Ige Pushed $791M GE Tax Hike in Face of Protests
HGEA, Legislature Force More State Employees into Union
UHPA Approves Abercrombie $32M Gift Contract with 99% 'Yes' Vote
Hawaii deemed ‘sinkhole’ state by fiscal watchdog for pension debt
HGEA Endorses Mr Anonymous Pushover for Gov
HNN: Ige's wife Dawn -- who's a public school vice principal -- is a member of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the state's largest union that endorsed Ige's campaign for governor. "He has served almost anonymously for so long," said Randy Perreira, HGEA's executive director....
Campaign spending reports filed by the candidates Friday showed that as of the primary election on Aug. 9, Ige had roughly half as much cash on hand as his two major opponents. Ige listed a surplus of $94,569, while Hannemann reported $174,812 in his campaign coffers and Aiona had the most money with $198,153.
Perreira, head of the HGEA, said a big challenge is that not enough people know who Ige is, so the union plans to buy media time to boost his campaign....
Ige said he seeks collaboration between union and management on labor issues and won't be a pushover for unions if he's elected governor. (Know him by what he denies.)
read ... Anonymous
National Democrats are worrying about Losing in Hawaii
NJ: Democrats are bullish about their opportunity to win the governor's mansion in Kansas and Republicans have sent staffers out to Hawaii for what they view as a promising opportunity to turn the state red.
Those statements may seem surprising given both states' political leanings—but they're a testament to the fact that the 2014 gubernatorial map has shifted considerably in recent months, a new reality that may cause both parties to move resources to places they never expected at the beginning of the year....Kansas, Hawaii and Connecticut, have turned into real races.
Hawaii, for example, is a solidly Democratic state, but unpopular Gov. Neil Abercrombie has helped turn the state's gubernatorial race into a barnburner—enough so that the Republican National Committee sent additional staff there and the RGA is likely to spend on former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona's behalf.
Abercrombie was defeated in the state's Aug. 9 primary, which gives Democrats hope that their new nominee, state Sen. David Ige, can be a clean slate for Democrats this fall. But the combination of bipartisan ire toward the Abercrombie administration and a three-way matchup with Democrat-turned-independent Mufi Hannemann make this a real race.
read ... Losing
Abercrombie the Martyr--Like Bonhoeffer (LOL!)
CB: It’s not the first time Abercrombie has sought to portray himself in such a noble, selfless light, and over the very same issue of gay rights.
Four years ago, when he was first running for governor, Abercrombie said he was the victim of an anonymous e-mail campaign that he compared to Nazi propaganda.
Speaking to leaders of Faith Action for Community Equity at Harris United Methodist Church in downtown Honolulu, the candidate said religious objections to his candidacy were primarily rooted in a disagreement over civil unions.
If elected governor, Abercrombie said he would sign civil unions into law, which he did. His opponent, Republican Duke Aiona, opposed civil unions.
At the FACE talk, held three weeks before the 2010 general election, Abercrombie said he began every day with readings of meditations from spiritual leaders. They include Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran theologian who was executed in 1945 for resistance against the Nazis....
The Bonhoeffer story is fascinating and the subject of a new biography.
He was linked to a failed conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler, wrote some of his best work imprisoned in a concentration camp and was hanged just week weeks before Hitler committed suicide and Allied forces liberated the camp....
read ... A gay activist trying to write a fluff piece about Abercrombie
Interisland cable also lost in latest primary election
Borreca: Despite Abercrombie proselytizing, the idea of uniting Hawaii with an underwater power cable never really caught on.
The state Public Utilities Commission is in the middle of a long investigation of the issue and so far has not come out in support of the $700 million plan.
Then last week HECO came out with its own energy plan. The cable was MIA.
In an interview with Pacific Business News, HECO officials said the cable is not in their plans....
None of the candidates for governor have Abercrombie's enthusiasm for the project.
If elections have consequences, the likely disappearance of an interisland cable is one of the consequences of Abercrombie's primary election defeat.
read ... Good Riddance
Should Kakaako development be handled by the city? Gubernatorial candidates disagree
KHON: Development used to be under the control of the city until that responsibility was given to a state organization.
One candidate for Governor wants that control back at city hall and that has triggered a war of words.
Zoning and planning for Honolulu is normally the function of city hall, but back in 1976, the state created the Hawaii Community Development Authority, or HCDA, to take control of development in Kakaako.
Now, development is booming with permits for 16 construction projects and at least two more in the pipeline.
Mufi Hannemann, the Hawaii Independent Party’s candidate for governor, says the city should take back Kakaako. His Republican opponent, Duke Aiona, says he should have said so when he was mayor.
“Why didn’t he make the move at that point in time to have Kakaako become part of the city again?” said Aiona. “Maybe it’s because if he’s elected governor, he just doesn’t want the responsibility or the ramifications that go along with it? I don’t know. But the question is, why now?”...
While Aiona says he will push for more affordable housing and rentals, he feels the HCDA, for the most part, is doing its job.
His opponents don’t see it that way. “We need to stop developing housing that are being sold to rich foreign investors and really focus on the needs of our our own communities first,” said David Ige, Democratic candidate for governor.
“Right now, it’s all about lifestyles of the rich and famous, many of them foreign investors,” said Hannemann.
“I think the bottom line is that the development that is being proposed, and the the development that is actually being done, is within the scope of the HCDA’s authority,” said Aiona.
read ... HCDA?
Star-Adv: HCDA should revisit 'affordable' policy
SA: Having decided that building affordable rental apartments makes more sense than trying to sell condominiums to people with limited incomes, the developer of the Ward Village master-planned community wants to alter construction plans at one of its sites in Kakaako.
