Oh, my! Yesterday’s post concerning Governor Ige’s nominee to head the Department of Land and Natural Resources has stirred up a tempest, including a long, thoughtfully heated reply from my friend, Bart Dame (click here for the original post & comments).
Bart interpreted my post as “castigating” those who have gotten out in front of the issue and called for the nomination to be retracted. Others apparently have felt I’m speaking in defense of the nomination.
It was not my intention to attack those who see the obvious reasons to oppose this nomination. What I wrote was that I’m not there yet, primarily because, as I have tried to say, I would very much like to hear the Ige administration’s reasons for thinking this appointment makes sense, and further how it fits into their developing policy perspective when it comes to resource management and environmental protection. A lot of people voted for David Ige, and I doubt that I’m the only voter who looks at this and wonders, “WTF?”, and hopes that it’s not as bad as it looks.
So tell us, Governor Ige, why you believe this nomination makes sense, and why it shouldn’t be dismissed as a colossal and dangerous mistake.
Can Ige do that? I don’t know. It very well may be that the administration won’t be able or willing to make the case because, behind it all, they’re so tone deaf that this opposition comes as a surprise. Or perhaps it was meant as a poke in the eye to voters who don’t want to see a continued sell-out of the public interest to the highest bidders. Either would, indeed, be a very bad signs, an indication that we’ve jumped directly from the Abercrombie frying pan into the Ige administration’s proverbial fire.
And should that be the case, I hope the members of the Senate will see the wisdom of turning down this nomination and asking the governor to come forward with a less contentious and confrontational nominee for this important position.
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Thanks, Ian. I admire your phrase “thoughtfully heated reply.” That is why you are being paid the big bucks as a professional writer and I remain an amateur scrivener/kibitzer, at the margins of society.
I certainly agree the Governor has to provide a better explanation than he has provided so far. And Ching has to do a better job of explaining why he thinks he is qualified for the job than he has done in the small “coffee hours” Ige’s handlers have arranged for him.
At one such gathering on Maui this weekend, he admitted he didn’t understand the issues in dispute over Maui irrigation ditch water. When asked if he did any volunteer work in the community, he said he volunteers with the Land Use Research Foundation!
It is my understand Ching did not seek out the job, but was requested by Ige’s office to apply. Many of us have heard the Ige administration has been having trouble finding qualified people willing to serve in the cabinet. I have heard specific names of people who had been asked to apply for either DLNR chair or AG but have declined.
So part of me is sympathetic to Ching for agreeing to put his name forward. But that doesn’t mean he should escape careful scrutiny. And, if others turned down the position before Ching was asked, maybe we should be asking whether it might not make sense to revisit the early decision of the Ige team to re-assign William Aila to Hawaiian Home Lands?
Frankly, the longer and harder they have sought for someone qualified to run DLNR, I would think the more they would come to appreciate how good Bill was at the job. I don’t see that it would be embarrassing, if Ching runs into trouble, for Ige to re-appoint Aila based upon the reasoning I am suggesting.
Thank you for this continued dialog and for highlighting that the appointment is surely a questionable and troubling maneuver.
Parallel to the work the community is doing to assure Mr. Ching either withdraws or is rejected,
I think it is important to work to understand: 1. What are the specific requirements and qualifications for this position? Are the job prerequisites, if any, statutorily mandated? 2. Who were some of the other applicants that may have met the requirements? 3. Are there good reasons not to reappoint William Aila?
This column achieves what you stated as your intent Ian, vice the prior one. Mahalo to Bart for his clear articulation of why many are opposing this nomination based on the actual history of the nominee, the Gov’s lack of substantive reasoning and the known conflicts between the principles of development and the mission of the DLNR. So until we hear otherwise, this nomination should not fly.
Governor Ige says he knew appointment of Charleton Ching would “divide community”. Why then the non-address of the ‘controversy’ up front when the announcement was made and why do it late on a Friday, when that practice is used to bury stories in the media? If one knows the nominations will be divisive, then speak ahead of time to the pending controversy and the deep reasoning behind his belief in the candidates beyond the superficial platitudes of “nice experienced development guys will suddenly start doing right by the public interest”?
No aspect of the pending supposedly known controversy was presaged or ‘divide’ mitigated. It appears to be either a total attempt to slide this one under the public watch dog radar or an unwitting poor or deceptive handling by some insider corporatist pr minion. If it was the former, the Governor should own the strategy and the mistake. If it was a minion, extreme bad advice or desperation for a qualified nominee then the Governor should say so and ensure us that there will be steps to correct this process before it becomes the dominant operational mode for his administration.
As for alignment of values and history… Does dedication, sincerity and values matter? Was the nominee sincere for all the years he advocated for the large powerful corporate and development interest against the public interest? Yes, that could be construed as ‘experience’, but how does it qualify him morally and philosophically to now control the and guard the public interest against the exploitations of his long term colleagues and employers?
Or was he insincere fro all those years and was only sublimating himself for a job in order to stay in Hawaii? In either case, do we want or can we tolerate that background in a position of leadership and power for a department as large and important to the public interest and the future as the State DLNR?
We will indeed be waiting to hear much more before a nomination such as this will be met with little scrutiny and general optimism.
Ian: It’s not like Governor Ige has lacked the opportunity to make the argument you want to hear from him, but so far he hasn’t felt the need to do so. That in itself suggests that he either doesn’t have a defensible explanation or simply doesn’t care that a substantial portion of those who supported him feel betrayed by this inexplicable nomination.
