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Wheat’s application
turns up but may not
change anything

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By Treena Shapiro
Star-Bulletin

Darryl "Buck" Wheat's day in court isn't over yet, now that the Green Party has located the Big Island mayoral candidate's application for party membership.

Kona Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra ruled Aug. 18 that Wheat, a Hilo businessman, could not run as a Green Party candidate because he had not applied for membership.

Wheat said that he had mailed a membership application on July 12, but the Green Party treasurer only found the application in his office last week. Wheat's attorney, Susan Evans, asked the judge to reconsider his ruling given this information. A new decision is expected next week.

"They misled the judge, they misled my lawyer, they misled the public, and the public's been misled a little too long," Wheat said. "They didn't mislead me, they lied to me."

The party maintains that the newly found application won't make a difference in Wheat's eligibility because there is a screening process for all legitimate candidates to go through to determine whether the candidate upholds the party's position and platform. The party has disqualified four other candidates in the past, including Bu La'ia.

Wheat received the party's papers on March 2, but didn't attend any party meetings or the convention and didn't submit his application until July. "I think the problem is nobody knows him, and he systematically avoids talking to us," said Ira Rohter, Green Party co-chairman.

"Parties have a right to criteria for selection (of candidates)," he said. "The fact of life is we know nothing about Buck Wheat's political ideas."

The party was expected to submit today written declarations from other Green Party candidates documenting the screening process. Evans' deadline for rebuttal is Tuesday and the ruling could come as early as that afternoon.

"I am highly optimistic that the court will change its order, at least that they clearly state that they got the application," Evans said. "I am hopeful that the court will recognize that Mr. Wheat complied with all state election rules and the party rules before he filed his papers and he is entitled to be a candidate."