Letters for Sunday — December 19, 2004

• Ohana Kauai

Ohana Kauai

The recent viewpoint article in the Forum by JoAnn Yukimura argues that elected officials have a duty to determine the Ohana Charter amendment1s validity before enforcing it. Maybe. But there are some factors that she did not mention.

County officials have known the terms of the Ohana Charter amendment for well over a year. If there had been a clear conviction that the measure was not constitutional why was it that no one made any comment about it or initiated a legal review until just before the November election?

In late August the County Attorney certified the Charter amendment proposal for inclusion in the General Election ballot and disclaimed any opinion about the amendment1s legality. Why the disclaimer?.

Ms. Yukimura, who is a lawyer, wrote an extended Forum article in September opposing the amendment but made absolutely no mention of any potential doubt about the legality of the measure.

She contends that our system requires that laws adopted “pass the scrutiny of the judicial branch”. Not so. Courts review issues of legality only at the instance of aggrieved parties.

It is true as she states that elected officials have sworn to uphold the law. The Charter amendment is now law, and the County officials are at present violating their duty by failing to take the action that is required by it. The County is even seeking an injunction to prevent implementation of the amendment by County officials. The tax relief provided by the measure becomes effective in the tax year beginning next July. If County officials fail to act currently on the necessary preliminary matters because the law suit is pending, the tax benefits adopted by the voters may not be made available at the time the law provides. Such a delay would be highly prejudicial to some taxpayers.

Glenn Mickens

Kapa‘a