Illegal Debate--Secret Report: OHA Trustees to Cut Funding for Hawaiian Charter Schools?
Video: Kelii Akina Discusses DHHL on Island Insights
American Samoa: Faleomavaega Trying for Comeback?
I Can’t Believe He Said That!
Video: House Republicans Speak Out on HB134 Rail Tax
Video: House Republicans Debate Marijuana Dispensaries
PDF: How Major Bills Fared at the Capitol
Ernie Martin to Legislature: Council Will Not Go on Record Favoring Rail Tax Hike
SA: Lately, Council support has been called into question by members of the state Legislature and others on the proposed extension of the general excise tax surcharge for rail....
The Council remains optimistic that the Legislature will grant some extension of the tax surcharge. I have already introduced Bill 23 (2015) to accept whatever the Legislature decides and authorize its use at the city level. (Nobody is voting on this until after the legislators raise taxes for us.) This is a far more telling action to legislators than any ineffectual pronouncements the Council could adopt urging a surcharge extension. (Translation: We aren't going to pass a Council resolution putting our political futures at risk by advocating a massive tax hike. We cowards want the legislators to do it for us.)
read ... All Talk, No Vote
Sierra Club: Ching Votes Will Haunt Politicians
Borreca: ...Even his supporters, like GOP Sen. Sam Slom, said Ching, a lobbyist for land developers, bears watching.
"If this person is confirmed, we are not going to let him get away with things," Slom said.
Sen. Laura Thielen, Water and Land Committee chairwoman, and a former Land Board chairwoman herself, said she was disturbed that Ching had been head of the pro-development Land Use Research Foundation but during testimony could not recall LURF positions opposing public beach access and Native Hawaiian cultural and traditional practices.
Perhaps the most shocking rejection of a governor's pick happened in 1999, when the Democratic Senate voted down then-Gov. Ben Cayetano's renominations of both Attorney General Margery Bronster and Earl Anzai, state budget director....
While a senator, Cayetano was part of the group of senators that rejected former Gov. George Ariyoshi's nomination of Mike Lilly as AG. At that time, the Senate Judiciary Committee disposed of Lilly's nomination by rejecting it and then refusing to send it to the floor for a vote.
GOP Gov. Linda Lingle lost two Cabinet nominations in 2007 when Iwalani White was turned down as director of Public Safety and Peter Young was not reconfirmed to his Land Board post.
As much as the Senate wants to keep up its good relations with Ige, it is clear that the new governor feels the Ching nomination is too important to lose. That was clear when Ige actually jumped up during last week's hearing to object to the questions asked of Ching.
But, being Ige's BFF is not the only consideration.
David Frankel, chairman of the Hawaii chapter of the Sierra Club, noted that the local environment movement is united against the Ching nomination and it has become an important part of local politics.
"Any senator who has aspirations for higher office has to realize that this vote for Carleton Ching will haunt him. And others facing competitive races will also be haunted by their vote," Frankel said.
read ... Ghost
Political Insiders Score Kewalo Harborfront Lease and $2.3M to Build on it--OHA Stuck with $1/year Income for Next 65 Years
SA: Legislators in 2007 passed a bill requiring the Hawaii Community Development Authority to set aside a small waterfront parcel for the nonprofit's use even though the HCDA opposed the measure and the attorney general — the state's top lawyer — considered it unconstitutional.
The bill, adopted by the House and Senate with no opposition, was vetoed by then-Gov. Linda Lingle, but lawmakers easily overrode her veto. Some, including then-House Speaker Calvin Say and then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Clayton Hee, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week that they disagreed with the attorney general's opinion.
The Legislature also appropriated $2.3 million in 2010 to build a facility for Kewalo Keiki on the 15,000-square-foot parcel even though the HCDA didn't request the money and the funding wasn't allocated through the normal grant-application process for nonprofits.
The HCDA in 2009 signed a $1-a-year, 65-year lease with Kewalo Keiki for the same parcel identified in the 2007 bill...
In 2012, lawmakers appropriated $2,301,000 — identical to what it allocated in 2010 for the Kewalo Keiki facility — to plan and construct the first phase of a cultural public market in Kakaako Makai.
Although the appropriation didn't identify a specific parcel for the building's location, the HCDA's solicitation last year for proposals to design and build the facility noted the lot would be about 15,000 square feet — the same size as the Kewalo Keiki one.
