Big Isle mayor, councilors sworn in
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island Mayor Harry Kim was sworn in for a second four-year term yesterday at a ceremony where five new council members were also administered the oath of office.
Tim Wright photo
The nine-member council met later yesterday afternoon to elect Puna Councilman Gary Safarik as the new chairman, and South Kona and Ka'u Councilman Bob Jacobson as new vice chairman.
Judge Ronald Ibarra swears in Big Island Mayor Harry Kim at Afook-Chinen Auditorium in Hilo. Looking on yesterday was new Council Chairman Gary Safarik.
The new organization appears to give greater voice to areas outside of Hilo. In addition to Safarik and Jacobson, the new council majority includes Kohala Councilman Peter Hoffmann, and Kona council members Virginia Isbell and K. Angel Pilago.
Some Hilo council members — former council chairman James Arakaki, Donald Ikeda and Stacy Higa — voted against naming Safarik as the new chairman, as did Councilman Fred Holschuh of Hamakua.
The council also named Constance Kiriu as the new county clerk, and confirmed lawyer and former Sierra Club lobbyist David Kimo Frankel as the council's legislative auditor.
Safarik acknowledged at yesterday's meeting that he apparently violated the state Sunshine Law (unknowingly, he said) by agreeing in advance in a private meeting with Jacobson on who they would vote for in the open session yesterday.
Safarik said he wanted a detailed discussion of the council's decision in public yesterday to "dispel any perception of wrongdoing" so that it would not reflect on this council.
