"An opportunity drops into OHA’s lap"
No Wind: Rolling blackouts impact more than 8K customers
Promoting Local Foods in Hawaii; Removing Barriers is Key to Growth
Hawaii has the most expensive gas, nationwide
Full text of Mayor Blangiardi’s 2023 State of the City address
Hawaii Supreme Court rejects Big Island bioenergy plant
Aloha Stadium News: DBEDT’s New Deputy Chief is Business Partner of Senator Dela Cruz
CB: … The business partner of a powerful senator is on his way to being confirmed as deputy director for Hawaii’s economic development agency.
Dane Wicker, a former chief of staff to Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz and co-owner of Kilani Brew with the senator, cruised through a Senate committee hearing on his nomination Tuesday.
The same may not be true for his boss, Chris Sadayasu, who is expected to have a much rougher confirmation hearing on Thursday.
(IDEA: Dela Cruz and his allies block Sadayasu, Wicker gets nominated as DBEDT Director.)
(UPDATE March 16, 2023: Sadayasu rejected by Senate.)
Gov. Josh Green thinks that opposition to Sadayasu’s nomination has more to do with personal politics than actual disagreements on policy or qualifications….
Wicker’s company, Wicker Enterprises, is listed as a registered agent of Kilani Brew, the tea company he owns with Dela Cruz and Todd Tashima, who state salary records show is an employee of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources….
The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is responsible for bringing the state out of the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic as well as directing the future of tourism in the islands.
Recently, lawmakers added redevelopment of Aloha Stadium and the management of former plantation lands to DBEDT’s list of duties. Many of Green’s initiatives on affordable housing and other programs are being funneled through the agency. …
Wicker said he sought advice from the State Ethics Commission regarding his role as the deputy of DBEDT and a co-owner of the tea company. He was told that the business didn’t pose a conflict of interest, even in dealing with agriculture, so long as he does not take any action that could affect tea in particular. The Ethics Commission also did not find any conflicts with his business relationship with Dela Cruz, he said. Ethics Commission Director Robert Harris confirmed Wicker’s recounting of the advice.
(IQ Test: Are you laughing?)
However, Wicker said the business had created a conflict while he worked in Dela Cruz’s office. The state ethics law prohibits legislators and employees from business engagements. Wicker said he only discovered that after leaving the Senate for a job at the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting.
“Before I could recuse myself and get off of it, I went to the city, and the conflict was gone,” Wicker said….
Wicker said he has a strong working relationship with Sadayasu, and the pair plan to advance a strategic plan for DBEDT to tackle various sectors of the economy. Wicker said Sadayasu has taken the lead on housing initiatives, the state’s big tourism contract, Aloha Stadium and a new proposed hydrogen hub. Wicker has found other areas to fit in, including helping out the various program managers under DBEDT and working to develop the agency’s strategic plan….
(Translation: Robin Danner loses; Mililani Trask wins.)
Dela Cruz said he has not had much interaction with Sadayasu since his appointment to lead DBEDT. But he also said it appeared the department struggled during that hours-long hearing.
“They were on the lower end of the preparedness level,” he said in an interview.
Whether that bodes trouble for Sadayasu on Thursday and in the coming weeks this session is yet to be seen.
Sen. Glenn Wakai, the vice chairman of the committee overseeing Sadayasu’s confirmation, has clashed with DBEDT leadership before.
Wakai mounted a strong campaign against former DBEDT Director Mike McCartney’s nomination in 2019. McCartney cleared the Senate with 15 votes to 10.
Tensions spilled over into 2020, when in the midst of the pandemic, McCartney twice refused to appear before the Senate, citing accusations of bullying by senators.
Sadayasu was the former tourism brand manager for the Hawaii Tourism Authority between 2016 and 2021. That overlaps with a time period in which Wakai allegedly bullied HTA employees after his wife was forced to resign from the agency, according to a 2019 state investigation. Wakai denied that he harassed or bullied anyone….
Dela Cruz said he has not had much interaction with Sadayasu since his appointment to lead DBEDT. But he also said it appeared the department struggled during that hours-long hearing.
“They were on the lower end of the preparedness level,” he said in an interview.
Whether that bodes trouble for Sadayasu on Thursday and in the coming weeks this session is yet to be seen.
Sen. Glenn Wakai, the vice chairman of the committee overseeing Sadayasu’s confirmation, has clashed with DBEDT leadership before.
Wakai mounted a strong campaign against former DBEDT Director Mike McCartney’s nomination in 2019. McCartney cleared the Senate with 15 votes to 10.