The HCDA acknowledged that the Kewalo Keiki lot, which is considered a unique fishing spot in urban Honolulu, is a possible site for the new building. But if that lot is selected, the HCDA says, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which now owns the parcel, would be consulted.
OHA obtained the lot as part of a 2012 settlement of its ceded-land claims with the state. An OHA spokesman told the Star-Advertiser that his agency is honoring the lease with Kewalo Keiki....
Say, now the House's speaker emeritus, and Rep. Tom Brower (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako), the main sponsor of the 2007 legislation, disagree that Kewalo Keiki received extraordinary treatment from the Legislature, pointing out that many nonprofits lease state land or buildings and get state grants. Yet Brower and other legislators contacted by the Star-Advertiser could not cite another example in which the Legislature mandated that an unwilling agency provide land for a nonprofit and then appropriated funding for a new building....
Unlimited Construction, which was awarded the HCDA contract for the public market facility, is working on the design of the building. The location has yet to be selected, according to the HCDA. The market is being designed for multiple vendors or tenants.
If the Kewalo Keiki lot is picked, OHA must approve the project before construction starts....
In 2010, for instance, the Legislature received more than 50 grant applications from nonprofits, but Kewalo Keiki was not among them, according to a Star-Advertiser review of legislative records.
The Legislature declined to fund many of the requests because of limited funding, including projects related to medical care and other services for the poor and disabled. Yet the Legislature included the $2.3 million appropriation for the Kewalo Keiki building....
BREG: Kewalo Keiki Officers
read ... Insiders
In Legislature, bills for open government prevailing
AP: ...One of Ihara's bills in the Senate would shed light on the executive sessions where board members meet in private. It would require boards of public agencies to report any discussions or final actions taken during those executive sessions, where members might discuss a personnel matter or sensitive votes.
But that law wouldn't apply to the Legislature, which is not covered by the Sunshine Act. Ihara has been trying for about a decade to change that, by introducing a bill every year to apply some of the fundamental principles of the Sunshine Act to the Legislature, but it's never had a hearing, he said.
This year, lawmakers have killed or watered down two proposals that would have made it easier for board members to conceal what's going on.
One would have allowed documents that would have been subject to open records laws to be withheld from the public if the release could result in physical harm, embarrassment, inconvenience or unfairness to the member. That bill was sought by the state Judiciary Branch in an attempt to keep judges safe from physical harm and identity theft, and there was no intention to hide information from the public, a spokeswoman for the branch said.
But the proposal was weakened in the House Judiciary Committee after facing strong opposition from good government groups that said the exemptions were so broad that they would defeat the purpose of open records laws: to let the public know about embarrassing acts such as a candidate misusing campaign funds or a restaurant failing to address health violations.
"You don't want to put judges in danger by revealing private information, but on the other hand, they should be open to criticism by the public, if people disagree with the decisions they make or question them," said Rep. Karl Rhoads, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "I thought the embarrassment part was, I mean, should that really be a consideration whether you keep something private or not? ... Inconvenience, that seemed a little far too."
Another proposal pushed by Maui County Council members and introduced by lawmakers from the same island would have allowed more than two members of public boards to meet and discuss issues before the council. That bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Related: List of Open Government Bills Crossing Over
read ... Prevailing
100% Renewable Requirement: Insanity or Effort to Scare Away NextEra?
SA: ...action by legislators as well as the regulatory agency is essential in advance of any final deal by the Florida-based NextEra Inc. to merge with Hawaiian Electric Industries, as is being proposed. The expectations the state has for its electric utilities should be known to the principal players, both current and prospective.
At issue at the state Capitol are a few bills of interest, all of which deserve serious consideration and debate:
» House Bill 623, House Draft 2, is the proposal that has passed the House; the Senate Energy Committee has slated a hearing for 2:45 p.m. Tuesday in conference room 225.
This bill would update the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative to achieve a state energy portfolio of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. The original initiative goal included a 70 percent clean-energy benchmark, which by 2030 would be achieved through conservation and substitution of renewables for the fossil fuels that now dominate.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 715, Senate Draft 2, would push back the deadline to 2050; it has not been scheduled for a hearing.
» HB 484, HD 2, and its companion bill SB 1050, SD 2, would require the PUC to establish a "community-based renewable energy tariff" system, a means of allowing people who lack the means or opportunity to install their own photovoltaic panels to buy into a larger project and reap some of the energy savings solar PV systems enable.
