LIHUE — Rep. Faye Hanohano of the Big Island, who attended a meeting on Kauai last month to discuss legislative bills related to the island of Niihau, received a letter of reprimand Thursday from State House Speaker Joe Souki.
Souki wrote Hanohano’s conduct during recent public hearings was “intimidating and displayed, at a minimum, a lack of respect and courtesy.”
“Your conduct was unacceptable, was in violation of the House Code of Legislative Conduct, and was disruptive to our workplace,” he wrote.
In February, Hanohano caused a bit of a stir when she attended a “listening session” in Lihue regarding the proposal for a no-fishing zone around the island of Niihau.
At that meeting, hosted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hanohano got into a back-and-forth with the audience, at one point accusing them of “namunamu,” Hawaiian for grumbling.
The audience was questioning why Hanohano and other off-island legislators were trying to pass laws related to Niihau without meeting and talking with Kauai residents, who have expressed opposition to the proposals.
“You guys all like grumble, grumble, for what?” she said. “You can grumble all you like, but you’re grumbling to the wrong people. Not the people who are going to make a difference.”
She encouraged the audience to voice their concerns to their elected representatives.
Hanohano introduced the House version of a bill that would have established a two-mile no-fishing zone around the island.
That bill was ultimately deferred and Hanohano later introduced a short form bill, HB 709, that would appropriate funds to establish a task force to assist the state Department of Land and Natural Resources in developing rules that regulate activities within coastal and nearshore waters.
At the Kauai meeting, Kamealoha Smith, director of the bilingual educational outreach program Ke Kaiaulu O Anahola, told Hanohano she was being “disingenuous.”
“I take it very personal,” he said. “Why does she get to tell us we we’re grumbling? We were not grumbling with her. We are very gracious to her. We listened to everything she had to say.”
Thursday’s reprimand stems from complaints made against Hanohano by Lewis Jacobs and William Aila, chairman of the DLNR
Last month, Jacobs, a Hawaii Pacific University student, told lawmakers Hanohano rudely upbraided him when he spoke at a committee hearing on shark fishing.
Six days later, Aila wrote Souki to say Hanohano had been abusive and racially discriminatory to department staffers.
Souki said an investigation found the complaints were substantially accurate.
Despite Hanohano’s assurances that she would conduct herself “fairly, without rancor, and with respect and courtesy” in the future, Souki said he believed the formal reprimand was insufficient to prevent the reoccurrence of her “disruptive behavior,” he wrote.
House leadership will monitor Hanohano for the rest of the legislative session. Should a future incident arise, she could be immediately removed from all committee assignments.
This week, Hanohano stirred her colleagues again by speaking in Hawaiian on the House floor. When asked to translate, she responded: “I don’t want to translate. Mahalo.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
