• McMahon qualified • Tell us your concerns McMahon qualified What happened to Nancy McMahon during confirmation hearings was savage and unacceptable. I know in my heart that the group that was bent on ruining McMahon’s career does not reflect
• McMahon qualified • Tell us your concerns
McMahon qualified
What happened to Nancy McMahon during confirmation hearings was savage and unacceptable. I know in my heart that the group that was bent on ruining McMahon’s career does not reflect the overall character of Kaua‘i. This is evidenced by the calls I got this week from Kauaians asking me to help set the record straight on Nancy McMahon.
Since the savage testimony was centered on burials and nothing to do with the duties of the Kaua‘i Historic Preservation Review Commission for which McMahon was being vetted for, I would like to discuss burials.
First of all, the practices, policies and laws relating to historic burials do not favor those who believe that nothing should be done on private properties where burials are discovered. The State Historic Preservation Division, along with the Burial Council, has procedures that lead to a compromise with private property owners where the burials are respected and the private property owners have reasonable use of their properties.
Nancy McMahon during her tenure as the qualified state’s archaeologist always did her job in making sure the above mentioned compromise came to fruition on every project subjected to this process. Any other archaeologist would have performed in the same manner, as it would have been their duty to do so.
The handful of testifiers at the County Council confirmation hearings last week are identified as the same group that has been savagely protesting against just about everything on Kaua‘i in the past few years. These people believe that private property owners have no right concerning their property if a historic burial site exists on their property.
Nancy McMahon became their target simply because at times she oversaw construction projects to make sure the property owners subjected to this process abide by the conditions of their permits. Her duties did not include succumbing to wild protesters, as long as the private property owners perform their work in accordance with the permits. Because she had not succumbed to the pressure of this savage group, McMahon has been their target. Therefore, this group has got to be identified for who they are by all decision making bodies and weigh their testimony accordingly.
It is interesting to know that recently the courts have recognized the practices and procedures of DLNR as reasonable and have often rendered decisions in favor of private property owners when they followed their permit conditions imposed by the State.
As for the qualifications of McMahon, the federal government has vetted her, at least twice that I know of, and has deemed her as a qualified archaeologist for the State of Hawai‘i.
A man asserted in his testimony that McMahon was not qualified to do her job. Well, he is who he is. This person has constantly harassed DLNR personnel and when he does not get the answer he wants, he tends to request for their personal records and tries to attack them in the same foolish manner. McMahon is qualified as an archaeologist and is certainly qualified to sit on the Kaua‘i Historic Preservation Review Commission.
Many of McMahon’s supporters took it for granted that she was going to be a shoe-in for the position. So mistakenly they did not show up to testify. If given another chance by the County Council, I believe there would be standing room only in the chambers with people supporting her.
One of the most disappointing aspects of this fiasco, is that I received a string of emails that shows that an officer of the Sierra Club began the rallying of the group who protested McMahon’s confirmation. I personally started a campaign to force her resignation because I experienced this to be the second time she has done this.
However, as of today, I have communicated with her and I believe we can work together to find a way to guide people to protest on the issues and not by savage personal attacks. It appears we both agree that Kaua‘i is a special good place and everyone should reflect that in their behavior. Therefore, I will not be pursuing her resignation at this time.
In conclusion, as tragic as the County Council confirmation hearings on Nancy McMahon was, I hope we can all learn from it. We have many issued facing Kaua‘i that need to be addressed and talked about in public forums. However, testimony has to be about the issues and not personal and savage attacks. I pride myself of Kaua‘i being a special place and I know we can all be good special people working together for the betterment of Kaua‘i.
Ron Agor, Lihu‘e
Tell us your concerns
The KIUC board of directors received the letter from Mr. Nickerson that also appeared May 8 in the Letters section of The Garden Island. In reply to his question about the actions KIUC took following initial receipt of the petition calling for a Special Meeting, the Board of Directors’ reply to him, in part, read:
Unfortunately, KIUC does not have the freedom to respond to a member petition in any manner other than what is binding on the Board of Directors per two provisions in its own bylaws, both of which were required of the cooperative by Hawaii law (HRS sections 421-12 (4) and (7).
Respectively, these require that the Notice of the calling of a Special Meeting of the Members needs a minimum of 250 Members to ask for the meeting in writing, and that for a Member Petition to have a vote on a Board decision to have its effect, the petition must contain a minimum of 250 Member signatures.
The submission of the petition imposed on the Board the requirement that it meet its fiduciary duty to follow KIUC’s bylaws, and Hawaii law. So, the verification was accomplished by KIUC staff, with legal counsel advising them of the legal requirements.
KIUC Board members and staff have held and will continue to hold many meetings with any and all stakeholders to answer questions, clear up confusion and do what it takes to work together so that we can see if new, small hydroelectric projects can play a role in ending our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and do what we can to stabilize our members’ cost of energy.
“Even with the outcome of the petition verification, we would like to meet with you, and anyone else with an interest to participate. We want to hear your concerns and let you hear from us, first hand, what we hope to accomplish and about the process we have chosen.”
The necessary qualified signatures on the petition were received this week. The meeting and the vote is in the process of being set by the Board.
Teofilo “Phil” Tacbian, Chairman KIUC Board of Directors
