The late Gil Kahele will be remembered as one of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s best decisions.
Kahele, who died Tuesday after suffering a series of heart attacks, was appointed to the state Senate by Abercrombie in 2011 to replace Russell Kokubun.
Kahele was already a loyal Abercrombie supporter; they had fought on the same side in several Big Island land-use cases, so when Abercrombie needed help running for governor, Kahele was the dedicated Democratic buddy who helped organize much of Hawaii County.
Kahele was much more than just a reliable political operative; he was blessed with a genuine interest in everyone he knew.
No one was more a son of Hawaii. He was born in a Hawaiian grass shack in isolated Milolii, the last traditional Native Hawaiian fishing village in the state.
His son, Kai, recalled that one of his father’s favorite cultural icons was a weathered pohaku, a stone poi pounder.
When a huge wave in the 1970s struck and broke an ancient wall in the coastal area, Kahele found the pohaku inside the wall. It sat on Kahele’s desk in the Senate chamber during the remembrance this week.
“Whenever he went to a significant event, from a bill signing to an important meeting, he would take the pohaku,” the younger Kahele said.
“It was found in Kapua, an area rich in archeological sites; no one knows how old it is. But it is from where our family comes from.”
Kahele was a former U.S. Marine and a state Department of Defense worker. When he went on a tour that included a stop at the famous World War II battle of Iwo Jima, Kahele brought home bottles of sand, which he intended to give to his Senate colleagues.
As it turned out, Kahele never made it to the 2016 Legislature, but the proud Marine’s gift of the “sands of Iwo Jima” were in the hands of all his Senate colleagues at his remembrance ceremony.
The now-unfolding legislative session is proving to be one that Kahele would have enjoyed because it appears to be shaping up as one of the most complex.
Politicians across the mainland are feeling the pressure from voters fed up with minimal answers to major problems, and Hawaii leaders are admitting that what used to be just problems are now catastrophes.
For instance, the long-standing problem of long-term care is now so critical that the state public hospitals on the Big Island are cutting back care and forcing patients to move to facilities from Hamakua to Hilo. At the same time, the hospital system is asking for an emergency $21 million state subsidy.
If there is a mushrooming emergency, it is the state’s computer system. New glitches in the Department of Education’s payroll system were exposed this week that showed that not only was the DOE double paying some state substitute teachers, the department is keeping track of the salaries of its 22,000 employees on individual 5-by-8-inch index cards. All changes to DOE employees’ salaries are entered by hand on the cards.
Add to that new calls for electing judges, legalizing gambling and lotteries, plus raising taxes on gasoline and car fees — all making this a tense time for lawmakers.
This is surely a legislative session that could have used the patient wisdom of a Gil Kahele.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
