‘They should resign’
Hooray for Sen. Lorraine Inouye (“Inouye: Uphold the law,” Tribune-Herald, Aug. 20)! At last, a government leader in Hawaii who supports the rule of law!
John Adams said, “We are a nation of laws, not men.” Throughout our history, we have insisted that no person is above the law, and that the rule of law must prevail to maintain a decent society. Yet Gov. David Ige, Rep. Kai Kahele and others have taken the position that the law does not apply to people who oppose the TMT. Instead, the opponents are allowed to block roads and prevent people from going to their places of work, in order to prevent the construction of a perfectly legal telescope.
Do the years of court actions mean nothing? The opponents have used every legal means at their disposal to prevent the TMT from being built. They have lost at every step. Now, with all legal avenues exhausted, they have decided to flout the law and prevent the work by illegal means.
Gov. Ige, Rep. Kahele, and all government officials promised in their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution and laws of the state and the nation. If they refuse to keep that promise, they should resign.
Dan Lindsay
Hilo
‘He should resign’
Kudos to the Ethics Board for their recent decision (regarding Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz), and shame on Councilman Aaron Chung for his concern that Hawaii County is too small for high and normal ethical standards.
The issue was not whether a council member merely knew one of the parties to a recent zoning decision that she chaired the committee of; of course this is a small community, and many of us know many of the rest of us.
The issue was very clearly that this council member was employed by the agent of one of the parties, and that she had not disclosed this fact. Even if she had voted against what her employer’s employer wanted, disclosure is a procedural norm and a requirement of public office.
In this case, she ought to have both disclosed and recused herself. It appeared wrong that she did not, and it appears wrong that Chung seeks to misinform the public that high ethics are too much of a burden.
If they are for him, he should resign.
Carl Oguss
Hilo