Tensions spilled over into 2020, when in the midst of the pandemic, McCartney twice refused to appear before the Senate, citing accusations of bullying by senators.
Sadayasu was the former tourism brand manager for the Hawaii Tourism Authority between 2016 and 2021. That overlaps with a time period in which Wakai allegedly bullied HTA employees after his wife was forced to resign from the agency, according to a 2019 state investigation. Wakai denied that he harassed or bullied anyone….
read … Hawaii’s New Deputy Economy Chief Has A Powerful Business Partner In The Senate
Ing gets more time to prepare for campaign spending violation case
HNN: … Former Maui lawmaker Kaniela Ing will have more time to prepare for a campaign spending violations case.
A court hearing Tuesday was rescheduled for April 11 following a continuance request from his attorney.
Ing faces a misdemeanor charge for not filing a spending report with the state Campaign Spending Commission on time, according to the Maui News.
He allegedly used campaign funds to pay rent and to cover a Visa charge for his significant other….
In 2018, Ing was under fire for other campaign spending violations in his state House campaigns, for which the state Campaign Spending Commission fined him $15,000….
read … Former Maui lawmaker gets more time to prepare for campaign spending violation case
Honolulu rail interim opening this summer
KHON: … the opening will allow service from East Kapolei to the Aloha Stadium.
By the summer of 2025, Blangiardi said the City is scheduled to provide ridership past Pearl Harbor and the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
“On day one we’ll connect rail riders from West Oahu with their destinations further east by meeting every train in Halawa, just 20 short minutes after it leaves Kapolei, with express bus service that takes riders Downtown and to the University of Hawaii Manoa,” Blangiardi explained….
read … Honolulu rail interim opening this summer
Five Perfectly Good Telescopes to be Ripped off of Mauna Kea to Satisfy Activists
HTH: … At a meeting of the Maunakea Stewardship and Authority board last week, Greg Chun, executive director of the University of Hawaii’s Center for Maunakea Stewardship, provided updates about the decommissioning of two observatories and a chemical leak that afflicted a third.
The former two facilities are the California Institute of Technology’s Submillimeter Observatory and UH’s Hoku Ke‘a educational telescope, which are the first of five observatories slated for decommissioning in exchange for the planned construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Chun said the Submillimeter Observatory, or CSO, already has been stripped of equipment, with only the telescope and the facility’s dome remaining.
“Once we get through the winter season, we’ll get to the actual deconstruction,” Chun said, adding that the CSO telescope should be removed by April or May, and the demolition of the building will be completed by the end of the year.
The removal of the Hoku Ke‘a facility — which currently houses no telescope — is awaiting the Board of Land and Natural Resources’ approval of a conservation district use application, which Chun said is anticipated to happen in May.
“It’s a much smaller facility, so deconstruction is less complicated,” Chun said. “So, we … project that to be completed by January (of 2024).”
Meanwhile, at UH’s 88-inch telescope — commonly called UH88 — the scope of a coolant leak that occurred in January still has not been determined, Chun said.
The observatory’s coolant system was found on Jan. 10 to have sprung a leak, discharging an unknown amount of anti-freezing agent ethylene glycol. Subsequent investigations determined that some of the chemical had drained into a pipe that deposits outside the building, leading to concerns of an outdoor chemical spill. However, the pipe also was determined to be partially blocked.
Chun said a sample of fluid taken from the pipe contained no discernible levels of ethylene glycol, which he called “a major source of relief” because it suggests that no outdoor spill occurred….
read … Heavy snow won’t delay removal of observatories
BLNR to Hotels: Surrender Yourselves to the Sea
MN: … After hearing community opposition to a $10 million beach restoration and berm enhancement project in Kaanapali, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday pulled back from offering half the funding for the project.
The seven-member board voted unanimously against entering an agreement with the Kaanapali Operators Association Inc. for the funding of the project at Hanakaoo.
If the memorandum of understanding had been approved during the board meeting on Friday, KOA would have paid around $5 million for the work and the state would have paid for the rest, but BLNR members agreed that it wasn’t the best use of taxpayer money.
(CLUE: When KOA applies for a permit to do the work on its own dime, it will be denied.)
Board Chairperson Dawn Chang said the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ mission is “not to protect private property,” but rather to protect and preserve the public trust.
“Five million for this kind of effort is a lot of money and it’s public resource money for arguably a private endeavor,” Board Member Kaiwi Yoon added. “And I agree with chair, you know, we can do better in protecting public spaces as opposed to private spaces.”
The beach berm enhancement project seeks to raise the elevation of the beach by 3.5 feet for the section between Hanakaoo Point and Puu Kekaa, also known as Black Rock, which has been subject to higher rates of erosion….