Whichever vehicle moves, it must allow these relatively small-scale projects to be developed by private individuals and groups, as well as by the power utility.
» HB 1504, HD 2, would provide funds and direct the Legislative Reference Bureau to do a comparative study of various utility models, including those that are owned cooperatively or in the public sector.
It would also impose a cap on interconnection costs that the utility could recover through a surcharge. These are the expenses associated with connecting external electricity generators to its grid. The cap would be based on national averages.
The primary accelerator for all of this would be the 100 percent clean-energy legislation....
read ... Insanity?
Disagreeing with Gabbard earns branding as a bigot
Shapiro: The Hindu American Foundation of Washington, D.C., commented in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Thursday that it's been a difficult month for Hindu Americans, citing the battering of a strolling grandfather by an Alabama cop, the vandalizing of two Hindu temples near Seattle and the rude snub by an Idaho legislator when a Hindu chaplain prayed.
To these deplorable acts of bigotry, the foundation added a fourth alleged Hinduphobe: me.
My offense? Failing to agree with Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the only Hindu member of Congress, on her repeated bashing of President Barack Obama for not saying enough to call out the Islamic ideology of terrorists in Iraq and Syria....
What the national media say about Hawaii's elected officials is news; when coverage is favorable, Gabbard trumpets it herself.
But for reporting an unfavorable portrayal, I'm equated with the brutal Alabama police officer, the racist Seattle temple vandals and the troglodyte Idaho legislator....
Actually, the Hindu American Foundation's criticism of the column was quite thoughtful compared to some of the others I received from Gabbard supporters.
One local writer said that Muslims are bloodthirsty by nature and will never be able to co-exist with other faiths or secular institutions.
A fellow from Kaneohe said the Quran, Islam's holy book, reads like Hitler's "Mein Kampf"and proposed this solution: "Just throw out all Muslims and outlaw Islam in USA, and the war is won."
Gabbard can't be held responsible for all that her supporters say, but assuming that these broad anti-Islamic sentiments are not what she hopes to inspire, I return to my original suggestion that she would be well-advised to work on reworking her message.
read ... Bigot
Racist Liberal Colleges Discriminate Against Asians
SA: More than 300 students from across the country have contacted Students for Fair Admission since the group first put out the call last spring for students interested in challenging admission policies that consider the applicant's race....
Thomas J. Espenshade — the Princeton University professor who, with a colleague, documented what he describes as the "Asian penalty" or the "Asian disadvantage" at elite colleges, holding Asian-Americans to higher standards on college-entrance exams than white, Hispanic or African-American applicants — said that Asian-Americans seem more willing to directly confront the issue today than they did a few years ago.
Espenshade is co-author of the 2009 book "No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal: Race and Class in Elite College Admission and Campus Life," which reviewed data from 10 highly selective colleges and concluded that Asian-American students needed about 140 more points on the SAT or 3.4 points on the ACT to compete with white students in the applicant pools. The gap between Asian-Americans and Hispanic and African-American students was even larger. Follow-up research estimated that Asian-American admittance would rise by nearly a third, from 18 percent to 23 percent, if race was eliminated as a consideration.
Link: Lawsuit Information
read ... Racist Liberals
Kauai County Reduces Positions, Raises Taxes to Pay for Abercrombie's Union Contracts
KGI: Though county budget officials say they are facing about $8.2 million in new expenses — largely attributed to approved or pending collective bargaining raises — reductions in operational expenses, workforce adjustments and projected hikes in real property tax revenues helped them offset much of it.
All told, about $1 million separates the $180.7 million budget for the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and the proposed $181.7 million budget proposed by Carvalho and his administration for fiscal year 2016.
Among the key changes incorporated in this year’s budget is the elimination of seven vacant positions — lost either through attrition or retirement — and a reduction in funding for 13 more.
"A lot of it is really re-engineering how the departments function, and part of our task is understanding how their departments operate, suggesting changes to them, and asking them, 'Can it be done a different way, and if so, will this work?'" said County Tax Manager Steve Hunt.
These reductions, he said, amount to $1.9 million in savings at a time when county officials are also asking that no additional positions be added.
"The mayor has been extremely clear: we're not going to seek any warm-body reductions for as long as we can to achieve balance," County Purchasing Director Ernest Barreira Jr. said. "We'll do it through attrition and that is the way to go."
