State bureaucrat
makes history

A former state of Hawaii comptroller, Wayne Kimura, has decided to interpret a state law that determines who can place legal notices in newspapers. You'll hear more about this elsewhere, as the move will annoy some newspapers, delight other newspapers and confuse the general public.

Having decided, the comptroller promptly resigned and was transferred into the maw of the Public Utilities Commission, traditionally a bin-Laden-sized hidey-hole for patronage jobs during an election year.

One truly astounding, incredibly amazing thing about this maneuver has gone unremarked: For the first time in living memory, a state bureaucratic official has actually made a decision. More than that, it was a decision that could be traced back to him.

Even our elected legislators don't dare go that far. Decisions made behind the closed doors of committees are sucked into the black hole of buck-passing.

Burl Burlingame

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