With Mayor Rick Blangiardi backing a unanimously supported City Council resolution, plans are in the works to remove the Haiku Stairs — 3,922 steps climbing some 2,800 feet to a ridge of the Koolau Mountains with spectacular views. Among other longstanding challenges tied to the site, Blangiardi has rightly noted that the Kaneohe residential neighborhood at the base of the stairs “lacks in the capacity to provide appropriate facilities or parking.”

Built by the U.S. Navy in the early 1940s as an access route to cable communications sites, the stairs have been officially closed to the public for various reasons for more than three decades. But that hasn’t stopped trespassers.

Ethics Commission chief to depart

One of many dismaying developments in recent weeks is the word that Daniel Gluck is stepping down as executive director of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission.

This has been a tumultuous year for Gluck, whom the governor had nominated to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals. However, the nomination ran into complaints that more diversity was needed on the court.

The panel has posted the job opening for his replacement (see the link at ethics.hawaii.gov). Application deadline is Oct. 6.