September 6, 2013 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

One is the fact that a number of members will be traveling this fall and might be absent during a special session. Travel is even affecting preliminary discussions. Some members, including at least one who is on the fence, Rep.John Mizuno, will miss the Friday caucus because of previously scheduled events off-island.

Another issue is that Rep. Calvin Say, the former House speaker, is said to be trying to exert influence. Several members loyal to Say, like Rep. Isaac Choy, are opposed to same-sex marriage legislation.

Rep. Marcus Oshiro, the former Finance chairman under Say, said Thursday that he didn’t like the bill introduced in the Senate back in January, which was never heard, but it mirrors the latest draft. Oshiro also opposes a special session.

“This issue ... has such far-reaching effects that we wouldn’t be best serving our constituents, both advocates and opponents, by hastily coming into a special session,” Oshiro said.

He acknowledged that a same-sex marriage bill could become a distraction during the regular session and used as a bartering chip to pass or defeat other legislation, which is why some lawmakers want to hear it now instead of later.

“Any measure of import may get taken hostage or traded off, but that’s part of the legislative process,” Oshiro said. “I’d be naive to say that, ‘No, that wouldn’t arise,’ but that’s an issue with the minimum wage or even theissue of GMOs.”

Other supporters of former Speaker Say, such as Rep. Jimmy Tokioka, are opposed to a special session but are undecided about passing a bill.

Tokioka’s colleagues count him as a “no” vote, noting he twice voted against civil unions, but he isn't ruling out the possibility of voting in favor of the legislation in an interview this week. He told Civil Beat that his constituents have serious concerns about the religious exemptions, but he hasn’t seen a final draft of the bill yet.

Other House members still on the fence include Reps. Cindy Evans, Clift Tsuji and Linda Ichiyama, according to several sources.

House Speaker Joe Souki, who voted against civil unions two years ago, is said to support gay marriage.

And some members, such as Rep. Jo Jordan, fall somewhere in the middle. She is against a special session to deal with the issue but supports same-sex marriage.

House Majority Leader Scott Saiki said Abercrombie can help move the matter forward.

“I would encourage the governor to meet with members on an individual basis to determine whether they support the special session and the legislation,” he said.

read ... Billionaire working to Change the Foundation of Society

Renewed Bribe Offer as Dems Caucus on Gay 'Marriage'

AP: Democrats in the Hawaii House plan to meet with Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the state attorney general today to discuss a draft of gay marriage legislation as Abercrombie considers whether to call a special session on the issue....

Also Thursday, several dozen Hawaii businesses endorsed the legislation, including Waikiki hotel operator Aqua Hotels & Resorts and several wedding-related businesses. The businesses aligned themselves with Hawaii United For Marriage, a group pushing the special session.

“We need to make sure that we are trying to do what’s right and it fits with the values of this state,” Aqua spokeswoman Elizabeth Churchill (who?) said.

Sean Hower (who?), president of Hitched on Maui, an app with wedding resources, said approving gay marriage would make business sense given all the ceremonies that happen in the state....

An economic analysis screed written by a gay activist released last month from the University of Hawaii said legalizing gay marriage would add $217 million to the state’s tourism economy over the next three years, with $166 million spent on marriage ceremonies and honeymoons. (What do they have to offer you to change the foundation of all civilization?)

CB (after meeting): Hawaii Gov, House Speaker Say Progress Made on Same-Sex Marriage Bill

SA (after meeting): Abercrombie intends to make a decision on a special session on gay marriage "very shortly."

AP (after meeting): Decision soon on gay marriage session

Real Hawaiian Values don't come from Aqua: First independent Hawaiian Christian organization celebrates 160 years

OnTop: Mainland Homosexuals Quiver With Anticipation

PinkNews: Europe's Biggest Homosexual Excited

Dolce & Gabbana: We don't believe in gay marriage

read ... Aqua Working to Change the Foundation of Society

Hanabusa Supporters Thrilled by Schatz' Syria Blunder

Borreca: ... there was first a critical division between Hanabusa and Schatz over support for President Barack Obama's decision to retaliate against Syria's use of chemical weapons.

