State DoT Stages Massive Traffic Jam Just in Time for April Fools Day Rail Tax Vote
Roll Commission Squandered Millions, Spent Only $270K on Signup effort
Applicants Sought for District Court Per Diem Judges
Ige’s Old Senate Faction Gets Checked
CB: Lots of mystery and ambiguity surround factions in the Hawaii Legislature because the members of these factions don’t talk about what they do. They appear to be based more on personal loyalty than ideology as their names suggest, like Opihi (as in, we stick together like the tenacious gastropod clings to rocks on the sea shore) and the Chess Club. These sound more like the names of school cafeteria table cliques than ideologically based political groupings, a further indicator that personal loyalty is their center....
the state Senate isn’t supposed to operate like a palace. Democratic institutions are supposed to be transparent and accountable, not secretive and mysterious. Constituents have a right to know where their legislators stand on an issue as important as this one.
The Chess Club’s third and final failure was full of irony. The more the faction tried to help the governor, the worse they made it for him.
Here was the situation: An unpopular nominee who did an awful job defending himself; a governor who was strangely distant and emotionally dispassionate in that nominee’s defense; an extraordinary amount of public opposition with virtually no significant public support.
There were essentially two ways to interpret all of this. One was that the handwriting was on the wall. No way would the Senate vote in Ching’s favor. The other was that Ching might carry the day, as apparently he almost did because of the Senate’s loyalty to Ige, but that victory would have had significant costs to the governor.
In other words, little good could come from a victory.
If things worked the way they should have worked, the key Chess Club senators would have spoken truth to power. After the disastrous Senate committee hearing, if not before, they would have publicly stated the problems with the nomination. Ige would have withdrawn it in a timely manner, saved some dignity and moved on to fight another day.
Instead we got this bit of political farce, as reported by Civil Beat’s Anita Hofschneider. Just minutes before the Senate was scheduled to take a vote on Carleton Ching’s nomination, the governor’s chief of staff Mike McCartney dramatically walks on to the Senate floor and, Mission Impossible-like, hands Senate President Donna Kim a note saying that the governor was withdrawing the nomination.
Then McCartney and Kim embrace.
BIVN: Ruderman interviewed on Ching Nomination Rejection
read ... Checked
Schatz, Gabbard Team up Against Hirono
SA: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard dismisses as baseless hype speculation that she might challenge U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono in 2018.
But you'd have to be pretty thick to believe that Gabbard, who embraces the national media spotlight, has no higher political aspirations.
Pundits had focused on U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz as a likely opponent, given that he's up for re-election in 2016 to a seat that he barely won in the first place. But that seems less likely now that Schatz and Gabbard have forged an unusual alliance to jointly raise campaign cash.
Smooth move, Brian. Watch out, Mazie.
read ... Yet ...
Star-Adv: After 5 Years--Release Kenoi's pCard records
SA: Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi's seemingly cavalier attitude about using a taxpayer-funded credit card for personal expenses signals a potential pattern of misuse that demands the immediate release of relevant financial records.
As the ranking elected official on the island of Hawaii, Kenoi sets the tone for government employees' use of purchasing cards known as pCards, and the standard he has set is alarmingly low. By using his Hawaii County-issued credit card to pay a $892 tab at a Honolulu hostess bar, the mayor violated rules prohibiting use of the cards for personal expenses and specifically for alcohol, according to West Hawaii Today, the newspaper that first reported the story.
Moreover, the mayor acknowledged that he has used the pCard for personal expenses on other occasions as well. He insists that he always reimburses the county later, as he did in this case — about three months after the fact. He charged the hostess bar bill in December 2013, and reimbursed the taxpayers in March 2014....
Many questions remain: How often does the popular Hawaii island Democrat use the pCard for personal purchases? Where does he use it? (Charges at a hostess bar raise their own separate questions). How timely are his repayments? Who pays the interest on unauthorized pCard charges, if any?
