Elections office 2

[Guest]

There were numerous other accusations made as well. However, that being said, why then were three of the four terminations overturned and those 3 of the 4 personnel ordered reinstated? Why did the Clerk not reinstate, when so ordered, the 2 workers? (The 3rd had already left Island)

Unfortunately the fourth worker died unexpectedly so we won't ever know the outcome.

Now, that all being said, the employer of employee(s) covered under any form of collective bargaining contracts, inclusive of civil service unions have specific requirements for terminations with and/or without cause.

No, I do not support storing liquor in or on Company property.

But I do support the proper legal due process with respect to management of a union contract. It is after all, a two way street.

So again with all that being said, the issue comes back to the ineptness of the Clerk - and the support of or direction from her boss - the Chairman.

[hikatz]

The article on the Election Absences by Nancy Cook-Lauer, was excellent!

Reed did a great editorial piece on the tangled web that started this whole mess!
http://bestof.westhawaiitoday.com/sectio...itely.html

http://www.hawaiipoliticalinfo.org/node/9

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Obie

Well Ken,

It's because the union got their jobs back because union rules were not followed.

I would be very happy if we had more people like our County Clerk!!

The employee who died was running a private business on county property.

I believe there may be allegations of copyright infringement too.

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So you are happy with a Clerk who cannot read and follow a Union Contract bargained for and AGREED TO by the County of Hawaii and the Union?

In business, this is called ineptness.

So you would be OK if she had unilaterally given herself a 250,000 dollar a year raise too then?

There are rules - AGREED TO in writing with respect to these matters. They simply were not followed, when in fact, had a real violation of that Union Contract occurred there are ways and means to effect a proper disciplinary action, inclusive of and up to termination.

Because of that ineptness, we are now looking at a tab north of 2 million. Would you support an amendment that if you agree with the Clerk, your taxes will be increased to pay for the lawsuits whereas people like me who think the Clerk should be fired immediately as well as being held personally responsible for some if not all of this tab would get a credit on my taxes?

As for the sign printing issue, it looks to me that the evidence is very weak to say an actual for profit business was indeed being run out of the County Election Warehouse, however, I do agree there may have been the appearance of impropriety, which in business or politics is in and of itself indeed an impropriety. However, that worker has now unfortunately passed away. And, as is quite common when sheer ineptness rings its ugly bell with respect to politics – the County soon will be faced with a wrongful death lawsuit – which, at the minimum, will cost hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars to defend.

And you support that style of management from our Clerk? And the elected people on this Council who allowed it? And the Chairman who either supported it or directed it?

I have to quote you Obie:

“WOW!” “REALLY?”

[Kapohocat]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken... As for the sign printing issue...

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Is this how it all got started? This is the piece I was missing.

[Rob Tucker]

[/quote]

Is this how it all got started? This is the piece I was missing.


[/quote]

Hi Kat,

Yeah this is what pissed off the union and the election office workers... leading to what amounted to a revolt on primary day. It must be described as a conspiracy.

Far as I'm concerned these blue flue workers and the ones who threw wrenches into the machinery are just as culpable as the county clerk is for the problems and should not be exempt from penalty.

It may well be that Kawauchi should get fired but it would also be clear that some criminal conspiracy charges against some of the staff are in order.... and I suspect that there might be a few unsung heroes who will get retaliation if the old crew gets back in charge.

This may not end for a couple years.

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

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Is this how it all got started? This is the piece I was missing.


[/quote]

Hi Kat,

Yeah this is what pissed off the union and the election office workers... leading to what amounted to a revolt on primary day. It must be described as a conspiracy.

Far as I'm concerned these blue flue workers and the ones who threw wrenches into the machinery are just as culpable as the county clerk is for the problems and should not be exempt from penalty.

It may well be that Kawauchi should get fired but it would also be clear that some criminal conspiracy charges against some of the staff are in order.... and I suspect that there might be a few unsung heroes who will get retaliation if the old crew gets back in charge.

This may not end for a couple years.





[/quote]

And you know what Rob, all of that may be 100% true.

And it hopefully will come out in either the lawsuits or an as yet to be really decided type of investigation.

