This is not a good time for the City and County of Honolulu.
Recent events point to a city losing its way. One of Honolulu’s major responsibilities is policing, but with the former chief of police, Louis Kealoha, starting a seven-year federal prison term June 1 for using his position to frame a relative for a crime the latter didn’t commit was Hawaii’s biggest corruption case. Kealoha’s estranged wife, Katherine, a former deputy prosecutor, was sentenced to 13 years.
Current Police Chief Susan Ballard just received a shockingly low job report that repeatedly criticized her management and communication skills. The report drove Ballard out of office, as she resigned Friday.
The Police Commission report said Ballard “had a tendency to be dismissive and not accept responsibility for concerns raised against the Department.
“At times Chief Ballard did not accept constructive criticism and, within the Department berated others in front of their peers.”
“The Chief tended to blame others and not take responsibility.”
The commission has several newly appointed members who have the experi- ence and on-the-job training to know what the job needs and can spot what is lacking.
Ballard doesn’t get along with them. As she noted in her resignation: “The Honolulu Police Commission has been taking a more active role in running the department, and it has become increasingly clear that I no longer have the trust and support of the police commission or the new mayoral administration.”
Ballard found no allies in the often highly political world of police politics.
“Despite the nature of the commission’s duties, the Chief, at times, undervalues the role of the commission and appears dismissive,” the Ballard performance report stated.
Doug Chin, a former state attorney general and lieutenant governor, was recently named to the commission, along with Michael Broderick, a former state judge and executive director of the local YMCA. Both have experience working with police and know what’s going on.
“Dismissive” should not be the position the police chief adopts in front of this crew.
The City Council is considering a $12 million police department budget cut at the same time Council members want to know why Ballard’s police overtime budget soared to $38 million in fiscal 2019, nearly doubling the $19 million it spent in 2015.
Ballard needed to look for allies, not scapegoats.
If there are troubles with the cops, city critics should look at new Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s own administration. Already serious ethics problems are popping up in the Department of Planning and Permitting.
Last week, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that five current and former DPP employees were charged with soliciting bribes from builders to perform city services.
Blangiardi reacted by calling this unacceptable.
“The Department … and its operating practices needs a complete overhaul,” Blangiardi wrote. “The type of culture that allowed criminal behavior is completely unacceptable and we owe it to the public to ensure it will not happen again.”
I recall visiting City Hall’s 2019 Christmas display. Posted on several windows was a big blue poster framed with evergreen and trimmings, stating: “DPP is taking a NO GIFT POLICY this year 2019.”
Well, it turns out there was a Santa Claus already working at Honolulu Hale.
Blangiardi needs to do much better than finding corruption “unacceptable.” City Hall needs an entirely new spirit.
It should start by opening up the place, to make the operation public. Start by broadcasting Cabinet meetings live on the internet and then move down to putting everything online.
Nothing cleans like fresh air and sunshine.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
