Complaints about Hanohano push House leaders to action

State House leaders hope to meet privately with state Rep. Faye Hanohano to discuss how the chamber should respond to several complaints about her conduct.

Among the options, according to House sources, would be for Hanohano to apologize; for House leaders to remove her as chairwoman of the House Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs Committee; or for the House to censure her.

If no consensus is reached on how to proceed, sources say, the House could follow through with a special committee to investigate her conduct.

Hanohano has declined to comment on the complaints about her behavior.

On Wednesday, however, the representative used an informational briefing with the state Department of Education on the Hawaiian language immersion program in schools to attempt to explain herself.

Hanohano (D, Hawaiian Acres-Pahoa-Kalapana), who is Native Hawaiian, told the audience that she "wanted to make sure you guys know, you know, where I’m from and who I am because a lot of people misinterpret the things I say because they don’t understand the content, and especially when I’m flowing from Hawaiian and then back into English because I can," she said.

Hanohano spoke of her parents and her reverence for the Hawaiian language. She suggested that people often take her words out of context. "I need people to understand that because a lot of people think — out of context of what I say — they think I’m belittling them, but you know the truth of the matter becomes this: If I don’t care, who going care for the next generation?" she asked.

Hanohano spoke critically of plans for state-funded preschool and said the state cannot fix existing public schools. "And what we going teach our children?" she asked. "How to be Westerners? So we lose our cultural identity. Is this what we want in the world today? Of course not. Hawaii is unique, Hawaii is the Aloha State."

The representative said Hawaii has the most endangered species, including, she said, Native Hawaiians, who have higher incarceration rates and health disparities.

Referring to complaints by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources that she has been abusive, racially discriminatory and inappropriate with department staff at committee hearings, Hanohano said staff has to focus "on the different layers of things they need to look at before we can make policies."

"But to shove things down people’s throat, unacceptable," she added.