The Big Island Press Club is awarding its annual meritorious Torch of Light Award to W.H. Shipman Ltd. President Margaret “Peggy” Farias and the Lava Tube dishonor award to Army Garrison Hawaii Pohakuloa Training Area Public Affairs Officer Michael Donnelly.
The Torch of Light award is given to an individual or entity for brightening the public’s right to know, while the Lava Tube dishonor is given for a lack of communication and keeping the public in the dark.
The awards are announced yearly on March 16, Freedom of Information Day and the birthday of James Madison, widely regarded as the father of the U.S. Constitution and the leading advocate of openness in government among our founding fathers.
These awards are for 2019.
Torch of Light
The BIPC has selected W.H. Shipman Ltd. President Margaret “Peggy” Farias as its “Torch of Light” awardee this year for keeping the community informed and active in the decision-making process of a potential spaceport complex near Keaau.
Farias, as president of W.H. Shipman, the Big Island’s fourth-largest private landowner, was faced with a controversial development project in 2019, less than a year after becoming the company’s seventh chief executive.
Alaska Aerospace approached W.H. Shipman with an interest in leasing land to develop a spaceport on the Puna coast, not far from Haena Beach. Known as the “Pacific Spaceport Complex – Hawaii,” or PSCH for short, the proposed facility would include two relatively tiny launch pads that would be used by small rockets during monthly launches.
While the launch pads, which together could fit within half of a typical basketball court, were small, the reaction from the community was very large. Farias opened the process to the community for discussion and debate.
In addition to drawing pro-science community members looking to diversify the economy with a new aerospace endeavor, the process also brought out very vocal protesters. Throughout the controversy, Farias maintained decorum and kept the process above board, even as insults were shouted. While some might have kept this private transaction private, Farias maintained an open dialogue through a transparent process, keeping the community informed via the local media.
Ultimately, W.H. Shipman turned down Alaska Aerospace’s bid to lease from their land. While the decision left proponents and opponents of PSCH with different takes, Farias’s role in keeping the public informed should could serve as a template for other entities seeking community input on issues that impact the island.
Lava Tube Dishonor
The BIPC has chosen Army Garrison Hawaii Pohakuloa Training Area Public Affairs Officer Michael Donnelly for the Lava Tube dishonor. His selection stems from the exclusion of West Hawaii Today reporter Nancy Cook Lauer from a May 16, 2019, meeting, opened to the general public, outlining Army plans to manage historic resources at Pohakuloa Training Center and Kawaihae Military Reservation.
Donnelly reportedly told Cook Lauer “this is not a media event” and participating parties might not feel comfortable expressing their opinions in the presence of the media.
As justification for banning Cook Lauer, Julie Taomia, the installation’s cultural resource manager, cited a federal law which states, in part, “The agency official must, except where appropriate to protect confidentiality concerns of affected parties, provide the public with information about an undertaking and its effect on historic properties and seek public comment and input.”
The law, however, doesn’t address the issue of excluding media from a meeting opened to the public.
Donnelly described the meeting, at the county’s Aupuni Center conference room in Hilo, as “a ‘consultation meeting’ with and for consulting parties and signatories to the training programmatic agreement only” and “not a general public meeting … .”
But the meeting was opened to the public, however reluctantly on the Army’s part, including activists critical of the Army and its stewardship of land and other resources on Hawaii Island.
Despite an apology later issued to Cook Lauer by Lt. Col. Loreto V. Borce Jr., Pohakuloa’s commanding officer, Donnelly’s actions were and are troubling. The public’s right to know about decisions affecting cultural and archaeological resources on public land is a paramount concern, and the media is the eyes and ears of the general public. The alleged discomfort with the presence of news media by participating parties is immaterial.
Previous Torch of Light Honorees
2018 Hawaii County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy
2017 Brian Black of the Civil Beat Law Center
2016 West Hawaii Today reporter Nancy Cook Lauer
2015 State Sen. Lorraine Inouye
2014 USGS HVO Scientists
2013 Mayor Billy Kenoi
2012 County Councilwoman and state Rep. Helene Hale (posthumously)
2011 State Judicial Selection Commission
2010 Hawaii County Civil Defense and other departments
2009 Hawaii State Legislature and Gov. Linda Lingle
2008 Les Kondo, Office of Information Practices
2007 West Hawaii Today
2006 Lillian Koller, State Department of Human Services
2005 Retired Circuit Judge Paul de Silva
2004 UH Manoa Journalism Professor Beverly Keever
2003 U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink (posthumously)
2002 Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim
2001 Hawaii County Clerk Al Konishi
2000 Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano
1999 Jerry Rothstein and Judith Graham
1998 Environment Hawaii and Common Cause
1997 Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Chapter
Previous Lava Tube Dishonorees
2018 Hawaii County Civil Defense
2017 Hawaii Office of Information Practices
2016 Former Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi
2015 State Land Board Chairwoman Suzanne Case
2014 State Chief Elections Officer Scott Nago
2013 Democratic Party House District 5 Council
2012 State Sen. Clayton Hee
2011 Gov. Neil Abercrombie
2010 Hawaii County Council
2009 Noelani Whittington, County Department of Public Works
2008 Mayor Harry Kim and Hawaii County Council
2007 State Board of Education
2006 Honolulu, Kauai, and Hawaii County Councils
2005 District Judge Matthew S.K. Pyun
2004 State Land Board Chairman Peter Young
2003 State Sen. Cal Kawamoto
2002 University of Hawaii Board of Regents
2001 University of Hawaii Board of Regents
2000 State Rep. Eric Hamakawa and Hawaii County Councilman James Arakaki
1999 Hawaii County Council
1998 Gov. Ben Cayetano
1997 Hawaii County Councilman Elroy Osorio
