2007-03-09 Investigation Into Alleged Sunshine Law Violations

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Printer Friendly :: Page 2 of 2 Ikeda, before leaving the meeting,was the lone council member to vote in favor of a resolution to encourage the county's administration to be"fiscally prudent"in constructing a West Hawaii Civic Center by not including an amphitheater, museum and play area. Ford, Hoffmann, Pilago,Yagong and Jacobson voted against the resolution. The council recently approved moving forward with the$58 million civic center project, but Ikeda,who introduced the"fiscally prudent"resolution, believes the project to be too extravagant. He indicated before the vote that if residents on the west side of the island believe the civic center is more important than other projects,then he would have to vote against things such as the Laiopua connector road project. Yagong took offense to Ikeda's remarks,stating such comments are the reason there's a rift between the west and east sides of Big Island. In an interview during a break in the meeting,Yagong said he believes Ikeda has been angry since January,when the council majority that favored the east side of the island where Ikeda resides became the council minority. "(Ikeda)reminds me of a spoiled brat kid that got his toy taken away,and now he's in the middle of the room pouting, kicking and screaming,"Yagong said. "It's unfortunate because we don't want to look at this as east and west.We(the majority) look at it as the entire island.This is just not what'aloha'is all about. I hope(Ikeda)outgrows it soon." Ikeda, Naeole,Yoshimoto and Higa were unavailable for comment after the meeting. In another matter,the council, under the communications portion of the agenda that took place early in the meeting,voted 7- 2 against nominating Ross Wilson Jr., of public relations firm Current Events,to the county Water Board. A majority of council members believe Wilson isn't the most qualified applicant for the position and there would be a conflict of interest if he was appointed.The two council members who voted in favor of the appointment were Higa and Ikeda. Copyright©West Hawaii Today, 1997 - 2004 Stephens Media Group Privacy Statement Close Window [xl http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2007/02/23/local/loca103.prt 3/7/2007