GaryHooser's Blog

It seems the rush is on to fill the seat being vacated by former Councilmember Luke Evslin, who was recently appointed to the State House of Representatives.

Apparently, Council Chair Mel Rapozo wants to do this Wednesday, February 22 at 11:30am, 7 days after the public was made aware of the vacancy.

So, if you were considering putting your name forward to be considered, or perhaps you know of others that would make a positive addition and bring new energy and new ideas to the Council – sorry but it’s too late.

I guess the idea of informing the community, inviting those that might be interested to submit an application, doing some one-on-one interviewing, then scheduling a meeting to allow the public to comment – and then and only then hold a vote to select the candidate who rose to the top – I guess this idea somehow got lost in the rush to appoint the person who already has the votes locked down?

Similarly, I’m thinking that a thoughtful evaluation of the current strengths and weakness of the existing Council and attempting to find a candidate that could complement and/or fill in the gaps – this idea also has apparently been disregarded.

Actually, I agree that the Council should not waste everyone’s time and act like this is an open process, that all interested people are welcome to apply, and all will be evaluated based on criteria that places only the best interests of the County first.

Because clearly that is not the case.

I’m guessing that the Chair and a majority on the Council are thinking that former Councilmember Ross Kagawa has already got the votes locked up so why bother with the process?

Kagawa finished #8 in the recent elections and that will no doubt be the criteria used to justify his selection. He has served on the Council in the past, is familiar with the process, and is thus qualified to serve.

That is all true and the former Councilmember may very well be the best choice, especially when no other choices are given an honest, clear and open evaluation – let alone the time to actually submit a letter of interest.

To make it happen as quickly (and painlessly) as possible, Council Chair Rapozo scheduled a “Special Council Meeting” for Wednesday 02/22, 7 days after Evslin’s resignation, “to appoint a successor for a vacant unexpired term on the Kauai County Council…”.

According to newspaper reports at the time, when now Representative Nakamura vacated her Council seat on November 1, 2013 then Council Chair Jay Furfaro utilized a process that included one week “so those who are interested can apply”. The following week was then used to “look at the names of people who applied and see who can be nominated…”.

Then two weeks later on November 15, after reviewing several highly qualified applications from a broad cross-section of the community, the remaining 6 Councilmember’s (of which I was a part of) selected now former Councilmember Mason Chock to fill the slot.

That selection was at the time accompanied by its own bit of controversy coming in the days immediately preceding the veto over-ride of Bill 2491.

In retrospect, most would agree this decision turned out to be an excellent one. Councilmember Chock was an exceptional, thoughtful, and hardworking member of the Council and at election time often at the top of the vote count as well. Yet, he had never held public office before and had no experience whatsoever working in government.

Bottom line – There should be an open, and fair – public process that invites all who are interested in filling the open Council position to apply and be honestly evaluated.

Otherwise it’s #politicsasusual

If you believe as I do that jamming through this appointment is not in the best interest of our community, and/or if you have someone else (such as Fern Anuenue Holland or other qualified candidate) you would rather see appointed – please share your thoughts directly with the Councilmembers or show up in the Council Chambers in person at 11:30am Wednesday 02/22.

Complete contact information for all Councilmembers including telephone and email is here:
https://www.kauai.gov/Government/County-Council/Councilmembers-2022-2024

kkualii@kauai.gov mfrapozo@kauai.gov abulosan@kauai.gov bcarvalho@kauai.gov fcowden@kauai.gov bdecosta@kauai.gov

Please, take ownership of your local government. Share with them your thoughts, concerns, and demands.

A half dozen friends, all who happen to be legislators with large balances in their campaign accounts, gather in a bar or restaurant – each cuts a check for $2,000 from their campaign accounts and hand it over to the candidate with the tough upcoming election.

They throw back a beer or two, slap each other on the back, then walk back to the Capitol to continue the people’s work.

This happens over and over again – candidates raising $10,000 – $12,000 a pop from a handful of sitting legislators to who they will then owe their loyalty.

