Honolulu Lite
DEMOCRATIC Sen. Marshall Ige might technically represent Kaneohe but he doesn't represent me and, I suspect, quite a few of his other constituents. Ige’s stand likely
to backfireIge is against the reappointment of Margery Bronster as attorney general and says flatly that she has done a horrible job in the office.
I believe he means it. Because, to members of the old boys network that has maintained a stranglehold on local power and politics, anyone who rocks the boat is not doing his or her job.
The truth is Bronster has done a fantastic job. With the support of Gov. Ben Cayetano, (who, I'm sure according to the standards set by Ige and his pals, also is doing a horrible job) Bronster has sliced open the biggest sacred cow in the state and found a rotting core.
We're talking about Bishop Estate, of course. Bishop Estate, has been transformed from a fine, noble institution whose only reason for being was the education of Hawaiian children, into a cash-bloated political franchise used to pamper or punish political insiders.
Ige's problem is that he may be one of the political insiders pampered by Bishop Estate. Bronster's probe apparently includes an investigation into whether private companies that did business with Bishop Estate also paid off campaign debts for Ige and former state Sen. Milton Holt. Holt already is under indictment.
NOW the senate is considering whether or not Bronster should be reappointed, and it comes as no surprise that Ige is against her keeping her job. But what is amazing is that he has the audacity to claim that he has no conflict of interest in the matter and intends to vote against her reappointment.
Such arrogance is staggering. And risky. In the old days, legislators could count on voters being asleep at the switch. But they've begun to wake up. The stench surrounding state representative Terrence Tom's cozy relationship with Bishop Estate -- he was on their payroll and refused to say exactly what they were buying from him for thousands of dollars a month -- was too much for Windward voters. They tossed his butt out of office. Ige, in pursuing such a transparent gambit as attacking the attorney general and refusing to admit a conflict that is so obvious it hurts, may be heading down the same track that led Tom out of town.
What's going on here? Are these the final throes of desperation by individuals caught up in the death dance of the Bishop Estate political juggernaut?
The fortress that was Bishop Estate used to be impregnable because it was shielded from investigation by the courts, the attorney general's office and the Legislature. But the wall has been breached. The protection is gone. Investigators are swarming through the estate uncovering corruption and violations of public trust.
Ige and others are the last of the true believers. They may think the breach can be plugged and things will return to the way they were. Put a new attorney general in office and maybe the investigations will dry up. After all, Bishop Estate has weathered other assaults.
But times have changed. There is no going back. Kamehameha School students, alumni, parents and other beneficiaries of the estate want change and accountability. These are tough times for the estate, but in the end, Bishop Estate will be a better institution. Instead of trying to get rid of Bronster, it's time for people like Ige to get on the side of the angels.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
The Honolulu Lite online archive is at:
https://archives.starbulletin.com/lite