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Wednesday, November 27, 2013
November 27, 2013 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:43 PM :: 4058 Views

Lessons learned from the Hawaii ‘gay marriage’ fight

Am Samoa: Coverup on Rep Faleomavaega Health Questions?

Shipping fees: Union-backed federal law increases transport costs tenfold

Catch Shares and Implications for Hawaii Fishing Industry

Delusional: Schatz Claims Obamacare Has Saved Hawaii Seniors $35M

Navy League, Mayor to Recognize Outstanding Military Spouses

Rail: CH2M Hill Snags $46M General Engineering Contract

Legislative Working Group to Discuss Foster Family Homes

Counties to Push for 25% Hike in GE Tax

CB: Hawaii’s four mayors and county councils are working to reach unanimous agreement on key tax issues so they can lobby the Legislature next year with a louder and more unified voice, officials said.

The counties want to protect their share of the hotel tax revenue and have the state grant them a new taxing power so they can raise more funds, according to interviews with mayors, council members and legislators.

The Hawaii State Association of Counties has invited the Hawaii Council of Mayors to its meeting Wednesday in the hopes of reaching consensus on how to approach state lawmakers about the transient accommodations tax, general excise tax and other issues.

The association's president, Mel Rapozo, a Kauai County Council member, said it’s the first time the two lobbying groups have formed a partnership in their annual effort to push bills that benefit the counties....

“The cap they put on the TAT is very unfair,” Arakawa said. “I can understand when they’re desperate because the economy’s really bad and they’re in need, but when the economy is getting better then the outer islands should have the benefit of the better economy as well. It shouldn’t be capped and kept on Oahu.”

Having lost the fight to remove the cap last session, the counties want to hold on to what they have and push for a new revenue stream.

Specifically, mayors and council members want the state to give each county the power to raise the general excise tax up to 1 percent.

Honolulu is the only county that has GET taxing power at present. Voters approved a half-percent GET increase to fund the rail project.

The new tool — which wouldn’t directly hit the state budget — could generate an extra $80 million on Maui, for instance, and $14.5 million on Kauai, according to the mayors....

Honolulu City Councilman Stanley Chang, the association's secretary, said that if the state continues to reduce the TAT, the counties will have to increase property taxes....

Precisely as Predicted: Act 268 Hawaii Unfunded Liabilities Plan: Pot of Gold for Corrupt Union Leaders

read ... Counties May Ask for New Taxing Power After State's Hotel Money Grab

City street sweeper fired for theft rehired by another city department

HNN: A former city street sweeper fired from his job after admitting to theft in an overtime scam was rehired by a different city department three years after losing his job.

In 2009, five men who worked as city street sweepers out of the city's Sand Island base yard were indicted for theft. Prosecutors said they had been paid thousands of dollars in overtime when they didn't work the extra hours. ...

Street sweeper Lydell Herodies, one of Castro's underlings, pleaded guilty to theft in the case, and did not get prison time but was ordered to pay the city nearly $3,000 restitution. He was fired from his city job in November 2009, a city spokesman said. ...

Three years later, on July 1, Herodies was hired as a custodian at the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. He was put back on the payroll by a different city department, Environmental Services.

"It has to stop because it costs us, the taxpayer.  And besides, it's just an insult, it's like a slap in the face," said government watchdog Carroll Cox of EnviroWatch. Cox said it's wrong for the city to rehire someone who's been fired for theft.

"It's a recycling of people who have either violated the law or violated policy," Cox added.

read ... Recycling

Star-Adv Saddened by 'Grim' Future of Akaka Tribe, Lowers Sights

SA: Twenty years after Congress apologized on behalf of the United States for the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom, reconciliation between the federal government and Native Hawaiians seems more distant than ever....

concrete action tied to this stated commitment has been sorely lacking for the past two decades.

This lack of commitment is most evident in the repeated defeat of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, commonly known as the Akaka Bill...

With Inouye's death and Akaka's retirement in December 2012, prospects for future passage seem grim....

The state's current congressional delegation must remain resolute in advancing the cause of Native Hawaiian sovereignty with their colleagues in the House and Senate, many of whom may be unaware of Hawaii's complex history or even of the apology resolution itself.  (and so they should do what? .... )

Federal funding for Native Hawaiian education, health and social programs remains vital to improving people's lives in the islands and to the incremental progress toward the overall goal so eloquently stated in the apology resolution, and so quickly dismissed once the ink was dry.  (Translation.  No more Akaka Bill, just money from DC?)

A "proper foundation for reconciliation between the United States and the Native Hawaiian people" may elude us still, but it cannot elude us forever.  (Translation: We don't have a plan or a clue.)

read ... 'Reconciliation' eludes Hawaiians

More health care regulations mean more middlemen, fewer doctors

SA: I attended the recent Hawaii 2013 Healthcare Summit, on how Hawaii is implementing the Affordable Care Act and transforming health care. The keynote address by Dr. Abraham Verghese was inspiring — all about the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship and how health care should be focused on the living patient, not the "iPatient" in the computer.

