March 28, 2014: Election Commission Releases Updated Candidate List
Hawaii Legislative Watch: People vs. government
Hawaii Legislative Watch: Education
Caldwell Refuses to Veto Food Truck Bill, Signs Bill Hiking Special Use Permit Fees
$58.4M CIP for UH
Hotels and Condos Drive Construction Upturn
Billionaire: Ratepayers Must Suffer So Green Energy Cronies Can Enrich Themselves
IM: (Pierre Omidyar operative Kyle) Datta ... explained how equality and caring about ratepayers is so old school.
“The regulatory thinking ...from the last century has to change to this century. We can't have the thinking that there can be no renewable energy, energy efficiency or distributed generation unless all ratepayers benefit. That's based on the principle that equality is more important than economics.”
Instead, Datta believes everything should get behind incentivizing utilities.
“We need to embrace the challenges that we face now. We need to work together to create incentives for new utility partnerships.”
But he made it clear that the concept of “everyone” does not include the community.
“It's going to take a conversation based on trust between the utility, the regulators, the large customers [and] the renewable providers; all of us have a role to play in this conversation.”...
Datta went on to talk about his perception that the problem lies with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
“But we also need leadership at the PUC to focus on the real issues, to define the comprehensive regulatory compact that works against this future. … The regulatory leaders must accept the responsibility for whatever mess we are in now.”
read ... You Peasants Must Bow Before My Eco-Religion and Pay Tithes
Ige: Hawaii senators need time on health exchange
AP: The bill (HB 2529) seeks to raise up to $15 million per year for the Hawaii Health Connector. The money could come from the state's general fund or a fee on insurance companies that are not participating in the exchange.
The exchange built under President Barack Obama's federal health-care overhaul is required to sustain itself financially by the year 2015. But right now, it does not have the ability to fully fund the program throughout 2015.
To solve the problem, the bill suggests charging a fee of no more than 0.345 percent of premiums on medical and dental insurance plans sold in the state. It also gives the Legislature permission to dole out money to the exchange.
The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii opposed the sustainability fee, saying it would harm businesses. They said the Connector should reduce its expenses and not create an additional burden for business.
One way the bill sought to reduce costs was to end some payments to insurance brokers that enroll people in insurance plans through the exchange. But the Hawaii Independent Insurance Agents Association fought that proposal.
Meanwhile, the AARP of Hawaii supported parts of the bill that would establish a legislative oversight committee and require the Connector to submit a sustainable annual budget plan. Hawaii residents should not be responsible for paying those expenses until they have that accounting, the group said.
Lawmakers in the Senate Ways and Means committee on Friday postponed making a decision until 10 a.m. Monday.
read ... Need Time
Candidates' name order could change on 2014 ballot
HNN: A proposal making its way through the legislature will change the order in which political candidates' names appear on the ballot in Hawaii, one of just seven states that still list candidates alphabetically.
Studies have shown that the order candidates are listed on the ballot can affect close elections, especially primaries with potentially long lists of candidates.
"The first candidate (you know, a name starting with Ab...) tends to get a small bump, maybe two percent," said UH Manoa Political Science Professor Colin Moore. "Some people have estimated as much as five percent than the candidates farther down the list. And that's because voters tend not to have fully formed opinions about these candidates in primary elections," Moore said, so they tend to just choose from the first few names they see at the top of the ticket.
House Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads wants to change Hawaii's alphabetical listing of candidates to be different each election cycle, when a letter would be drawn at random to determine the new alphabetical order. For instance, if J was the letter chosen, (It's gonna be either "H" or "I", trust me on this.) then the new alphabetical order would be J through Z and then A through I, so J would be the new A, will all other letters following in order.
read ... Abercrombie to lose 2% Bump
State agency wrongly approved Kakaako tower, lawsuit alleges
SA: Sales are moving ahead for the second planned condominium tower at 801 South St. in Kakaako, but neighbors in an adjacent existing tower filed a lawsuit Friday trying to block the project.
The association of apartment owners at Royal Capitol Plaza sued the state agency that approved 801 South St. in Circuit Court, arguing that a permit for the second tower was issued unlawfully.
Honolulu attorney Carl Varady filed the lawsuit on behalf of Royal Capitol residents against the Hawaii Community Development Authority and is asking a judge to prevent any construction related to the second tower until an appeal to the permit is heard....
The lawsuit alleges that HCDA's board predetermined its approval of the permit.
The complaint noted that board members held no discussion before voting on the permit after listening to more than three hours of testimony at a public hearing in December, and that the board voted to adopt HCDA staff findings and recommendations for approving the permit.
Royal Capitol's lawsuit also alleges that HCDA violated state historic preservation law by ignoring measures that the head of the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources said were necessary, including an archaeological survey.
