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Apparently "proper residency" is the new enforcement focus -- while it's nice to see the authorities actually enforcing the rules (that are for everyone), it also seems like nitpicking technicalities while the bigger issues go unresolved.
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...es-milolii
Kai Kahele holds a DLNR land lease (at $132/year!) which requires him to reside in Milolii, but he's also been appointed to a Senate seat which requires him to reside in Hilo.
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How is this any different from the recent 'election fraud' news? That was also a matter of residency wasn't it?
Just call me Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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Exactly my point: suddenly everything is about "residency", with delayed enforcement for things that happened years ago.
Makes me wonder what's really going on.
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If Kahele wants to be a state senator, it looks like he will have to give up his sweet deal of a land lease. I say "looks like" because if there is any possible way, the good old boys will figure out how he can have his cake and eat it, too. Having said that, I should add my opinion that his late father, Gil, did manage to originate and support some good legislation despite being a good old boy. Whether the son would do the same is by no means a certainty. We can hope.
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The lease had been his elderly aunt's home, Kahele took it over at the request of the family who were afraid it would leave family hands, and he didn't read the fine print on the lease. He will probably sign it over to another family member and that will be the end of it. This is not a matter that will end up with a grand jury, the DNLR could decide to play hard ball, but probably won't, there is no legal issue with his Hilo residency, because that is clearly his primary residence.
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Shockwave is right. I read some more on this and his residency is clearly in Hilo. It is somewhat embarrassing, but not a major legal transgression. The local paper under its new ownership sure has been ferreting out a lot of stuff like this. Quite a contrast to the past Vegas-based owners. They scored a big hit with Billy Kenoi and the p-card, but not so much with this guy.
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Perhaps we voters are being too short sighted. Tiffany claimed to have lived in Pahoa and the Acres simultaneously as Kahele did in Hilo and Milolii. Billy had an ability to see that personal and work related charges were one and the same.
Is this fraud, as many of us assume? Or is it in reality a greater power far beyond simple multi-tasking, in which our politicians can actually be in two places at one time?
Think of the benefits to us, their constituents. Kahele exists both on Big Island's east side and west side, bringing a synergistic understanding to issues that affect Hilo and Kona areas and the ability to balance any decision that affects the two. Tiffany could have created a unified philosophy of Puna from her combined insights between town and business issues (Pahoa) and rural (Hawaiian Acres). Billy made everything he touched work related. How's that for someone on the job 24/7?
Maybe, just maybe, our politicians are really Super Politicians, with Super Powers so great, they're beyond our understanding. I vote to see Billy in a cape.
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Kai claims he didn't read the fine print but I think that is a bold faced lie.
The conditions of receiving an ocean front home lease for less than $200 a year are that it is your primary residence. Anyone with a lower than average intelligence would want to know the stipulations for such a ridiculously low amount. He didn't know? No one told him? No family members or employees? His attorney didn't bother to clue him in? Please don't insult us.
This island has been rampant with corruption for decades.
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"Bold faced lie"?
Geez cut him some slack, his Dad just dies and you're ripping him a new one!
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BTW:
Only descendents of people affected by the ML flow that destroyed the village can have those leases, it's a very small pool of eligible lessees and not many can assume a mortgage. Really restricts assignability.
Also, he's the President of the lot owners association down there, like his Dad was before him. They are community leaders.