Salaries and related expenses, according to county budget documents, are projected to increase by 2.3 percent from $115.5 to $118.3 million.
Still, Barreira said, one of the more significant and ongoing challenges facing Carvalho and his administration is balancing out the collective bargaining increases that could amount to $9 million for the next fiscal year.
"As we look into next year, we're already feeling the pinch and we're going to have to start thinking, analyzing and strategizing about that as well,” Barreira said.
But rising property values dovetailed with real property tax measures approved by the County Council last year, including the addition of two new tax classes, is projected to bring in about $5 million in additional revenue, according to current budget projections.
read ... Thanks, Neil
Affordable — relatively speaking
KGI: ...According to the study from SmartAsset, a New York-based personal finance technology company, those looking for the most affordable place to live in the United States should look no further than Mesquite, Texas, an eastern suburb of Dallas, where the average annual mortgage payment is $1,737 and the median income is $51,846.
In comparison, the most affordable place to live in the Aloha State is Kailua, on Oahu, which has an average annual mortgage payment of $18,246 and a median income of $95,190. Nationally, Kailua ranks 2,463 in affordability.
At No. 7 on the Hawaii list, Waimea has an average annual mortgage payment of $20,869 and a median income of $62,000. It ranked 4,194 nationally, according to the study.
Lihue, at No. 9 in the state and 4,263 in the nation, has an annual mortgage payment of $24,075 and median income of $68,346.
Cities secured their ranking due to their relatively low property taxes, homeowner’s insurance fees and mortgage payments when measured against the local median income, according to SmartAsset. The study only looked at cities with a population greater than 5,000....
read ... Affordable
Developer Harasses Community Association over Lawsuit
SA: ...Downtown Capital LLC, which is building two towers next to Royal Capitol Plaza in Kakaako, is lobbying Royal Capitol residents to drop their legal challenge to the second tower, calling the effort insanity and criticizing the Royal Capitol owner association board for spending money on "fabricating legal obstacles."
Some Royal Capitol unit owners say they feel harassed and insulted by the developer's effort to convince them to have their board end the lawsuit filed in March 2014. The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate Downtown Capital's construction permit for the second tower.
Downtown Capital, a firm led by local affordable-housing developer Marshall Hung, mailed four fliers over the last few months to Royal Capitol unit owners, encouraging them to pressure their board to cease the legal challenge to the developer's 801 South St Building B tower.
"Stop the Insanity!" the fliers say, listing board members by name and urging residents to contact them. "Ask them to end the lawsuit. Go on the record. NOW. It's time for you as an owner to get involved before even more of your money is wasted."
One of the fliers sent from "Friends of 801 South" at Downtown Capital's business address questions whether Royal Capitol directors are representing the best interest of all unit owners as opposed to only those with units facing Ewa where views will be blocked by 801 South St B.
The flier also claims that Royal Capitol's maintenance reserve fund will be $1.3 million short by the end of this year. "Don't be surprised when you face a special assessment because your association's funds have been raided to pay lawyer's fees," the flier said.
Another flier claims that the Royal Capitol board has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the "quixotic" legal quest.
Ariel Salinas, a federal government engineer who owns a unit in Royal Capitol but hasn't attended board meetings, said the campaign includes insulting lies with an aggressively threatening tone from a pseudo-anonymous source.
"I think the mailers are a blatant and carefully engineered propaganda campaign intended to intimidate residents and board members," he said. "My wife reads them and gets really upset whenever we get another one. I just simply ignore (them) and throw them out."
read ... Propaganda
Mainland Homosexuals Eager to Penetrate Guam, Samoa, Marianas
AP: While more than 70 percent of U.S. states now allow same-sex marriage, the waves of change have yet to reach America’s far-flung and socially conservative territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Of the five territories, only Puerto Rico has faced a lawsuit seeking the right for gay and lesbian couples to wed, and a federal judge there — bucking the trend in federal courts on the mainland — rejected the suit. That case is before the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
In the other four territories — the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas — no gay or lesbian couples have stepped forward to make a legal case for marriage rights, according to advocacy groups monitoring the situation.
The five territories would be covered by a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing a constitutional right for same-sex couples to wed, notes Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney with the national gay-rights group Lambda Legal. Several same-sex marriage cases from the mainland are before the high court this spring, and a ruling is expected by the end of June....
SA: Hawaii Blood bank to Accept Gay Donors
read ... U.S. territories slow to recognize same-sex marriage
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