In Honolulu especially, legislators and candidates from across the islands will sometimes announce and hold fundraising events where only 4 or 5 people show up. These “events” will often be held in a bar or restaurant within walking distance of the Capitol, or more recently online via Zoom. The publicly posted “ticket” price will be listed as $150, $250, $500, or $1,000.

The primary purpose of these “events”, is to create a legal opportunity for legislators who happen to be flush with campaign cash to transfer some of that cash, into the campaign account of candidates who are less flush – and perhaps who are facing a tough upcoming election.

These legislators are not bad people. They are just friends helping friends (and future allies). It’s all done within the law, the law these same folks are in charge of.

One of the fundamental principles driving campaign spending regulation is that campaign donations should be used only for the purpose of election activities. Donors are supposed to give money to candidates for the purpose of helping them get elected – not for the purpose of allowing their donation to be used to help other candidates get elected.

Allowing legislators to use their own campaign funds to purchase a couple of tickets to attend another candidate’s campaign event sounds reasonable until you learn of the abuse.

Fortunately, there’s a bill before the legislature HB721– which will eliminate this practice.

HB721 is part of a package of bills being proposed by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct (CISC) and it’s scheduled for a hearing before the House Committee of Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, Wednesday, February 22 at 2pm.

HB726 is part of this same package and on the same agenda – It’s also extremely important to support and “Prohibits state and county elected officials from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular session or special session of the state legislature..”

At the present time, legislators are legally permitted to request and receive campaign money from businesses and persons who have bills before the legislature – at the very same time that their bill is being voted on.

HB726 will stop this.

Please submit testimony in strong support, please take the time also to email or call your own district Representative and Senator. For their name and contact information go to “Find Your Legislator”.

Encourage them to support HB721 AND HB726 – AND all CISC Commission recommendations on this agenda. A few more of these good bills are listed below.

HB705 – Requires legislators to post for public review how they spend their “legislative allowance”

HB706 – Requires legislators to disclose relationships with lobbyists or lobbying organizations

HB707 – Disqualifies a person from holding elective office for ten years upon conviction of making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent claim.

HB708 – Requires lobbyists to disclose for public review the exact bills or actions they are attempting to influence.

There are too many to list here, so please go to the actual agenda. Take the time to review the bills, contact your own district Senator and Representative to support these important reforms

AND make sure you include that one reform that makes all other reforms possible (that is not on this agenda but still needs your support) – Publicly Funded Elections – SB1543!

Please. Time is short.

I’m hoping you share my goal of getting money out of politics – or at least greatly reducing its impact.

To be clear, I am not some aging Pollyanna who thinks we can turn our government and political system into something that is all sweetness and light.

But we can make it better and today I’m asking you to help make that happen.

Please, Please, Please – send in testimony in support of SB1543 NOW if you can and certainly no later than Tuesday at 10am!

SB1543 “Establishes a comprehensive system of public financing for all candidates seeking election to state and county public offices in the State of Hawaiʻi”.

This is critical. No in-person oral testimony is allowed so we need to flood them with overwhelming written support, which has to be submitted 24 hours before the hearing.

Please also forward this message to two of your friends!

If can, mark your calendar for this Wednesday 2/22 at 10am and attend the hearing in-person at the Capitol in Conference Room 211. Even though oral testimony isn’t allowed, it’s important we have a strong visible presence.

Publicly funded elections have been called the reform that makes all other reforms possible.

Point #1 – Money now has a huge impact on elections

Candidates must actively seek donations that create relationships that can cause corruption or the perception of it.

Legislators listen to donors, since they fund their campaigns.

Money is crucial to winning. 91% of candidates who outspend their opponent go on to win.

Many elections are uncontested because potential candidates can’t afford the high price tag.

Point #2 – Clean Elections creates a fairer system

Candidates will spend more time with constituents rather than fundraising.

Elections will be more competitive with a more diverse set of candidates.

Legislators will be free to make decisions without concern as to what their donors think.

