Let's clarify that the "drinking on the job" was only AFTER Election Day activities took place, and was a traditional pot luck type of celebration that has taken place year after year, County Clerk after County Clerk, and was at the Election Warehouse parking lot. And yes, some attendees brought booze. And yes, there were empty bottles in the warehouse.
As for the sign issue - all we know is that certain pieces of equipment were being stored in the warehouse. There has been no direct cause and effect evidence introduced that shows actual signs being printed in the warehouse while on County Time.
Posts: 711
Threads: 78
Joined: Feb 2008
Yagong, with Harry Kim in the race for Mayor already knew the odds were against him.
Jamae definitely did mishandled this crisis! But I think it must have been very hard for her, trying to straighten out the election mess, while investigating and documenting suspected voter fraud.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections...s.htmloter
In some of the previous district elections the votes had been very close! Which added fuel to the fire about election shenanigans. Truth or Fiction, I have no idea!
She had to have been aware that some people were deliberately sabotaging and undermining what she was doing, besides reporting back every move she made.
This would make anyone paranoid and very suspicious on who you could trust or talk to.
Posts: 1,163
Threads: 32
Joined: Aug 2009
My understanding from friends who work for the county is that the sign guy had tacit permission to locate his equipment in county facilities and occasionally printed items for the county at no charge. And the post-election pot lucks were a long-standing tradition attended by a wide range of employees who participated in the election process, including higher ups. It sounds to me like all of the "violations" that led to the firings were longstanding, which is why the union may be crying foul over the firing. If management could show documentation concerning past warnings, then they'd be justified in firing at will. If not, then it's clear why things became messy. I had a boss who documented almost every interaction with union employees (with copies to the affected employees and the shop steward). She was well regarded by union and management employees alike because she played by the agreed-upon rules, treated her co-workers and staff with respect, and fostered an environment where everyone was working as a team towards a common, well understood goal. None of this can be said for the way the elections office has been managed...
Posts: 4,533
Threads: 241
Joined: Jan 2006
Thank you all for the clarifications.
"drinking on the job" as it was presented is a whole lot different than potluck in parking lot after elections close.
"printing equipment" sometimes used for county projects at n/c is whole lot different than running a business out of county warehouse.
Maybe both of these items would have rated stern warnings and some kind of reprimand but not dismissal --- as the facts have been presented here.
It is becoming a lot clearer on how this avalanced into a much bigger deal than it was.
So now I must ask how did Tiffani get in the middle of this? Again, I need clarification -
She went to elections office on the morning of elections and was barred from entering? Were other press barred too? I thought no press was allowed in the actual voting area. Dont they usually interview people before going in or after going out? I can appreciate Tiffani following up on the story and attempting to share the facts - but where did she become part of the story? This I am also confused about.
Posts: 711
Threads: 78
Joined: Feb 2008
It's simpler to go to her blog, in the search box enter election mess. Read through the "Commentary" and the 38 comments. Heaven forbid you disagree or express criticism at her writing, you will be banned from her website.
Reminds me of Fox News fair and balanced! Sorry Ken, I know you are a loyal supporter, but the whole thing is childish!
Posts: 4,533
Threads: 241
Joined: Jan 2006
After going way back in the blog, this is what I found. The stories are two stories, not one.
There is the election mess, AND press being banned. Not one story together as it seemed. Okay this makes more sense.
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2012/1...treatment/
"This petition had its genesis in the difficulties that Big Island Chronicle editor Tiffany Edwards Hunt and other non-print news sources had in receiving Elections information from County Clerk Jamae Kawauchi.
It recounts how BIC was not invited to a June press conference held by the Elections Office. After objecting to this omission, Hunt was asked by Kawauchi to fill out a “media notification form”. In spite of having done this, she was not put on the “Press Release Dissemination List” and had to rely on releases forwarded to her by another reporter who did get them on the day of the Primary Election. The petition also recounts how Kawauchi ignored two appointments she had made with BIC staff on Primary Election Day."
Posts: 2,149
Threads: 90
Joined: Feb 2006
quote:
Originally posted by hikatz
It's simpler to go to her blog, in the search box enter election mess. Read through the "Commentary" and the 38 comments. Heaven forbid you disagree or express criticism at her writing, you will be banned from her website.
Reminds me of Fox News fair and balanced! Sorry Ken, I know you are a loyal supporter, but the whole thing is childish!
It's actually deeper than the one commentary and the 38 reader comments. Tiffany began using terms like "debacle" and "disaster" in what were supposedly news stories as soon as she decided that she wasn't being shown the respect she thought she should be given. IIRC, it started when she was scooped by a Honolulu news outlet and then not given full access after she had already condemned the whole process. To make things worse, there was a tendency on her part early on to not clearly differentiate between what were supposed to be news items and what were supposed to be commentaries. This improved later, but the content of the two genres became virtually indisguishable after a while.
Very early on, Tiffany's coverage of what was, to be fair, a messy election ceased to be journalism and became a vendetta which was encouraged by a group of readers screaming for blood. People who disagreed were either hounded by the peanut gallery or banned. This is the danger of operating a blog where there is no editor. In a newspaper or magazine, there would be someone riding shotgun on this process, keeping it honest, so to speak. With blogs, it's usually a one person operation and the lines are easy to blur.
I stopped participating in the discussion on Tiffany's blog some time ago. The problem I had was with the tone of it all and the fact that any sort of name calling and abuse was OK as long as it supported her increasingly biased point of view. The fact that she had lost what I felt to be any semblance of objective journalistic standards didn't help.
Posts: 8,469
Threads: 1,033
Joined: May 2003
For what it is worth I will credit Jame Kawauchi for trying, however feebly, to confront the blow back from the union employees.
A number of facts, like the alleged on-site drinking and sign making operation, may or may not become clear in the future.
On a couple occasions the County Clerk was reported to be meeting with the Attorney General. That has the appearance at least of the clerk seeking outside assistance. What will be the result of that remains to be seen.
Tiffany Hunt, as a self claimed "reporter", has become part of the problem and not part of the solution. In my opinion her lack of ethics on this local topic and some others is nothing short of appalling. It will really be depressing if her performance results in a job at the mayor's office.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
Posts: 631
Threads: 53
Joined: Oct 2006
If the Clerk learned shortly before the primary that there would be blue flu absences, why did she not contact all the people who had worked elections in the past and had not signed up for this one? Surely there is a pool of experienced people out there. I, for example was a precinct official for many years and later 'graduated' to a VAO (voters assistance official) and only stopped because the long day was too physically grueling for my aging bod. But if I had known of the problem I would have toughed it out and worked the polls. How many others like that? Why did she not take advantage of options that remained to her? Did she just not think of that as a partial solution to her staff shortage?
Posts: 8,469
Threads: 1,033
Joined: May 2003
You will have to ask her Rene or await further disclosure. Perhaps Nancy Cook-Lauer, a real reporter, will publish more info soon. Somehow I think some of this will be in a public courtroom at some point.
One possibility, just speculation, is that the workers that did not call in sick, the ones that physically sabotaged the polling stations, assured the clerk that they could cover it.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
|
