AKAKU FIGHTS FOR THEIR RIGHTS

Who are these guys???

So who the heck are these guys, Bunda and Hiraki, that introduced this ridiculous bill to the Hawaii State Legislature?

This is Robert Bunda:



He is the President of the Hawaii State Senate. In his opening remarks to the Hawaii State Legislature for 2004, Bunda is qoted as saying, "It has been said that in a democracy, the public has a right to know not only what the government decides, but why and by what process. Ours is an inclusive process and no one is ever deliberately left out of the discussion."

Is that why AKAKU's name as an organization was not recognized as an included party in the rewritten part of Bill SB959 alongside Maui Community College (MCC), the Department of Education (DOE) and the County of Maui?

Is that why all of the other "Educational Institutions" on Maui have NOT BEEN CONSIDERED party to this revision and included in the distribution of 1/3 of the funding alongside MCC and DOE?

Is that why Maui is the ONLY COUNTY in the STATE OF HAWAII being considered in this bill?

The other introducer of the bill is Kenneth T. Hiraki:



Hiraki is the Chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee in the Hawaii State Legislature. Hmmmmmm....how ironic that the CHAIR of the CONSUMER PROTECTION AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE would actually be trying to steal funding from the very consumers he was voted into office to support and "protect".

These are two very powerful Legislators in Hawaii. However, my senses told me there is more at work here than these two...

...not more than two months ago, a man by the name of Clyde Sakamoto, the Chancellor of Maui Community College:



:was trying to accomplish the same thing as this bill is, but on a local county level. There were meetings held, NOT PUBLIC MEETINGS mind you, but private meetings, held by the Mayor of Maui County (Alan Arakawa), MCC, DOE, and Akaku, in which Sakamoto was proposing that Akaku was withholding MCC's FAIR SHARE of the DCCA Funding. Sakamoto felt that MCC was entitled to at least 1/3 of this funding and that the County of Maui was also entitled to 1/3 of this funding. However, after some deliberation, and more PRIVATE MEETINGS, Sakamoto "seemed to" back off and the County of Maui (Mayor's Office) backed off as well.

While looking up Bunda and Hiraki, however, I came across a familiar name in the "Members" section of the Hawaii State Senate. You guessed it...Sakamoto. Hawaii State Senate Majority Policy Leader Norman Sakamoto.



Now I'm not saying that Norman Sakamoto has any relationship whatsoever with Clyde Sakamoto or even anything to do with Bill SB959 for that matter, it's just something that caught my eye when I was poking around...hmmmmmmmm.

I know there is more to the story than this and I plan on getting to the bottom of it. Who are the MAJOR PLAYERS? Who's behind the desired annihilation of one of the state's most valuable resources, AKAKU: Maui Community Television? Who wants to shut the public up and for what reason? Are they hitting a nerve somewhere? Obviously...

To visit any of the above officials' online profiles, click on their corresponding photos or below and e-mail them to let them know your thoughts on Bill SB959.

E-Mail Robert Bunda

E-Mail Kenneth T. Hiraki

E-Mail Clyde Sakamoto

E-Mail Norman Sakamoto

posted by randomd @ 1:05 PM