74% of Hawai’i voters support full publicly financed elections.

Point #3 Cost of this program is small

At less than $25 million, a $3 visitor fee or cannabis legalization would generate more than enough to pay for it.

Legislators who aren’t beholden to donors can save costs elsewhere in the budget.

Point #4 We aren’t reinventing the wheel

Big Island County Council races had a similar program in 2010 and 2012.

Connecticut and Maine have clean elections statewide which are both popular and successful.

Over 70% of Democratic legislators use this program in Maine.

SB1543 would set up a system of fully publicly financed elections, a.k.a. clean elections. It would provide participating candidates with competitive amounts of funding they need to run an effective campaign, and would ban them from receiving any private donations at all.

Passing into law, publicly financed elections is the single most important thing we can do to end pay-to-play corruption in our politics and start building a Hawaiʻi that puts kamaʻāina and kānaka maoli first — not big money interests.

Please take the action. Send the email. Tell your friends. Show up on Wednesday if you can. Support SB1543!

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com
*Mahalo to the many friends working on this important issue for allowing me to borrow some of their words, describing the bill and its impacts 😉

Yes, I feed them. I dump left-over rice, papaya and pumpkin seeds, and all manner of left-over food in my backyard – and then I enjoy watching these beautiful creatures enjoy their feast. In return, they give me their chicken poop – a truly closed loop and some of the best fertilizer in the world.

If HB72 passes into law (it won’t), the police could come after me with a $500 fine.

Yes, those majestic roosters crow at ungodly hours of morning, noon, and night. Yes, they dig holes in my yard that irritates me to no end. But their vibrant plumage, the subtle clucking of the mother hen, and the long train of baby chicks that follow her out of the bushes and into the yard – it’s part of my very being. Images of my children and grandchildren chasing them at the beach, the laughter, the color, the exploding energy of the chickens taking flight just inches from their fingertips – yes, it’s safe to say that chicken culture is embedded in my very soul.

While I of course cannot speak for everyone, where I live, wild chickens are an integral part of our daily lives. I know I’m not the only person who smiles when they see the chickens greeting them at the airport upon returning to Kauai from a trip. 

So leave them the heck alone.

I’m telling you, don’t mess with our chickens.

And while we’re at it, leave my cat “Socks” alone as well. Laws banning the feeding of feral and/or outside cats have also been proposed.

I understand the importance of protecting native birds, I really do. But banning me from feeding my cat who never leaves my yard and who bothers no one but me when she’s hungry?

Socks has never ever killed a native bird, I promise you that. The only birds she’s ever messed with are the doves and rice birds who sometimes fly into our windows, knocking themselves silly, sometimes unconscious, or sometimes worse.

Socks will literally lay stretched out in the shade under the mango tree while the chickens roam just a few feet from her lazy gaze. She couldn’t be bothered with all the work it takes to chase them. And then what? I’m sure she’s thinking. What do I do with them once I catch them (a big assumption there)?

Socks is an outdoor cat who never ever comes into the house. If she did, for sure she and Maximus Aurelius would clash and I can only imagine the damage they would inflict on the inside of our home – racing madly around the rooms chasing each other, and knocking over all manner of things.

Socks was or is (you tell me) a feral cat. She was born under our house. Claudette trapped her and a few of her brothers and sisters, had them fixed and chipped at the Humane Society and then brought Socks home to live with us – outside with the chickens. I feed her every afternoon. She waits patiently on the steps and rubs her body against my legs as I navigate down to the yard where her food bowl sits. What she doesn’t eat, the chickens and the doves finish off.

I’m not entirely clear if a ban on feeding feral cats would apply to Socks. She definitely has a deep feral streak, but she is a family friend who lives with us, in our yard, far away from the natural habitat of native birds.

So, to all the politicians out there. Please leave my chickens, and my cat Socks alone. Maximus can take care of himself. You don’t even want to mess with Max.

