Impeachment Papers To Be Filed

A pro-hemp advocate says he will file court papers Wednesday seeking impeachment of the mayor and six councilmembers for their approval of marijuana eradication efforts without mandatory program review.

Pahoa entrepreneur Roger Christie and 125 other verified registered voters who signed the petition seek the impeachment of Mayor Stephen Yamashiro, Council Chairman James Arakaki and Co-Chairman Al Smith and Councilmembers Dominic Yagong, Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Aaron Chung and Leningrad Elarionoff.

Christie said Monday that backers of the petition drive will be at Third Circuit Court in Hilo at 11:30 a.m. to file the petition. Christie said he also will hold a press conference on the matter at the court house.

The Hawaii County Charter provides that a petition listing charges and 100 signatures of registered voters is necessary to trigger a non-jury impeachment trial in Circuit Court. Should the court accept the charges, the guilty officials automatically are removed from office.

Yamashiro, who has called the impeachment proceedings harassment, had considered resigning from office rather than spend as much as $30,000 defending himself, and then running again in a special election to serve out the remainder of his term.

However, county Corporation Counsel Richard Wurdeman said he believes the mayor's managing director would have to serve the rest of the term since less than two years remain in Yamashiro's term.

Christie's petition charges the mayor and councilmembers with willful violation of the charter and their sworn oath of office by authorizing and funding the marijuana eradication program known as "Green Harvest" without any program review.

The petition also charges the politicians with denying justice, destroying domestic tranquility, creating crime and encouraging the use of hard drugs through the continued approval of Green Harvest operations.

It also charges the officials with conspiring to deceive the public by approving a limited "special study" to keep the taxpayers of Hawaii County in the dark about the effects of the program.

Finally, it claims appropriations are not "duly made," and are therefore in violation of the charter. The petition says a proper program review would have produced enough evidence to end Green Harvest years ago.

Wurdeman said he has not looked into the legality of Yamashiro resigning and then again running for mayor at the end of this current term. The County Charter states the mayor may serve more than two terms, but no more than two consecutive full terms. The charter also defines a full term as four years.

Christie said he also is considering filing a writ of mandamus, which would force action if accepted by the court. Christie said he hopes to compel the County Council to carry out a review of the program.

However, he said the action is too complicated for him to carry out, and a volunteer attorney working with Christie does not have time at present to file the writ.

Copyright 1999 West Hawaii Today

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