Sea-Based Radar a $2.2B Flop, Mothballed at Pearl Harbor
Kelii Akina interviews Michael Hamnett -- UH and Hawaii's Future
US Census Looks at Small Businesses in Hawaii
Ige: Rail Tax Hike would 'Condone Mismanagement'
CB: Hawaii Gov. David Ige isn’t saying whether he will approve or veto any extension of a General Excise Tax surcharge that is being earmarked for Honolulu’s $6 billion rail project.
But he does acknowledge that he’s worried an estimated $910 million shortfall in construction costs will continue to balloon. And he’s not sure taxpayers should be penalized for potential mismanagement.
At an editorial board meeting with Civil Beat editors and reporters last week, Ige noted that until very recently rail project officials had assured the public that the project was on time and within budget. But a few months ago, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation officials said the project was coming up significantly short of money.
“There’s a big difference between on budget and on schedule and a $1 billion shortfall,” Ige said. “That’s a concern. An extension would essentially embrace the notion that if in fact the project was mismanaged from a financial perspective, that we are authorizing or condoning that activity.” ...
Like lawmakers, Ige wants to see the city take more ownership of the project and its finances. At the very least, he said it should be a point of debate since the project is funded with state and federal money.
“They’re seeking an extension to the tax so that we can pay cash for the project,” Ige said. “(But) the City Council has talked about floating bonds as short-term financing. Should we have a conversation that the city can be floating bonds to fund a portion of the construction costs rather than paying all cash for the project?”
Ige says there’s no question that the 20-mile rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center should be completed. But he’s not willing to commit to expanding the system to the University of Hawaii at Manoa or downtown Kapolei, as some proponents have suggested, at least not yet.
“There are lots of issues in and around the proposed expansion that I think only begin to muddy the water,” Ige said. “I would prefer that we focus on what was agreed to and was was agreed to with the federal government and what was agreed to between the city and the state when we authorized the tax.”
read ... Railroaded?
Rail Auditor Arrested for Money Laundering -- Ties to OHA, DAGS, UH
KHON: A local businessman with University of Hawaii athletics fundraising ties (and who provides auditing services to HART and OHA and has a contract to overhaul the state's accounting system) was arrested for theft and money laundering.
Patrick Oki, age 45, was picked up by authorities just before 11 a.m. Sunday at the Honolulu International Airport. He’s the managing partner of PKF Pacific Hawaii, a company that provides auditing, accounting, and advising services (to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, among others).
KHON2 was the only media present when Oki was brought into the Honolulu Police Department’s main station.
Oki was booked on four counts of theft in the first degree and three counts of money laundering.
KHON2 also learned that Oki is the treasurer for Ahahui Koa Anuenue, the official fundraising organization for UH athletics. We reached out to the group’s president, who declined to comment, but confirmed that Oki still sits on its Board of Directors.
We also learned that Oki was the president of the UH Alumni Association.
read ... PKF Pacific
State Tech: Deathly Afraid, Nightmares, and Sleepless Nights
CB: ...each month, the state uses 1 million pieces of paper in the payroll process for state employees — 12 million a year and it can’t even do an electronic fund transfer for employee paychecks, he said.
Ige described the Department of Accounting and General Services as “deathly afraid” of converting to an electronic format, but said he’s nevertheless committed to making the change. “Simpler is better. …We ought to be able to do electronic fund transfer.”
EFT payroll is among the low-hanging fruit for a governor who as a state senator helped create an efficiency effort called the Senate Paperless Project. He was surprised recently to learn that one administrative department is still entirely paper based. Yes, paper based. Department leadership asked his support for a digital conversion.
Even in areas where more current management practices have been adopted, they’re often hampered by computer infrastructure that causes the governor “nightmares and sleepless nights.”
“Our state systems are so old, we sometimes have to buy replacement parts on eBay” because manufacturers don’t make them anymore, he said. That’s part of why “a simple request can be like an act of God for state government.”
read ... Hawaii's new governor's to-do list grows
How Much Does Shipping Increase the Cost of Living?
CB: Overall prices in the island are about 17 percent higher than the national average, according to the Consumer Price Index. The lion’s share of that increase comes from the high price of usable land and expensive services, which drive up other prices throughout the islands, but other factors include Hawaii’s small total market and a lack of competition in numerous fields.