Answering those questions accurately requires a review of Kenoi's pCard credit-card statements, an important public disclosure that has been resisted. West Hawaii Today's repeated attempts since 2010 to obtain copies of the actual credit-card statements were rebuffed; rather, the County Finance Department compiled and released a summary of charges. The newspaper reported obtaining the December 2013 credit-card statement from an alternate source. The newspaper has renewed its request under the Hawaii Open Records Law, a pursuit since joined by numerous other media outlets in Hawaii, including the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which is seeking the credit-card statements, records of Kenoi's reimbursements and other related documentation.
read ... Release Kenoi's pCard records
Database: Checking Up on Top State Officials Just Got a Lot Easier
CB: We’ve created a database that lets users easily explore hundreds of financial disclosure statements filed by top state officials and candidates for elected office.
read ... Database
Zombie crossing—a dead bill crosses over to the Senate and becomes undead
DN: ...for example, SB165 crossed over from the Senate to the House—where it died. It might have been better left dead, but no, the Senate is going to have its way, one way or the other. So it’s baaack!
What is this ill bill? In part it says, “Requires DAGS to undertake lease buyback processing under the program of centralized engineering and office leasing services. Requires DAGS to facilitate facility agreements between the State and private investors…” Hmmm… could be special interests interested in this one.
A “Zombie” bill has been created, and this one may be unconstitutional as constituted. HB1366, a bill with a different title, Relating to state acquisition or development of real property. That has nothing to do with lease buybacks or facility agreements. Shucks, any Senator can see that…
Two bills with different titles and different purposes have been combined into one.
read ... Zombie crossing—a dead bill crosses over to the Senate and becomes undead
Only After Drivers Complain About Rail Construction does City Synchronize Traffic Lights
KITV: As part of the effort to ease backups during peak drive times, traffic signals along Kamehameha Highway through ‘Aiea and Pearl City have been synchronized for the past couple of months. (Translation: They could have done this before, but wanted to keep traffic jammed so you would want rail.)
"We started having our staff monitor the lights along corridors, which means they have the ability to see all the way down the corridor and make sure that the traffic lights are appropriately timed and they're increasing the green times where there's congestion," Formby said in an interview with KITV4 (thus admitting how easy it was to solve the problem).
Traffic flow through Aiea and Pearl City has been hampered for more than a year now by construction of the city’s rail project. (And since the complaints were rail construction related--synchronizing the lights is now a pro-rail act and therefore becomes part of the city's mission.)
read ... Manipulating Public Opinion
City Council Amendments Would Alter Hoopili Affordable Housing Requirements
CB: The Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee is planning to take up two amendments on Thursday when it considers Bill 3, a measure to rezone nearly 1,300 acres of prime farmland to make way for a new mixed-use community....
Because it is seeking a zone change, D.R. Horton is already required to set aside 30 percent of the homes for people earning no more than 140 percent of area median income, or $115,640 for a family of four, according to the city’s 2014 affordable housing guidelines.
Twenty percent of that total must be for people earning less than 120 percent of AMI ($99,120 for a family of four in 2014), and 10 percent must be affordable to people earning 80 percent of area median income ($76,650 for a family of four in 2014).
Councilman Ron Menor from Central Oahu doesn’t think that’s enough.
He introduced an amendment that would force D.R. Horton to conform to Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s proposed Islandwide Housing Strategy.
That would require the company to set aside 30 percent of its for-sale homes to people earning 120 percent of area median income or less. The company could also choose to instead set aside 15 percent of its homes to rent to people earning 80 percent of the area median income or less....
Anderson’s amendment is similar to Menor’s in that it would require D.R. Horton to sell 20 percent of the homes at Hoopili to people earning no more than 120 percent of area median income, and 10 percent to people earning no more than 10 percent of area median income.
But Anderson’s measure is more flexible, allowing the developer to sell to higher income groups if it can’t find buyers within 90 days....
