Fairness must prevail in final vote on Young
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For a confirmation process that's taken nearly two weeks to this point, the state Senate seems to be in a terrible hurry to finish up.
Only 24 hours after the Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs voted 4-1 against confirmation, the entire Senate is due to vote at 11:30 this morning on whether to send Peter Young back to head the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Senate President Colleen Hanabusa has a chance to demonstrate her own commitment to fairness. The senator acknowledges that she has represented Kaua'i landowner Jimmy Pflueger in the court appeal of his multi-million-dollar fine levied by DLNR. She should recuse herself from today's vote to separate her lawmaking duties from other professional interests.
The tortuous review of Young's performance has drawn notice from even one of his predecessors, William Paty, who believes he would not have passed muster had he undergone the same scrutiny. Many of the department's cited flaws predate Young by years, he said.
It now falls to senators to evaluate Young on the basis of his performance, not politics. They should not leave a critical department of the state leaderless without good cause.
Correction: A previous version of this editorial incorrectly implied that the state Senate rule requiring a 48-hour public notification is applicable to confirmation of administration appointees. The timing is left to the discretion of the committee chairman.
