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Saturday, January 22, 2022
January 22, 2022 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:06 PM :: 3599 Views

Ing Tells Russia US Military Not Wanted in Hawaii

Honolulu Rate Commission seeks input on TheBus, HandiVan fare changes

June Jones turns down Hawaii job: 'I wasn't offered a job that was conducive to winning'

ST: … The Rainbow Warriors offered the job to Jones; however, he turned it down because he said the offer was unacceptable.

“Yeah, I still like the job, but I wasn’t really offered a job that was conducive to winning,” Jones told reporters. “How are you going to recruit when you have a 2-year contract? I told Dave, ‘I’ll take a 5-year contract, and you can fire me anytime with no penalty.’ But I said, ‘How are you going to recruit kids when they want to know who’s going to be the head coach in the next 4 or 5 years?’

“I’ve never taken a job that’s been dictated who I can hire and who I can’t hire, and I don’t think any coach in their right mind would accept a job like that. So, yeah, they offered, but it’s unacceptable what they offered.”

Jones played quarterback at Hawaii from 1973-74, and he eventually became the head coach from 1999-2007, finishing with a 76-41 overall record.

Jones says he still wants the job, but it’s up to the university to bring him an offer he’d accept…. 

UPDATE: UH Football Coach Selection Process Illegal?

read … June Jones turns down Hawaii job: 'I wasn't offered a job that was conducive to winning'

Trapped Rat: Roy Amemiya Wants to Expose other ‘Severance Agreements’. The City Says No

CB: … Former Honolulu Managing Director Roy Amemiya has filed a lawsuit against the city after his requests for documents pertaining to severance agreements with a number of former city officials was turned down.

Amemiya and two other former top city officials were arrested by the FBI earlier this month for allegedly conspiring to steer a $250,000 payout to former Honolulu police chief Louis Kealoha against city law.

Amemiya, who turned himself in to the FBI on Jan. 12, filed the lawsuit on Thursday saying that the city is violating the Hawaii Uniform Information Practices Act by withholding documents he requested last June after learning that he was being investigated in connection with the 2017 payment to Kealoha.….

Amemiya also requested documents related to severance or separation agreements between the city, the Honolulu Ethics Commission and its former executive director, Charles Totto, who stepped down in June 2016 and received an $18,000 severance payout.

Another request sought all documents related to severance or separation agreements between the city, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit and former HART Director Daniel Grabauskas who also resigned in 2016 and was given a $282,250 severance payment….

LINK: Lawsuit

read … Roy Amemiya Wants City Documents To Fight His Conspiracy Indictment. The City Says No

Red Hill: Legislators see Dollar Signs

HNN: … State Rep. Sonny Ganaden toured the Red Hill complex with other legislators and policymakers and is now proposing a bill that sets a process to reclaim state lands that are leased to the military.

The bill would raise rents, cap lease terms and add more oversight to military leases….

“We could leave this up to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, but I think it’s so big and it’s part of an international conversation about ... respecting rights of indigenous peoples,” he said.

The leases involve large tracts of land, including:

  • 23,000 acres at the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii Island
  • 4,370 acres at Kawailoa/Poamoho
  • and 1,170 acres at Kahuku and 760 at Makua.

The state gets $1 a year for the leases, which were signed 57 years ago and expire in 2029….

The land leases bill does not talk about military bases like Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Kaneohe since those are property of the federal government.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are also forming a special committee on Red Hill….

They insist the federal government ― not Hawaii taxpayers ― pay for the cleanup….

read … Red Hill tainted water crisis reignites debate over military leases of public lands

Term limits for Hawaii legislators would help shorten the long game

SA: … Term limits will put a stop to the do-nothing, take no risk, keep your head down, go along to get along, “long game” strategy that too often infects those who aspire to serve in elected office.

The problems and challenges facing us today are far too urgent to play the long game or any games at all. An 8-year term is plenty enough time for new elected leaders to make their mark, and to set and accomplish their goals.

The barriers to entry for new candidates are formidable. Money, name recognition and a conscious manipulation of the system by those already in power give incumbents an over- whelming advantage while keeping newcomers out.

The basic cost to run a campaign for the state Legislature can run between $40,000 to $100,000, sometimes more. Because there’s no cap on the amount incumbents can raise, some sit on “war chests” approaching $1 million, much of it raised during the legislative session from the very interests they are charged to regulate.

Legislators, by virtue of their position, are frequently in the public spotlight. They are constantly cutting ribbons or “breaking ground” at some new school, highway or community center. They hold press conferences and issue press releases. In recent years, state legislators have taken to sending out glossy mailers under the guise of constituent surveys or a “report to the district.” These taxpayer-funded mailings conveniently become more frequent in the months preceding an election.

As if money and name recognition were not enough, incumbents are further protected via a deliberate manipulation of the law-making process itself. The rules and actions of the legislative body are designed to “protect the members” from negative political exposure that comes with “hard votes.”

Controversial issues rarely get voted on until they’re severely diluted, endlessly delayed, or pushed off to a task force.

An especially egregious example of the system being manipulated to favor incumbent legislators is the current process of district reapportionment. Legislators attempting to improve their electoral opportunities are at this very moment, actively lobbying the Reapportionment Commission. The commission has been given the home address of sitting legislators, even though the State Constitution says explicitly that the drawing of the maps should avoid “favoring” anyone. The ongoing delays favor incumbents and hamstring challengers whose campaigns are awaiting the final maps….

read … Term limits for Hawaii legislators would help shorten the long game

PUC Says No to Secret HEI Investments

IM: … Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) owns the regulated Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), the regulated American Savings Bank (ASB) and the unregulated Pacific Current….