Seriously. Don’t you have real work to do? Perhaps you can build some affordable housing, fill some pot-holes, legalize cannabis, cut our taxes, pay our teachers a decent salary, fight climate change, increase health and dental care, regulate tourism, or condemn the Coco Palms hotel and create a community center that honors its deep history and cultural significance.

HB796 Relating to Term Limits for Hawaiʻi Legislators has been scheduled for today Wednesday 02/08/23 at 2pm. Below is my testimony in support as amended.

Readers are also encouraged to submit testimony!

Support HB796 with amendments:

Committee Chair and Members,

I am testifying in strong support of HB796 with the following amendment:

The amendment is intended to say legislators may serve up to 8 years in the House and up to 8 years in the Senate, and no more than 16 years combined.

Few in the public sector are pleased with the status quo. Though our current legislative leadership possesses decades of experience, clearly that’s not enough.

“We already have term limits, they’re called elections” is the stock response, and until relatively recently, the position I subscribed to.

However, after 26 years of working within the system, I’ve come to believe differently.

Term limits will put a stop to the do-nothing, take no risk, keep your head down, go along to get along, “long game” strategy that too often infects those who aspire to serve in elected office.

Term limits will also put a stop to the excessive accumulation of power and the nonstop campaign fundraising that too often defines long-term incumbency. 

The problems and challenges facing us today are far too urgent to play the long game or any games at all. An 8-year term is plenty enough time for new elected leaders to make their mark, and to set and accomplish their goals.

The barriers to entry for new candidates are formidable. Money, name recognition and a conscious manipulation of the system by those already in power give incumbents an overwhelming advantage while keeping newcomers out.

The basic cost to run a campaign for the state Legislature can run between $40,000 to $100,000, sometimes more. Because there’s no cap on the amount incumbents can raise, some sit on “war chests” approaching $1 million, much of it raised during the legislative session from the very interests they are charged to regulate.

Legislators, by virtue of their position, are frequently in the public spotlight. They are constantly cutting ribbons or “breaking ground” at some new school, highway, or community center. They hold press conferences and issue press releases. In recent years, state legislators have taken to sending out glossy mailers under the guise of constituent surveys or a “report to the district.” These taxpayer-funded mailings conveniently become more frequent in the months preceding an election.

Yes, the cards are stacked high against new candidates, new voices, new ideas, and new leadership.

The governor, lieutenant governor, mayor, and all Council members in all counties already serve with term limitations. These term limits have not caused the weakening of government operations, nor have they empowered the deep state, or created a dearth of expertise.

What term limits do is create an opportunity for change. Our elected leaders are given eight years to pursue their goals and then they move on, creating space for others to step up.

There is no shortage of other opportunities to serve. Those “termed out” can work elsewhere in the public, private or nonprofit sectors, if indeed service is their primary focus and motivation.

Fifteen states including California and Colorado currently limit the terms of state legislators. It’s time for Hawaii to join them.

Please pass HB796 as amended, place this question on the ballot, and allow the people to vote it up or down.

Gary Hooser

Why should you care? Why should you take the time to send off some meaningless little email to some politician who’s not going to read it, and will do what they want regardless?

Trust me, I feel this way more often than I’d like to admit.

The short answer is because we must, because it’s not meaningless, and because we cannot avoid seeing the injustice that surrounds us.

Even when our eyes are closed, we see that family living under the bridge, the obscene plastics found in the gut of a gentle giant lying dead on our beach, our friends working two jobs and still cannot afford a decent place to live.

We care because we must, and we do things large and small because we must. Otherwise, how do we sleep at night?

It’s called kuleana. It is our responsibility to care and do what we can to make our planet, our community, and our homes – a better place.

So send that email testimony, make that call to your legislator, and write that letter to the editor. It is your kuleana, and it does make a difference. At the minimum, you will sleep better at night knowing that you are trying.

If enough of us join in the effort, those we elect will in fact hear us, and if we are unrelentingly persistent in our commitment – they will respond and support our demands for change. If not, we are then compelled to collectively hold them accountable in 2024. This of course is how democracy and elections are supposed to work.

