Lawmakers bemoan e-mail flood

The Maui News
Friday, October 12, 2007

By EDWIN TANJI, City Editor

HONOLULU – While legislative leaders are conferring with state Attorney General Mark Bennett on possible legislation to allow the Hawaii Superferry to operate, Superferry advocates have spurred resistance.

The undoing of the Superferry may be supporters who are believed to have initiated an e-mail campaign that is more annoying than persuasive, according to Maui Sen. J. Kalani English. The bulk of the e-mails that arrived at a rate of about "one every minute" were in support of the Superferry and a special session, he said.

"You would think the Superferry people would show some haahaa (humility), that they would have called and said, 'Can we talk about this?' There's been not a word.

"They haven't talked to us, and today, they have set up an auto generator that sends out thousands of e-mails.

"There was an auto-generation of e-mails that had even the strong supporters in our caucus wondering, 'What are they doing?' By jamming our e-mail systems, they have created more questions than support," English said.

"They're assuming we're too naive to know it's auto-generated even when it all says exactly the same thing and is coming in by the minute.

"It's fake public support. Instead of dealing with us, they're faking it."

Sen. Roz Baker, who was attending an awards program for the American Cancer Society in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, said she received so many e-mails that she had to ask her staff to turn off the system before it jammed her Blackberry.

"We haven't had a lot of phone calls, so there isn't a lot of opportunity for dialogue," Baker said. "I'm more interested in hearing from people who have thought through the issues and may have some real feelings rather than somebody who is just forwarding on some e-mail.

"This is one of those situations where I guess hindsight is 20-20 and foresight isn't. It's clear that it was mishandled by the administration and by the Superferry in a lot of ways," she said.

The Senate leadership held a caucus Thursday afternoon to consult with members on whether they would support a special session of the Legislature to act on a bill that would allow the Superferry to operate while an environmental impact statement is being prepared.

The issue erupted when the Hawaii Supreme Court on Aug. 23 overturned a decision of a Maui Circuit Court judge and ruled that the state is required to prepare an environmental assessment on $40 million in harbor improvements done specifically for the Superferry.

Two days after the Supreme Court ruling, the Superferry pushed ahead with start of service. But two days later, on Aug. 27, 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza issued a restraining order blocking Superferry operations into Kahului Harbor while he reviewed a motion for an injunction to permanently block service pending completion of an environmental assessment.

That ended Tuesday, when Cardoza agreed with the trio of Maui organizations that the Superferry should not operate until a full environmental review is completed.

The state Department of Transportation has issued a contract for as much as $1 million to Belt Collins to prepare the EA, which is expected to take up to eight months. But if the EA finds that an environmental impact statement is needed, the process could extend for two or more years.

Until the environmental reviews are completed, the Hawaii Superferry is blocked from operating in state waters by Cardoza's order. While the order from the Maui court applied only to Kahului Harbor, state transportation officials said it effectively bars any operations in state waters.

Gov. Linda Lingle on Tuesday called on legislators to consider a special session to deal with the issue, with a House caucus held Wednesday ending with House leaders saying Lingle needs to prepare a bill for legislators to consider. "While there's a general consensus we should do something, what is it we're going to do," said House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell on Wednesday. "It's the governor's action through her Department of Transportation that created the problem, and therefore the solution should come from them."

After the Senate caucus Thursday, Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said Bennett listened to the concerns of senators and will draft a new version of the legislation.

"We are still in the drafting stage, because there are many people in the Senate who are in support of the Superferry,'' she said. "They're just very concerned as to what it is that we're going to need to do to help.''

Hanabusa said an updated version of the bill may be ready by early next week. If a special session is held, she said, it could be slated for the end of the month.

English said he was not impressed with the attorney general's draft proposal for a bill, saying it was similar to what the Senate approved in the last session, but cut out the counties and public.

"I cannot support something that pre-empts the counties, preempts the courts, preempts public review," he said. "There is no preamble stating what public policy this represents. I don't think it's worth the paper it's written on."

If there is a special session, English said, he will demand as Senate transportation chairman that public hearings be held on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island before the Legislature takes action.

The Hawaii chapter of the Sierra Club, one of three groups that went to court to stop the ferry from using the harbor before an environmental assessment is finished, opposed the legislative move.

"We think it's shortsighted and irresponsible of the Legislature to, in essence, pass special-interest legislation exempting a single beneficiary,'' chapter Director Jeff Mikulina said. "We have a clear environmental review law that has served Hawaii's environment quite well for over three decades.''

Baker said she was not opposed to a special session, but it would need to be on a proposal that all sides can support.

"I think it's unfortunate because I think the ferry is an option that needs to be explored. For Maui, I keep hoping for an opportunity to create a win-win in this situation, but they haven't come up with it yet," she said.

English said the governor needs to be concerned that she doesn't create an even more difficult situation.

"The other thing is the Senate has 102 confirmations pending when we go into session. If we go in, we have to confirm, and if we don't confirm while we are in session, they are all automatically denied," he said.

The pending appointments include Laura Thielen as chairwoman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, appointments to the state Land Use Commission and to about 100 other boards and commissions, English said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. Edwin Tanji can be reached at editor@mauinews.com.

Copyright © 2005 The Maui News.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/news/2007/10/12/02Lawm1012.html

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