What a master of illusion is our mayor Roth.
His reasons for vetoing Bill 194, Councilman Inaba’s clear-headed solution to the failing policy of building extensions, is pure razzle dazzle.
The mayor’s reasons for the veto fall apart at the slightest examination.There is no good reason to reject the new bill, it seems like an improvement. The entire council agreed on it, a strong message right there. But the mayor wants to keep an out-dated system rather than replace it with one favored by most residents.
West Hawaii Today writer and editor, Chelsea Jensen summed it up in her WHT article 9/29/22. She wrote,“Bill 194 aims to address a common complaint among West Hawaii residents that applicants once approved (easily) got time extensions without regard to how conditions changed in intervening years.”Always a shoe-in.
Bill 194 seems to be the solution to this problem. But one reason for Mayor Roth’s veto might be his concern that the new policy takes decisions out of the hands of county workers and appointees and gives them to the county council.
It’s a power thing, all about who gets to be head honcho. Wording of the bill is clear, “If Bill 194 is passed it would provide (give) the Hawaii County Council exclusive authority to grant time extensions.”
But the mayor still continues to support the old policy. He states in the Sunday 4/2/23 article in WHT, “The Bill inappropriately removes the County Planning Department staff.” This is not true, no one is being removed. Granting extensions is just one of the many jobs of the planning department. Passing the bill will simply let them get paid for doing less, something they won’t mind a bit.
Here’s the smoke and the mirrors part, saying things that sound true and impressive, but are actually false.He says in the 4/2/23 WHT article that “The Bill requires that a request for a time extension may only be granted by the Council via resolution.” There is no powerless“resolution”, they decide right there, case closed. The council will have exclusive authority to grant extensions. Period.
The mayor’s next statement is a string of fancy words but completely false. He says, The bill “changes what was formerly a council administrative procedure into a political process”. What political process? There is no politics here. The council is in charge, no politics, end of story.
All his objections are all invalid and come off more like complaints. He tears away at the bill but does not offer better ideas. It is just a high-sounding rant.
Mitch Roth is a good mayor but his objections only suggest that he is rejecting something new and beneficial to help long-time county workers with their jobs. He doesn’t want to rock the boat for those he appointed.It is commendable to want to help your friends and fellow workers, but we must remember that the county is here to give to the island and not the other way around.
Dennis Gregory writes a bi-monthly column for West Hawaii Today and welcomes your comments at makewavess@yahoo.com