Lawful Hawaiian Government fights for signs

LIHUE — Citizen Janos Samu and Noble Timothy Oga of the Lawful Hawaiian Government marched up to the office of the Department of Land and Natural Resources on Tuesday and asked to speak to Marvin Mikasa, acting district land agent for Kauai.

Samu and Oga had been entangled in an environmental court case against DNLR in recent months regarding two signs that had been removed by DLNR from private property at the Hanapepe lookout on Feb. 11, 2015. They were cited for “illegally installing and abandoning private property on public land.”

After having one case dismissed without prejudice against Oga, Samu was found not guilty after a bench trial on Dec. 17.

Ogu and Samu arrived at DLNR to request that their signs be returned from the DLNR warehouse, but were turned away because they did not have an evidence release form from the prosecutor’s office.

Mikasa was not available, but DLNR Kauai Branch Chief Francis Mission told the small group of five they needed to head to the Prosecutor’s Office and upon getting a release form, come back to the DLNR office to speak to him.

The convoy fired up their trucks, complete with “Independence for Hawaii” signage on them, and drove to the prosecutor’s office.

After an hour-long wait, Special Investigator John Burgess gave the LHG group the document the group needed to show Mission.

But when they returned to DLNR, Mission had already left.

The receptionist told the group he would not be available until later in the week and until they were able to secure an appointment with him, they would not be able to get their signs back.

On Thursday, Mission could not be reached for comment and the group had not been able to secure an appointment.

The group said they had sent several letters prior to going to DLNR office Tuesday with no response from Mission.

Still, Samu and Oga said they will be diplomatic and follow all necessary steps until they are able to get what belongs to them.