“That’s not just in shipping, it is in all kinds of things,” said University of Hawaii economist Carl Bonham. “And even when there is competition, it is often not as vigorous.”
Along with water transportation costs, all of these factors increase the cost of goods, although there is no precise calculation of how much.
Jeff Hull, the director of public relations for Matson Navigation, said his company — which services Guam and China, in addition to Hawaii — doesn’t share breakdowns of its revenues in specific markets.
But he estimated that shipping costs add about 5 percent to the final price of goods in the islands.
Paul Brewbaker, a former chief economist for the Bank of Hawaii who is director of TZ Economics, says that 5 percent is far too high now given the ongoing transformation of the industry.
read ... Cost of Living?
After Nago's Latest Disaster, Legislation Moves
CB: House Bill 612 HD2 aims to keep elections fair by disallowing election results to be shared during postponed elections, until after all precincts have “closed.”
House Bill 376 HD2 and Senate Bill 622 SD1 increase the accountability of the Chief Elections Officer, by requiring the Elections Commission to a performance review of the CEO after every general election.
read ... Legislation
After the Sexual Revolution--University must administer students' sex lives
SA: A recent rape trial here illustrates the difficulty of improving sexual misconduct policies on college campuses. Given today's alcohol-fueled hookup culture, such efforts must refine an "affirmative consent" standard. (Translation: We brought the sexual revolution. Now we will take over everybody's sex lives. This is what happens in every revolution.) The recent trial is a case study for a proposed task force devoted to this issue.
KL: Tyler Strong trial exposes UHM shortfalls
read ... Napoleon
First Amendment Beats Gay Hype 51% -45%
PBN: "Should businesses that provide wedding services be allowed to refuse those services to same-sex couples for religious reasons?"
read ... Gay Hype Unpopular in Liberal Hawaii
More Solar: Can Grid Handle it?
EE: ECO now says in most cases it will allow solar on circuits until they reach 250 percent of daytime minimum load. That would be the highest level in the nation. Those wanting to install solar must have systems with inverters that can quickly switch off power if they detect voltage exceeding normal levels.
A group representing solar installers welcomed the news, while saying it was circumspect about HECO's plans.
"They were slapped down pretty heavily by the PUC," said Robert Harris, spokesman for the Alliance for Solar Choice, a coalition of companies including SolarCity Corp. and Sunrun Inc. "Right now, they're trying to figure out what to do next.
"I don't see how they can argue anything else, because publicly they've said they can go up to 250 [daytime minimum load]," Harris added. "They are licking their wounds and being temporarily good, but I think they're trying to figure out what their next step is."
PUC President Randy Iwase in February asked HEI's president and CEO, Alan Oshima, to sign a letter saying that the utility will link customers with solar, Harris said.
"Simply stated, the policy is that the HECO companies have an affirmative duty to interconnect a potential customer ... where that project does not affect circuit or system level security and reliability," the Feb. 27 document signed by Iwase and Oshima said.
But Mangelsdorf, president of ProVision Solar, said there will have to be changes made to accommodate more renewable power on much of Hawaii.
HECO saying it will allow circuits to go to 250 percent of DML is laudable, Mangelsdorf said, "but there's no way that the grid that we know it today, tomorrow or in a year is going to be able to handle all circuits, or most circuits going to 250. It's too much power."
read ... Can grid handle it?
Crystal meth in Hawaii: Still bad
SA: A decade after island communities battled a war on "ice," the drug has slipped from headlines but remains a scourge....
Today, while the problem doesn't make the headlines it used to, officials say crystal meth, or ice, continues to torment Hawaii.
"Ice is the No. 1 drug threat in Hawaii," says Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.
Hawaii's ice problem is just as bad as in years past and possibly worse, added William Haning, a University of Hawaii professor of medicine and a psychiatrist specializing in addiction.
Consider these statistics offered up by Kaneshiro's office:
» In 2013, Hawaii law enforcement officials seized 343 pounds of ice, the highest amount in at least eight years.
» Nearly 80 percent of the crimes linked to drug trafficking or drug abuse that year had a direct connection to methamphetamine abuse.
» Of the 120 drug-related deaths in Honolulu in 2013, more than half were linked to crystal meth abuse.
