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Someone will no doubt demand a recount: In a 5-4 vote, the Hawaii Elections Commission on Tuesday reappointed the chief elections officer to another four-year term. But the public meeting over Zoom was lengthy and contentious, and it’s clear that Scott Nago has many detractors.

You can yourself, but The Sunshine Blog thinks you might have a better use for that particular 3 hours and 30 minutes. In short, many testifiers blame Nago for a litany of things including things that are not really his fault — low voter turnout (it’s called apathy and we’ve had it for years) and the state’s mail-in balloting system (that was the Legislature’s idea).

But Nago has his supporters, too, including from the League of Women Voters and Maui County officials, who generally described Nago’s performance as excellent and fair.

Nago’s woes may not be over. It’s a big election year, and many of the people who have lodged complaints against him in recent years are local Republicans in a state run by Democrats. Some of them have challenged their own election losses but failed to reverse the results.

Work ethic: The Hawaii State Ethics Commission is stepping up its efforts to train all state employees on ethics dos and don’ts. Current compliance is at about 75%, officials said at a meeting Wednesday, but the commission wants to reach 85%, a goal that staff believe is realistic, especially with large agencies like the Department of Education.

All state legislators, state employees and members of state boards and commissions must take and repeat the course every four years. All other state employees can take a self-directed online course.

The Ethics Commission says it is also working to modernize and streamline its operations to give the public greater access to data such as lobbying, financial and gifts disclosures.

A more transparent way to hire: A to tweak the process for filling three high-ranking jobs in state government moved quietly forward Wednesday with no testimony and no discussion before the House Legislative Management Committee.

The positions include state auditor, state ombudsman and Legislative Reference Bureau director.

Noting that in the past the Legislature has filled the posts with no public input, the resolution calls for the establishment of a candidate advisory committee that would recruit candidates, evaluate their applications and hold a hearing to accept public testimony on the finalist nominees before they are recommended to the full Legislature.

The committee would include three senators and three representatives and would be chaired by a former state auditor.

The resolution moves next to the House floor and if it’s passed there, to the Senate.

Just when the proposed committee would go to work is unclear. Six-year terms expired in 2022 for Ombudsman Robin Matsunaga, who is technically termed out since he’s served since 1998, and for LRB director Charlotte Carter-Yamauchi. They are known as holdovers since the Legislature ultimately decides the timing of the appointments.

Auditor Les Kondo’s eight-year term expires April 30.

All three jobs are typically filled during a joint session of the Legislature, with simple majorities required.

Reality check: Hawaii will lose one of its most astute observers of island life later this month when former Hawaii Public Radio host Beth-Ann Kozlovich departs for the mainland where she’s needed for a family eldercare situation. Although she left HPR a few years ago for a position in nonprofit management, Beth-Ann is perhaps best known for her work at HPR, where she was executive producer and host of “Town Square” and “The Conversation,” .

It was Beth-Ann who gave Civil Beat a leg up early in our young life when she invited then-Editor John Temple to be on her show soon after CB launched in 2010. That relationship endured for 14 years.

She was also a staple in the much-beloved Gridiron cast for many years along with her husband Bill Sage, who helped write many of the production numbers.

Most recently she has been executive director for the .

“I leave the home my family has known for 35 years with many mixed emotions and bittersweet memories — and with hope to return to visit whenever that is possible,” she said in an email this week. “One of my favorite expressions is ‘Man plans, God laughs.’ As many of us know, life often intervenes to change our direction.”