This month’s most popular adjective? “Embattled.”
An increasing number of local politicians, community leaders and projects are being tagged as “embattled.”
Not only is the number increasing, but those with the description are not doing much to clean up their record, leading to an embattlement surplus.
Topping the list of those “engaged in battle, conflict or controversy” are the HART big shots: Don Horner, the just-resigned chairman of the board of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation; and Dan Grabauskas, still holding the job as HART executive director and still embattled.
While Ernie Martin, the City Council chairman, is calling for the heads of both Horner and Grabauskas, he appears to have claimed only one victim.
Still, City Hall is a good hunting ground for those who are embattled. Add Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his wife, Katherine Kealoha, to the list because they are the subjects of a federal grand jury investigation, a fate that almost always earns you an “embattled” description.
The same goes for getting hit by a local grand jury. Billy Kenoi may remained much loved in Hawaii County, but the Big Island’s mayor was indicted by a state grand jury and is also embattled.
Sometimes you can be in trouble or even losing, but not be embattled.
Michelle Wie is still not winning or even placing in golf tournaments across the globe, but no one calls her “embattled.”
Likewise, the 2015 University of Hawaii football team posted a miserable record, but it was not embattled. Its fired former coach, Norm Chow, was definitely embattled almost within weeks of taking the job and launching what would become a 10-and-36 record over four years.
UH is something of a breeding ground for the embattled. M.R.C. Greenwood resigned as UH president in 2013 with the adjective “embattled” firmly attached as she tried unsuccessfully to shake off the fallout from the fictitious Stevie Wonder fundraising concert and battles with the state Legislature.
Before her, the last UH president to be dubbed embattled was Evan Dobelle, who scored a twofer by being under attack at two sites of higher learning. Dobelle was embattled as he resigned one step ahead of a firing squad from both UH and Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass.
Also somewhat under the purview of UH is the construction of Mauna Kea’s Thirty Meter Telescope, a project marked by years of Native Hawaiian protests, disappointed scientists and a fuming Big Island citizenry. TMT is nothing if not embattled.
There is, however, hope for the embattled. Take Les Kondo, the state Ethics Commission’s executive director, whose rulings have forced him into repeated battles. Kondo’s rulings against school teachers acting as chaperones on school tours, legislators taking small gifts and even charity fundraising at the state Capitol have sparked calls for his resignation or for curbing his powers.
But, Kondo the embattled, appears to be moving to Kondo, the appointed. Today Kondo is expected to win legislative confirmation as state auditor, a position that will have him checking on the state administration’s books and records instead of legislative ethics — legislative redemption for the embattled.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