SA: Council Rushes to Approve Hoopili
read ... Cheaper
Fired Judge Randall Lee fires back, Names Names
HNN: In a March 21 letter obtained by Hawaii News Now, Circuit Judge Randal Lee alleged that commission members did not review his full record but relied heavily on a last-minute complaint by a city deputy prosecutor, whom he had removed from a case for misconduct.
In the letter, Lee said the commission told him that they voted not to retain him on March 12, then asked him to withdraw his petition for retention, which he declined.
"If I stood idly by and allow the type of 'star chamber' decisions to be made on the future of the judiciary, this would have a chilling effect on current judges sitting on the bench," Lee wrote.
"It sends the wrong message to future candidates for judicial office. More importantly, I would be compromising my integrity as a person." ...
In his letter, Lee claimed that commission members Jim Bickerton and Patricia Park had an ax to grind because he ruled against Bickerton and Park's husband in separate civil cases.
Both Bickerton and Park's husband Arthur Park also testified against Lee in 2007 when he was being considered for a seat on the Intermediate Court of Appeals. His nomination was rejected by the state Senate.
In a memo to members of the Hawaii State Bar, Bickerton listed his opposition to Lee's ICA bid among his achievements in "working for better and independent judges." ...
Lee's last day is April 21. Bickerton's and Park's terms on the commission end tomorrow.
read ... Fired judge fires back
UH Student Challenges Anti-Male Campus Environment
KL: Imagine yourself in an academic setting where somebody makes an offhand remark that male writers tend to be self-centered. With no evidence or argument, this statement is biased and uninformed, but people are entitled to their opinions.
Now further imagine that the same person then says that the first person singular “I” in the writing of male authors is like an erect penis directed at us from every page.
This incident happened the week before spring break in a discussion at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa....
read ... Campus misandry -- Offensive comments expose larger problem
VIDEO: Homeless Passed out in Waikiki Pavillion-pools of blood and urine
PW: This is Waikiki Pavilion #4 about 9:30pm on Tuesday March 31st – the are Seven people passed out on the ground and surrounding area – the smell of urine permeates the humid air – and blood from a foot wound, that has been washed is in a pool on the ground with a discarded band-aid.
read ... PAVILION #4 – 9:30PM – VIDEO
Bill attempts to address lack of mental health treatment
WHT: Supporters of a bill to allow psychologists to prescribe medications in Hawaii gathered at the capitol on Tuesday to plead with state lawmakers to hear the measure.
House Bill 1072 is an attempt to address the severe shortage of psychiatric health care in Hawaii, specifically in rural areas like Hawaii Island, said Dr. Judi Steinman, program coordinator of the master of science in clinical psychopharmacology program at University of Hawaii at Hilo’s College of Pharmacy.
“We just don’t have enough providers,” she said Tuesday.
On Hawaii Island, 23 psychiatrists are needed to serve the population, according to a January report from the Hawaii Physician Workforce Assessment Project. But only 14 are currently available, representing a shortage of 39 percent. Meanwhile, a November 2014 study by Mental Health America found that Hawaii ranked last in the nation when it came to the percentage of adults with any mental illness who had received treatment.
SA: Expand power to prescribe medication, advocates urge
read ... Mental Health
Religious freedom laws not used against gays
AP: Religious freedom laws like the one causing an uproar in Indiana have never been successfully used to defend discrimination against gays — and have rarely been used at all, legal experts say....
Last week, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, giving heightened protections to businesses and individuals who object on religious grounds to providing certain services (being forced to participate in gay 'marriage').
On Tuesday, Pence said he wants the Legislature to present him a bill by the end of the week clarifying that the new law does not allow discrimination against gays.
Pence said he does not believe lawmakers intended "to create a license to discriminate." But he added: "I can appreciate that that's become the perception, not just here in Indiana but all across the country."
