This level of incompetence is not humanly possible
Government agency heads: little accountability makes for dangerous scenario
Rereading DoBOR’s “Modernizing Ocean Recreation Management in Hawai`I, Strategic Action Plan”, we couldn’t help but notice that Ed Underwood found it necessary to publish his own performance assessment. “When I assumed control over the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) in 2007, I immediately made changes to improve its service and efficiency. At first the changes were incremental. In recent years the changes have grown in scope, influence, and impact to address statewide issues and needs. . . .” DOBOR-Strategic-Plan Underwood promoting himself
In the “Plan”, DoBOR, the DLNR, and select legislators like Moriwaki, the Thielens, Dela Cruz, et al, are attempting to give themselves permission to take your public lands away from you and simultaneously convince you that to do so would be wonderful.
On this particular version of Ed’s report card, Mr. Underwood has chosen to give himself an A+ for his efforts. Unfortunately, there are few who have been affected by Mr. Underwood’s decision making that would rally to and support his conclusions. We have written extensively on this subject here, here, and here.
To most – if not all -- Ed Underwood is a wonderful example of the personification -– an actual case history, if you will -- of the Peter Principal. Harbor fiscals have been exacerbated disastrous in only a short time after he ascended to DoBOR’s administrator position, and have been in free-fall ever since. There are numerous good reasons to suspect Underwood of illegal collusion, plenty of examples of his lying to, not only the public, but to legislators themselves, and more than enough experiential evidence to suggest that his tenure at the helm of DoBOR has resulted in the dereliction of the state’s public harbor system. All at the expense of Hawaii taxpayers. His performance has been so abysmal that some are openly wondering if he isn’t, in fact, deliberately mismanaging the state’s harbor system.
So much for the good news.
Over the past ten years, Ed Underwood has been openly participating in, and a prime mover of a “Plan” to turn public lands and assets over to private wealthy interests who will convert the properties into playgrounds for the very wealthy, excluding their access to the average public.
Ed’s indicated that he’s had no problem with leasing off public lands. If he eventually succeeds at that, his job would become nothing more than clerical, and his yearly self-administered report card might actually start looking credible. As for the rest of us? We’d be out of luck. Once access to public lands slips away, there will be no turning back.
PUBLIC BEWARE: Watch carefully as Underwood, Case, some members of our legislature, and the governor himself, use the revenue shortfalls created by the pandemic crisis as an excuse to privatize our public lands.
Ed Underwood is a pathological liar. His “strategic plan” is nothing more than a lengthy advertisement promoting the sell-off of public lands to wealthy investors that need it to increase the value of their Hawaii real estate holdings.
Anyone who actually comprehends his so-called plan will recognize from the very first paragraph he attempts to steer the reader to the uninformed conclusion that Hawaii’s harbors are only manageable by the private sector. A REAL strategic plan would (at the very least) address current shortcomings, past errors, impact on current residents, long-term effects of privatization and public access, potential pitfalls, and provide links to support data and historical context.
Underwood’s is simply a pat on his own back followed by a ‘here’s what we gotta do’ sales pitch. It may as well have just said, “Hey folks, I’m an incompetent jackass and anyone following me will likely be also. So let’s get rid of the problem by promoting me to a do-nothing tax enforcer, raising taxes, and handing my only difficult job off to some rich people with actual SKILLS.
I’m not sure Underhand has the mental acuity to actually PLAN this sell-out. He has stepped on his own… logic so many times I have come to the conclusion he isn’t smart enough to implement some corrupt scheme. He is just a buffoon being herded to cliff by those who will benefit from his obtuse perspective.
Anyone do a FOIA request yet?
Yes it’s in the works right now.