Entries for 'Keli'i Akina PhD'

... it finally became clear which big-ticket items were going to make it to the governor’s desk for signing — or hit the cutting room floor ....

... If Hawaii’s politicians aren’t careful, they might kill the goose that lays the golden egg .... 

... SB1057 would hurt the people it is aiming to help by hamstringing those who are best able to help them — their potential employers ....

... how Hawai'i can reduce the costs and the improve service quality of its various mass transportation systems ....

... No one likes the idea of our county governments profiting from Hawaii’s high cost of living.  But that’s what is going to happen soon unless we engineer some property tax relief ....

... Audits can be a difficult pill to swallow ....

... adaptive reuse ....

... medical professionals have found Hawaii to be an increasingly uninviting place to practice ....

... SB1522 would replace the HTA with a new “Office of Destination Management.” ....

... Wednesday was Gov. Josh Green’s 100th day in office, and I think it’s safe to say his honeymoon period with voters and the Legislature has come to an end ....

... The state has used numerous strategies to achieve that goal, but with mixed success ....

... avoid becoming another boondoggle ....

... your cousins will have to pay hundreds of dollars to go to the family barbecue at Ala Moana Beach Park ....

... more Hawaiians are moving out of Hawaiʻi every year ....

... Housing expert says Hawaii fits pattern of areas losing residents ....

... Now living in Seattle, Tongi was asked by judge Lionel Richie, “Why on Earth would you leave Hawaii?” ....

... to combat government corruption, waste, mismanagement and inefficiency ....

... there are still tax hikes moving through the Legislature, threatening to further increase Hawaii’s already-astronomical cost of living ....

... On Oct. 19, 2022, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it would host its first-ever consultation policy with the Native Hawaiian community. ...

... Some members of the Hawaii County Council are proposing tighter regulations on hosted short-term rentals ....

... bureaucracy and red tape have become a major barrier to affordable housing in Hawaii ....

... More than 15,000 people left Hawaii for the mainland last year ....

... we have high hopes for a few ideas that could make a real difference for our state ....

... Most compelling was the governor's proposal to increase tax deductions and support open records, but all the talk about spending was worrisome ....

... The only question is whether they have the political will ....

... Hawaii’s population has been declining for six straight years, and if policymakers don’t do something quickly to avert the looming increase in county property taxes, that is likely to continue ....

... Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s “wins” over the past year ....

... Gov. Josh Green made eliminating the general excise tax for food and medicine one of his major talking points. And on the county level, faced with concerns about skyrocketing real estate assessments, Mayor Rick Blangiardi promised to “aggressively” pursue ways to reduce that tax burden. ....

... bold proposals for legislative reform ....

... Since the state Land Use Commission was created in 1976, “there’s just been a massive falloff on development,” Akina said. Indeed, only 2% of Hawaii island’s land is committed to urban housing and development. Statewide, that percentage is 4% for Kauai and Maui and 26% for Oahu. ...

... assessments of all real property on Oahu went up by 12.4% compared with the previous year. And that’s just the average ....

... American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands are both exempt from the Jones Act — and they like it that way ....

... “License to Work” study looks at state regulations nationwide ....

... 22 financial transactions, worth over $7 million, made by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ....

... Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It ....

... many Hawaii families are taking a hard look at their finances and calculating how inflation and recession will affect their holiday plans, if not their entire economic futures ....

... If we don’t demand action, followup on our demands and show the consequences at the ballot box, then we have failed in our civic duty ....

... The PM report found 22 of the 38 questionable transactions with evidence of fraud, waste and abuse ... OHA noted matters requiring criminal prosecution will be turned over to the relevant authorities for appropriate action ....

... delays, missing emails and bureaucratic difficulties ....

“...Powerful members of our community engaged in wrongdoing…various official watchdogs engage in willful blindness....”

... Formerly known as Bill 41, the new law was supposed to go into effect this week, but a federal judge temporarily blocked it until its provisions can be hashed out in court ....

... The result is exactly what we have in Hawaii: a lot of talk about lowering the cost of housing, but very little effective reform ....

“...First, do no harm....”

“...Are out-of-state buyers, especially foreigners, really driving Hawaii’s high home prices?....”

... they told me, ‘Send this person to Costco’ ....

... It’s hard not to look at the delay, political gamesmanship and dueling press statements and wonder how long it will be until Hawaii is in a similar situation ....

... I have been a strong advocate of protecting OHA’s funds from fraud, waste and abuse. I am as passionate about growing those funds to meet the needs of Hawaiians ....

... Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet ....

... many government watchdog entities appear to have been willfully ignoring, or even tacitly approving, some of Hawaii’s most egregious corruption scandals, according to Randy Roth ....

... how we got to this point ....