In panel discussions, Hawaii's health plans and hospitals told us how they will guide us away from fee-for-service payment that rewards volume of services to value-based payment systems that reward quality and care coordination. The goals are the "triple aims" of improved quality, improved population health, and improved value/reduced cost. However, dig deeper and the conference was full of contradictions and confusion.

(This ends with a pitch for single payer.)

read ... Fewer Doctors

Sam Aiona: 801 South St. project is not 'workforce housing'

SA: Allan Lock — a retired Hawaiian Dredging Co. executive and now construction management consultant to developers — talks about 801 South St., a project by his former company, as if it is "workforce housing," apparently without realizing that there is a standard definition for workforce housing ("Now is best time to build more affordable housing in Kakaako," Island Voices, Star-Advertiser, Nov. 17).

"Workforce housing" is housing for "essential workers," people who make the Honolulu economy go: high school and elementary schoolteachers, police officers, nurses, retail salesworkers, janitors, construc- tion laborers, electricians, secretaries, nursing aides, firefighters, and, in resort areas such as Waikiki-Kakaako, food prep workers, housekeepers, receptionists and wait staff.

On average, "essential workers" make $33,000 (construction worker), $60,000 (schoolteacher), or $24,000 (housekeeper). The average household salary, in fact, for high school and elementary schoolteachers, police officers, nurses, janitors, construction laborers, electricians, secretaries, nursing aides, food prep workers, housekeepers, receptionists and wait staff is only $47,000.

Such a household would qualify for "low-income" housing, and at the higher end, "moderate-income" housing. Yet, at 801 South St. — the so-called "workforce housing" project — the minimum qualifying annual income level for a tiny unit is above $86,000. Kakaako resident Ariel Salinas' analysis describes these figures at >>> LINK

Related: Ethics complaint: HCDA Falsifies Kakaako Workforce Housing Affordability Formulas

read ... Sam Aiona

Contractors, Developers Payoff City for 'Making TOD Happen'

CB: Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting wants the City Council to approve the acceptance of $37,555 worth of gifts used to pay for the city’s "Making TOD Happen" symposium at the Blaisdell Center on Nov. 16.

The city sent its request asking the City Council to approve the gifts just two days before the event took place.

The city blamed its late request on the short timeline for planning the event.

Department of Planning and Permitting Director George Atta initially asked for approval of $25,050 worth of gifts but later revised the request upward.

The biggest contributors included large developers and landowners.

read ... Pay Off

Solar Contractors Cut 50% of Workforce

HNN: "About 50% of our jobs have been put on the hold button," described Chris DeBone, Managing Partner for Hawai'i Energy Connection, the company behind "KumuKit". "We stopped all installations of jobs that we did not have approval from the utility," DeBone said, adding it lead to "a significant lay-off within our organization".

"Business has really, slowed down significantly.  We've seen over a 30% decline in our existing customer base," explained Aaron Cates, an analyst with Sunetric.  "Several hundred customers have been put on hold.  There's a lot of uncertainty.  I think in general, consumers are just afraid.  They don't know what the costs will be.  They don't know what the times will be," Cates said.

"It's been very challenging," Duda said.  "A lot of people aren't signing new contracts, even in some cases where they're in areas that have relatively low saturation, because there's just too much confusion swirling around the sector."

read ... Layoffs

Hawaiian Electric seeks to Stick Ratepayers With undersea cable study costs

PBN: Hawaiian Electric Co. and Maui Electric Co.are asking Hawaii regulators to approve the recovery of hundreds of thousands of dollars for studies they conducted related to the planned undersea cable project, according to public documents filed this week.

The total cost of the study was $775,000, with HECO and MECO asking to recoup $405,000.

The utilities said in their application to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission that they want to begin recovery of these funds starting on Jan. 1

read ... Hawaiian Electric seeks to recoup undersea cable study costs

UH Teams face ax if fiscal troubles continue

SA: The University of Hawaii on Tuesday held out the firm possibility of cutting some of its sports teams if the athletic department can't rein in its recurring deficits.

Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, who forgave an accumulated decade-long net deficit of $13 million in May, told the Board of Regents Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics the department is required to balance its books within three years and cannot exceed a $1 million debt ceiling in any of the fiscal years in the interim.

If athletics can't meet the guidelines, Apple said, "they must find ways to cut."

Committee Chairman Benjamin Kudo said, "If they can't control (the deficit) within the three-year period, then I think Chancellor Apple will have to make some decisions, perhaps drastic decisions."

Kudo said cutting one or more of the school's 21 teams "would be a last resort for us. Unfortunately, we're prepared to do it, if that's what's called for, because our primary purpose is to educate students." Funding athletics, Kudo said, "can't be at the cost of our other programs."

read ... Teams Face Axe

Pigs Run Rampant as City Bumbles Contract

SA: A contract that allows federal workers to trap and capture feral pigs at the city's Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden was allowed to lapse, resulting in increased damage to the grounds.

In the roughly two months since U.S. Department of Agriculture officials removed their pig traps and snares from the 400-acre site, the garden's employees reported seeing significantly more pigs and more damage when they showed up for work.