While both agree that the use of chemical weapons is abhorrent, Hanabusa is strongly objecting to any increased military involvement in the Middle East.

Since the crisis first broke, Hanabusa has only increased her opposition and elaborated on her fears that a strike would "lead to more than a limited tactical strike."

As of Wednesday, Hana-busa said her Washington office has gotten more than 600 emails supporting her opposition and 200 phone calls.

"Even comments on my Facebook page are almost unanimously positive," Hanabusa said.

During the week, Schatz issued several statements saying first that he supported Obama as commander in chief, and then urging that Obama make a decision in consultation with Congress.

Late Thursday, Schatz announced in a terse email that after listening to the administration briefings and "the people of Hawaii," he would oppose a resolution allowing for a military strike.

Schatz had built a large part of his campaign on support from progressive Democrats who have been opposing action in Syria ...

ILind: Hanabusa and Schatz react to call for Syria attack

read ... Syria question could be key in U.S. Senate race

Fix safety net for mentally ill

SA: For more than four decades, the process of deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill has been underway....

Hawaii has not come to grips with this issue, not by a long shot. But there's hope to be gleaned from the launch of the Community Care Services program....

Of course, holes in the safety net remain. Not all mental illnesses are covered, and not everyone is Medicaid-eligible. The Hawaii State Hospital principally serves those referred by the criminal justice system, and those who don't have access to that often can't afford other private care that's available.

The reform of mental health services in this state is a long-term project, and it will be some time before all the pieces — including changes enabled by the Affordable Care Act — are in place. Still, short-range efforts to close some of the gaps must proceed promptly.

For example, federal authorities should approve a`proposal for Medicaid to cover post-traumatic stress disorder and substance-induced psychosis.

Lori Tsuhako, administrator of the DHS Homeless Programs Office, said this will help many of the homeless to gain services through a single stop.

Secondly, the Adult Mental Health Division of the DOH should restore coverage for those same conditions, as well as major depressive disorders that lack psychotic symptoms, as it resolves to do. This will help another sector of the community that's marginalized.

Finally, the Legislature should take a hard look at budgets provided to these agencies to ensure that there is sufficient funding for programs aiding the mentally ill.

read ... Fix safety net for mentally ill

Council on Revenues tempers revenue projections Due to Obamacare

SA: Economic growth in the current fiscal year is expected to remain steady but could slow down due to uncertainties over looming military action in Syria, a potential federal government shutdown and impact of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses, state economists said Thursday.

Although a specific numerical forecast from the state Council on Revenues was awaiting final calculations, the panel's new chairman said the overall tenor of discussions indicated a conservative approach for the coming year....

The council in May also had predicted 6.7 percent growth for the 2013 fiscal year that ended June 30, but preliminary calculations indicate the final take for 2013 was about 9.9 percent growth, or about $100 million more than originally forecast, Kawafuchi said.

read ... CoR

Gill: Waikiki Hotels Squeezed by Real Estate Bubble

SA: The biggest issue we have here in Hawaii is not just for hotel workers but for the whole community.

Basically, what's happening is the hotel industry has been converted into a real estate bubble -- basically, the big bang in private equity funds and real estate investment trusts. These are the ownership entities that own all of our own hotels, not just the ones we represent. In the context of the equity markets being very volatile, unstable, they go up, they go down; you can't make money in the stock market. You can't make money on bonds; bonds are producing 1, 2 percent. My CDs are turning over one-third of 1 percent.

In the investment world, there is no good place to land. So what they're doing is money is being funneled into commercial real estate and particularly into lodging. What that means is buying and selling of hotel real estate.

You may have seen articles a few weeks ago that this is a record year for hotel sales, and it's being reported by the press as if this is something good, some new indication of a recovering economy, but it's just not so. It's an indication not of a recovering economy but of a desperate search for profits in the pockets of speculation that banks can make money.

