Sunday, June 20, 2004 
The fallout continues from the firing of UH President Evan Dobelle. It was inevitable. A lot of us began speculating when Dobelle would be forced out after Governor Lingle was elected in 2002 (Dobelle publicly endorsed Democrat Mazie Hirono in that race). In retrospect that probably had less to do with it than his constant feuding with the Board of Trustees, and I think that blame needs to be laid equally with the board. The hostility flowed in both directions. Dobelle didn't seem to want to be accountable to anyone but himself, and the board seemed to want to put him on a short leash.

What is most interesting that the President was reportedly fired "for cause," and given the definition of "for cause" in his contract, I find it hard to believe that this will hold up. The board is pointing to issues regarding Dobelle's accounting of money from his "protocol" fund. In the end his firing is probaby going to cost the state a few million in lawyers fees and settlements when it is eventually determined that "cause" was not proven.

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Crime high at Kalama Park. This news is a bit distressing to me, and a side of Hawai'i that the state doesn't like visitors to hear about. I spent a significant percentage of my youth at this park. Our home was about a half-mile away. I would walk or bike to the park to play basketball or tennis, and stay into the wee hours of the morning.

During my time on MPD (early 80s) I found out that someone who attended Kihei Elementary school around the same time as I did was selling drugs from the park's parking lot. I had a chat with our vice squad about it. I don't know if I had anything to do with it, but a few months later his sports car was in police lockup and I was told that it was later auctioned off. Score one for the good guys.

Kihei used to be a great place to live. It isn't any more.

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