The contract for $51,754 expired Sept. 30. A proposal for the new contract, for $53,009, was not submitted by city Parks Director Toni Robinson to the Council until Oct. 31.

read ... Pigs

HCDA’s Proposal for Veterans Housing in Kalaeloa Gets a Boost from Neighborhood Board

CB: Most of the attention on the Hawaii Community Development Authority has been focused on the agency’s plans for Kakaako. But the agency is also making strides to develop Kalaeloa in west Oahu.

The zoning and planning committee of the neighborhood board for Makakilo and Kapolei met Monday evening to discuss the latest project proposal, which would create housing for 50 homeless veterans and non-veterans.

The developer Cloudbreak Inc. already operates a veterans’ residence in the area. Charles Patterson from Cloudbreak said the existing 80-bed residence is at capacity and has a long waiting list.

Keoni Dudley, the committee’s chairman, said the group unanimously approved the plan on Monday evening largely because the existing program has been successful.

But he added: “In general there’s a feeling in the area and certainly among some of the members that we’ve had too many of the cast-off kind of projects. We’re awful tired of getting dumped on with the projects no one wants,” he said.

read ... HCDA’s Proposal for Veterans Housing in Kalaeloa Gets a Boost from Neighborhood Board

Monsanto applies for federal permit to develop new varieties of corn

PBN: Under this permit, Missouri-based Monsanto (NYSE: MON) said that it is able to grow seed corn as part of its ongoing efforts around controlling corn rootworm to combine characteristics of existing plants that could lead to new commercial hybrids of pest-resistant corn.

“While we are unable to provide information about specific field sites, the permit gives us an opportunity to move forward with this research effort in Puerto Rico and 22 states including Hawaii,” said Alan Takemoto, spokesman for Monsanto Hawaii. “There will not be any direct impact to our neighbors or the public as a result of this permit.”

He also pointed out that although experimental permits are often associated with new uses of chemical pesticides, this permit does not involve spraying or mechanically applying any experimental or research pesticide.

“The corn varieties we’re using are hybrids that are already being commercially grown, and the new traits will prove beneficial to our farmer customers,” Takemoto said.

read ... Monsanto applies for federal permit to develop new varieties of corn

Head of Tuna Commission says vote may be needed at Cairns meeting

IB: The main item on the agenda for the Tuna Commission is the need to reduce the catch of bigeye tuna, but both longline and purse seine fisheries are locked in debate about which method harms fish stocks more.

Professor Glenn Hurry says the commission works by consensus, but it may need to vote on regulations for the first time if they can’t agree on recent proposals to increase limits on how much can be caught.

read ... Vote

3-1-1 city complaints, is anyone listening?

KHON: Complaints from city taxpayers number in the thousands, submitted to Honolulu Hale since the 3-1-1 app rolled out a few years ago. It's piling onto already long to-do lists.

"They write it in, they call it in, they e-mail it in, we've got walk-ins," Honolulu Department of Customer Services director Sheri Kajiwara said, "and now we've got 3-1-1."

Since opening the doors to 3-1-1, the city has referred a little more than half to departments to resolve, and officially "closed" just a fraction....

read ... 3-1-1 city complaints, is anyone listening?

Most residents improperly use pesticides

KHON: "A lot of people don't review the label before using the pesticides," Department of Agriculture Pesticides program environmentalist specialist Steve Russo said.

People don't even realize that by law, they need to follow label instructions that are approved by the state and the EPA.

"The labeling provides you with the information for use, so it will cover how much you can use, where you can use it, and any safety equipment you need to use," Russo said.

"The state law does allow for someone to be cited if they aren't doing that," Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Terry Seelig said.

Not following labels can lead to criminal penalties of up to $25,000 or a year in prison, or both.

Last year, the Department of Agriculture received 90 pesticide complaints, mostly from people grumbling about neighbors using them. The state collected nearly $2,000 in penalties.

KHON: East Oahu school evacuated due to pesticide fumes

read ... Most residents improperly use pesticides

Building code exemption creates challenges

HTH: Farm groups lobbied extensively for the new law, saying it would help the state become more sustainable. Several state agencies, such as the Office of Planning and the Department of Agriculture, opposed the bill on the question of safety.

The bill passed both houses of the Legislature with only one lawmaker, Sen. Laura Thielen, an Oahu Democrat and former chairwoman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, voting no.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed the measure into law after changes were made to take opposing testimony into account.

But some members of the local commission still had concerns about safety and liability. They questioned how someone building a new structure would know to follow setback rules, if there is no building permit or plan review by the Department of Planning, and they wondered who would inspect and enforce the law to ensure people weren’t living in the structures illegally.

read ... Building Code

Young Legislators Form 'Future Caucus'

PR: Young Hawaii leaders, modeling U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, are forming a new Hawaii Future Caucus.

The group, led by state Rep. Beth Fukumoto, a Republican, state Rep. Takashi Ohno, a Democrat, and Honolulu City Councilman Stanley Chang, a Democrat, will be made up of state and county leaders under 40.

read ... Political Radar

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