Despite the obvious need for moderately priced rental housing in this urban Oahu district, the Hawaii Community Development Authority must cast a wary eye on the request by developer Howard Hughes Corp. The outcome of this decision could apply to other projects in the area and dramatically affect the diversity of housing in an area that has become a locus of luxury condominium development.
Hughes Corp. wants to change its planned affordable tower at 988 Halekauwila St. from condominium sales to apartment rentals. The petition it submitted to HCDA on the matter raises important questions about the future of that project specifically and development in Kakaako generally.
Among them: how much flexibility developers hold in changing the focus of a project well along in the planning process, and whether developers can build fewer affordable units, but still satisfy requirements related to the construction of affordable housing, by making rental units available for longer than the currently required 15 years.
HCDA will take up the petition at a meeting on Wednesday.
read ... Affordable?
TOD: Caldwell Plans Big Developer Giveaway in Kalihi
HNN: The more affordable housing that's built the more units developers can build. The city will also drop the requirement to have two parking stalls per unit. Mayor Caldwell is hoping families living along the rail line won't keep two cars. He also says developers will get lower interest rates.
"We're going to say if you build affordable housing, if you want to we'll give you a lower interest rate. You can use our bond interest rate which is lower than three percent. Tim that's really affordable," said Mayor Caldwell.
They plan to build 2,500 to 4,000 residential units. They don't envision high rises, but more in the five to 10 story range right along the canal.
"You look here, this is a great water feature. Wouldn't it be nice to be kayaking here?" said Mayor Caldwell. "Right now it's not that friendly. It's hard to find parking. There is nothing really there. There's nothing really inviting."
The canal has become a haven for the homeless.
"Housing for the homeless, solutions for the homeless is a big problem for all of us," said Hokada.
read ... Developer Giveaway
MECO signs agreement to buy liquefied natural gas
MN: "Because FortisBC's liquefaction capacity is a critical component in the LNG supply chain and is currently available under regulated rates, we want to ensure that we secured our required capacity before it was reserved by others," MECO officials said last week in response to questions from The Maui News. "Preserving the option for this capacity now is a key step in getting the lowest possible prices for our customers. This capacity could be used by whichever natural gas supplier that is ultimately selected in our competitive (request for proposals) process. Both Fortis and Hawaiian Electric must obtain regulatory approvals for the agreement to become effective."
read ... More LNG
Hawaii Counties Prepare for Another Battle over Hotel Tax Revenue
CB: Council members and mayors are already ramping up for the next legislative session, which starts in January, strategizing how they might grab a bigger slice of the state’s hotel tax revenue.
It’s an annual fight that the state has dominated in recent years, particularly with the implementation of a cap on the counties’ share of the 9.25 percent transient accommodations tax that hotels charge guests.
read ... TAT for me me me
Working 174 hours a week?
KITV: Many workers are juggling 2, 3 or more jobs just to afford the high cost of living here in Hawaii.
In fact, in an alarming study from the the National Low Income Housing Coalition it's virtually impossible to afford a 2 bedroom apartment on a minimum wage salary.
Even with no sleep a worker would have to work 174 hours a week at minimum wage, tough to do considering there's only 168 hours in a week. That's considering the standard advice of spending no more than 30% of your income on rent....
Currently workers in Hawaii have to work more hours than any other state in the Union in order to afford an apartment.
Bonus: Obamacare May Delay your Tax Refund
read ... Working 174 hours a week?
Chronic absences lower test scores
SA: Although Hawaii received national praise for overall gains students made on the NAEP that year, including the state's fourth-graders scoring higher than the national average in math, marking the first time Hawaii has topped the national average in any subject since state results were first recorded in the 1990s, the attendance study found:
» A 19-point difference in Hawaii's fourth-grade math scores between students who reported three or more absences and those reporting none — the highest point difference in the nation, and higher than the national average of 13 points.
(The report says a 10-point difference is "about equivalent" to a one-year gain or drop between grades four and eight.)
» A 17-point difference in fourth-grade reading scores between those two groups of students. The national average was 11 points.
» A 22-point difference in eighth-grade math scores between the two groups of students. The national average was 18 points.
» A 15-point difference in eighth-grade reading scores between the two groups of students. The national average was 13 points.
The report's authors noted Hawaii's efforts since then to curb absences, calling the state a "poster child" for improving attendance rates. Hawaii is one of 17 states that track chronic absenteeism data.
read ... No Kidding
Common Core in Hawaii
AP: Hawaii's Department of Education is asking the public to review test questions aligned to Hawaii Common Core standards and help recommend achievement levels for grade-level proficiency.
Beginning next spring, students will take new Common Core-aligned assessments that will replace the Hawaii State Assessment.
KITV: Head back to school with our elementary school curriculum quiz
read ... 50-state look at how Common Core playing out in US
Three Gay Activist Judges Appointed to Review Hawaii Gay Marriage Case
OT: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has announced the 3 judge panel which will review cases challenging gay marriages bans in Nevada, Idaho and Hawaii.
The San Francisco-based court will hear the cases on Monday.
The panel consists of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Ronald M. Gould and Marsha S. Berzon. The court assigns judges to cases randomly.
The panel bodes well for plaintiffs and (gay) marriage equality supporters.
“All judges on 9th Circ panel for ID HI & NV marriage cases have supported heightened scrutiny for sexual orientation discrimination (none of these clowns question the idea that a behavior can be the basis for a group identity) ,”tweeted Dr. Gregory Herek, a social science researcher at the University of California, Davis and an authority on homophobia (the use of political correctness to browbeat the weak-minded into going along with changing marriage into something it never has been in the entire history of the human race).
read ... On Top
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