Ito removed as chairman of House committee

Longtime state Rep. Ken Ito was removed as chairman of the House committee that deals with veterans and military affairs on Wednesday in fallout from an aborted attempt to reorganize the power structure of the state House.

A group of dissidents led by state Rep. James Tokioka has been trying to gather enough votes in recent weeks to replace House Speaker Scott Saiki, and Ito said he admitted to Saiki on Tuesday that he supported Saiki’s ouster.

“The resolution was going around for a change and I signed it, and somehow the word got out that I signed it,” said Ito, (D, Kaneohe-­Maunawili-Kailua). “The speaker came in yesterday and asked me if I signed it, I said ‘Yeah.’ ”

Ito has served in the House for 24 years and knew that siding with Saiki’s opponents could jeopardize him politically, but “I’m not going to lie to people,” he said in an interview after his ouster.

House members on Wednesday approved a resolution removing Ito as chairman of the Veterans, Military &International Affairs &Culture and the Arts committee, and replacing him with Rep. Matt LoPresti (D, Ewa Villages-Ocean Pointe-Ewa Beach).

That resolution was opposed by other members of the dissident group during a testy floor session Wednesday.

State Rep. Isaac Choy told Saiki that “Your reign of terror is continuing and some day it must stop.”

Saiki declared that comment was a violation of House rules, and would be stricken from the House journal.

Saiki, (D, Downtown-­Kakaako-McCully), said in an interview that Ito was not removed in retaliation for supporting Tokioka.

The speaker has the power to designate committee chairmen, and Saiki said he believes the Veterans, Military &International Affairs &Culture and the Arts Committee will play a significant role in handling legislation related to civil defense and disaster management.

LoPresti has been working on disaster-related issues for the last few years, and “so this was to give an opportunity to a new member,” Saiki said. He said Ito and he met on Tuesday, and “there was an agreement that he would not serve as committee chair. … It was a mutual agreement.”

However, Ito said in a written statement that he “was informed that I would be removed, effective immediately” as chairman. He said he believes his removal “is purely political.”

“The nature of the current political environment in the House is one that operates in the dark, and with retribution for taking a stance that may not be popular to House leadership,” Ito said in his statement. “I believe we are a democracy, and all sides should be heard.”

Saiki said the faction opposing him is primarily made up of the seven House members who stood up on the floor Wednesday to announce they were voting against Ito’s removal. If correct, that would be far fewer than the number of lawmakers needed to reorganize the 51-member House.

Tokioka said his faction in the House actually had enough verbal commitments to reorganize the leadership, but Saiki and his supporters peeled off two votes at the last minute, which was enough to block the insurgency.

“There are a lot of people who are not comfortable with how the leadership in the House is being run. They have concerns about fear of retaliation, and so that’s why a good amount of people came to ask me to step up,” including former Speakers Calvin Say and Joe Souki, Tokioka said.

“We’ll let the process take its course, and if I continue to get support, then we’ll continue to move,” said Tokioka, (D, Wailua-Hana­maulu-Lihue).