• They were right • Mayor should dismiss county attorney They were right Boy, was I wrong. I am the KIUC member that initiated the petition requesting the Coop discuss and vote on the Board of Director’s action to invoke
• They were right •
Mayor should dismiss county attorney
They were right
Boy, was I wrong. I am the KIUC member that initiated the petition requesting the Coop discuss and vote on the Board of Director’s action to invoke the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process and hire Free Flow Power to develop hydroelectric resources on Kaua‘i.
During these discussions I refrained from submitting a letter because there were numerous public forums where I could offer my thoughts and answer questions. Those meetings are over, the votes were cast, and our Coop moved ahead.
I submit this letter now as a public apology to the folks at FERC. Boy, was I wrong.
I argued that FERC actually encouraged the development of waters for hydroelectric power by allowing entities to essentially stake a claim to certain waters, similar to a mining claim, that would prevent any other entity from developing that water simultaneously.
Our Coop Directors and staff argued that we must use this FERC power of preemption to protect our waters from “commercial” development.
Boy, was I wrong. This week in Washington D.C., FERC issued a profound ruling. Using language rarely seen in Federal documents, FERC admonished KIUC and Free Flow Power for “claim-jumping” and the abuse of the FERC process in their attempt to gain hydroelectric development rights to Waimea River water.
They felt that this action was so distasteful and dangerous that they will no longer issue these voluntary permits in Hawai‘i. FERC further argued that while they had the authority to issue these permits in Hawai‘i, it was not necessary because the State has an adequate, indeed a more stringent process, for regulating hydroelectric development.
These, of course, were some of the same points that many Coop members and water stakeholders made during our discussions. Now the very agency whose power KIUC sought to invoke, has rebuked our Coop and dismissed the application.
I admit I was wrong about FERC. Now I think it is time that KIUC admit they were wrong about demanding we use the FERC process. The Board of Directors should apologize to our community for dragging us down this dead end path.
But why did it take a group of four commissioners in Washington to point out to us that what we are trying to do is not pono? Why did KIUC staff and Directors seek Federal powers to develop a hyper-local resource that our community has been able to manage for a thousand years? Why did we hire a mainland company with no experience in Hawai‘i and ignore generations of our own people?
We need to get over FERC and get on with managing our water. But in order to do this, our Directors need to admit that they were terribly misguided by Free Flow Power. They need to trust our island’s history, our collective experience, and the mana’o of our kupuna.
They need to embrace the wealth of academic training and business acumen that resides within our own community. They need to acknowledge that State water law is good, appropriate and is the proper set of guidelines for our decision making.
They need to support and embrace other local entities who decided to pursue hydro development in the right way.
In its traditional use, the Hawaiian language is poetic and full of kaona, hidden meanings. As a Coop, we attempted to claim jump Waimea waters under a new company we formed, called Kahawai Power 4, LLC. Whomever came up with the name thought it was cute because kahawai means stream. Little did they know that some of the kaona in this name, kaha wai, is to plunder the water, or cheat the water.
Boy, were they right.
Adam Asquith, Kapa‘a
Mayor should dismiss county attorney
How could our county attorney not know the county was violating the public’s and the workforce’s civil rights and labor laws for decades by failing to have a legal Human Resources function, a legal Loss Prevention function, and an independent and legal Public Auditor function?
It is the multiple egregious and gross failures of this administration, the mayor’s CA, and the mayor’s apparent control of several boards and commissions that forced the council to intervene on the public’s behalf regarding funding the auditor. Thank you County Council for funding and staffing the auditor, and acknowledging that we the people do have civil rights, even on Kaua‘i.
Many thanks to our community-spirited writers, and their differing views and observations. In The Garden Island letters and editorial of Oct. 9, Mr. Imparato and Mr. Stoessel write clear, concise observations about the public interest. They explain the facts of what has, and is, occurring on two very different aspects of civics (the process of governance) and this county’s current circumstances.
What the two issues — TAU and pay raises — share are several egregious civics failures. One issue is the definition of the general public’s interest. Part of our interest is that officials comply with the Charter, act legally, and in a timely manner.
This has egregiously failed in both pay raises and TAU, as well as in choosing a new waste site facility, drug treatment facilities, green waste contracts, dredging Lydgate Park, preventing fires on idle ag lands from burning our homes down, and a host of other issues.
Secondly, that the administrator of independent citizen B&Cs is also a mayoral assistant seems a clear conflict of interest. B&Cs are not agents of the mayor or the services for which they have oversight. Acting as agents of politicians or their departments raises multiple civil rights violation issues.
Under our legal system, politicians and the public never have the same interests. Political interest is in winning elections and “saving face.” The public’s interests are in transparency, due process, and public exposure of corruption.
TAU Bill 2410 is doomed to be another legal disaster due to what is either gross incompetence or brilliance — depending on the desired outcome.
The ambiguity that surrounds CA approved language “allowing only as much development as is desirable and sustainable” and “averaging growth over an undefined time period” renders the entire bill legally useless as a growth regulator, despite Mr. Imparato’s sincere wishes otherwise.
Mr. Mayor, we are sick and tired of paying for the legal messes you and your CA have created for us.
It is time to replace the entire CA staff, and hire competent legal staff who will refuse to violate the public’s civil rights. We want an honest, open, transparent, and efficient county enterprise now.
Lonnie Sykos, Kapa‘a