Crystal methamphetamine has plagued Hawaii going back to the 1980s, having reached Hawaii's shores first through the Asian market before it took off on the U.S. mainland....
read ... Still Bad
Locks don't work at Halawa, Prisoners to be Flown to Arizona
SA: The electronic door locking systems for the state's largest prison have begun to fail after 28 years of use, and prison officials plan to replace them next year with a new high-tech, $9.9 million security system.
The state plans to move about 250 inmates from Halawa Correctional Facility to a prison on the mainland early next year to clear out portions of Halawa so work can start on the replacement of the obsolete Hawaii locking system.
Halawa's push-button locking system began failing in several sections of the prison in November, forcing corrections officers to use keys to manually open doors in the administrative central control area, the inmate work-line area, the medical area and the special holding area of the prison, said Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety.
"We had an issue with the current system malfunctioning," Schwartz said. "It's old. It's the original system that was in place when the building was opened in 1987."
read ... Not Locked
Bicyclist critically injured after struck by car near Ala Moana, off-duty officer involved
HNN: ...Witnesses and officials say the bicyclist crossed Ala Moana Boulevard against the 'do not cross' signal.
The bicyclist was heading from the makai to the mauka side of Ala Moana Boulevard at the time of the collision.
The 47-year-old off-duty officer, who was driving a red 2013 Honda, turned around after the accident and rendered aid to the unidentified victim.
The driver of the vehicle was uninjured and faces Negligent Injury 1 charges....
Earlier this week: HPD sergeant arrested, released in connection with bar shooting
read ... Another One
Pearlridge TOD Boosts Traffic, Pedestrian Danger
SA: Honolulu is wasting valuable time by not planning on making rail useful and meaningful once it is built.
Nowhere is this lack of planning more evident than the future Pearlridge rail station transit-oriented development (TOD) area.
This area is going to need a tremendous amount of infrastructure to meet the vision of the 2014 Aiea-Pearl City Neighborhood TOD Plan — and to accommodate the huge increase in traffic and pedestrian dangers resulting from condos and shopping areas in the Kamehameha Drive-In development project, which was approved by the City Council in 2014.
The Pearlridge TOD population is going to nearly double in an area that has already has huge traffic issues and multiple recent pedestrian fatalities.
The City Council and Robertson Properties — owner of the project slated for the old drive-in site — did not logically think through pedestrian flow and safety during the zoning hearings.
SA: Expect 2 more Years of rail related tie-ups in Pearl City
read ... Russ Grunch
Bikeshare Fails to Launch
SA: The local system is now envisioned to start in early 2016 with as many as 183 stations and nearly 1,700 bicycles inside a 5.1-square-mile area stretching from Kapahulu Avenue to River Street.
Previously, organizers had aimed to launch it this summer, but they say hiring staff took longer than expected.
Bikeshare and the city still need to secure the locations for those stations.
The group also has to secure most of the $10 million to $12 million in startup costs, through a mix of public and private sources. The group has so far secured about $1.3 million, mostly through the city, according to Bikeshare President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Trevino.
read ... No Money, no sites, no employees
Hoopili Still Haggling over Affordable Housing Rules
SA: Developers of the 11,750-home Hoopili project in West Oahu say they are OK with being required to offer more homes at lower prices as sought by Honolulu City Council members.
But in return, executives of D.R. Horton-Schuler Division said they want the flexibility to shake free of that requirement if lower-income buyers don't come forward and purchase those units within four to eight months after they go on the market.
They would then sell those houses at the same price to people in higher income brackets.
"Without such a provision, we could be required to hold constructed units indefinitely if we are unable to find a qualified buyer," said Cameron Nekota, Horton-Schuler vice president, after a meeting of the Council Zoning Committee on Thursday.
read ... Haggle
On the verge of homelessness: A Kailua woman’s struggle highlights rising elderly homeless population
KHON: ...Kosak has been renting a room in a Kailua home for 5 years.
On March 14, Kosak was given 45 days notice to find a new place to live.
KHON was told the landlord needs to sell the house for financial reasons.
The search hasn’t been easy for Kosak.
“I can’t think of what to do besides what I’ve already done,” said Kosak.
Kosak, a former masters-educated teacher, makes $847 a month off social security. Her pension ran out.
Kosak, who has no family on the island, can’t find rooms to rent under her price range, and says she doesn’t make enough money to qualify for senior assisted living.
She says she’s made dozens of phone calls to various agencies for help.
“And I’m on waiting lists,” said Kosak. “But it’s 5 to 8 years.”...
read ... Homelessness
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