What in the world is going on over there in Hilo?
Perhaps Big Island readers could fill in the picture for us with some background/history of the characters in this drama.
If you missed the show, it played out at a meeting of the county Board of Ethics yesterday. Here are a few links:
“Accusations fly at Hilo ethics board meeting”, Hawaii News Now.
“Yagong Accuses Ethics Chairman of Conflict of Interest“, BigIslandNow.com
“Yagong disputes ethics complaint“, Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
“Live Blogging — Today’s Ethics Commission Agenda: Elections, Planning Commission Chairman’s SPACE Vote“, Big Island Chronicle.
I think these give a good flavor of yesterday’s meeting, but there’s got to be more history to the politics and interpersonal bickering on public display.
I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping for a better understanding of the political dynamics.
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A few things are pretty clear to me, others are more murky.
It is clear there is an organized effort to remove Jamae Kawauchi as Hawaii County Clerk and part of that effort is to sabotage her ability to run the elections, with some election workers calling in sick, leaving her even more short-staffed than normally. It is also clear this is related to her firing of Elections Administrator Pat Nakamoto and three other longtime election workers over allegations government election facilities were being used to run a private business and to aid certain political campaigns.
Nakamoto appears to have had the loyalty of a number of other key election workers, some who were also fired, but others, who remained, appear to be actively sabotaging Kawauchi in an effort to make her look bad and drive her from office. Part of the problem is Kawauchi really does not have sufficient experience to run the elections without the support of the Nakamoto loyalists.
It is also clear the state Office of Elections is working with those trying to undercut Kawauchi.
This scuffle occurs within the context of a broad political struggle over who will control Big Island politics. County Council chair Dominic Yagong has endorsed independent Democrat Harry Kim against incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi. Billy Kenoi is the darling of Oahu-based “Machine Democrats” and their aligned developers.
None of this means Kawauchi and Yagong have not made awkward or amateurish moves.
Anyways, that is my attempt to make SOME sense out of what is coming out of the Big Island.
Most would think that those working for an office of elections would know how sacred the elections process is suppose to be. I sincerely hope you are wrong about the election workers Kolea. But knowing nothing about this incident and just reading the reports, I was wondering the same thing. There is a lesson in all this somewhere. But the people should not have to wait for it. Elections should never be compromised by politics or retribution.
Aloha from Hilo
You certainly have your opinions firmly in place. I think readers would best be served by reading your 2nd to the last paragraph first.
When Dominic FINALLY got to be the Chair and indulge in the patronage of the Clerks office his reach finally (obviously) exceeded his grasp. All of what has occurred has followed from his ill fated Chairmanship (a timed launching pad for a mayoral run ruined by Harry Kim’s petulant return) and this ill suited appointment.
Yes, there is a lot of history that led to this debacle. But the immediate responsibility for it rests completely on the Chair and the Clerk and whatever consequential actions occurred are a result of their poorly conceived and hamhanded
actions.
Judge the Chair by his latest outburst and threats at the Ethics inquiry. Judge the Clerk by her refusal to ask for help, explain her actions in a timely manner, and ultimately, by her inability to perform on primary election day.
Hawaiino,
What prevents me from going along with your version is your complete silence on the firing of Nakamoto and the other election workers earlier in the year. Were they engaged in misconduct in your opinion or not?
Nor have you spoken to the “sick out” which appears to have happened on primary day. Did that happen or not. You live over there, I do not.
It is obvious Kawauchi is flailing as she is failing. I think that explains her disappearances. Who should she have requested help from? From the State Office of Elections? That would be asking for help from those determined to bring her down. Or do we overlook the close ties between Scott Nago, Dwayne Yoshina and Pat Nakamoto in order to keep the discussion orderly?
I have not picked sides in this. But there are troubling facts which need to be ignored if someone is going to believe all the fault lies with Yagong and Kawauchi.
Kolea, I really don’t think that anyone was sabotaging Ms. Kawauchi. She’s made a mess of things all by herself.
So the election workers who called in sick on primary day are not close supporters of Pat Nakamoto and the other fired workers? Or does “calling in sick” during crunch time not constitute “sabotage” in your book?
Yagong twenty five years of moaning, groaning without the ability to become Mayor of Hawaii.
Nothing offered and little if any for our tax dollars!
