Have you checked out The Hot Seat? It's our opinion-page blog that brings in your elected leaders and people in the news and lets you ask the questions during a live online chat.

On The Hot Seat last week was Sen. Russell Kokubun, chairman of the Senate's Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

Here is an excerpt from that session.

Volcano Voter: Dave Shapiro recently wrote in The Advertiser: "Sen. Russell Kokubun had five words to sum up the 4,700-word report his Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee used to recommend Peter Young's ouster as director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources: 'He didn't do his job.' Unfortunately, Kokubun had it backwards; the voluminous report simply didn't support a blanket charge of mismanagement against Young, and it was his committee that didn't do its job.

The panel misused subpoenas to inflate the importance of these witnesses against a far larger and more diverse group that vouched for Young on DLNR's core mission of protecting state lands and Hawai'i's environment."

I think Shapiro is right; how do you explain yourself?

Sen. Russell Kokubun: While Peter Young did get what looked like a lot of public support, most of it was from two groups: environmentalists and Hawaiian organizations. We considered all the testimony that came in his favor, but we also had to look at all 11 of the divisions within confirmation hearing outweighed the positive comments.

The subpoenas serve a very important role in obtaining testimony in confirmation hearings. Under Hawai'i law, a person who testifies at the request of a body receives specific legal protections from retaliation. For witnesses who wish to present testimony that opposes a nominee, and who fear some kind of retaliation as a result of their testimony, a subpoena allows them to testify freely. The Senate practice in confirmation hearings is to only use "friendly" subpoenas. Witnesses agree to testify. So we are not forcing anyone to come to appear before the committee. We are simply making it safer and easier for them to present the facts as they know them.

Not a Peter Fan: Aloha Senator, it was said numerous times by various people that Mr. Young was not the target of the investigations going on at the Bureau of Conveyances. A couple of weeks have now passed since those investigations began. Is that still true? In other words, can it be said with any certainty that Peter Young has no culpability in any of the alleged violations that took place at the Bureau of Conveyances?

Sen. Kokubun: Because the investigation is ongoing I am not able to indicate whether or not Mr. Young is culpable. That would really be the focus of the attorney general's investigation. The Legislature has established a joint investigative committee to look into the Bureau of Conveyances, particularly with respect to securing the data held there.

Beth: I attended one of the recent Hawai'i 2050 community meetings. One consistent thing I heard was people saying they want to see our islands' open space preserved and our agricultural lands protected.

When I look at the makeup of the sustainability task force you've assembled, it appears to be made up almost entirely of planners and developers, including the planning and zoning consultant for Turtle Bay and a developer of numerous gated communities on Maui.

You have advocated for the loosening of restrictions on use of our ag lands, championing what some called the "Fake Farms" bill last session. Why should we have any confidence that your task force's sustainability plan will reflect the people's wishes on this matter?

Sen. Kokubun: The makeup of the Hawai'i 2050 Task Force was done through legislation, and each of the four mayors had the opportunity to appoint three representatives from their respective counties. In addition, there are four senators and four representatives, as well as representatives from the University of Hawai'i, the governor's office, and the Office of Planning. The task force is only charged in developing of the final submittal. The specifics of the plan will be derived from the many community meetings occurring throughout the state. The Web site also provides an opportunity for people to comment and provide input. This will be the people's plan.

History's Mysteries: The name Melanie Chinen was mentioned by several people who testified during Mr. Young's confirmation hearings. What qualifications does she have to head the Historical Preservation Division? If I understand correctly, her position is a civil service position and it was mentioned that she previously worked in the governor's office. Was the civil service hiring process manipulated to get her into that position?

Sen. Kokubun: I do understand that Ms. Chinen did serve in the governor's office and also at the Legislative Auditor's office previous to being named the administrator of the historic preservation division at DLNR. I am not aware if the civil service hiring process was involved in her hire.