So hotels are being bought and sold, and bought and sold. The problem with that, of course, is every time it's bought and sold, it's bought and sold at a profit -- meaning the price goes up, the debt service goes up.

Q: The debt service?

A: The amount of loan. When you add 50 percent onto the amount of debt that the property is carrying, then that much more money from the operation needs to go to pay the debt, as opposed to pay for the food and the linens and the bills and the process of operating, including wages.

So when these banks ... the debts go up, the debt service amounts go up -- they have to pay more to service that debt. And the hotels, the same: It's the same number of rooms and we're running at 100 percent in Waikiki.

So the response then for the banks is to try to reduce their expenses in order to increase their cash flow to service the debt. They can't cut their electrical bill because they won't get a reduction. They can't cut their water bill or their sewage bill. Their food costs are going up. So the only thing they can do is reduce services and cut staff, and that's what they're doing. We've lost 1,600 Local 5 jobs in the last six years....

The basic scenario goes like this: Hotel A is bought at X price. Five years later, that investment group wants its money out. They sell it at X-plus. At some point, the cash flow from the operation can't support the note, and what they do is convert those hotel rooms to condos, and that's what's happening at the Ilikai right now. The Ilikai by the end of this year, depending on how things go, could be gone as a hotel. The last 200 rooms are proposed to be converted into condos and sold off on the condo market, which would eliminate the last 63 jobs in a building that once supported 600 good jobs in Hawaii. That hotel would be gone. That building will be time-share, condo. Some of the owners will market their rooms on the 'Net and hire their cousin to come in for five bucks an hour to clean, that kind of thing. But good jobs you can build a family on, they're gone.

The notion that, "As the banks and owners of these hotels go, so goes Hawaii" is just wrong. We cannot let these global predators spoil our communities, so we are looking for an ordinance that will lock up the back end. (Thus bursting the bubble even sooner)

read ... Bubble to Burst

Hawaii Nonprofit Funding: No Connections = No Respect

HH: Once the budget bill is passed and signed into law, the executive branch often imposes additional red tape before a nonprofit can receive the funds. The Hawaii Budget Department has taken the position that a recipient must have proof of commitments for all costs of a building project before release of the funds (while it is common practice for other funders to not be the first dollars in a project).

The "no first dollars" policy has been also adopted by the counties. It is a catch-22 for even the best of the nonprofits. Another "no win" unstated policy is to severely limit the "overhead" or capacity support for a program. In other words: you can open the preschool, but forget about hiring staff.

At the same time, agencies do not appear interested in ongoing monitoring once funds are released. This provision of ongoing monitoring, combined with the allocation system, may impose unrealistic workloads on agencies for which GIA monitoring is a low priority. And if a particular agency is distracted or otherwise busy, it can take many months to have the funds released. Recently it took over one year before a nonprofit saw the money.

In short, without being already trusted and well connected, nonprofits often "get no respect" from agencies.

read ... No Connections, No Respect

Marginal tax rate tops 50% for some Hawaii businesses

PBN: The study looked at the implications of the U.S. government’s interest in reducing the corporate tax rate — currently the highest among developed countries — in order to help American businesses remain competitive.

However, the study found that lowering individual tax rates is perhaps more important considering the growth in “pass-throughs,” or noncorporate businesses such as sole proprietors and limited liability corporations whose profits are taxed on the business owners’ or shareholders’ individual tax returns.

Hawaii has a top marginal tax rate of 50.4 percent for sole proprietorships, which ranks the state just behind California, whose rate is 51.8 percent.

The states with the lowest rate, at 42.6 percent, are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. The U.S. average marginal tax rate is 47.5 percent.

read ... 50% to the Gov't

Abercrombie Nails Green Energy Scammers: "Incantations, Magical Thinking"

NPR: Prices have long been expensive here, but in recent years, they've gone through the roof.

GOVERNOR NEIL ABERCROMBIE: It's more than upsetting; it's an economic hammer that pounds down on the Hawaii anvil....That is devouring the disposable income of the working middle class in this state. We are completely and totally at the mercy of the international, globalized oil cartels....