Or, it may go nowhere and just end. This is Hilo afterall.

But one thing is for certain. If any person, such as our Clerk, a degreed lawyer at that, walked into a room with several (as we call it in my Company) 800 pound gorillas in a room, you say, "excuse me, I will be right back." And then you come back with your 1,000 pound gorillas and the dispute gets settled right there. You don’t just let the 800 pound gorilla beat you up. And a degreed lawyer - ESPECIALLY should have known what to and how to do it.

But to not say anything or ask anyone for help – begs the one biggest unknown question? Why?

If Union busting is or was the goal, it is not accomplished in this manner. Either you are a Union Employer, or you are not. You live by the rules, or in this case, possibly die by those same rules. You unfortunately as hard as one may try, but you can’t be half pregnant!

I have never once said the 4 workers were innocent. I have, and will question the judgment in terminating long term employees with what appear to be stellar employment files over what can be described as trivial matters. Inclusive of the alleged sign printing business.

Further, and one of my biggest issues with both the Clerk and the Chairman was not one single real definable plan as to what to do once the workers were terminated. And it just went to hell in a hand basket thereafter.

In my world, this smacks at the saying "fly by the seat of your pants."

If there are alleged union wrongdoings – expose it – investigate it – call in the Feds if need be. Front page of HTH & WHT – or even BIC – take your pick! Don’t hide behind “no comment,” refusal to return calls and generally ignore the public as well as the press. Any press.

So what do you think might happen if all this alleged union wrongdoing gets exposed? Murder? Cars being blown up?
Or do we live in fear that the devil we know is much better than the devil we don’t know?

[Kapohocat]

I am trying to sort this all out in my mind - please correct me if I have this wrong:

Election employees allegedly making signs / drinking on the job. 4 employees fired. 1 (?) rehired already.

Other employees call in sick as show of support - blue flu

Jamae tries to hide what is going on and says she can handle it.

Jamae allegdely didnt handle well and it was kind of a mess on primary day.

Council does nothing about this.

State takes over November election.

[kalakoa]

The sequence of events is accurate (in that it matches the media reports).

However, this ignores the biggest problem: voting only matters in a democracy.

[punaticbychoice]

@Ken 10/22/2012, 15:59:16
Voting is not enough.
I do not believe in the lesser of two evils.
I am offended that internationally, nationally and locally, we see
such constant casual disregard for law, justice and fairness.
My comment, I guess, was just a cry from the heart. For us all.

[JerryCarr]

I've been trying to sort through all this for some time, and Cat's timeline does help . . . some. What I don't understand is why the "blue flu" element was not brought forward sooner. If the County Clerk and the other officials now on the hotseat knew this, it would seem helpful to have both made it known at the time and to have dealt with it more effectively. Instead, we hear about it now.

One doesn't have to be a cynic like me to imagine some of the old-guard election employees making the jump from a passive form of resistance such as "blue flu" to more active acts of outright sabotage. I have no evidence of this, of course, but surely I'm not the only one who sees the possibility. The firings threatened to upset the carefully nurtured power structure that the government employees have in place. Like so many unions, I think they were justified in the beginning, but have lost their way in recent times. What began as a necessary movement to protect government workers from politically based firings is now an entrenched part of the good old boy Hawaii power structure designed to make it nearly impossible to fire anyone.

And that brings me back to where all this started . . . the firings. When Dominic Yagong and the clerk fired those workers, they displayed an amazing and alarming lack of understanding of how the system works and how the cards were stacked. I remember thinking, "This is going to backfire. Just wait." Based on what has been disclosed about the firings, it sounded like they were justified. Where Yagong went wrong was in making a dramatic, sweeping gesture that appeared to be designed to make him look like some sort of hero to those who question the power of the unions. Since he was running for Mayor, we can safely assume that some sort of political calculus was involved. Didn't work out, did it? He deservedly, IMHO, came in third place. There is, believe it or not, a process for removing bad County employees. It takes forever and requires meticulous docementation, but it is how Yagong should have proceeded.

It will be interesting to see what the investigation shows. I hope it is thorough and objective, but that is expecting a lot in these parts.