Ed Underwood’s DOBOR

It's been said that ". . .  there are ten thousand steps before one can expect to achieve enlightenment . . . ".    Over the past year, Hawaii Ocean News staff has been investigating DOBOR's idea of due diligence to the public, and has documented a rather voluminous collection of data in this regard.  I believe that recently we have taken the ten thousandth step towards becoming enlightened, but disappointingly, our notion of Nirvana seems to have been misplaced.

By anyone's reckoning, Ed Underwood's DOBOR is very comfortable lying to, misleading, conning, and, ultimately, stealing from the people of Hawaii.  Creative stonewalling has been raised to an art form there, and Governor George Ige seems to be blessing every bit of it.  Ige's hand-selected Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR), Hawaii's newest Liar's Club, just anointed Ed Underwood's version of a rules change that will soak the public for more money, despite an avalanche of public testimony pointing out the outright lying and deceit in the document. This sort of interdepartmental masturbative stroking is commonplace in Hawaii's government and there should be no cause for alarm.

Here's a little snippet from our most recent communications attempt with Ed and some of his minions, their responses filled with cavalier and capricious lying and ultimately, DOBOR's trademark stonewalling. It is interesting to note that when lying becomes a kind of norm, and you can get away with it, then it gradually becomes an ingrained, acceptable pattern of communication to the public:

Our email to Ed Underwood on December 28, 2018: (In this email we make a simple request to be placed on a list to be notified of the upcoming hearing regarding the 13-234 proposal)

Aloha Ed . . .

As you know, on December 7th, the BLNR approved §13-234 for formal Public Hearings. I would like to put my name on the appropriate list advising the public, one full week in advance, by email, as to the date of the Public Hearing relating to this agenda item.

Please advise/confirm at your earliest . . . Katherine

Ed Underwood's response, December 28, 2018: (Ed responds by saying that he is constrained by law -- HRS §91-3 -- and can only place an ad in the newspaper announcing the public hearing date)

Aloha Katherine,

We do not have a list for advising the public of public hearings. We follow Hawaii Revised Statutes, Subsection 91-3. We will run an ad in the newspapers thirty days in advance of the public hearings. We are anticipating the public hearing to be sometime in February 2019. Thank you, Ed Underwood Edward R. Underwood, Administrator 4 Sand Island Access Road Honolulu, HI 96819 (808)587-1966

Our email to Ed Underwood, December 28, 2018: (Our email here gently steers Mr. Underwood's attention to the fact that HRS §91-3, in fact obligates him to establish a mailer list for public notification of ANY upcoming public hearing and that the public has the right to be notified at least 30 days in advance of that meeting . . . exactly the opposite of what he'd just told us)

Hi Ed,

Nearly every State in the Union has a public hearing email notification process.  Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) don't you think it's a bit unfair to expect the public to look in the newspaper every single day for the next 14 months in anticipation of discovering a Public Hearing date in time to provide public testimony?

Further, HRS, Subsection 91-3 states as follows:

[Here we reprint §91-3 in its entirety for the benefit of Mr. Underwood.]  This subsection clearly states that DOBOR has a responsibility, under the law, to set up a mailer list of those in the public who want to be notified, in a timely fashion, of upcoming Public Hearings -- completely opposite to what Underwood and Kevin Yim have been telling inquiring public]

 Ed, in accordance with HRS, Subsection 91-3,  please be advised that I am giving you formal notice here of my request to be notified, in writing, by email, no later than thirty days in advance of the Public Hearing date set aside for the §13-234 agenda item.

 Please confirm, in writing, that this has been done.

 Katherine Lindell

Ed Underwood's response, December 28, 2018: (Underwood backpedals here and mentions something about a fictitious position entitled "Legal Fellow")

Aloha Kathrine,

I will ask our Legal Fellow to mail you a copy of the notice of public hearing when we run the ad in the newspaper.  Please provide us with your mailing address.

