Ige decries death threats against staff

Gov. David Ige said Monday night that even he had trouble making phone calls in the minutes after Saturday’s alert that was sent out statewide, mistakenly warning about a ballistic missile attack.

Ige told a news conference at the state Capitol that he tried to make several phone calls to confirm the status of the alert as he was traveling to the Diamond Head headquarters of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

“I tell you, many of my phone calls were not able to be completed,” he said.

An inadequate communications system was only one of a handful of failures that plagued the state Saturday morning, including the human error that triggered the blunder and the lack of planning to be able to call it off quickly.

It took an agonizing 38 minutes to send out the all-clear alert while officials checked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Addressing a statewide television audience Monday night, Ige once again apologized for Saturday’s false missile attack alert and once again promised that it would never happen again.

But he stood firm on whether he was going to sack anyone for the error — at least not until a thorough investigation is completed.

In fact, he castigated those who would blame his employees.

“I will not stand for scapegoating of our emergency management personnel when a number of unfortunate errors caused this event,” he said. “Death threats are completely unacceptable and not how we do things here.

“I am the governor, and these good, decent emergency personnel work for me. I am ultimately responsible.”

Ige said he was committed to fixing the problem, and that’s why he was announcing a comprehensive review of the state’s emergency management system.

Earlier in the day he signed an executive order appointing Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the state’s deputy adjutant general, to formulate an action plan within 30 days to implement changes to the agency and write a formal report in 60 days.

“Brig. Gen. Hara is also tasked with helping us all — government, business, families and individuals — know what to do, where to go and how to prepare. Children going down manholes, stores closing their doors to those seeking shelter and cars driving at high speeds cannot happen again. We will do a better job of educating the public,” Ige said.

He said the state’s emergency cellular communication system — including the governor’s own phone — is expected to see upgrades over the next four years. He said last year he entered into an agreement with FirstNet, a nationwide broadband serv­ice for first responders, allowing instant communication during emergencies. The network is now being built across the state.

Ige pledged that the improvements that emerge from the aftermath of Saturday’s mistake will make Hawaii a safer place.

“Hawaii knows how to stand strong and defend itself, but we must also work for a more peaceful world. We must demand a de-escalation with North Korea so sirens and warnings become a thing of the past,” the governor added.