Douglas Laycock, a constitutional scholar at the University of Virginia Law School who helped win passage of the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, said no one has ever successfully used such laws to override nondiscrimination statutes. He expressed frustration that gay rights advocates seem to be ignoring this in their attack on the Indiana law.
"I don't know if they don't know that, or whether they're pandering to their base," Laycock said....
In a key case in 2013, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that a photography studio violated the state's Human Rights Act by refusing to photograph a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony. The court rejected the studio's effort to invoke the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, holding that the law applied only to lawsuits against a government agency, not to disputes between private parties.
Partly in response to that case, conservative lawmakers in several states proposed a new wave of religious-protection legislation aimed at shielding people from private discrimination lawsuits if they felt that doing business with same-sex couples (participating in gay 'marriage' ceremonies) violated their religious beliefs. Arizona passed such a law in 2014, but Republican Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed it amid (lies like the one I crossed out and) intense criticism from major corporations (Billionaires love gay marriage. Ask yourself why.) and political leaders from both parties.
Now similar national pressure (and media lies) is are being applied to Indiana and Arkansas, where enactment of a religious freedom law is expected soon.
Fascinating Fact: In the entire history of the human race, marriage has always been between male and female. This is true in every tribe, kingdom and republic on every island and continent in every religious tradition in every culture ever devised by man until 1993 when the corrupt Hawaii Supreme Court took a break from looting Kamehameha Schools, invented gay 'marriage' out of thin air, and then returned to looting for six more years until the IRS shut them down. We know this because gay activists have looked long and hard for a historical antecedent for gay 'marriage' and they haven't been able to identify one.
read ... Yes, everything the gay media is telling you has been a lie--Surprised?
What Happens to Molokai if GMOs are Banned?
HB: “There was always something else. When pineapple closed, the resorts were there. When the ranch closed, Monsanto was still there. There was always an answer. We don’t have the answer now.”
read ... Molokai
Protesters thwart work on TMT for second day
WHT: Construction crews made no attempt Tuesday to reach the Thirty Meter Telescope site on Mauna Kea following a human blockade the day before as officials try to find a resolution to the standoff.
“At this point, we are working with representatives from TMT as well as the leaders of the protesters, and trying to come to a peaceful resolution,” said Assistant Police Chief Henry Tavares.
Dozens of TMT opponents blocked the Mauna Kea Access Road next to the visitor center Monday to prevent workers from reaching the construction site near the top of the mountain. Visitors and employees of other telescopes were allowed through.
Both state Department of Land and Natural Resources and Hawaii County police were present but made no attempts to clear the road. About 15 vehicles turned around that afternoon after waiting nearly the whole day at the roadblock.
“Sitting in your vehicle for eight hours is wasting a whole lot of people’s time and money,” said TMT spokeswoman Sandra Dawson. “That’s not something anybody wants to repeat.”
A DLNR spokeswoman said the department is following the county’s lead on the matter.
read ... Day Two
B&B Owners Look for Path to Legitimacy
SA: Each community should be free to consider how it could most benefit from hosting these visitors, while controlling the impacts with reasonable rules. Making those of us without permits Class C felons, subject to $10,000-a-day fines, without offering any avenue to obtaining legality does not seem fair.
We think Councilman Ikaika Anderson has taken the sensible approach, offering a path to legitimacy to certain bed and breakfasts, those with an owner or resident manager on site, as a first step.
read ... Class C Felony
Maui County Budget Spending up 16%
MN: "We are in cutting mode," said Maui County Council Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Riki Hokama on Tuesday as council members began their review of Mayor Alan Arakawa's proposed nearly $700 million budget for fiscal 2016.
"I will not agree with the mayor's projection on revenues. It is my opinion this economy of ours is not where we like it to be," Hokama said.
Arakawa is proposing a $699.9 million budget. That total budget, including operating and capital im-provement spending, is $96.3 million more than the $603.6 million budget council members adopted for fiscal 2015, an increase of 16 percent.