But the big problem with the plan, says Mikulina, is that while natural gas does burn cleaner than oil, it's still a fossil fuel and a serious contributor to climate change. (No, its not.)

MIKULINA: And it's crazy when you think about just the system to enable that, when you have all these resources here in Hawaii.

RUBIN: Like?

MIKULINA: Wind, solar, wave, you name it, geothermal, biomass.

ABERCROMBIE: It's sort of what I call the Harry Potter syndrome. If you just use the incantation often enough, the abracadabra.

RUBIN: Governor Abercrombie bristles at suggestions that natural gas isn't necessary for Hawaii. He calls such talk magical thinking.

ABERCROMBIE: The idea sun, wind, solar, biofuels, and say them often enough, fast enough that somehow they'll all magically make the oil dependency go away. That's, of course, not the way it works.

Forbes: Hawaii Gets $30M From Navy To Fund Clean Tech Startups

WP: Hawaiian Company Makes Operational Improvements To Use More Wind Energy

read ... Magical Thinking

Solar saturation could mean new HECO charges

SA: The latest numbers from HECO, unthinkable just a few years ago, show that solar energy provides all of the minimum daytime power needs for 54 circuits, or neighborhoods, out of the 416 circuits on Oahu. The threshold has been reached on 26 out of Maui's 132 circuits and 17 of 143 circuits on Hawaii island.

"Those are impressive figures. Saturation on some of those circuits is higher than any other area in the country," said Tim Lindl, attorney for the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council based in Latham, N.Y....

While HECO is taking steps to integrate more solar energy, that could result in added costs for some new solar customers. If HECO determines improvements are needed in a certain area to accommodate additional amounts of solar energy, new solar customers may have to bear the cost.

read ... More Costs

Hawaii wave energy stalls off the coast of Oregon

OL: Last September, with great fanfare, Ocean Power Technologies began construction on America's first wave-powered utility. Holding the first - and only - wave energy permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, OPT had planned to deploy a test buoy off the coast of Reedsport by spring.

But a year after the permit, regulatory and technical difficulties have all but halted the project. Federal regulators notified the company earlier this year it had violated the license after failing to file a variety of plans and assessments.

All that remains in the water are pieces of a single anchoring system on the ocean floor. State officials have told the New Jersey company to remove them by month's end....

In 2007, OPT projected it would deploy its first wave buoy by mid-2009. The launch was quickly pushed back as the company worked to secure state and federal permits, and successfully tested two buoys, in Hawaii and Scotland, the latter a prototype of those planned for Reedsport.

Last fall, OPT began to install the anchors for its first buoy. Wave power seemed within reach.

But almost immediately, foul weather and technical difficulties delayed construction. Then in February, OPT temporarily lost track of one of the three anchors. The scare sparked a state law to require ocean renewable energy companies to set aside funds for equipment recovery.

Their troubles came to a head in June when FER ordered OPT to stop the installation until it files the proper paperwork. At the same time, the Department of State Lands told OPT to sweep up the remains of the anchor system and restart when the technology is ready and the legalities resolved, says Chris Castelli, an analyst for the department.

Meanwhile, the 140-foot long buoy sits ready and waiting at Oregon Iron Works' Vancouver site....

read ... Another Green Energy Wipeout

Auditor: Office of Hawaiian Affairs Purchase Violated Investment Policy

CB: ...the auditor insists the Gentry vote was problematic. "We maintain that the trustees' action was contrary to OHA's Native Hawaiian Trust Fund investment policy," the audit said....

The OHA audit does not specifically name Apoliona, but she was a member of Bank of Hawaii's board of directors at the time of the vote on the Gentry purchase.

The auditor deferred to the Ethics Commission on whether OHA's purchase vote violated the Ethics Code.