What will the 2023 legislative report card on May 5 actually look like?

*Did they pass publicly funded elections, or kick the can down the road? Submit testimony for SB1543 now!

*Did they make significant progress on affordable housing without sacrificing community and environmental protections? Or did they hand developers a blank check in return for a “trust me”, a wink, and a nod? Did they try to con the public by focusing on so-called “workforce” housing at 140% of median income or higher, or did they ensure hard-working families earning below the median income were a priority?

*What about the Commission To Improve Standards of Conduct (CISC) reform proposals? Did they just give us the ole “it’s a work in progress” line? Did they do anything significant to get money out of politics and campaigns? Will the Senate even schedule a hearing on term limits or the Citizens Bill of Rights?

Both – HB725 (Citizen Bill of Rights) and HB796 (Term Limits) have been scheduled in the House for Wednesday 02/08 at 2pm. Please submit testimony! Check out the entire agenda – lots of good stuff here.

*What about initiatives to help working families, to lower the cost of living, and the long over-due paid family leave legislation?

*Was dealing with climate change taken seriously? Did “the Green Amendment” pass? Were Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives – making product manufacturers and distributors responsible for their products and packaging, approved?

*Did legislators recognize the health risks now occurring in Central Oahu connected to the intense use of pesticides? Did they do something to reduce this risk and expand reporting requirements?

*Was the responsible adult use of cannabis legalized?

Yes, can’t wait to see the report card.

We should be cautiously optimistic, but we should not be naive – and we certainly should take nothing for granted.

Straight A’s are possible, and frankly I’d settle for a B+ – but this will only happen if we collectively push harder than ever before.

We show we care, we send those emails, make those calls, write those letters – and we show up at those hearings via Zoom and in person.

To make the report card a good and positive one, the base (which is us) must show up and demand that it be so. It’s our kuleana.

So please keep caring, keep emailing in that testimony, and keep writing those letters to the editor. Then, after the report card comes out on May 5th, join me and many others from across all the islands – to regroup and celebrate.

A good report card is what we want and need. A bad report card…well a bad report card just gives us more fuel for the fire needed to win in 2024.

gh

!!URGENT!!
Testimony in support of publicly funded elections SB1543 is needed now, today if possible and before Tuesday, 02/07/23 – 9:30am Senator Karl Rhoads has introduced an excellent bill modeled after the successful programs of both Maine and Connecticut. He’s done his part now we need to do ours. EVEN IF YOUR TESTIMONY IS SHORT AND/OR LATE – PLEASE SEND IT IN.
Read Civil Beat: Senator Floats Proposal To Publicly Fund Campaigns In Hawaiʻi

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

Aloha Friends,

My email is ringing off the hook 😉

Am not sure if you’re too young to remember when phones actually hung on the wall, and when the ear-mouthpiece sections were separate from the main phone?

I digress.

The bottom line is there are tons of legislative “calls to action” going out – so you and I gotta step up the best we can.

I know you’re thinking, “Does it really make a difference?” The short answer is yes. Trust me on this. Yes, even if your email testimony is short, please send it in – and late testimony is better than no testimony at all.

My top priority is Publicly Funded Elections SB1543 and HB967 which have not been scheduled BUT a competing and inferior HB95 has been scheduled for tomorrow Feb. 1 at 2pm. Please submit testimony “comments” on HB95 saying basically thanks but no thanks and ask the committee to instead amend the bill to reflect the contents of HB967 – which is a true publicly funded elections bill.

Read my blog post please: Dancing with the devil…and you will understand better why public funding of elections is so important.

We must have full public funding of elections similar to the Maine and Connecticut system. The Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi supports full public funding of elections and Hawaiʻi Democratic legislators should too.

Also on this same agenda are several “Foley Reform Commission) initiatives including HB89 which “prohibit elected officials as defined in section 11-342(d), HRS, from soliciting and accepting campaign contributions during any regular session or special session of the State Legislature” I encourage you to offer testimony in support of HB89 and to peruse other initiatives on this agenda that may deserve support.

