I expect County Council members Yoshimoto, Enriques, Onishi, and Naeole thought they were doing Mayor Kenoi a big favor when they carried out their power grab. Not so by a long shot. In effect they attempted to stick a rag in the mouths of the senior Westside Council members. But instead of helping Kenoi, they set back all of the “together we can” diplomacy he has been pursuing (such as by way of community meetings around the County attended by himself and key department heads – including Warren Lee from Public Works and Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd from Planning).

In fact all of Kenoi’s good faith efforts creating a balanced executive branch have been undermined by the head of the County’s legislative branch - Council Chair Yoshimoto. Note: I am not going to continue to also point to Council members Enriques, Onishi, and Naeole. Anyone knowledgeable about the County Council knows Yoshimoto is in firm control. Had he said “hey guys this is not in the best interest of the your constituents, not in the best interest of the County, and not in the best interest of Mayor Kenoi, the freshman council members submitting the “coup” resolutions would have backed down. That much is certain.

Next you may say well why didn’t Kenoi stop this from happening. Well I don’t know what his relationship is with Yoshimoto, but I do know that from a theoretical point of view, Mayor Kenoi must consider the “Separation of Power” issue. He has authority over the executive branch, but he does not have authority over the Legislative (County Council) branch nor over any judicial functions. Pretty much anything he could publicly say or do would likely be characterized as inappropriate by someone.

I expect Kenoi is acutely aware of this separation of power issue because he was recently at odds with Council member Dominic Yagong concerning this same legal point. Recall that Yagong sent letters out to the County lessees proposing a reduction in rent for County agencies. Yagong’s actions in carrying out this adminsitrative function, could easily be characterized as stepping over the line from the “legislative” domain and into the “executive” domain. Certainly Kenoi would want to avoid engaging in conduct that could similarly be characterized as stepping over the "separation of powers" line.

Now on the other hand, and as discussed in my previous blog, what will in my opinion define Mayor Kenoi, is whether he promotes or hinders an independent investigation into whether this “coup” went beyond “unfair” or “imprudent” to the extent of being a violation of the Sunshine Laws. Let’s watch and see how he and his administration, including his appointed Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida, supports or hinders an investigation of this incident. Will he and his administration dismiss this matter and encourage Yoshimoto’s “time to move past this” approach, or will he promote full disclosure, transparency, and accountability for any wrongdoing by Yoshimoto and his buddies.