Editorials
Thursday, October 2, 1997THE system that kept state legislators beholden to the governor in return for brief administrative stints with golden pensions was a way of life in Hawaii politics until this year. But reform of the system came after former House Speaker Danny Kihano says he was banking on state employment when he suddenly was left high and dry, dependent on his campaign chest for survival after retiring from the Legislature. Whether or not Kihano's story will work in his defense against criminal charges, it is further evidence that the so-called "high three" pension system was a fiasco worthy of retirement. The Kihano case and
‘high three’ pensionsThe old system allowed legislators earning $32,000 as part-time state employees to work for three years in higher-paying administrative jobs, thereby doubling or tripling their pensions, for which they qualified regardless of their age. This year the Legislature required pensions for legislative and administrative careers to be figured separately for lawmakers elected in 1998 and beyond. Legislators will continue to qualify at any age, but the "high three" abuse was eliminated.
Kihano, who served 22 years in the House, was promised an administrative job when he left the Legislature in 1992, but was left "out in the cold," according to his attorney, Ben Cassiday. Unable to get by on his House pension of $1,000 a month, Kihano allegedly took $30,000 in campaign funds for his own use. Kihano maintains he regarded it as a loan, but federal prosecutors call it money laundering.
Kihano now receives the larger pension due to his later employment for the magical three years as an executive assistant to the city managing director, thanks to Jeremy Harris.
Cassiday blames Kihano's predicament on politics. The attorney's explanation suggests that his client was stiffed because he refused to kowtow to state political power brokers. Whether or not that was the case, the danger that the "high three" system would be used by a sitting governor to wield power over key legislators was one of the reasons why it had to be scrapped. The Kihano trial provides a unique illustration of a problem that was usually kept behind closed doors.
CONGRESS' clumsy attempts to dictate foreign policy to other governments are backfiring. The passage last year of a law penalizing foreign companies that help develop the oil industries of Iran and Libya -- a similar law was passed previously aimed at companies that do business with Cuba -- threatens to set off a diplomatic furor now that a French corporation has signed a $2 billion agreement with Iran. Also involved are Russian and Malaysian oil companies. Oil deal with Iran
Congress should repeal the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, as well as the Helms-Burton sanctions on companies trading with Cuba. Clinton should limit himself to deploring this oil deal as an unwise strengthening of an outlaw regime, while sending signals to Tehran that Washington might ease its own sanctions on U.S. companies if Iran repudiated terrorism and began behaving like a respectable member of the community of nations.
WAIKIKI has some unwelcome visitors -- or should they be considered residents? We're talking about the rats who have found a cozy home in the banyan tree at Kuhio Beach, near the Duke Kahanamoku statue. Unwelcome visitors
When one bureaucrat foists a problem off on another, the response can be slow, to say the least. When the news media get on the story and an elected official is embarrassed, the wheels of government suddenly move faster.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
