BRUCE ANDERSON AND PUBLIC SAFETY
DIRECTOR NOLAN ESPINDA ARE
RETIRING. BOTH HAVE BEEN WIDELY
CRITICIZED FOR THEIR HANDLING OF
THE COVID PANDEMIC. MANOLO
MORALES HAS DETAILS.
MANOLO:
"LT. GOV. JOSH GREEN HAS BEEN
ONE OF THE MORE VOCAL CRITICS OF
DOH DIRECTOR ANDERSON. HE SAYS
HE'S
LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH
ANDERSON'S REPLACEMENT AND
POINTS OUT THE MAIN PLAYERS OF
THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
TEAM SUCH AS GEN. KENNETH HARA
AND ATTORNEY GENERAL CLARE
CONNORS ARE STILL ON BOARD."
LT. GOV. JOSH GREEN: "SO THERE'S
FULL CONTINUITY, BUT THESE ARE
SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AND
THINK OF IT AS FRESH BLOOD
COMING OFF THE
BENCH, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S
ALMOST ALWAYS A GOOD THING."
ANDERSON AND STATE
EPIDEMIOLOGIST DR. SARAH PARK
WERE WIDELY CRITICIZED FOR NOT
FOR COVID TESTING AND CONTACT
TRACING. GREEN SAYS HE'S
CONFIDENT THAT DR. LIBBY CHAR,
WHO WILL BE THE DOH INTERIM
DIRECTOR STARTING SEPTEMBER 16,
WILL MOVE FORWARD WITH THE GOAL
OF DOING 10-THOUSAND TESTS DAILY
AND HAVING UP TO
500 CONTACT TRACERS.
LT. GOV. JOSH GREEN: "WE SPOKE
EVEN THIS MORNING ALREADY,
BECAUSE WE DEFINITELY NEED TO
GET MANY OF THESE PROGRAMS GOING
ON
STEROIDS. AND SO I'M SURE SHE'LL
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. SHE IS
DESPITE THE CRITICISM, GOV.
DAVID IGE SAYS HE HAS NOT LOST
CONFIDENCE IN BOTH OUTGOING
DIRECTORS. AND HE'S ALREADY
HAVE BEEN RAISED.
GOV. DAVID IGE: "WE HAVE BROUGHT
ON ADDITIONAL STAFF AND WE'RE IN
THE PROCESS OF STRUCTURING THE
RESPONSE IN THAT AREA."
SOME LAWMAKERS SAY CHAR WILL
ONLY BE SUCCESSFUL IN HELPING
THE STATE REACH ITS GOAL IF THE
GOVERNOR AND HIS STAFF
GIVE HER THE SUPPORT SHE NEEDS.
SEN. DONOVAN DELA CRUZ: "A LOT
OF TIMES, SOME OF THESE
DECISIONS WE. STUCK IN THE
CHIEF OF STAFF'S OR THE
GOVERNOR'S COURT, AND
WE REALLY NEED TO BE A LOT MORE
PROACTIVE AND RESPONSIVE."
AS FOR ESPINDA, SEN. CLARENCE
NISHIHARA RELEASED A STATEMENT
SAYING, ESPINDA WAS SLOW TO
IMPLEMENT PROPER SAFETY
PROTOCOLS SUCH AS TESTING FOR
INMATES AND STAFF. AND THE LACK
OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
AND
UNSAFE CONDITIONS WERE NEVER
ADDRESSED. AN INTERIM DIRECTOR
HAS NOT BEEN NAMED.
MANOLO MORALES KHON2 NEWS
WORKING FOR HAWAII.
JOE:
ANDERSON WILL RETIRE ON
SEPTEMBER 15TH, ESPINDA ON