Your testimony in support is also urgently needed for HB444, The Green Amendment – scheduled for Thursday!

There are plenty more bills covering a wide range of topics that need and deserve attention – please don’t count on me to know them all!

So…I’m putting together a list of organizations that cover specific topics (food, agriculture, environment, economic justice, reform etc). I am posting this list on my blog – if there are organizations missing (which no doubt there are) that provide key information on bills and generate “action alerts” on their specific subject matter, please send me the URL and I will update my list.

Maui Heads-Up – A Sleepover For County Council’: Marathon Maui Meeting Raises Concerns About Public Participation “Residents can expect some changes to take effect at the next meeting Friday. Maui residents committed to putting people and the planet ahead of big business and money – should prepare to show up on Friday and support our progressive friends and the hard-fought gains they’ve achieved on the community’s behalf.

Kauaʻi friends who are following the Coco Palms I Ola Wailuanui saga: You might enjoy (in a perverse kind of way) my recap of the recent Planning Commission Meeting. Coco Palms – Pulling Back The Curtain

That’s all I have for today. My apologies if I neglected to dot an i or cross a t or otherwise messed up my grammar or spelling. Am rushing a bit to get this out in time for you to submit testimony on Publicly Funded Elections and other important measures listed above.

Sincerely,

Gary Hooser
http://www.garyhooser.com

* In case you missed my birthday missive (day two was a hard one).

Below is a ramshackle sort of list of various Hawaiʻi advocacy organizations that focus on various subject matter – all of which is important. I threw this list together today and will keep updating and refining it in the days and weeks ahead.

If your organization is missing and you would like it added or the below information updated or corrected – just lmk!

If you are new to the legislative testimony game -Learn more about how to submit testimony and engage the legislative process by visiting Legislative Reference Bureau Engagement 101!
https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/engagement-101

To stay informed on legislation that supports local agriculture and moves Hawaiʻi toward a just & fair food system, visit HAPA’s legislative section and sign up for action alerts.
https://www.hapahi.org/legislative-session-2023

For Publicly Funded Elections sign up at Our Hawaii
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/im-ready-to-get-big-money-out-of-politics/

For general land use and environment issues sign up for Thousand Friends of Hawaiʻi 2023 Legislative Session emailing list at htf3000@gmail.com 

The central place for the Foley Reform Commission initiatives is Civil Beat “Let The Sunshine In” pages that include a bill tracker and other good info.

Civil Beat: IDEAS

Sign up for Hawaiʻi Sierra Club action alerts for issues pertaining to environmental protection, land use, and climate change.
https://sierraclubhawaii.org/subscribe

For action alerts on issues pertaining to Tax Fairness https://p2a.co/cyb6a41 – Wages & Labor https://p2a.co/dcfph3C or go to Hawaiʻi Appleseed for general information. https://hiappleseed.org/subscribe

To stay abreast of The Green Amendment sign up with:
sherry.350hawaii@gmail.com

To support charging tourists a Green Fee (which is totally separate from The Green Amendment) sign up with aloha@hawaiigreenfee.org

For Children and Family, issues go to HCAN
https://speaks.hawaii-can.org/?utm_campaign=2023_01_31_child_care&utm_medium=email&utm_source=goodbeginnings

Who won and who lost on January 24th? On the surface, as is way too often the case – the developers won. But scratch just a tiny bit and you’ll see their victory was a hollow one. They stepped in it actually. They stepped in it big time.

The Kauai Planning Commission meeting held on this day pulled back that increasingly soiled curtain that attempts to hide from public view the ongoing duplicity that has come to define 30 years of dealmaking and the Coco Palms Hotel.

Reef Capital Partners, a Utah-based real estate investment company also known as RP21 Coco Palms LLC were the folks sitting at the table. Their voices were dripping with sincerity – as they once again looked the Planning Commission in the eye and said “trust me”.

They had held none of the community meetings previously promised, yet they promised once again to host such meetings in the future.

