State Looking For A TMT Hearing Officer - You Know You Want To Do This

by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation, February 8, 2016

Are you a lawyer and need something to do for the next 6-12 months? Want to make a recommendation to the Department of Land and Natural Resources about whether it should issue a Conservation District Use Permit to the Thirty Meter Telescope project on the top of the Big Island's Mauna Kea? Want your decision gone over with a fine-tooth comb by the DLNR, the Circuit Court, and the Hawaii Supreme Court? Are you a glutton for punishment? If so, you are in luck: the DNLR is looking for someone to serve as the Hearing Officer for the contested case (administrative trial) about the TMT.

This is the remand from the Hawaii Supreme Court, which invalidated the DLNR's earlier issuance of a CDUP to build the telescope. Here are the official qualifications for the job:

• Being an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Hawaiʻi and in good standing;
• Being able to serve with strict impartiality and no conflicts of interest or appearance of conflict; [Barista's note: but what about one of the three-justice Hawaii Supreme Court opinions, which determined that the role of the agency -- and thus the Hearing Officer -- is not to be an impartial caller of balls and strikes, but rather be a "representative of the public interest," whose duty is "not fulfilled simply by providing a level playing field for the parties."]  
• Being available to devote a substantial amount of time in the next six to twelve months; and
• Willing to accept the prevailing charge rate relevant to the professional service as a hearing officer, as determined by the Department.
• Other desirable qualifications include civil litigation experience, practice in administrative law and process, familiarity with government proceedings and procedures, and knowledge of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and Hawaii Administrative Rules administered by the Department.
• Hold the contested case before you issue your recommended decision.

We're sorta kidding about the last one, of course.

Apply now (deadline is 430pm Tues Feb 9). Come on, you know you want to.