A third major contention in the suit is that HCDA didn't properly convene a contested-case hearing.
Background: Ethics complaint: HCDA Falsifies Kakaako Workforce Housing Affordability Formulas
read ... Lawsuit
Kakaako Developers Try New Trick to Skirt Affordability Requirements
SA: More than 500 prospective buyers entered the lottery in which the order of selecting a condo in the 410-unit planned tower is being determined by random selection.
Participation in the sales event isn't quite as high as it was a year ago when nearly 700 people entered a lottery for units in the first 801 South tower featuring 635 units.
The difference is attributed to units in the second tower being bigger and pricier while an income restriction is the same for buyers.
Units in the second tower with one to three bedrooms are priced from $352,000 to $699,000. That compares with studios to two-bedroom units that sold for $250,000 to $500,000 in the first tower....
Both towers are being developed under state workforce housing rules set by the Hawaii Community Development Authority that gave Downtown Capital a 100 percent density bonus in return for making at least 75 percent of the units affordable to households earning no more than 140 percent of Honolulu's median income.
The maximum income level equates to $84,574 for a single person, $96,656 for a couple or $120,820 for a family of four.
One difference Downtown Capital agreed to for the second tower is to ensure that at least 75 percent of the units are sold to buyers meeting the income restriction.
HCDA's rule requires only that 75 percent of units be "set aside for purchase" by buyers under the income limit.
In the first tower, the developer satisfied that requirement by exclusively offering units for 60 days to income-restricted buyers. Downtown Capital ultimately sold about 65 percent of units — roughly 400 out of 635 — to buyers under the income ceiling.
In the second tower, the developer will see that at least 75 percent of units are sold to income-qualified buyers.
Related: Ethics complaint: HCDA Falsifies Kakaako Workforce Housing Affordability Formulas
read ... More than one way to skin a cat
OHA Crony: Anyone Who Opposes Development of Kakaako Makai is a Racist
Watson: A small group of non-Native conservationists are opposing the proposal with open hostility towards Hawaiians and Native rights. So Hawaiians now find themselves faced with an onslaught of opposition rich with misinformation, cultural misappropriation and a revival of anti-Hawaiian sentiment reminiscent of Hawaii during its dark territorial era.
Many of the opponents have outright told Hawaiian supporters that they neither understand their own cultural values and that the Hawaiian community is unfit to make their own decisions regarding their lands. Most alarming is that the opposition to Native land rights is not isolated to Honolulu, as similar situations are emerging in Kailua and on the island Niihau.
It is a dangerous precedent for a state struggling to address past and ongoing injustices committed against its native community.
The racial divide between the support and opposition on this issue is alarming — one only needs to look at the testimony to see Hawaiians overwhelming in support, with non-Hawaiians overwhelmingly in opposition in all the emerging situations.
This insidious work of a few also flies in the face of the multitude of alliances and partners that have been successfully formed between conservationists and Native Hawaiians.
Translation: Anyone who opposes development of Kakaako Makai is a raaaacist. Pathetic. I wonder who could be weak-minded enough to be influenced by this drivel? It will be amusing to see.)
SA: Fisherman's wharf faces its final days
read ... Enviro Racists vs OHA
Will Sierra Club Abandon Wooley's Anti-GMO Nuts to Secure Harris the HD48 Appointment?
SA: In what could be among the most competitive Democratic primaries this year, Robert Harris, director of Sierra Club Hawaii, and Kika Bukoski, executive director of the Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council, have shown interest in a likely vacant Windward state House seat.
(Anti-GMO nut) Rep. Jessica Wooley (D, Kahaluu-Ahuimanu-Kaneohe), a progressive and environmental advocate, will give up the seat if she is confirmed by the state Senate as director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control (a worthless position previously used by Abercrombie to silence anti-GMO nut Gary Hooser).
The Democratic Party would recommend three potential candidates to Gov. Neil Abercrombie to replace Wooley on an interim basis before voters decide her successor in the primary and general elections.
Harris (who may or may not be as much of an anti-GMO nut as she) said he intends to apply for the appointment and run in the primary....
Bukoski, who grew up in Kaneohe, (and is prolly not an anti-GMO nut) had pulled papers to run against Wooley before she was nominated to lead the QEQC. He said he would also consider applying for the appointment....
(It would not be logical for Abercrombie to get rid of one anti-GMO nut and replace her with another. Will Harris commit the Sierra Club to a pro-GMO position to get the appointment? After all, Harris and the Sierra Club are there to serve the interests of Hawaii large landowners, not attack them.)