The Gov feels that putting a businessman in charge of DLNR will allow it to fulfill its role with its inadequate funding (49th in the nation)
Also the Gov is confusing a well spoken lobbyist with a manager (they are not the same!)
And the Gov flat out does not understand the role of DLNR nor the constitution and laws that govern its work.
Please sign the petition asking the Senators not to confirm. Most important though to email sens@capitol.hawaii.gov and, if you find time make a quick, respectful phonecall to as many senators as you have time for:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/do-not-confirm-developer
Tell them that Ching is not up to speed on the Water trust laws, the existing contested cases nor how to handle natural resources.
Baker , Rosalyn H.
Phone 808-586-6070
Chun Oakland , Suzanne
Phone 808-586-6130
Dela Cruz , Donovan M.
Phone 808-586-6090
English , J. Kalani
Phone 808-587-7225
Espero , Will
Phone 808-586-6360
Gabbard , Mike
Phone 808-586-6830
Galuteria , Brickwood
Phone 808-586-6740
Green , Josh
Phone 808-586-9385
Harimoto , Breene
Phone 808-586-6230
Ihara , Les Jr.
Phone 808-586-6250
Inouye , Lorraine R.
Phone 808-586-7335
Kahele , Gilbert
Phone 808-586-6760
Keith-Agaran , Gilbert S.C.
Phone 808-586-7344
Kidani , Michelle N.
Phone 808-586-7100
Kim , Donna Mercado
Phone 808-587-7200
Kouchi , Ronald D.
Phone 808-586-6030
Nishihara , Clarence K.
Phone 808-586-6970
Riviere , Gil
Phone 808-586-7330
Ruderman , Russell E.
Phone 808-586-6890
Shimabukuro , Maile S.L.
Phone 808-586-7793
Slom , Sam (R)
Phone 808-586-8420
Taniguchi , Brian T.
Phone 808-586-6460
Thielen , Laura H.
Phone 808-587-8388
Tokuda , Jill N.
Phone 808-587-7215
Wakai , Glenn
Phone 808-586-8585
William Aila was doing a top-notch job at DLNR. Putting good people in. Making good decisions. And Aila knows water and land use laws inside and out.
Aila also has a talent for being inclusive and responsive to the public and doing the “soft word turneth away wrath” thing when contested cases get heated.
I doubt we can EVER find someone as good as Aila.
I know people may identify him with the PLDC but remember, these appointees serve at the will of the governor and Abercrombie was famous for making his otherwise good appointees do things with which they disagreed.
Behind the scenes, though, Aila was creating the most effective and well run DLNR in a long time.
It is a darn shame that his work can’t go on.
‘ForPeople’, here is an article from the Independent outlining what the DLNR does. A good place to start in understanding what the responsibilities of the Director will be. http://hawaiiindependent.net/story/managing-public-land-and-resources
Gee … what if Charlton Ching is an intelligent, sincere and perfectly decent fellow who sees this as an opportunity to make an important contribution to the future of our state? Seems to me, us liberals would accomplish a helluva lot more if we weren’t so quick to throw people under the bus.
I like Ige but he’s in way over his head, as was Abercrombie.
This nomination does not pass the smell test, even if it was a product of good intentions. More likely, it was a product of desperation.
It puts lots of heat on the Senate, the very body that Ige just graduated from, in the confirmation process. It sets the stage for a huge confrontation and a destruction of the trust that voters were willing to extent to a largely unknown entity.
Politically, it’s just dumb.
Ige and his handlers should have known better. They’re throwing themselves under the bus.
No one is throwing anyone under the bus. And Mr. Ching probably is an intelligent, a sincere, and a decent fellow. You miss the point. Based on what we know and people’s experience with him as Castle & Cooke’s community relations person, many of us do not feel he is qualified for the job and are concerned about the nomination. Tell us something we don’t know about him.
I remember all that we didn’t know about Bill Aila when Neil jumped up the Wainae Harbormaster to run the whole damn show.
Despite some of the above histrionic rewriting of recent history he was a weak administrator whose department was off the rails in multiple divisions. Careerists within those divisions made policy affecting the whole state seemingly based on personal preference and/or prejudice. The Legislature had serious concerns about his tenure, he was not popular at the Capitol.
He was a great figurehead though.
I think this Governor knows the department needs more than that.
I hope he’s made the right choice, but no one can know yet.
Especially all the opposition shouting about LURF and C&C. Good grief, they don’t seem near as demagogic, opinionated and uncompromising as those from the Green side who are condemning the nominee.
See https://garyhooser.wordpress.com
WTF INDEED!
Hawaiino –
Would you be able to elaborate on the Legislature’s “serious concerns” about Aila’s tenture?
all i can find are incoherent laughable ramblings from Clayton Hee, the brother of indicted scam artist Al Hee.
Thoughtful and provoking, but unfortunately, Mr. Lind misses the mark. Mr. Ching is telling folks in meetings that he was brought in to bring “greater efficiency to” and “move the needle at” DLNR. He (not the Governor) has to demonstrate where, how and the impact of how he’s done both of those. It’s clear that he has little experience with or knowledge of natural resource protection, but he needs to demonstrate at least an understanding of its place in Hawaii. Basically, this nomination makes little sense. If the Governor intended to bring in a businessman to “straighten out”DLNR, Mr. Ching has little to show in that field. I guess the question is this: In this state, rich with business and environmental leaders, is Carleton Ching the best person to head up DLNR? Not for me.