A mob, or protestors against an “authoritarian”?: A routine hearing for the Senate Education Committee quickly turned heated as dozens of principals and high-ranking school officials piled into Conference Room 229 last Friday — and it led to bitter recriminations for days afterward.

Senate Bill 3334, which would cut the positions of 15 complex area superintendents in the state education department, drew strong opposition from school principals across the state.  

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Senate Education Committee Chair Donna Kim took the lead in grilling the Department of Education on its staunch support for the current leadership system, which tasks complex area superintendents with overseeing principals and schools in their community.

But the debate between DOE and lawmakers was cut off a few times by yells and boos outside the committee room. Kim later blamed the commotion on principals who were observing the hearing — and she didn’t like it. 

Kim has taken over both the lower and higher education committees in the Senate this year, making her the top watchdog over state education at the Capitol and one of most feared lawmakers in the building.

A few days later, Kim aired her grievances on the Senate floor. She said that principals had booed community members who testified in support of the bill.

“Do we allow students to boo their classmates when they disagree, or use intimidation and mob-like tactics to silence opposing views?” she asked.

The Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association fired back the following day in a letter to Kim, arguing that their members had only booed senators’ “disrespectful and condescending” questioning of DOE administrators. The contentious hearing was just one example of Kim’s efforts to micromanage the DOE and disrespect principals, wrote Randy Perreira, the union’s executive director. 

“It has everything to do with your penchant for authoritarianism, bullying and settling scores,” Perreira said in the letter. “The only person using ‘mob-like tactics’ is you.”  

Flying coach: The Hawaiʻi State Ethics Commission on Thursday said it would grant what it calls a “good cause” nepotism waiver for some athletic coaching jobs and for related support staff in the Department of Education.

No single nepotism case prompted the Ethics Commission’s opinion. Instead, The Blogs hears that commissioners found that the hiring of relatives or other household members for school coaching jobs is fairly widespread.

While all DOE athletic programs have to follow the state’s 2023 nepotism law, the Ethics Commission said it recognizes that many of these gigs are short-term, casual hires that provide low pay and no benefits.

“Filling these positions is a challenge,” the commission noted in its opinion.

As long as there is “open and diligent” recruitment for the position, if no other qualified candidates apply and if the job is temporary or seasonal and pays less than $5,000 with no benefits, nepotism is not an issue.

The nepotism law prohibits most state employees from taking any employment action affecting a relative or household member.

In a second opinion, the Ethics Commission decided this week that state officers and employees can make personal use of frequent flyer miles and similar promotional benefits earned on official state travel — so long as those benefits are available to the general public and obtained at no additional cost to the state.

The commission added, however, that the miles can be used only after the state comptroller at the Department of Accounting and General Services implements “concrete safeguards” that ensure the travel decisions are “cost-effective and not influenced by personal benefit.”

The Ethics Commission said it would continue to keep an eye on state travel.

Third mayoral candidate for Kaua‘i: Kaua‘i council member Felicia Cowden has become the third candidate in the race to be the island’s next mayor. According to a public notice from the County of Kaua‘i, she filed her nomination papers with the Elections Division on Feb. 18.

It’s a bit of a surprise entry, as fellow council members Bernard Carvalho and Mel Rapozo announced their plans to run for mayor back over the summer.

But it makes sense if Cowden wants to continue in public service: She can’t run again for council because of term limits.

Cowden has served on the council since 2018 and is currently chair of the council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee. She’s been a resident of Kaua‘i’s North Shore since 1984.