Creditability? Accountability? Let's See

TO:Hawaii County Council

Chairman Stacy Higa
Virginia Isbell
James Arikaki
Pete Hoffman
Fred Holschuh
Angel Pilago
Donald Ikeda
Bob Jacobson
Gary Safarik

July 23, 2006

IS ANYBODY GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?

“Regarding Bill 268 introduced by Councilman Pilago, it seems there was a creditability problem in regards to the 17 people who wrote testimony in opposition to having more meetings in Kona.From the WHT article:"However, responses from those whose names appear on letters opposed to the measure weren't so definite. Of the eight people who could be contacted, some refused to speak about the issue, one hung up after being told the reason for the phone call, two people didn't recall signing such a letter and one said he actually supports council members meeting as often in Kona as in Hilo." Even though the people for more meetings in Kona beat the people against 56-17, it is unsettling that some, if not all, the testimony against might've been contrived.”
After reading the WHT article and the above excertped from the West Hawaii blog I contacted my councilmen and asked:
“Will there be any official follow-up regarding the article in the West Hawaii Today which reported that some of the letters submitted to the County Council opposing equal council meetings in Kona might have been contrived by Council Chair Stacy Higa or one of his aides? If the allegation were proved to be true Mr. Higa should be removed from office.”
His answer was: Tiffany Edwards was investigating. We don't know what she discovered. I asked again: Is that the investigation that the public deserves in this instance? If the allegation is true then Mr. Higa has committed a major ethics breach. Is it to be left up to WHT to find out the particulars or is there some mechanism at the county government level that should be involved?
A month has elapsed since this incident and it would appear that there was no official follow up or at least none that has been made public. I contacted the WHT reporter yesterday and her comments were as follows: “people were mum about it.” One person within the county government did call her and commented that “you hit a home run”, meaning that her information about the contrived testimony was accurate and she further stated that one of the seventeen letters was written by Fred Holschuh’s campaign manager, no doubt concerned about Dr. Holschuh’s backside.
So now I would ask you all as a group of representatives elected to serve the entire island. Is this kind of political dirty trick to be swept under the rug? Are you all going to just turn a blind eye when the council chairman behaves this way?
A recent letter to the editor in the WHT illuminated Mr. Higa’s political fund raising activities that far outstrips what the rest of you feel is required to win reelection. The bulk of his contributions came from development and business firms. The inference is pretty clear. While I’m sure this is perfectly legal the fallout will be a continuing rift between East and West Hawaii as Kona gets more development and traffic congestion but seemingly no move by the government to tackle our infrastructure needs. Mr. Higa has voiced his concerns about the move to divide the county but by his actions invites it. Kona suffered for many years under the chairmanship of Mr. Arikaki and now he has passed his connections and contributors to his protégé. WE ARE GOING BACKWARDS PEOPLE!

Thank you for your kind attention,



Peter Hain
73-1066 Ahikawa Street
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
325-5855

cc: Mayor Kim
County Board of Ethics