IMPEACHMENT GROUP TARGETS POT STUDY

HILO - A Pahoa hemp entrepreneur leading an effort to
impeach Mayor Stephen Yamashiro and six council members
said Monday a special study on the marijuana eradication
program is flawed because its focus is too narrow.

The special study released Monday by the county Legislative
Auditor's office concluded the Hawaii County Police Depart-ment
metthe performance and financial reporting requirements specified
by the federal grants.

But marijuana advocate Roger Christie said the study
also is an example of malfeasance by elected officials because
it was designed to favor the police.

The study says the eradication program isn't under
the County Council's jurisdiction because it doesn't have a role
in formulation or oversight of the program. The study also says program
reviews would need to be done by state or federal agencies.

"With respect to the operational activities of the
Statewide Marijuana Eradication Task Force, the proper forum for
public discussion is the Department of the Attorney General," the study
concluded.

The impeachment petition was filed in Third Circuit
Court earlier this month. Christie said the group has hired Honolulu
attorney Michael Glenn and a preliminary hearing is scheduled Oct.
8.

He also said the group plans to file an injunction in
state Supreme Court to stop marijuana eradication statewide.

In his impeachment petition, Christie said, he is attempting
to impeach the officials because the council violated the
County

Charter by not conducting a proper program review of the
marijuana eradication program.

Legislative Auditor Connie Kiriu said the program review
issue is separate from the impeachment because the council
does not oversee the eradication efforts. She said the council follows
the charter when it does a budget program review of the Police
Department, the county agency that receives the federal grants.

"Even if it was part of the program review, it's not our
program," Kiriu said.

However, Christie said he is skeptical about the study's
conclusion. "I don't trust any of that," he said. "What they're
trying to do is avoid responsibility and they're good at it."

Council members named in the suit are chairman Jimmy
Arakaki, Al Smith, Bobby-Jean eithead-Todd, Aaron Chung,
Leningrad Elarionoff and Dominic Yagong.

According to the County Charter, a petition listing
the charges and signatures from 100 registered voters is all that is
needed to trigger a non-jury impeachment trial in Circuit Court. If
the court accepts the charges, guilty officials are removed from
office automatically.

Christie said he wants a program review because he
believes it will reveal the county created more criminal activity and hard
drug use, a charge listed in his impeachment petition.

"To pretend this is a program review is a fraud," he said. "This is
not a critical mandatory program review. Otherwise, it would have been
called a program review."

The special study was requested by the council through a resolution
adopted in December 1998.

The study covered two federal grants spanning the period between
January 1997 and June 1998.

The first was a $108,294 grant from the U.S. Justice
Department.

The state Attorney General's Office served as the pass-through agency
for the grant. The county agreed to contribute a 25 percent match of
$36,098.

A $245,000 grant also was received from the Drug Enforcement Agency
and required no matching county funds.