• Problem solved • Independent and impartial • Putting it into perspective Problem solved In rebuking our mayor for not reappointing Rolf Bieber to the Board of Ethics, Mr. Glenn Mickens, in his Dec. 27 letter, “Bravo Rolf,” glowingly describes
• Problem solved • Independent and impartial • Putting it into perspective
Problem solved
In rebuking our mayor for not reappointing Rolf Bieber to the Board of Ethics, Mr. Glenn Mickens, in his Dec. 27 letter, “Bravo Rolf,” glowingly describes Rolf as “a maverick,” “a newcomer to Kaua‘i,” “without local backing,” “had fortitude and determination,” “not attached to any special interest.”
Now, in his letter of March 24, “Bieber and Balance,” Mr. Mickens says Mr. Bieber “became a ‘leper’ to some of his colleagues.” And without realizing that he has the answer to his own question, Mr. Mickens, naively, asks our mayor, “Please tell us why Rolf isn’t on this board.”
One member of a board or commission does not constitute the entire board or commission. Being a “maverick” with “fortitude,” and “determination” are admirable traits, but being considered a “leper” by your colleagues is indicative of an inability to get along with others. Dignity and respect for differing views must be observed at all times and let the majority rule.
Who deserves a medal for “heroism” in this saga of the Board of Ethics? I say Mayor Carvalho for recognizing the need for “balance” in achieving the end result from the Board of Ethics desired by Mr. Mickens but accomplished by the mayor’s appointment of two new members to the Board of Ethics and removal of what appeared to be a problem.
Alfred Laureta, Lihu‘e
Independent and impartial
The Code of Ethics sits at the heart of the County Charter and the Board of Ethics sits at the heart of county government, tasked with upholding “a high standard of integrity and morality.” Yet the board has no statutory protection against being politically manipulated.
State law erects a partial “firewall” between ethics commissions and the political power structure with respect to the appointment of commissioners and the power of the state commission to utilize independent legal counsel.
Article XIV of the state constitution mandates that “Ethics commissioners shall be selected in a manner which assures their independence and impartiality.”
HRS Chapter 84 establishes the state Ethics Commission within the auditor’s office for administrative purposes and requires the governor to appoint members recommended by the judicial council, which submits two names for each vacancy. In addition, the commission has the power to hire an executive director and other staff attorneys.
The Honolulu Charter (11-107) establishes the Ethics Commission within the Department of the Corporation Counsel for administrative purposes, but authorizes the commission to hire legal staff and consultants “who may advise the commission independently” of that department.
With respect to appointments to the Board of Ethics, Kaua‘i County has no objective standards. Rolf Bieber said the mayor told him that he was not reappointed to the board after a one-year term because the mayor wanted to achieve “balance” (which was not defined) on the board. “Balance” is an unconstitutional substitute for the “independence and impartiality” mandated by the state constitution.
With respect to independent legal counsel for the board, Kaua‘i makes no provision. It is assumed that the only counsel required will be provided by the office of the county attorney, a political appointee. In my opinion, two “fatally flawed” legal opinions related to 20.02D show that a politicized legal department cannot always be counted on for objective advice.
Which candidate for mayor or council will take the lead to bring the county up to state standards for ensuring the independence of the Board of Ethics and statutory authority for it to employ outside counsel as needed?
Horace Stoessel, Kapa‘a
Putting it into perspective
The Kekaha shrimp farm owned by Sunrise Capital would like to dump up to 30 millions of gallons of wastewater a day into the pristine blue waters of the Westside. Yet, according to the owners, there shouldn’t be any impact on the water quality of the ocean area. I believe this statement to be incorrect.
Without proper treatment you cannot dump this much wastewater in the ocean without it having an effect on the ecosystem. It leads to eutrophication (elevated nutrient levels) which in worst cases can lead to algae blooms and barren waters.
Let’s put this number into perspective since we’re talking about huge numbers that are hard to visualize: assuming 365 day per year operations, if the shrimp farm were to dump the maximum of 30 million gallons a day that works out to almost 11 billion gallons of untreated wastewater a year being introduced to the ocean.
A typical Olympic sized swimming pool is about 660,000 gallons of water. The Shrimp farm is asking to be allowed to dump the equivalent of about 45.5 Olympic swimming pools of nitrogen and ammonia enriched wastewater into the ocean every day. This is the equivalent of about 16,607.5 Olympic pools a year.
At that level of discharge, we’d be able to completely fill a quarter-mile long VLCC Supertanker in less then two days with this much wastewater.
Please write to CleanWaterBranch@doh.hawaii.gov before April 10 if you disapprove of this untreated wastewater dumping.
Jason Badua, Lihu‘e
