he would be learning his duties and responsibilities on the job;
• His appointment would create a geographic imbalance on the CWRM, with 4 members being from Maui;
• The Committee established by statute to recommend candidates to the Governor conducted no interviews, met for only once for 45 minutes; and refuses to disclose the lists it sent to the Governor; and
• His appointment bypasses several other CLEARLY qualified applicants (e.g., Ka’eo Duarte, Hokuao Pelligrino, and Glenn Teves) who could serve with distinction on the CWRM.
Here’s a short video which the Non-Partisan Hawai`i `Ohana is asking senators to review before voting.
A video of yesterday’s press conference is also online.
This is one of those issues that goes beyond the water commission. It’s the story of public interest laws. The public works to get requirements written into law, such as the requirement here that members of the commission have “substantial experience” in water issues. But these laws are not self-enforcing, and officials begin to take advantage of the situation by nominating technically unqualified people who don’t meet those legal standards.
In this case, the nominee’s consulting firm counts most of Hawaii’s major companies and corporate landowners among its clients, raising additional concerns about conflicts.
In any case, the videos are worth watching.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Years ago, back when I used to read the Star Advertiser, one of the most memorable quotes I have ever read was from the comment section on an article about Maui’s economy.
The comment stated “Out here on Maui, the economy is down. We need to convince the State to build a desalination plant so we can build more houses….”
I try to read about issues of development and land development, and there are all sorts of perspectives and ideologies at play, some of which are simply invalid.
But I have never read or heard an absurd opinion like that.
“We need to convince the State to build a desalination plant so we can build more houses….”
I cannot even begin to argue against this level of uneducated cluelessness.
It turns out this statement — what I then considered a confession of unprecedented ignorance — actually reflects the core beliefs of Hawaii’s political leadership. In fact, the comment might have been written by a certain real estate appraiser. Seriously.
Moreover, of all people, leading the charge to have taxpayers pay for the paving over of more ag lands for the sake of building luxury housing for outsiders is … Neil Abercrombie.
This is the same Neil Abercrombie who a generation ago was indiscriminately against any land development. He opposed building the kind of high-rise, mixed-use development that would have helped to preclude the need for commuting and fostered a truly urban culture in which high-tech economic diversification could have been more adequately fostered.
One sees this kind of schizophrenia in Abercrombie when it comes to openness. As a man, he is notoriously open. When he talks, he has no filters. He gives his handlers panic attacks. But when it comes to making decisions, he is very secretive. He has adopted the some of the worst ways of Hawaii’s politics in that way. In order to make a difference politically, he has had to compromise. He has become a kind of chimera or hybrid.
Can we give a name to this new creature that he has become?
In David Cronenberg’s 1986 movie “The Fly”, scientist Seth Brundle teleports himself from one chamber to another. But a fly was trapped with him in the original chamber, and his genetic code is mixed with that of the fly. He subsequently slowly turns into something like a giant fly. He comes up with a new name for his new self.
Seth Brundle became Brundlefly.
Likewise, Neil Abercrombie has become Neilmufi.
Abercrombie thinks he’s got it all sewn up with all his cronies at the State Capitol. Remember Neil – KARMA.