Pubdate: Wed, 09 Aug 2000
Source: Hawaii Tribune-Herald (HI)
Website: http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com/
Address: 355 Kinoole St., Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Contact:  2000 Hawaii Tribune Herald
Author: Jason Armstrong

SEARCH ONGOING FOR COUNCIL IMPEACHMENT INSURANCE POLICY

Hawaii County Council members are still without insurance to pay their
legal costs should they be impeached for having accepted money to
eradicate marijuana, a county administrator said. Before voting last
month to receive another U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration grant,
lawmakers included a provision to use some of the $265,000 to buy
insurance protecting them from paying for impeachment defenses.

Obtaining the insurance is a requirement to receive money police want
to continue the "Green Harvest" program, according to the
resolution members adopted by a 5-3 vote.

So far, the search for the insurance coverage has not been successful,
Bill Gray, county purchasing agent, said Monday.

"The status is I'm still looking," he said. "I have two or three
potential sources, but nothing is firmed up yet."

Although he has not found the name of any company offering lawmakers
liability coverage against impeachment efforts, Gray said he is still
optimistic.

"I hope that we would get it resolved by the middle of this week,"
he said. Gray said he did not know if such insurance could be
retroactive to cover the council's July 26 decision to accept the money.

Gray said he does not have to seek competitive bids for the policy
since buying insurance is exempted from the state's procurement law.

Council members receive taxpayer-funded attorneys to represent them
against lawsuits filed for action they take in their official capacity
as lawmakers. However, this protection does not cover waging a legal
defense against impeachment petitions, according to the Hawaii County
Charter.

An impeachment petition alleging the county failed to do a required
review of the Green Harvest program was filed last year against six
council members and Mayor Stephen Yamashiro.

Circuit Judge Riki May Amano dismissed the petition because of
technical problems, but said the plaintiffs are free to file it later.

The suit named Yamashiro and six council members -- James Arakaki, Al
Smith, Dominic Yagong, Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Aaron Chung and
Leningrad Elarionoff -- as defendants. All support the eradication
program.

Pro-marijuana activist Roger Christie has said he is working on a new
impeachment petition, and Honolulu attorney Jack Schweigert said
Monday that he is doing investigative work for Christie. Schweigert
did not elaborate.

According to the charter, officials elected to a county office may be
impeached for malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance, or
maladministration in office. Verified signatures from at least 100
registered voters are needed to file an impeachment petition.

Ka`u Councilwoman Julie Jacobson and others have argued that it is
improper and perhaps illegal for the county to accept the eradication
money because police Chief Wayne Carvalho improperly signed the
application for the federal grant.

A jury last December found Carvalho and the county liable for fraud.
However, Carvalho's April 11 signature on the grant application is his
claim to comply with a grant requirement that no civil judgment has
been issued against him within the past three years.

County attorneys, in consultation with their federal counterparts,
have resolved the application issue by submitting a written account of
the judgment, which the county plans to appeal.
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