Please retire and take your clerk to the farm with you….bring in the next I want to be Mayor council group and if that is not repetitive enough former Mayor Kim still wants another round..so tiring!
for some odd reason, every time I see Kawauchi speak or read Kawauchi’s statements or hear that she is in hiding again, I sense the heart of this particular problem on the Big Island. unfortunately, the island’s (many) other problems are not so clear cut, except for methamphetamine, perhaps.
The Hilo old boys are taking retaliation on Kawauchi for firing Nakamoto. Their allies include Scott Nago and Nakamoto’s boyfriend Dwayne Yoshina. In the most recent round, Yagong and Kawauchi managed to expose the fact that Dill, the head of the “Ethics’ Commission is also in league with the Hilo old boys.
This crap is constant in Hilo. What is unique about this story is that the retaliation and counter retaliation extends all the way to Pearl City.
BTW Nakamoto and Yoshina openly worked for the failed Hi Co Council campaign of old boy Ken Goodenow. That alone should disqualify her from going back to work at the Election Office in Hilo this cycle.
Also, the guy (recently deceased) who was fired for drinking and sign making at the Hi Co Election warehouse was making campaign signs there for another old boy named Jimmy Akakaki:
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/online-extra-fired-elections-worker-dies.html
I don’t know where you get your information about “Hilo old boys” or why you conflate an Ethics complaint with alleged backroom dealings, but may I remind you of Occam’s Razor?
It’s not as steamy as your antiquated notions of small minded people in bucolic backwaters, but it would lead you to a more fact based understanding of a really rather simple situation.
Never underestimate simple incompetence as the primary cause of many a disaster.
A couple comments here seem to have hit the head of the nail pretty directly.
I’ll let readers try and figure out which comments I’m talking about.
It is a mess over here and unfortunately unwarranted power is given to a few folks with a following of anti-government folks that like to find anything and everything wrong w/ government.
I have a slight suspicion that sabotage may be a bit at play as there are those that will do anything… and apparently everything… to attempt to bring down those they don’t agree with at times.
if only Keiko Bonk had become the mayor of the Big Island, none of this would be happening now.
Knowing her, and of the time she served, we really dodged a bullet there! I wouldn’t wish a zealot on any community, please don’t wish it on mine.
However, Harry Kim was Keiko lite.
I say from reading these comments in Bucharest not one comment adds an once of light. Yagong is and continues to be a fool. He shouts and stamps his feet in rage when cornered by reality. Jamae is his puppet.
HUgh, I was hoping some of you Big Island folk would take the opportunity to clarify things. But I guess you are on vacation and prefer to simplify things by blaming it completely on Yagong.
From my desk in Honolulu, I can CLEARLY see there is an organized effort to oust Kawauchi. The fact key election workers loyal to Pat Nakamoto called in sick on primary day, strongly suggests they are crossing a line in that effort.
What is less clear to me is whether the firing of Nakamoto and the others earlier in the year was “justified,” given what I assume has been a “culture” of relaxed ethical standards over there. And, second, even if it was “justified” by strict criteria, whether it was “wise,” given the competence and relationships that had been forged among the experienced election workers.
It is ALMOST clear to me Kawauchi lacks the experience to run the elections, a task made virtually impossible once she got rid of Nakamoto and alienated those with that experience. I think it is inevitable the campaign to drive her out will succeed. Was she such a bad manager that causing inconvenience to the voters was justified by the need to get rid of her?
That, I do not know. But for you to say nothing in the comments here sheds any light on the situation suggests you are either not paying attention or are so embittered against Yagong that you will ignore any evidence which does not support that bias.
Maybe when you return, you can put on your thinking cap, talk to your neighbors and offer something more insightful? From your past comments over the years, I KNOW you can offer valuable information.
Kolea, the word is that massive amounts of overtime leading up to the election contributed to the sick leave.
Overlooked in this is that there will be a new council majority and chair soon, and Kawauchi will very likely be out of a job. The new council can remove her and name a new clerk with impunity.
I take exception with the characterization contained in “impunity” (exempt from punishment). The Clerk is appointed by the Council, and it is the Chair who is customarily held accountable for the appointment. New Chair, new Clerk, as long as the Chair has 5 votes on the matter.
The new council should be met with acclaim when they meet and decide to appoint a new Clerk, certainly they will fear no punishment.