"Nevertheless, the trustee's actions may damage OHA's reputation and undermine the agency's credibility with beneficiaries and the public," the audit concludes. "As OHA prepares to develop its $200 million Kaka'ako Makai property, the likelihood of similar conflicts will increase, particularly for trustees involved in banking, real estate, and professional services firms that stand to benefit from the project."

read ... Just a Hint

America’s welfare state is not working nearly as well as it should

The Economist: America’s last big welfare reform was in 1996, when Bill Clinton and a Republican-led Congress put time limits on cash benefits and tightened the requirement that able-bodied claimants must seek work. The results have been impressive. The number of people receiving cash benefits under what is now called the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programme fell from 12.3m people a month in 1996 to 4.1m in 2012. Employment among single mothers rose sharply.

But some worry that welfare is once again encouraging idleness. Paul Ryan, the Republicans’ congressional budget guru, frets that America’s safety net could become “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency”. A recent study by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, tried to add up what a jobless single mother with two children might receive in each state from seven types of benefit: TANF, food stamps, Medicaid (health care for the cash-strapped), housing assistance, utilities assistance, emergency food aid and the programme for Women, Infants and Children. There was huge variation between states. Such a mother might receive a whopping $49,175 worth of benefits in Hawaii, the most generous state, but only $16,984 in Mississippi, the least.

read ... The Economist

New president of Hawaii airline go! says No Merger with Island Air

PBN: PBN reporter Duane Shimogawa previously reported Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, who bought most of the island of Lanai in 2012 and interisland airline Island Air earlier this year, was also buying go! from Mesa Air Group. But the deal has been scrapped, a source tells PBN.

Pappaioanou told me on Wednesday that Mesa Air Group is in discussions with Island Air for potential opportunities to work together, but that he is not involved in those discussions. If a potential acquisition were being discussed, I would think the airline’s lawyer-turned-president would be involved.

read ... No merger?

Kailua NB Requests HTA Stop Promoting Kailua as Tourist Destination

CB: Tonight the board is expected to vote on a motion that asks the state’s tourism agency to “respect the zoning and quality of life of our residential neighborhoods and immediately stop promoting Kailua as a tourist destination and an alternative to Waikiki.”

Here’s a link the board provided as a reference to the kind of promotions it no longer wants to see.

HNN: Tempers flare at Laniakea traffic meeting

read ... We have arrived, now close the door

North Shore Residents Exasperated by Turtle Worshippers

SA: An exasperated crowd of more than 200 North Shore residents crammed into a school cafeteria Thursday night in hopes of hearing immediate answers to the growing Laniakea Beach traffic woes.

But with no state Department of Transportation officials in attendance and no clear way forward presented to fix the problem, the community meeting, organized by state Rep. Richard Fale, quickly devolved into a chaotic series of outbursts from frustrated residents.

They left with little more than general talk on solutions that have been pondered for years.

However, Fale encouraged the crowd to press state transportation officials to better address the traffic choking off Kamehameha Highway as tourists flock to see Hawaiian green sea turtles on the beach and shorebreak.

"Just keep pressing the issue," Fale said. "It is getting their attention. The wheels are starting to turn."

Fale (R, Waialua-Kahuku-Waiahole) and Toni Robinson, the city's parks and recreation director, fielded written questions from residents. The crowd overflowed out of the Sunset Beach Elementary School cafeteria and many people had to watch through screen windows from outside the structure.

The state DOT will put up barriers sometime in the coming months to block cars from parking at Laniakea, Fale told the crowd. An estimated 600,000 tourists and local residents visit the beach each year — mostly to encounter the Hawaiian green sea turtles that swim ashore there.

read ... 2014 Preparation: DoT Leaves Fale to Hold the Bag

Musician Allegedly Beaten by 8 HPD Officers, Sues

HNN: Performing artist Johnny Helm, 40, said he was hiking with a friend on the Wilhelmina Rise trail in February 2012 when several officers with HPD's crime reduction unit mistook them for armed theft suspects, slammed them to the ground and assaulted them.

"I got this slice right here. I had to have stitches here and here," said Helm, as he pointed to a photo of injuries of his face.

"And they had to insert a rod into my head from the top and pop the bones back out."