Most of the recent damage, such as the boardwalk that collapsed around six months ago, is fronting the Kaanapali Alii, Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club and the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa….
An initial memorandum of understanding between the state and KOA was created in 2014 to split the estimated $800,000 cost of planning and permitting, according to BLNR documents, but there have been major changes in climate since then. (Absolutely false) Given the trajectory of sea level rise, (projections not actuality) Board Member Aimee Keli’i Barnes questioned why the department is contemplating spending public funds on a “very expensive and temporary” project….
(If BLNR also denies KOA a permit to do the work on its own dime, this leaves the hotels with no option to protect their foundations against encroaching shoreline erosion. The result will be collapse of the foundation and condemnation of the hotels.)
read … State declines to fund half of $10M beach restoration
HB132 Would Eliminate Election Audits--Dies in Committee
CB: … More than 100 people voiced or penned their opposition to a seemingly innocuous bill that would have allowed the Hawaii Office of Elections to use scanned ballots — not the real paper ones — when it sampled cast ballots to make sure everything was being counted correctly. Only two people supported House Bill 132, a measure pushed by the elections office.
Most of those who testified in opposition before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday were folks who are on high alert for possible election fraud, including a guy from Florida who FaceTimed in from his car.
Adriel Tam, a GOP candidate for the House last year who has tangled with election officials before, tossed 10 bags of M&M candies on the witness table and asked the committee members if they could tell him how many red or green or yellow M&Ms were in each bag.
Fortunately, he didn’t wait for an answer and quickly wrapped up his testimony opposing the bill, sweeping the small brown bags back into his briefcase. Anything other than visually inspecting actual paper ballots was not acceptable, he argued.
Despite Chair Karl Rhoads’ opinion that the scanned ballot audit was fine because paper ballots — we do mail them in now after all — would be on hand if necessary, HB 132 failed to move forward. Committee members split between thumbs-up and thumbs-down and a tie goes to the green M&Ms. OK, a tie means it fails….
Background: Kauai Council: Oppose HB132, Eliminates Election Auditing
read … Candy Coated Opposition
Students, parents rally as roadblocks continue for opening Kulanihako’i High School
KHON: … The DOE hopes to have a concrete design plan for the grade-separated pedestrian crossing by late summer. It stated that at that point, it can then go to the legislature for funding and begin construction.
(Translation: Nothing will be done until after the next legislative session.)
The DOE said, building the pedestrian crossing would cost another $16 million.
(LOL! Even more than the roundabout.)
State Rep. Terez Amato is (pretending to) looking to save taxpayer dollars this time around.
“Let’s see if we can get some federal money into the state. (Free money from the sky.) Everyone always has their handout, saying give me give me and I’m saying let’s bring some in and try a different solution,” said Rep. Amato, (D) Kihei, Wailea, Makena, “We can save taxpayer money that way.”….
(This sounds like an argument for the legislature to not act next cycle.)
read … Students, parents rally as roadblocks continue for opening Kulanihako’i High School
UH Student Says he was Raped by Professor and Three Grad Students
SA: ... Kris Coffield, who is office manager for state Rep. Jeanne Kapela (D, Volcano-Naalehu-Hawaiian Ocean View), an introducer of the bill, and who is executive director of the anti-trafficking organization Imua Alliance, says such support would have made a major difference for him after he says he was raped by a professor and three graduate students when he was a 25-year-old political science major in 2008….
He contends that although he reported the attack to a UH administrator, the university did not pursue an in-depth investigation. As too many years now have passed to pursue possible legal action, Coffield said in a Honolulu Star-Advertiser interview Tuesday, his working to help draft House Bill 554 and others like it “is the best form of justice that I could achieve personally … to make sure that doesn’t happen to somebody else.”…
(CLUE: Rape is a felony. If you are raped, call the police, not a school administrator.)
HB554: Text, Status
read … UH sex misconduct bill tackles growing problem
Probation sought for ex-U.S. worker in $35,000 theft case
SA: … Probation should be the sentence for a former U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife employee who pleaded guilty to theft of government money and property in connection with $35,000 in personal purchases charged to a government credit card over a four-year period, his attorney argued.
Scott Poland, 57, of Kauai is scheduled to be sentenced today before U.S. Senior Judge Helen Gillmor after he was indicted March 10, 2022, on 45 counts of theft of government money and property. He is facing up to 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of probation.
Poland has a 2002 theft conviction in California, where he served 60 days in jail and probation, according to court records….
read … Probation sought for ex-U.S. worker in $35,000 theft case
Legislative Agenda:
QUICK HITS: