OUSTER OF MAYOR, OTHERS SOUGHT

A Big Island Pot Advocate Takes Action to Impeach Officials

A marijuana proponent who wants to impeach Mayor Steve Yamashiro and six
members of the Hawaii County Council is seeking more public backing for his
effort.

Roger Christie, owner of a recently opened store featuring hemp products in
Pahoa, has already collected more than 100 signatures on a petition charging
the mayor and six council members with failing to conduct a proper review of
a county-backed program to eradicate marijuana.

Under the Hawaii County Charter, that's enough to file for an impeachment
hearing in state Circuit Court.

But on Sunday Christie placed an advertisement in the Tribune-Herald asking
for additional signatures on the petition calling for a hearing and removal
of the seven elected public officials.

Christie, 50, says the County Charter requires a mandatory review of the
eradication program every four years.

"After many years of public testimony notifying the council of their failure
to comply, (they) continue to willfully and repeatedly violate the spirit
and letter of the charter ... by authorizing, funding and levying a
paramilitary "civil war" upon the people and lands of the county,":
according to the petition.

Christie announced his intention to file the petition with the signatures
more than two weeks ago, but delayed while sorting out the required legal
course. Christie said Tuesday that he will wait at least another week
before filing to give more people a chance to read and sign the petition.

"We want to win in the court of public opinion," Christie said.

A Oahu attorney whom Christie declined to name has agreed to help with
filing the legal documents with the court, he said.

The petition asks for a hearing, investigation and removal of Yamashiro
along with Council members James Arakaki, Al Smith, Dominic Yagong, Bobbie
Jean Leithead-Todd, Aaron Chung and Leningrad Elarionoff. Each of the
council members voted in favor of the marijuana eradication program.

Yamashiro aid he had nothing to do with the council's action but believes
the county would prevail in any legal action over the marijuana eradication
program.

"Christie has to prove malfeasance, misfeasance ... ," Yamashiro said, and
the Police Department has reported regularly to the County Council on the
program.

In December the County Council asked the legislative auditor's office to
review the marijuana eradication program. County Auditor Rory Flynn said
Tuesday that the review is "in its final stages" but did not know when it
would be completed.

The County Charter only requires 100 qualified signatures for an impeachment
petition. A $125 fee is charged to file civil lawsuits in Circuit Court.
Fees to serve each defendant with legal notice of the lawsuit must also be
paid. After filing, the case would be assigned randomly to a Circuit Court
judge.

The County Charter forbids the office of Corporation Counsel from
representing elected officials in impeachment proceedings, said Ted Hong,
deputy corporation counsel. The County Council could vote to appoint
special counsel to represent the defendants, however, he said.

Yamashiro and at least one of the council members who is a target of the
current petition have said they would pursue legal fees and other costs of
the lawsuit from the plaintiffs should the defendants prevail.

This would not be the first attempt to impeach Yamashiro. The last was in
1985 when the private Hawaii County Taxpayers Association sought removal of
then Council Chairman Yamashiro over an alleged conflict of interest in a
federal civil rights lawsuit.

The Taxpayers Association collected 200 signatures on petitions charging the
mayor with failing to declare a conflict of interest in a law firm he
recommended the county hire to defend him in a separate, federal lawsuit
filed by HCTA.

Although Yamashiro was "of counsel" to the Honolulu law firm at the time,
the plaintiffs did not show that Yamashiro gained financially from the
arrangement.

Judge Paul de Silva dismissed the lawsuit against Yamashiro, but then later
dismissed Yamashiro's claim for $15,656 in attorney's fees.

After being denied his bid for legal fees in 1985, Yamashiro expressed
concern that the impeachment process could easily be used as a tool for
political harassment.

Judge de Silva, however, called impeachment a "quasi-criminal" process
requiring a strict interpretation of the County Charter. "The law does not
favor removal of duly elected officials," de Silva said in hi 1985 decision.
"The evidence would have to be clear."