They had not demolished a very large building that sits only a few feet from the soon-to-be 4-lane Kuhio highway. Previously the owners/developers had told the Commission they were going to tear this structure down “within 6 months”. Now they are saying they have no plans to do so.

Their representative spoke openly about the intent to delay the start of construction further.

They denied the property had been sold or was in escrow. Yet at the August Planning Commission meeting, they indicated there was a buyer/developer waiting in the wings. I and others spoke directly to the prospective buyers in November who indicated they had the property in escrow.

The Garden Island reported, “Utah-based real estate investment firm Reef Capital Partners announced it had axed plans to sell the property and intend to go forward with the development themselves.”

According to the online news site, KauaiNow, Reef Capital’s Managing Director of Private Equity Patrick Manning said when speaking to reporters, “Reef Capital would be ‘happy to sell’ – if the price is right.”

Their claim to have “axed plans to sell…and go forward with the development themselves” is disingenuous at best.

These guys are dealmakers. This is what they do. They cut deals to make money and say whatever they need to make that happen. You can bet at this very moment they are frantically searching for some other anonymous LLC, to take this albatross off from around their necks.

Today it’s Utah-based RP21 Coco Palms LLC, or depending on who is before the Planning Commission at the moment, it might be their parent Reef Capital Partners or Reef’s subsidiary Stillwater Equity Partners. Stillwater Equity Partners took over management of the project from Coco Palms Hui LLC (Green and Waters), and before that, it was Coco Palms Ventures LLC, California-based Wailua Associates, Chinese owned “Park Lane Hotels International”, Prudential Insurance, AMFAC, and Island Holidays.

In 1898 it was the Territory of Hawaii, and in 1824 it was the home of Queen Debora Ha‘akulou Kapule.

It’s time now for the community to step up, and the dealmakers to step down. It’s time also for our County government to call out the shibai and require these owners to follow the same rules everyone else has to follow – not those rules of 30 years ago nor the ones the owners seem to be making up as they go along.

We need the County to step up to hold the owners accountable.

And we need a philanthropic angel to step forward and help fulfill the community vision of cultural preservation and restoration.

There’s lots of talk about all the billionaires who live here. Billionaires who love this place like we do, billionaires who care about our community like we do, and billionaires who want to do the right thing.

My question today is, “When will they step up?”

Here are 4 ways YOU can help make our community vision a reality.

Gary Hooser
(above first published 02/01/23 in The Garden Island)

*Here is one more reason the permits should be revoked. File this under “can’t make this stuff up”.

Testimony to Kauaʻi Planning Commission: SUPPORT for Petition for Declaratory Order

01/24/2023
Coco Palms Hotel Development – Petition for Declaratory Order

Aloha Commissioners,

The testimony below represents my thoughts and viewpoint presented as an individual only and does not represent any organization that I may be affiliated with.

I strongly urge the Kauaʻi Planning Commission to SUPPORT the Petition for Declaratory Order and acknowledge what seems so obvious to most residents in the community – that since receiving their permits in 2015, the owners of the Coco Palms property have not made “substantial progress”.

It is a given that the attorneys for the owners will vehemently object and no doubt threaten legal action against the County should the Commission agree the law requires “substantial progress” that has not occurred, thus the permits have lapsed.

The decision and vote before the Commission must be driven by an honest answer to the question: Has “substantial progress” been made? The fear of legal action by high-priced attorneys whose job is to threaten, cajole, and obfuscate the facts – should not be the driving factor.

Viewing the condition of the property today in the 8th year since permits were granted, it seems that development has barely even started and the progress to date is a very long way from being “substantial”.

According to law and court precedent, the permits issued in 2015 have lapsed due to the failure to make “substantial progress”.

I encourage the Commission to focus their attention and their vote, entirely on the law and the question of “substantial progress”.

The permits granted under the “Iniki Ordinance” in 2015 allowed the owners/developers to ignore important county building rules and regulations. These permits were then amended in 2018 after the “Iniki Ordinance” had already expired.

