Looking at the numbers
BY MICHAEL BRESTOVANSKY
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Many farms and agriculture
lots have been disrupted
or destroyed outright.
While Walter said
reports that 80 percent of
the island’s papaya crop
was destroyed are inaccurate,
he thinks the number
remains between 30
and 40 percent, far from
an insignificant amount.
Research and
Development Director
Diane Ley said preliminary
information in
the reports, which were
returned June 8, indicate
wide-ranging and
long-lasting effects.
“I would be hesitant to
say what the actual number
is,” Ley said. “It’s all
self-reported. Some people
are reporting just the
immediate effects. Some
people are making longterm
projections.”
While the total impact
on Big Island businesses is
yet to be determined, Ley
said the results will help
generate a broad picture
SEE LAVA PAGE 5A
Ethics Board OKs contract RETIREE ALLOWED TO OVERSEE
CONTRACTOR SHE HELPED SELECT FOR
PROBLEMATIC PERMITTING SOFTWARE
INDEX Annie’s Mailbox . . . . . . 4B Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6B Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5B Nation & World . . . . . . . . .3A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1B
HI 85 LO 74 WEATHER, PAGE 5A
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INSIDE
SLOWED, BUT
NOT STOPPED
Search continues
one month after
reports of missing
Captain Cook woman
PAGE 6A
▼
LIFESAVERS WITH
POWER
STEERING
Daniel R. Sayre Memorial
Foundation gifts ATV
to Hapuna Beach
PAGE 8A
▼
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HILO —The Board of Ethics
on Tuesday cleared a retired
county employee to hold a county
contract overseeing a project
replacing the county’s problematic
online building permit
application system.
Sheila Cadaos retired from
her position in the county
Department of Information
Technology shortly before being
granted a one-year employment
contract for $6,073 monthly,
working 30 hours a week, while
keeping her county benefits. The
contract names Cadaos project
manager for the Energov
system, a $2.3 million countywide
planning and permitting
system.
The current system has had
several hiccups, including being
down for more than a week in
April, putting all county building
permit applications on hold
until it could be fixed.
The complaint was filed by
Layne Novak, a network administrator
in the IT Department.
Novak questioned how Cadaos
could get a sole-source contract
after working on the project as
an employee. She also questioned
why Cadaos continued
to get full benefits as a county
employee.
“I still don’t understand why
this … couldn’t go out for competitive
recruitment,” Novak
told the Ethics Board.
She said several employees in
the IT Department qualified for
the position.
The Energov contract, with
the Plano, Texas-based Tyler
Technologies Inc., began Sept.
29, 2016. Novak claims the project
is 700 hours and $130,000
over budget. The software isn’t
expected to launch until 2020.
The Board of Ethics voted
unanimously that there was
not enough evidence to find
an ethics violation, although
they cautioned the administration
about improperly using an
exemption in state procurement
code that allows employment
contracts for special and unique
projects that cannot be recruited
through normal civil service
channels.
“We should say something
about sole-source contracts,
added board member Nan
Sumner-Mack.” We need to caution
that sole-source contracts
have a sufficient and documented
rationale with detail.”
The board at its last meeting
had voted against finding
no ethics violation, saying more
information was needed. That
was provided Tuesday, with
Managing Director Wil Okabe,
IT Director Jules Ung and
BY NANCY COOK LAUER
WEST HAWAII TODAY
ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE BOARD PAGE 6A
SOME ISLAND BUSINESSES
‘HAMMERED’ BY THE ERUPTION;
TOTAL IMPACT TO BE DETERMINED
HILO — With scores
of businesses around the
island impacted by the
Kilauea eruption, county,
state and federal agencies
are investigating ways to
help struggling employers
and employees alike.
Last week, the Hawaii
County Department
of Research and
Development collected
reports from businesses
affected by the eruption
in any way, from a lack of
business or a loss of wares
or property. While the
data from the reports still
need to be analyzed, the
effects are wide-ranging.
Bill Walter, president
of the Hawaii Island
Chamber of Commerce,
said some of the most
common reports he has
heard are from businesses
in heavily tourist
reliant areas such as
Volcano, which he said
have been “tremendously
hammered” by a sharp
decline in visitors following
the monthlong closure
of Hawaii Volcanoes
National Park.
Pahoa businesses also
have been hit hard, Walter
said, with far fewer people
visiting the Puna District.
KILAUEA ERUPTION
More Kona vog expected
As gas emissions from the fissure eruption and at the ocean entry
continue to be very high, the National Weather Service reported a
decrease in trade winds will result in thicker vog through the weekend
for the southern part of the island, through Pahala to Ocean
View and wrapping around to Kona.
INSIDE
Hawaiian Airlines
reducing number of
Big Island flights
PAGE 5A
The south side of the ocean entry was most
active Tuesday, with many small streams of
lava and corresponding steam plumes spread
along a fairly broad section of the southern
part of the delta. USGS/COURTESY PHOTO
link