Say Whaaat?: I am one who happens to think that Peter Young is a master of obfuscation and equivocation. While I am no fan of Sen. Clayton Hee, I had to applaud him for asking Mr. Young to answer his question either "yes" or "no" at one point during the hearing. Which brings me to my question: Did Peter Young know that certain computers installed at the Bureau of Conveyances were designated for Title Guaranty's exclusive use to access public documents, and did he know or should he have known that this arrangement was illegal or improper according to state law or administrative rules? Mr. Young's response that he initiated the Attorney General's investigation into this matter does not appear to be responsive to the question whether he knew or should have known that there was something amiss in this arrangement.

Sen. Kokubun: This really cuts to the heart of the matter with respect to Mr. Young's conduct during the confirmation hearing. Many responses were not directly answering the questions posed. This did not provide confidence to committee members. If you have access, please note his response to the question "does the buck stop with the director?" Essentially, he did not accept responsibility nor accountability.

Keith Rollman: I just wanted to commend you for your work on the 2050 Sustainability Task Force and ask you a question. Do you think that we have done enough to reach the young people who will have to live with the future we are trying so hard to design? Are they responding to the challenge?

Sen. Kokubun: It's absolutely important that young people participate in this process. We are talking about their future. The 2050 Task Force is attempting to include efforts with Hawai'i kids voting by holding a student summit and by doing focus groups. Our efforts are being augmented by the Hawaii Girl Scouts and the Department of Education's Hawai'i State Student Council.

KANU Hawaii is another organization of young people very committed in developing a sustainable Hawai'i. We are pleased that they are leading their own effort in this regard.

Maui Resident: With the Hawai'i 2050 Sustainability Task Force, reaching out to the Neighbor Islands, could you share how all the input received will be documented and included in the final 2050 plan?

Sen. Kokubun: I encourage you to go to our Web site, hawaii2050.org, where all of the information is available. In addition, we will be conducting telephone surveys statewide to get input as well as scheduling another summit in the fall. This will be the opportunity for the draft plan to be reviewed and commented on before submittal to the 2008 Legislature. I also encourage you to send in any ideas you may have on how we can better accomplish our communication with all residents of Hawai'i through the Web site.

4th Gen Fishing Family: Sen. Kokubun, I would like to thank you, Vice Chair (Sen. Jill) Tokuda and your entire committee for taking time to gather and hear ALL of the input that our state citizens had to say and for considering our concerns. So often it is simply who speaks the loudest and who is the last standing at these ridiculously long hearing processes that shut out the average working person from having their say. Thank you for asking the hard questions, not giving in to the popularity contest pressure and basing your decision on what included concerns of the silent but equal part of our community.

As for the state sustainability plan, it appears everyone needs to be able to come to the table with an equal say. How would you suggest avoiding imbalances in who gets heard?

Sen. Kokubun: Your voice is important and your thoughts must be heard so that we can include them in our sustainability plan. All of our natural resources, including our marine resources, are essential to the future of Hawai'i. Please help us by providing input. If you'll go to our Web site, you can identify your island coordinator and ask for an opportunity to meet in a small group discussion.

Earth Child: In your recent viewpoint in The Advertiser on "sustainability" you said you want people's input. You said the Hawai'i 2050 plan was to be "by the people, for the people."

This phrase has real meaning to the rest of us; however, please don't suggest you understand what this means — especially after you "ignored the people."

You didn't listen to our overwhelming testimony in support of Peter Young to continue his good work at DLNR, why should we believe you want to listen to us now?

Sen. Kokubun: The constitutionally mandated confirmation process for directors requires certain scrutiny and research. Although we heard from many people regarding Peter Young's confirmation, it became quite evident to the Senate that Mr. Young only "managed by crisis," meaning that the only time he paid attention to something was when the situation was at its worst. An example of that was that Mr. Young's response to environmental and Hawaiian groups. They had to precipitate a crisis by calling for him to be fired. While he eventually responded to those groups' concerns — and eventually got their support — that management style is not effective.

The effort to develop the 2050 sustainability plan is founded on a community-based effort. This is really the people's plan and very different from the confirmation process. Let us not confuse the two.