Harry Kim to Run for Mayor Again

[dakine]

What he did at Kalapana? Nothing but collect the highest amount of overtime this County has ever paid...for a "disaster" that moved at a snails pace.

Actually Harry earned all that overtime. And, without putting him on a pedestal because he's no more than any of us, and yeah just like all of us he's got an ego, he earned it with a lot of humility. Seriously, that job was a lot of work and it took a special skill to balance all the forces involved and at the same time have and keep the trust of the community as he basically wielded the power of Marshal Law. I know first hand in that I was there, through it all, in the command center working side by side with him.

Talking overtime. Harry was at the command center (first at Harry K Brown Park and then up by the Papaya Farm) by 6am every day (7 days a week) at which time he received a report on what the lava had been doing during the night. He then met with other County officials to develop the day's plans before he met with the citizens to give them instructions on who could stay and who had to leave etc. There were a lot of concerns, from governmental to individual citizens that he balanced every day. Sheesh some people were so freaked out they couldn't figure out what to do, for one it got so bad he committed suicide.

Some days no homes would burn and it would be fairly easy, other times five or more would be destroyed and with all the drama that entailed we often didn't have time to eat. Then at 6pm, regardless of how the day went, Harry was back at the command center receiving another report on the progress of the lava and developing plans for the evening. The "disaster" that moved at a snails pace was just that. A long winded disaster that went on and on, not allowing those involved a chance to be done with it, to begin to heal. Unless you lived through it you have zero business judging those of us that did. It was physically and emotionally draining beyond your comprehension. And Harry walked through that fire with grace.

Harry may be old and he may be behind the curve on many issues and by putting himself out there for re-election he is opening himself up to the judgement of the community all over again. But as far as his behavior during the inundation of Kalapana is concerned he was exemplary and deserves the thanks and respect of the entire community for the time he served us as CD Director.

[PaulW]

"Unless you lived through it you have zero business judging those of us that did. It was physically and emotionally draining beyond your comprehension."

Always great to hear what total strangers can and can't begin to comprehend.

[shockwave rider]

Dakine has a point, some life experiences truly cannot be fully comprehended by people who did not go through them, natural disasters among them, and a natural disaster that lasted for as long as that one would be a unique experience.

I've been though having my town destroyed by a tornado, flooding so bad the feds made us moved the town rather than rebuild, and ice storms that wiped out power for 6 weeks because 100s of square miles of forests were destroyed, but those were all relatively quick events that allowed us to get to the cleanup and rebuild stage fairly quickly. Just the Iselle/lava flow combo we went through was grueling enough, and there was scarcely any actual damage and only a handful of families had to live with the lava right on their doorstep. The Kalapana flow was a disaster of much greater length and magnitude and I agree with Dakine on this one, if you didn't experience it you've got no business judging those who did.

[Rob Tucker]

I fail to get the point here.

How does this relate to Harry Kim running for mayor? or is the topic getting hijacked?

[shockwave rider]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

I fail to get the point here.

How does this relate to Harry Kim running for mayor? or is the topic getting hijacked?

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Hilopuna slammed Harry's track record as head of civil defense as just milking overtime, Dakine defended Harry's performance, PaulW used that as an excuse to denigrate Dakine, and I said Dakine had a point. All of which is directly related to evaluating to what degree Harry's track record as head of CD during that time qualifies him to be mayor today.

Hilopuna's comment was the first time I have ever heard someone put down Harry's work during that time, and I have a lot of clients who were living in Kalapana then; they all have nothing but good to say about Harry during that time, although several have expressed concerns that he might be overestimating his ability to do the job again at his current age.

[TomK]

The point is that you need to separate Kim's work as head of civil defense and his job as mayor. If the head of civil defense didn't turn up to do his job then there would be hell to pay. If the mayor doesn't do his or her job, or, abuses that position, then it doesn't seem to matter given recent history.

I have no time for the argument that Kim worked all hours during emergencies. He was doing the job he was paid to do. There are many people on the island who do exactly the same thing all the time (and aren't paid overtime for doing so). So perhaps it's better to concentrate on what he did as mayor rather than what he did as head of civil defense.

[ericlp]

Is Harry gonna allow Costco or a Sam's club to be built over here? If "NO" than forget it... Anyone know who is in support of growth for east side?

I guess I'll be voting for anyone with some ambition for Hilo/Puna...

[wax]

One of the most important jobs a senior executive has is preparing the next generation to take over and run the enterprise well. This is the only way to secure the future generation by generation. Clearly Kim did not do this. His stepping in to run the government again is another statement that he does not understand this primary responsibility. If he did, he would have found a strong younger candidate, endorsed that person and stated that he was there to assist that person in getting off to a good start and to be a solid mentor.

Voting for him this time only underscores the poverty of political leadership on the island.

[Rob Tucker]

Hmmm. It would be more correct to say that Harry Kim did what you suggest but made a very poor choice in choosing the next generation Mayor. Billy Kenoi
has been pretty bad as mayor. Hundreds of millions in county debt going (largely) into pockets on over priced projects. Not a nickel on economic development.
Our county government looks like a classic case of brain drain... little or no intelligent thinking left. Just the same old payola.

[wax]

That would appear to be the case, but word is that Billy Kenoi was never Harry's choice. If you read his endorsement - it was clear that he was dragging his feet and really sounded more like an endorsement for Billy's opponent. Then Harry ran against him the first chance he had. In fact, it appears that Harry never saw preparation of the next generation as one of his tasks.

But in any case, whether he did not see it as his task or did and did not choose or train well, the result is the same. The result is that we are where we are. Do we reel ourselves back eight years and hope for a better outcome this time? What would make us think that we would get it. Reading the reasons for running - do not lead me to believe that preparation for on going good government is part of the package. Just Harry style government for another period of time. (Note that the size of government nearly doubled in Harry's eight years - scary thought for the future).