The HECO Companies have issued two rounds of Request for Proposals for for renewable energy projects. The Public Utilities Commission approved several Phase 1 and 2 Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

Pacific Current wants to secretly invest in solar companies that were successful bidders in Phase 1 and 2 RFP…

read … PUC Says No to Secret HEI Investments

Report: Gun Control Nuts Like Hawaii, California

USNWR: …California and Hawaii earned the highest marks on a report examining the strength of the country’s gun laws….

read … Report: States With Strong Laws See Less Gun Violence

Maui Police 25% short staffed

MN: … 21 resignations, 13 retirements in 2021 ….

read … Maui Police 25% short staffed

Hawaii public school teacher absences ease following omicron surge

SA: … The daily average number of calls for substitute teachers was 1,604 this week, according to new data released today by the state Department of Education.

That was down 12% from the Jan. 10 week, when the daily average of calls for substitutes was 1,830, spiking on Jan. 14 at 2,159…..

By comparison, in early December, before the surge of the COVID-19 variant struck Hawaii, 1,300 calls for substitutes was typical, an education department spokeswoman said.

Today (Friday of course) saw the highest number of this week for calls for substitutes at 1,737. The other days this week were in the 1,500 and 1,600 range.

While there was improvement, the state was still short hundreds of the substitute teachers needed to cover the call outs.

This week 274 substitute jobs went unfilled on average per day. However, that also was down 34% from the week of Jan. 10, when there were 416 sub jobs unfilled on average per day, according to the DOE….

MN: Some teachers disheartened over loss of child tax credit

read … Hawaii public school teacher absences ease following omicron surge

Blood Bank of Hawaii: Critically low blood supply a matter of ‘life and death’

HNN: … Hawaii officials say the blood supply has been so low at times that facilities were on the verge of running out. And Kim-Anh Nguyen, the CEO of the Blood Bank of Hawaii, confirms there were several nights this week when there were just 20 pints of blood on its shelves.

To put that in perspective, a single car accident patient often needs more than that during surgery.

The low supply has the Blood Bank of Hawaii issuing a desperate call for donors….

read … Blood Bank of Hawaii: Critically low blood supply a matter of ‘life and death’

Rep. Val Okimoto To Seek Honolulu City Council Seat

CB: … this means 2 of 4 House Republican incumbents will not be seeking reelection ….

The Republican representative from Mililani and Mililani Mauka is seeking the Council District VII seat, which will be left vacant this year since Councilman Brandon Elefante is term limited. The Council district includes Mililani Mauka, Mililani Town, Koa Ridge, Waipio Gentry, Crestview, Seaview, Pearl City, Newtown and Waimalu….

If Okimoto ran for reelection in the House, she would likely run against fellow Republican Rep. Lauren Matsumoto. That’s because proposed election maps from the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission would lump the two in the same district…..

read … Rep. Val Okimoto To Seek Honolulu City Council Seat

FAKE FAKE FAKE--Resorts find Loopholes in Maui ‘Moratorium’

MN: … The recently passed moratorium will be in place for two years, or — depending on whichever is sooner — until legislation is enacted by a council-established temporary investigative group that determines a transient accommodation limit by type and by community plan area.

County Planning Director Michele McLean said there are four pending short-term rental home applications that will not be approved with the new law in place.

There are also two projects, Grand Wailea’s 137-room expansion and Kihei Marketplace’s proposed 13 transient vacation rentals, that are in the pipeline for special management area major permits.

In consultation with county attorneys, McLean said that under the moratorium, SMA permits cannot be issued for new transient vacation rental units.

But McLean acknowledged that Grand Wailea, for example, could proceed with parts of its application that don’t have transient vacation rental use, though those components have to be completely removed from the expansion project….

An attorney for Grand Wailea said the resort would focus on parts of the project not impacted by the new law.

“As allowed by Bill 148, Grand Wailea will continue to seek approval from the Maui Planning Commission for portions of the project that are not covered by the moratorium, as well as the new guest rooms that would first require the development of workforce housing units at an equivalent ratio,” William Meheula said.

(IQ Test: See how this works?)

The bill does offer exceptions that would allow development of transient accommodations, including if new affordable housing units are built at a ratio of at least one housing unit for every one transient accommodation unit….

Some other projects may still be able to move forward if they received their last discretionary approval prior to the enactment of the moratorium.

McLean said projects that qualify are Maui Coast’s planned expansion of 170 rooms and the new 136-room Maui Palms hotel slated for the parcel next door to Maui Beach Hotel. She said the projects received SMA permits for expansion or redevelopment before the moratorium took effect….

(IQ Test: See how this works?)

read … New law impacts some vacation rentals and Grand Wailea expansion

Kakaako: HHFDC Quietly Evaporates School Plan

SA: … The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. (HHFDC) issued a request for proposals seeking a developer to build an affordable housing high-rise on state land with a 75-year lease. Bids are due March 15. But unlike some previous attempts over the past 10 years, a school would not be integrated into the building project; at most, the developer would be required to provide parking spaces for a school that could eventually be built on adjacent land….

read … School’s out in Kakaako?

Bum Magnet: River Of Life Mission Is Leaving Chinatown

CB: … Critics call it a significant development that will reduce homelessness and crime in the area…. 

read … River Of Life Mission Is Leaving Chinatown

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