Harris, explained: How A&B Wins Big From Environmental Litigation
read ... ECO vs Old Boy
State addressing wellness, under-staffing of corrections officers
KHON: Twenty-one posts were closed Friday at Halawa Correctional Facility because workers either called in sick, were on vacation or on leave. That, combined with the bad weather, caused some prison programs to be cancelled.
The cancellations came just days after visitations were cancelled at two facilities due to under-staffing and employees calling in sick.
read ... State addressing wellness, under-staffing of corrections officers
HPD: Undercover officers neverevernever have sex with prostitutes
KHON: “It’s a sad day when people can put that out there as something that one of the largest police departments in the nation that’s accredited that we would condone anything like that,” said Asst. Chief Susan Dowsett of the Honolulu Police Department.
Dowsett should know. She headed up the Narco-Vice Department for a decade.
“They never have sex with prostitutes,” Asst. Chief Dowsett said. “We have never authorized that. They never will and anyone who has alleged that has occurred is absolutely encouraged to come forward to the police department, to the Honolulu Police Commission, to the state attorney general’s office, to the FBI if you need to.”
Dowsett says HPD officers do not need to have the ability to have sex with prostitutes, just make a deal. “We never wanted officers to be able to have sex with prostitutes,” she said. “We need that ability to be able to negotiate, to get an agreement, so that we can get a violation according to the law that we have.”
The amended language in Bill 1926 passed out of committee and moves to a second reading next week.
Read HB1926 in its entirety here.
Read the current law here.
read ... Never Ever
Hawaii Dept of Transportation Sabotaging OMPO
CB: The Hawaii Department of Transportation only has one seat on the policy committee, but it also funnels federal funds to OMPO. By withholding money from the agency, DOT has been able to prevent OMPO from issuing contracts, which OMPO officials say is likely illegal.
“From what I know of the federal law, this is not in compliance with federal law because the MPOs are supposed to be independent and not subservient to the state DOT,” said Honolulu City Councilman Breene Harimoto, who is vice chair of OMPO’s policy committee. “It is attached to the state agency just for administrative purposes.”
While federal law gives the Oahu MPO decision-making power over how tens of millions of federal highway dollars are to be used and prioritized every year, transportation experts say that Oahu’s MPO has traditionally been one of the weakest in the nation.
“In other jurisdictions the MPO is very powerful, like in San Francisco,” said Panos Prevedouros, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “But our MPO here, it has very smart people, but it’s pretty much delegated to rubber stamp what political figures want to do.”
Gibson agrees with that assessment.
“Unfortunately, since 1972 what has really happened here on Oahu is the state has made their decisions on their projects, the city and county have made their decisions on their projects and they give us a list and they take it to the policy committee as the last step because the feds require it,” he said. “The policy committee is really just a rubber stamp. It’s sort of pro-forma — they aren’t really making a decision.”
But since Gibson took over as head of the OMPO four years ago, he’s worked to try to strengthen the agency.
Recent federal regulations empowering MPOs have also added to tensions between the agency and DOT, said Harimoto.
“The problem is that (DOT) operated in this mode for years and years and it is difficult to give up certain authority,” he said.
SA: Policy conflict could cost Oahu $15M
read ... Is the Hawaii Dept of Transportation Sabotaging an Oahu Transit Group?
Protest held outside office of accused Hilo dentist
HNN: Many of the protestors are loved ones of Kristen Tavares, 23, the mother who is in a coma after having her wisdom teeth pulled. The people say they want to alert the public and hope to send a message to the State that they think Dr. Stover's medical and dental license should be revoked.
Hawaii News Now has also learned disabled veteran Curtis Wagasky, 52, died after complications having one tooth pulled in Dr. Stover's Kona office in December 2012.
read ... Protest held outside office of accused Hilo dentist
Is MoveOn Breaking Faith with the Progressive Community?
OpEd: "Events in 2013 have shaken that relationship with the discovery that MoveOn Petitions has adopted an "Open Platform" policy that allows non-progressive groups and individuals to post petitions on the site, so that even the KKK can post a petition as long as the language used is not 'offensive'."
The policy came to light this past October when MoveOn Council leaders in Hawaii were alerted by their state legislators that they were receiving petitions from MoveOn opposing marriage equality (sic). MoveOn members throughout Hawaii had been working diligently, with state legislators and coalition partners, to pass a marriage equality act. As a special session was about to begin to debate the issue and recommend passage of the bill, proponents of the marriage equality bill were devastated to find that a right wing church group had used MoveOn's petition tools to create last minute uncertainty in the minds of legislators about MoveOn's position. While the bill ultimately passed, much damage was done to the coalition effort, the safety of MoveOn members in Hawaii and the credibility of MoveOn as a reliable partner in the progressive community.
read ... Move On
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