Producers Already Enjoy Reduced Rate
Hawaii GOP Recruits New Executive Director
PR: ... Kayla Berube was the central Massachusetts field director for Gabriel Gomez, a former private equity investor and Navy SEAL who lost a special election to the U.S. Senate in June to former U.S. Rep Ed Markey, D-Mass.
Berube also worked as a regional field director for the GOP's Massachusetts Victory, a regional campaign coordinator for the Republican National Committee, and an intern for former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.
She replaces Nacia Lee Blom, who left as executive director of the state GOP as of Aug.1.... Blom said both she and the party "thought it was time."
read ... Kayla Berube
Democrats Making it Harder for Republicans to Switch parties
SA: Increasingly, Democrats here are putting a grip on elected officials through the party's organization: They are legally challenging Hawaii's system of open primaries; and cringed when former Lingle administration appointee Laura Thielen ran as a Democrat — and won — a state Senate seat last year, despite publicly disavowing her as not a party member in good standing.
Individual Republicans have switched parties ever since the Democrats have controlled the state. In the 1980s, Donna Ikeda, Virginia Isbell, Ann Kobayashi and Kina‘u Kamali‘i joined the Democratic Party to protest GOP fundamentalism. D.G. "Andy" Anderson ran as a Democrat for governor in 2001 because it was broader, more inclusive and more representative of Hawaii.
In recent years, though, the Democratic Party has begun to go after members who have steered away from its policies. Outgoing City Councilman Gary Okino resigned from the party in 2010 after party leaders in the county voted to expel him for his support of several Republican candidates who shared his opposition to civil unions and abortion.
In fall 2012, Oahu Democrats ultimately voted not to censure state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz for sponsoring a land-development bill that would have let counties create planning districts around transit stations. Spurred by Democratic environmentalists who contended that the bill contradicted the party's platform of sustaining the environment, a party investigative committee had recommended that Dela Cruz be censured — but Oahu Democrats eventually voted against censure.
State Sen. Mike Gabbard, a year after being elected as a Republican, joined the Democratic Party in 2007 not because he had changed his conservative views on social issues, but to become more influential in a Democratic-run Legislature.
(Now that the Dems decided not to censure Har, Gabbard, and Tsuji, the old-boys are pushing to block the Dems Closed-Primary lawsuit. They like the one-party system and they want to keep it. The closed Dem Primary will force some politicians to run as Republicans and that is a good thing.)
read ... Good News for the Two-Party System
Oahu Dems Reject Censure of Legislators, Call for Gay Marriage Special Session
SA: Oahu Democrats on Saturday moved to temper an intraparty fight over traditional marriage and focus on persuading Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the state Legislature to return in special session to consider marriage equality.
Democrats voted to reject a recommendation from an investigative panel that state Sen. Mike Gabbard be reprimanded for sponsoring a constitutional amendment on traditional marriage last session. After the vote, the gay activist who had filed a complaint against Gabbard alleging that the bill violated the party's platform on equal rights agreed to withdraw a pending complaint against state Rep. Sharon Har, who had sponsored an identical bill and was facing a potential censure in October.
(This is just a small hint at the Political Correctness that will be forced on all of Hawaii if Gay 'Marriage' becomes law.)
By dispatching the complaints, Democrats hope to remove an obstacle for a special session on gay marriage. Abercrombie and the state Senate appear open to a special session, but state House leaders have said that the complaints have complicated the discussion.
Oahu Democrats voted on Saturday to urge lawmakers to go into special session on gay marriage instead of waiting to address the issue during the next session of the Legislature in January.
(Be sure to check out the photo of Golujuch leading a protest of four people.)
PR: Narrowed
read ... Not in tune with the majority. So sad.
Perfect Irony: $20M Daniel K. Inouye Center Being Built Quietly Without Public Input
SA: The University of Hawaii is moving quickly on plans for a multimillion-dollar facility honoring the late senator — with little public knowledge. Lawmakers are concerned it could hurt UH’s already bruised image.
Less than six months after U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye died, the University of Hawaii began the process to select a design consultant for a multimillion-dollar facility to house the congressional papers of one of the most significant figures in Hawaii's modern political era.
But the project already is raising questions over the speed with which UH is pursuing it and regents' discussions that have been held behind closed doors.
The school sent letters June 3 seeking qualifications information from firms interested in designing the Daniel K. Inouye Center even though the proposed facility hasn't been publicly vetted by the Board of Regents and isn't on UH's list of priority projects for funding from the Legislature.
The letters indicated that responding companies would be interviewed by a selection committee before the end of that month — a turnaround that one industry official said was remarkably quick given the magnitude of the project.
(Is this funny or what?)
read ... In death as in life
Last pitch to stop rail
SA: In a San Francisco courtroom Thursday, the decades-long push to create a public rail system on Oahu will face what could be its last major legal showdown.
It could be the last shot for opponents of the $5.26 billion elevated rail project to grind it to a permanent halt.
A three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will listen to arguments in the federal lawsuit claiming city and federal transportation officials violated environmental and historic preservation laws in planning the 20-mile, 21-stop rail line across Oahu's southern shore.
read ... Last pitch to stop rail
Public Safety Director is Same Guy Who made Excuses for Past Absenteeism
SA: Under a program worked out with the United Public Workers union in 1996, the department under Keith Kaneshiro as director found a way to fire nine adult corrections officers who were among 75 guards who had shown a pattern of abusing sick leaves.
