Many people in Hawaii undoubtedly will class 2019 as a tumultuous year, which sounds worse than it is. Tumult can finally force progress on issues that have stagnated for years.
This year saw a festering conflict over governance of the Honolulu Police Department culminate in the criminal conviction of its former chief, Louis Kealoha, along with his wife, former Deputy Prosecutor Katherine Kealoha.
Along with the staggering reveal about corruption that the federal case yielded, there was a needed overhaul of the Honolulu Police Commission that oversees HPD. The public could come away from watching the Kealoha trial, ending in guilty verdicts on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges, with some relief about course correction.
Developments in the complicated case are still unfolding, but the basic takeaway is plain enough. This power couple used their positions and power to frame a family member and enrich themselves. There was some grim satisfaction in seeing the consequences delivered for their misdeeds, at last.
The need for close scrutiny of Honolulu’s law-and-order system persists, and the ongoing federal probe of the scandal — encompassing Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and another top deputy, plus city Corporation Counsel Donna Leong — has not played out fully. However, the city now should have greater capacity to hold accountable those in charge of criminal justice.
Another monumental change emerging from a long-running policy debate was the state Supreme Court flashing a green light for the permit to construct the Thirty Meter Telescope. That ruling followed a decade-long review process, but sadly, it has not secured the path for construction.
That’s because that path, the Mauna Kea Access Road, was blockaded since July by opponents calling themselves kia‘i (“protectors”). A two-month truce recently resulted in the road being cleared, with the assurance that construction would not begin for the duration.
But the standoff itself had escalated by that time into a full-fledged movement by Native Hawaiian protesters that spanned the state, and was potent enough to halt the project indefinitely.
Gov. David Ige and Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim both have taken stances defending the hard-won TMT permit that should allow work to proceed on a project that offers benefits on educational, scientific and economic fronts.
The fate of the TMT project is still unsettled, though. This uncertainty has reinforced a sense of power among the Hawaiian community: Physical obstruction of a project can be effective.
That confidence encouraged efforts by other groups to adapt the “kia‘i” model of protest to the Sherwood Forest parks project and, more dramatically, attempted blockades of the controversial Na Pua Makani windfarm in Kahuku.
For protesters, this did not work as well as on Mauna Kea — the city and windfarm developer put up a much stiffer press than Ige did at the outset of the TMT crisis. But the basic approach, and the strengthened networking of the Hawaiian community that lies beneath it, is sure to continue.
A third issue that dominated the headlines was the tourism industry, expected to top a record 10 million visitors this year. The arrival of Southwest Airlines brings new energy to the Hawaii market and should stir competition in ways that benefit the consumer.
But the limits of sustainable tourism also became clearer, with the Honolulu City Council finally passing Bill 89, breaking a decades-long stalemate in regulating illegal vacation rentals that have pushed an unwelcome level of tourism into residential neighborhoods.
As 2020 dawns, the public watches with hope that leaders can balance competing interests on all these consequential matters. Final resolution won’t happen without their resolve.