Thank you,

Ed Underwood

Edward R. Underwood, Administrator
4 Sand Island Access Road
Honolulu, HI 96819
(808)587-1966

Our email to Ed Underwood, December 28, 2018: (We request that his so-called "Legal Fellow" contact us at the provided email address and ask about the procedure, in general, for the public)

Aloha Ed,

Please have your Legal Fellow send me an email at:  katherine@hawaiioceannews.com

Should this be the procedure for requesting email notification for other interested parties?

Please advise.

Katherine

We did not get a response to our question regarding the procedure for requesting email notifications for public hearings. The next response came from DOBOR talking head, Kevin Yim, famous for his interesting, if not, entertaining and circuitous, rationale and defense of DOBOR's policies and decisions:

Kevin Yim's response, December 28, 2018: (It turns out that Kevin Yim is the "Legal Fellow"; his actual title is Branch Boating Staff Officer.  He's apparently unaware that his automated message from December 24th is still showing up on his emails . . . that's what we like, tech-savvy Boating Staff Officers)

I am out of the office and will return on December 24, 2018.

Please contact Jackie Velasco at 587.3254 if you need immediate assistance

Our email to Kevin Yim, December 28, 2018: (Here we try to help Kevin out with dates . . . )

Hello Kevin . . . your automated response advises that you're out of your office until the 24th. Today is the 28th. I'll look forward to your reply?

Mahalo . . . Katherine

Kevin Yim's response, January 3, 2019: (Kevin, now giving up on the Jackie Velasco contact, routes us to a Jaimie Cassidy)

I’ve forwarded this to Jaimie Cassidy.  You may reach her at 587.1966.

We were under the impression that the number he provided was a direct-in to Jaimie Cassidy's office.  However, and I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was, this phone number is nothing more than DOBOR's generic line.  When someone calls this number there is a long-winded recorded message followed by a request to leave a message. Very entertaining.

Kevin Yim's response, January 7, 2019: (Apparently, Jaimie Cassidy may not actually exist, so we are now routed to Todd Tashima.  Todd, by the way, is another on board the DOBOR staff who has perfected the art of stonewalling)

Aloha Katherine,

I’ve let Todd Tashima know of your request and he will be your point of contact.

Mahalo,

Kevin

Our email to Kevin Yim, January 7, 2019: (now sensing that we're in the middle of a snowstorm, we decide to check on response time . . . )

Aloha Kevin,

When can we expect Todd's response?

Thank you,

Katherine Lindell

Kevin Yim's response, January 7, 2019: (Oh, we were supposed to contact HIM . . . )

Aloha Katherine, please contact him concerning your response.

Our email to Kevin Yim, January 7, 2019: (huh?)

Kevin,

My apologies, but I'm not understanding your message. You've just finished saying that you've let Todd know of my request. Does Todd know how to use email? Certainly you've included my email address in your message to Todd? Please have him contact me at his earliest convenience.

Thank you

Katherine Lindell

Kevin Yim's response, January 7, 2019: (Presumably this is a CC , but we have no actual way of knowing this)

Aloha Todd,

Please see Katherine’s request.

Kevin

FINALLY . . .  Todd Tashima responds:

Katherine,

You have been added to the notification list for the fee increase public hearings.

An email notification will be sent to everyone on the list at the same time that the public hearing notification is published in the newspaper.

Thank you,

Todd

And there you have it, preserved for all time.  If this is what the public has to go through just to get a response to a simple request, what might the gauntlet be for those needing real answers to more complex questions?  When you are so used to lying to and conning the public, email conversations like these are second nature to DOBOR/DLNR staff.  Ed Underwood and DLNR Chair, Suzanne Case seem to be just fine with this.  Governor Ige, too, must be much entertained. 

Dear Public:  If you would like to put you name on a list that makes you eligible for notification about an upcoming Public Hearing, please do the following:

Contact Todd H. Tashima at todd.h.tashima@hawaii.gov and make a formal request to have your name put on the list of those wanting to be notified, thirty days in advance, of upcoming Public Hearings of interest.