The county expects property taxes to generate $266.4 million next fiscal year, compared to $238 million this fiscal year. Property valuations are up 13.4 percent next year, compared with this fiscal year.
The fiscal 2016 budget, which will take effect July 1, includes an operating budget of $533.2 million and a capital improvement budget of $166.7 million.
Arakawa is seeking hikes in water rates, sewage fees, trash fees, the county's gas tax and vehicle weight tax....
read ... 16% Spending Hike
Office of Hawaiian Affairs looks for short-term users in Kakaako Makai
PBN: The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is seeking short-term uses for several parcels in Kakaako Makai, where the agency acquired some 30 acres three years ago from the state of Hawaii in a deal meant to resolve a decades-long dispute.
Peter Apo, a trustee for OHA, told attendees at a recent Hawaii Society of Business Professionals event in Honolulu that it is looking for ideas from developers for about six lots in Kakaako Makai.
On Monday, OHA said it secured a lease with Street Grindz, the company that does Eat the Street, Honolulu Night Market and Art After Dark, at the former Fisherman’s Wharf site for “daily activities.” ...
read ... Short Term
Molokai calls for county subsidy-- Ferry trapped Behind Wall of PUC Regulations
MN: The ferry between Molokai and Maui "is a lifeline in need of help," Crivello said Tuesday.
Her resolution will be on next Tuesday's council meeting agenda. The meeting is set for 9 a.m. in the Council Chambers in the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku.
Ferry owner Dave Jung has reported that ridership has "plummeted" in the last six months, in part because of competition from airlines able to offer trips at cheaper rates. (Clue: Ferry Ticket Prices are controlled by the PUC, Airline Ticket Prices are not.)
According to Crivello, the loss of ridership resulted in a drop in revenue of more than $280,000 last year.
On March 24, Sea Link of Hawaii, which does business as Lahaina Cruise Co., submitted a letter to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission requesting a reduction in service for the Molokai ferry from two round trips to one.
read ... Deregulate the Ferry
Is Hawaii Poised to Become a Top State for Gun Ownership?
OH: Is the Aloha State fast becoming a gun owner’s paradise? Historically, Hawaii hasn’t boasted a large population of gun owners or gun-friendly laws, yet data recently released by the state Attorney General’s office showed that gun ownership is booming in the Pacific archipelago.
Between the years of 2000 and 2014, more than 420,000 firearms were registered in the state of Hawaii, representing a massive 354 percent surge over preceding years. The number of statewide permit applications annually climbed 298 percent, while the number of imported firearms to the state rose over 356 percent. Overall, experts now think it is likely that the number of firearms in Hawaii is greater than the number of its residents (1.42 million).
“I think it’s pretty safe to say that there’s at least one firearm per state resident,” Paul Perrone, chief of research and statistics for the office of the Attorney General, told the Honolulu Civil Beat.
While some polls show that gun ownership in other states has declined, Hawaii remains consistently strong. Much of the demand seems to come from hunters, especially hog hunters who are introduced to the sport to help combat feral pigs.
“It appears that hunting is by far the No. 1 reason,” Kauai County spokesperson Sarah Blane told the Beaumont Enterprise....
While the number of guns in Hawaii has increased, data from the Attorney General’s office also showed that only 10 percent of Hawaii households own a gun. While this number is consistently rising, it is also lower than the national average of 32 percent.
read ... Poised
Federal judge: Navy's training plans off Hawaii, California inadequate
SA: A federal judge on Tuesday said the National Marine Fisheries Service violated environmental laws when it approved the Navy's plans for training in waters off Hawaii and Southern California.
The agency failed to support its finding that the training would have a "negligible impact" on marine life, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway wrote in her ruling.
The Navy, she said, also failed to take a hard look at alternatives such as training in different areas or at different times to avoid potentially harming dolphins, whales and other species.
Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Conservation Council for Hawaii, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Honolulu.
read ... Sonar Hype
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