Senator Laura Thielen has started posting background information on DLNR nominee Carleton Ching in advance of Wednesday’s hearing, as she committed to several days ago.
You can find the materials by going to the status page for GM 514, and checking the links on the right under the “Testimony” heading.
The first two items posted as of this morning begin with a notice that they are not testimony, but information provided to the Senate in response to questions.
One is the nominee’s resume, and the second consists of a 10-page response to questions posed by Sen. Thielen.
Ching lists what he considers relevant in land management and conservation on pages 4-5 of his responses to the Senate questionnaire. I imagine there will be questions at the confirmation hearing trying to pin down exactly what role the nominee actually played in the programs cited.
Thielen and members of her committee are also likely to hear from people who sat through Q&A sessions with Ching, and reported that the nominee did not impress with his knowledge of or experience with the issues faced by DLNR. Reconciling their reports with the details in these written responses will be the responsibility of the committee.
In any case, I hope this more open process sets a precedent for consideration of future nominees. These two documents were obviously prepared for eventual public distribution, and in this kind of situation earlier disclosure is a great benefit to the public.
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Thanks for the info Ian- it was interesting to see that he boasts of “trapping/killing” feral cats on Lana’i whilst he was with Castle and Cookie.
Interesting to see that Carlton’s handlers can draft these documents to pad his resume and create a pretense he grasps and supports the mission of DLNR. For the past month, he has been taken to coffee hour “talk story” sessions with different constituencies and has been unable to construct a coherent sentence showing any understanding of the DLNR mission nor the many challenges the agency faces.
I am particularly annoyed at the misrepresentations in his answer about the role he played at Waiahole-Waikane. He writes:
“During my tenure (1980 to 1990) with the State of Hawaii, the Hawaii Housing Authority (HHA), … was instrumental in “keeping the country country” by acquiring approximately 600 acres of Waiahole Valley. In the late 70s as this windward community was revolting over development plans by the landowner, Governor Ariyoshi authorized the HHA to purchase Waiahole Valley from the Elizabeth Marks Estate to preserve the agricultural nature of the valley.”
“During his tenure”? WTH? He started work there in 1980, over two years after the HHA authorized the purchase. Yet he wants to insinuate he played a significant role in keeping the valley agricultural and “the country country”? Complete bullsh!t!
We can have a separate discussion, a more nuanced one, over whether the Ariyoshi administration deserves any credit. Originally, the administration supported the evictions and only changed their minds after mass demonstrations and civil disobedience, organized by the residents, with help from “outside agitators” and with MASS public support, threatened to turn the planned evictions into a serious confrontation.
To its credit, the Ariyoshi backed down rather than send in the National Guard. Yes, I mean that literally. There were discussions as to whether they would have to send in the National Guard if HPD couldn’t handle it.
But setting aside the credit due Ariyoshi for yielding to the threat of mass civil disobedience, Carleton Ching played no role in helping acquire the land “during my tenure.”
In the aftermath of the anti-eviction victory, there were tensions between the residents and the new landowner, HHA. That distrust continued for a long time. Ching was assigned a job of helping repair a busted water line, but the distrust of the state by the residents made that difficult. He was able to get onto the farm affected and repair the line. Which was one small “trustbuilding” step in increasing dialogue between the residents and the state.
From this, and distorting hte chronology, he tries to build up his role as a significant player in “keeping the country country”?
Very dishonest. Though, perhaps, the fault lies with whomever the Ige administration drafted to write this statement on behalf of Ching.
Those wanting to hear Carleton in his own words, can watch this video of his “talk story session” held a couple of weeks ago by the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdBaVRLaCKY
Listen for his non-responsive answers, as well as how little of substance he actually says.
As Henry Curtis has pointed out, despite Ching vaunted “private sector experience,” had this been a job interview for a major corporation, given his inability to describe the mission or operations of the organization he wants to lead, he would not get the job.