Helm's attorney Myles Breiner said the Honolulu Police Commission ruled nearly a year ago that excessive force was used by two of the officers and that all of them were cited for conduct unbecoming of an officer. But so far, the prosecutor office has taken no action on the case.

Named in the lawsuit are officers Calvin Domingo, Keoki Duarte, Ross Furuhashi, Christopher Goshi, Tyler Maalo, Randall Rivera, Nalei Sooto and Patrick Sung. Sooto and Sung were cited for the use of excessive force by the commission, the lawsuit said.

All of the officers remain on duty, Breiner said.

KITV: Injured hiker sues Honolulu officers for alleged 'brutal beating,' falsifying reports

read ... Musician's suit alleges police brutality

Accused Molester Released due to Overcrowding?

HNN: That's in large part because he doesn't have any prior criminal history, he was not deemed to be a flight risk or a danger to the community. And despite teaching at Sacred Hearts Academy for nearly three decades no other victims have stepped forward with new allegations. So after spending a month in custody he was released pending the trial.

"It's a natural thing that comes from cases. In this case the judge probably made the right decision to release him on conditions," said Paul Cunney, attorney.

Overcrowding at the jail may have also contributed.

"There are three to a cell out there and there are two bunk beds and the last guy in gets the floor," said Cunney.

read ... Overcrowded

Another Teacher on Trial for Alleged Molestation

SA: Tamura is accused of molesting the student and track team member by slapping and grabbing her buttocks, touching her breasts and, on one occasion, pulling down her shorts at her home and putting his hand on her crotch.

Tamura's attorney, Kenneth Shimozono, told the jury that when the girl made the complaint she was frustrated that Tamura was not spending time coaching her because of her "bad attitude." She was also dealing with her parents' divorce, Shimozono said.

Despite her allegations, Shimozono said, the girl remained close to Tamura and continued to hang around his Waipahu High classroom.

He said the school conducted an investigation into the girl's allegations, but decided not to take action.

read ... On Trial

Three Lihue TSA Employees Had Sex on TSA Property

EW: On the other hand, the court granted the TSA’s motion as to the employee’s three-day suspension for unauthorized use of government property and unprofessional conduct in relation to her affair with the TSI. While the fact that the decisionmaker relied heavily on the employee’s OI statement in concluding that she misused government property created an issue of fact on whether the employee’s protected activity was the “but-for” cause of her suspension, that was not dispositive. It was undisputed that the employee and the TSI engaged (at least partly) in a consensual relationship, and the decisionmaker concluded, based largely on the employee’s OI statement, that she had romantic encounters on TSA property. He was not aware of her September 4 statement and did not know of her harassment complaint until after he asked where her OI statement came from and was told her complaint had no basis and had been dropped. Thus, he based his decision to suspend her on what her OI statement said she did, not based on her harassment complaint, and the TSA had a legitimate reason for the suspension. The employee’s claim that the decisionmaker was doing what the security director told him to do was mere speculation and did not establish pretext. The court also noted that another female screener, who did not engage in protected activity, received the same discipline for engaging in the same conduct (her own affair with the male TSI).

read ... Feeling Insecure?

Censorship: Controversial Convention Center artwork covered up, will be removed

HNN: A piece of art that has been on display since 1996 when the Hawai'i Convention Center first opened is now covered with a black curtain, and officials say it will be removed and replaced after years of complaints from people who have objected to what it portrays. The controversy surrounds a panel, which features human remains exposed in the sand.

"I don't know what the motive of the artist was with respect to what was depicted. I certainly know that in Hawai'i and given our cultural practices – when it comes to malama iwi, which is taking care of our ancestral bones, that it's a significant sign of disrespect," explained Moses Haia, the Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. Haia represents Paulette Ka'anohiokalani Kaleikini, a recognized cultural descendant of the area, who has complained to the Hawai'i Tourism Authority about the piece.

Mark Twain at Diamond Head, 1866: "...ground so thickly strewn with human bones that the horses' feet crushed them, not occasionally, but at every step."

read ... Censorship

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