In the context of the latest exchanges in Hilo, this blog post is most interesting:
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2012/07/18/politics-the-appearance-of-impropriety-regarding-a-probe-into-an-election-workers-email/
It is surprising that readers of this blog are so strongly allied to the Hilo old boys. I had expected Ian’s readers to line up with the Kona ‘anti-government’ faction. (To belabor the obvious, as used here, Anti-gov’t = anti-Old Boy, thus ‘l’etat cest moi’ sayeth the Hilo insiders.)
It is not surprising that there is zero interest in clear-cut ethical issues such as Nakamoto working on an electoral campaign while seeking return to the Elections Commission or the use of the Elections Warehouse to manufacture election campaign signs. On these two crystal-clear issues, Kawauchi is absolutely right and Nakamoto is absolutely in the wrong. It is rare that one’s criminality could be so absolute, yet here these facts appear to mean nothing. Obviously many of the readers have political ties to Kenoi, Nago. Yoshina, etal.
There must be a lot of politicians desperate to keep the lid on something much larger in this entire episode. Who else besides Jimmy Arakaki was having his campaign signs made at the Hawaii Co. Elections Warehouse?
Samizdat
Enough with the “old boys” already! We havent had one of the “boys” in Mayoral power since the ’90’s, and that’s only if you count Steve Yamashiro as a “boy”. He wasn’t , he was a DINO. He was more of a Doc Hill boy, if a Punahou grad could be one. He left no food chain, he and Arakaki mixed like Japanese and Okinawans. Now Jimmy Arakaki was Chair and he could be construed to have been one, but he had no real coattails.
His guy Tulang lost his first race, to his other guy Ikeda. Fratricide!!! His guy Ikeda never really controlled the Council and just lost a Hilo Senate race to Gil Kahele. Gils from Milolii and in his inaugural race he beat the multi term councilman in Ikedas own Hilo back yard. So much for “same old Hilo”.
The Council has been rudderless since Jimmy left, he was a pragmatist who knew how to move the County’s interests along, unlike the Hoffmans, Fords, Pilagos, Smarts, and most of all, Yagongs. They belong on the Ed Sullivan show…plate spinners and high wire artists 6′ off the ground.
They alternated between micromanaging (Yagong personally led “the raid” on the alleged illegal activities at the Elections warehouse) and wasting time and money on extraneous personal interests (e.g. The 2% Fund for land purchases). Don’t ask them to solve the Landfill problem, that requires taking a tough position.
You use the term “crystal clear”. Well, nothing in this farce is that except the process so far has provided crystal clear insight into two characters, the Chair and his Clerk.
You call out Nakamoto for working on a campaign. While she was facing possible termination and on leave she still was apparently within her rights as a citizen. To me it doesnt pass the smell test. Why was she in that position? Yagong. Yagong working on his daughters campaign while being deeply involved in managing the Elections office debacle seems to have warranted further review. But Dominic’s ethical responsibilities to the community far surpass Nakamotos, and while she has been silent he has been feral in his reactions.
The alleged illegal activities at the warehouse are a maninii basis for firing people, and the Chair and his Clerk overplayed their hand. Seriously, empty beer cans in boxes and plastic bags for recycling…and some dust covered sign equipment. Really? Fire people? Dom wanted to grandstand his way into the Primary and instead showed his incompetence, and lately his meanness.
BTW, Glen Shikuma lost his sign business with the advent of the Internet, FedEx, Office Max, Windows applications, and all the other advances that have made so many businesses like his less relevant than they were. Give me a break on the innuendo regarding “who else”. Two things though; Arakaki has been retired more than 8 years now, and Glen Shikuma died of a stroke recently so you can forget putting him to the rack to fess up. I guarantee he didnt make the hundreds of Kenoi signs out there…that was a big job order!
You might also consider whether the Chairs ill advised “house cleaning” is going to result in a whopping big settlement for his survivors.
Full disclosure: I’ve personally met or know everybody I’ve named here except Nakamoto, Hoffman and Ford. I’ve also never met Nago or Yoshina who I presume live on Oahu.
Now who of all these people do you personally know, enough to base your support or opposition on something other than hearsay?
I’ve read the news articles in the Trib and there aren’t enough clear cut facts available to draw a conclusion anywhere near to justifying firing people.
In closing, the best source of information on this issue, and these subjects, is Tiffany Edwards, a blogger, but like Ian, a real reporter. Read her at ;
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com
The Trib is worthless.