The extension of the “Iniki Ordinance” to benefit only this development is a legally flawed foundation of “special legislation” that violates the State Constitution.

In addition, the “Iniki Ordinance” does not allow the County to exempt projects from State law HRS 343 pertaining to environmental impact statements.

The proximity to the coastline, the use of State lands, and the fact that a portion of the property is registered as a historical place – are all factors that “trigger” HRS343 and an environmental review.

I Ola Wailuanui has filed a lawsuit against the BLNR and the developer asking that they in fact require an environmental review of the impact that will occur due to the construction and development of this property. The Commission is encouraged to also require such a review and/or await the determination by the courts prior to allowing further development on the property to occur.

Year after year different owners have stood next to one different developer after another and made promise after promise.

In August of 2022, Parker Enloe, the owner’s representative at the time assured the Planning Commission they would hold public meetings to hear public concerns, and respond appropriately.

To my knowledge, no such public meetings have ever been held.

Shortly after the August Planning Commission meeting, members of the public discovered a Mr. Parker Enloe who had previously pled guilty and been convicted of fraud. When confronted with the information, the Parker Enloe who testified before the Kauai Planning Commission denied that he was the same Mr. Enloe who received the conviction. There must it seems, be another Parker Enloe who resides in the same town, works in the same industry, and has the same friends and associates who wrote the judge letters on his behalf.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced by still yet another representative of the Coco Palms that Parker Enloe would no longer be representing the owner.

The Commission is encouraged to ask this question directly to the present owner’s representative. Was their prior representative convicted of fraud?

At a more recent Planning Commission meeting, the owner’s representative suggested they were willing to entertain offers from community groups to purchase the property.

It was quickly discovered at a subsequent Zoom meeting his offer was disingenuous at best. The current owner of the property it seems has already accepted an offer to purchase the property from other investors intent on hotel development.

The present owners cannot sell the property to a third party or community group without violating their contract to the existing buyer who has the property in escrow. In addition, the existing buyer is claiming a more than doubling of real estate value even before they close escrow on the property.

The County is dealing with and accepting promises of future permit fulfillment and development timelines from the present owner (whose prior representative may or may not have been convicted of fraud) while the prospective new owners are waiting in the wings – hoping to cash in.

To further muddy the waters, there are two questions that in addition to consulting with the County Attorney, the Planning Commission should put directly and promptly before the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission.

It is the job and duty of the Ethics Commission to review and rule on these matters and is the only way to put this matter to rest.

While it’s sometimes difficult and awkward to raise such questions they do in fact need to be raised.

To be clear the questions are not about personal integrity but rather about inherent bias and public perception.

I strongly encourage the Kauaʻi Planning Commission to request a formal review and opinion from the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission on the below two issues. This matter should not require a complaint to be filed by a member of the public but rather should be a request coming from the Planning Commission itself.

The new Chair of the Kaua’i Planning Commission is also the official Kaua’i Representative for the Hawaiʻi Carpenters Union. The union and its members will clearly receive a direct financial benefit should the Coco Palms Development move forward.

In addition, the current Vice Chair of the Planning Commission, prior to being appointed to the Planning Commission, had a real estate listing agreement to sell Coco Palms Resort condominium units then being proposed by a previous unsuccessful Coco Palms developer.

It’s unclear whether that developer retains a financial interest in the property, and it’s also unclear whether this matter has been previously disclosed.

There are many moving parts, but the fundamental question is one of law.

Has there been “substantial progress”? Most residents I believe would say without hesitation, there has not been anything close to that.

Though the weeds and underbrush have recently been cleared, and what looks like a dust screen is being erected – pulling the weeds, cutting the grass, and putting up a fence – just days before this hearing does not constitute “substantial progress”.

I encourage the Commission to support the Petition for Declaratory Order and to immediately seek a ruling by the Kauaʻi Ethics Commission prior to any formal vote.

Gary Hooser
Wailua Homesteads
Kauaʻi Hawaiʻi