Kaneshiro said the firings resulted from a tripling of investigations into sick-leave abuse. He said the abuse had cost up to $3 million a year in overtime.
"I think sometimes the department backed off because it was too long a process, too long a battle," Kaneshiro remarked in 1998 upon leaving the department. "It's very, very difficult to fire a worker."
Difficult it might be, but it's been shown to be possible. Current prisons managers and supervisors should not turn a blind eye to the problem, especially at such continuing high costs to the taxpayers.
A 2002 report by then-state Auditor Marion Higa found "significant and unusual patterns of sick leave usage continue," resulting in 27 sick leave days a year per guard and costing an average of $22,000 a year per guard in overtime.
Ted Sakai, then public safety director under Ben Cayetano's administration, responded that Higa was "totally unfair" to compare the sick-leave usage with modest usage in other state agencies and national averages.
In response, Sakai called prisons "one of the most difficult working environments imaginable" where "the stress inherent in the job is well-documented."
Sakai, who has returned as public safety director under Gov. Neil Abercrombie, now should take into account how the sick-leave abuse can add to the stress.
read ... Stop abuse of sick leave at state prison
Not all genetically modified foods the same and a blanket ban on them would be misguided
SA: For years, I taught a course on genetically modified organisms.
First, we covered the biology behind GMOs so that students had the science background. Then we described agricultural systems so that they understood the challenges facing food production.
Next, we reviewed the applications of GMOs so that they knew the products being used along with their benefits and risks. And last, we discussed the controversy surrounding GMOs.
The objective was to develop students' critical thinking skills so that they could make informed decisions.
Those students had time to engage in civil discourse with professionals representing all viewpoints and fields of expertise.
Most of us do not have that luxury. Currently, we are faced with impending legislation regarding GMOs with real-world consequences. Here is information I believe is useful.
read ... Wisdom
Cleanup, homeless issues leave foul taste for officials
Shapiro: After eight white ducks were found dead in Kailua's Kawainui Park, the city and state argued over who was responsible for removing the carcasses. It was our local government at its very best — putting on a clinic on how to duck an issue.
The state said it won't implement a $100,000 pilot program passed by the Legislature this year to ship homeless people back to the mainland after the plan was ridiculed inthe international media. This is progress; ridicule has never stopped the state before.
University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow dismissed his new offensive coordinator, Aaron Price, before practices even started, but Price will continue to collect the remainder of his $125,000 salary. UH needs to shorten its battle cry from "go for broke" to just "go broke."
read ... Shapiro
Legislators Tour School Being Converted to Prison
HTH: An environmental impact statement done in 2012 pegged reopening of the facility no later than 2014.
Schwartz said the state is trying to accommodate the academy’s timetable for moving to a new location at the Keaukaha Military Reserve.
“We are working with them with the transition and we’re not going to rush it,” she said.
Col. Gary Thomas, deputy director of the academy, said the organization is receiving $5.3 million in state and federal funding to build its own facility.
It expects to begin using the military reserve as soon as it moves out.
“We won’t miss a beat,” Thomas said.
About 40 cadets use the academy.
A group of legislators, mostly members of the state House Finance Committee, were given a tour of the complex Friday.
Several commented on the good condition of the facility, with credit given to the academy.
“I’m impressed with how well they looked after it,” said Rep. Richard Onishi, a Democrat who sits on the Finance Committee and represents the isle’s third district.
The Legislature has committed funding to reopen the prison, with $2.4 million for 2014 for reactivation and operation costs. About $600,000 was set aside for repairs.
Onishi said the reopening will be good for the isle, due to the economic impact, as well as for the inmates, who can stay closer to home and likely receive better services.
read ... No Chants of 'Education not Incarceration' Heard Here
Food for hungry goes to waste
WHT: The Hawaii Island Food Basket had to throw out more than 19,000 pounds of food — almost 10 tons — because it couldn’t distribute it fast enough after the County Council declared a food emergency and gave it $275,000 last year.
That’s according to a report the Food Basket sent Monday to Council Chairman J Yoshimoto after a West Hawaii Today investigation revealed the nonprofit had not met the reporting requirements in the May 3, 2012, contract where the council took the unprecedented step of dipping into the county disaster fund for the money.
The report said the Food Basket has so far distributed only 62.1 percent of the 182,700 pounds of food it purchased with the money, serving 20,546 people. The food had to be purchased prior to the June 30, 2012, end of the fiscal year.
read ... Profitable NonProfit
Kaneohe residents work to take back their neighborhood
KHON: Police say in just the past three months, two homes on Myrna’s street were burglarized.
“So I said I gotta do something,” Hanashiro said.
So she called police. And she’s now the coordinator of the Neighborhood Security Watch program for her area, which includes her street, and four other neighboring ones.
“The thing is, you cannot be afraid of them let them be afraid of us. Let’s take back the community,” Hanashiro said.
Tonight, police gave a presentation at Myrna’s house. It’s the second in a series of three meetings to set up a new program.
“Just a real quick raise of hands. I’d like to know who’s been a victim of burglary or vehicle break in?” Honolulu Police Department Officer Kimo Omerod asked.
read ... Kaneohe residents work to take back their neighborhood
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