Petition: Hawaiians Protest Na'i Aupuni
Feds Rate Hawaii Health Insurance Plans
Can We Save the EITC by Making the Form Tougher?
Soft on Crime: Convicted Felon Threatens Armed Action Against Telescope
HTH: ...(Convicted felon) Edmund K. Silva Jr., who refers to himself as “His Majesty,” sent a letter Aug. 23 to Gov. David Ige saying he was contemplating deployment of his marshals to Mauna Kea and Haleakala to defend telescope protesters from arrest.
“The Royal Marshals are professionals holding the authority and power issued by me to carry side arms and other weapons to enforce the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii,” said Silva, with the subject line, “Let there be no misunderstanding.”
Lakea Trask, a TMT protester, said Silva was not representing the protesters when he made that threat.
“Those guys came up a few times early on in this stand,” he said....
In another letter to Ige on Sept. 9, Silva suggested there was no need for the marshals because the protesters “have already won.”
He also in the letter repeated a conspiracy theory spread on social media that claims the observatory will be used as a military weapon by the United States to target satellites.
Michael Bolte, a board member of the TMT International Observatory, said the telescope, which includes five international partners, won’t have any military uses or capabilities.
“None of the telescopes on Mauna Kea have any military uses at all, absolutely zero,” he said.
“When we see that again and again, I find it a little frustrating that people continue to make statements like that.”
read ... Recidivism unpunished
TMT still shooting for 2024 completion Work continues on mirror, other telescope features
WHT: The TMT International Observatory is sticking with the same timeline for completing its giant telescope on Mauna Kea despite protests that have halted land clearing at its construction site for nearly six months and a legal challenge before the state Supreme Court, according to one of its board members.
Michael Bolte, an astronomy professor at University of California, Santa Cruz, told the Tribune-Herald on Friday that he still hopes to have the Thirty Meter Telescope ready to begin studying the stars in 2024. That’s assuming the court upholds its Conservation District land use permit and a resolution is found with the mostly Native Hawaiian protesters, who view construction on the mountain as desecration of sacred land.
“That’s still our target and I think we can still meet that,” he said, cautiously.
While grubbing and grading has been on hold since late March, when protesters first blocked workers from reaching the TMT site below the summit, Bolte said design and production of telescope parts and structures continues in each of the five partner countries, helping to keep other aspects of the $1.4 billion endeavor more or less on track.
“Pretty much in all the partner countries activities are running full speed ahead,” he said.
read ... 2024
'Build rail better' devolves into just build rail somehow
Borreca: ...By 2014, the only elevated worry was the rising costs.
Last year, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board was greeted with a new report warning that the $5.26 billion rail project could wind up costing taxpayers 10 to 15 percent more than budgeted.
"We're going to be exploring every single option, with no promises, but we're going to look," Caldwell said in response to the news.
Now comes the latest HART report tacking an estimated $200 million onto the already-$910 million shortfall, making the project a full $1 billion more than promised.
While the cost was pushed up, the finished date was pushed back -- by another year. The end date is now 2021. When first sold to voters and the Legislature, the first section was supposed to open in 2017, an estimate long since cancelled.
According to the letter from HART officials to the city, the new effort is the somewhat mystifying question of: "How to best value engineer the remaining project in terms of maximizing cost efficiencies while maintaining a quality project."
It is obvious the rail project can't be stopped, but the question remains, Can we pay for it?
Background: FULL TEXT: HART Invents New Billion Dollar 'Crisis' to Pressure Council for Tax Hike
read ... Can we pay for it?
Rail Wastes Another $100M
SA: With a $910 million budget shortfall already penciled in, the latest update added another $200 million in red ink on top, pushing the shortfall over the $1 billion mark and the total price tag above $6 billion.
The news came in a Sept. 14 letter, signed by HART Chairman Don Horner and Executive Director Daniel Grabauskas, sent to Caldwell and City Council Chairman Ernie Martin. Also, they wrote, the full opening of the rail system with its 21 stations could be pushed back from 2020 to 2021.
The reason for the revised projection, according to their letter, is that Honolulu's construction market ranks among the nation's most expensive, making a 40 percent cost escalation estimate more realistic than the 30 percent HART had previously set.
Additionally, HART now has switched to a "design-build" contracting approach, which is seen as a more efficient and collaborative means of delivering the guideway and stations.
Although that seems to be a right decision, it's unsettling that it follows the completion of $100 million in design for the next phase of the project, money that, at least in part, will be wasted....
read ... Wasted
Olds’ bid to remain trustee splits Kamehameha Schools
Cataluna: Janeen-Ann Olds was CEO of Sandwich Isles Communications during the years its founder stole millions of dollars in federal funding. She either knew Al Hee was raiding the subsidies to pay for crazy things like his kids’ college tuition and weekly massages for himself — which is bad — or she didn’t know that was going on right under her nose — which isn’t good, especially for a CEO.
Olds has served as a Kamehameha Schools trustee for the last five years at a salary of $124,500. Her term is ending, and she has applied for a second term. Though no one is accusing her of malfeasance, a growing number of alumni are opposing her reappointment.
Toni Lee, an alumna who was a leader in the uprising that transformed the leadership of Kamehameha Schools 15 years ago, went to talk with Olds on Monday.
“I wanted to give her the chance to withdraw her papers, to ask her that respectfully,” Lee said. “I wanted to tell her what the tenor was on the streets, and that it was only going to get bigger....
On Tuesday, former Kamehameha Schools trustee Douglas Ing submitted a letter to the Probate Court, which is responsible for selecting trustees, asking the court to deny Olds’ petition for reappointment. The letter was signed by Kamehameha alumni William Blaisdell, Kamani Kuala‘au, Kristin Pratt, Tina Maragos and David Alama.
“Sandwich Isles is a private company with a very peculiar business model — it feeds off the federal tax trough. It exists only because of its outrageous federal subsidies. It likely has very little earned income. It is not a business model that can provide Kamehameha Schools any kind of guidance, insight or expertise, nor would the Trust Estate desire such,” the letter said.
“Given the serious difficulties facing Sandwich Isles, the reported curtailment of federal subsidies, and the fact that its owner has been convicted of felony tax evasion charges, it is also hard to imagine that (Olds) will have either the time or commitment necessary to serve as a trustee,” the letter continued.
read ... Olds’ bid to remain trustee splits Kamehameha Schools
Shapiro: Hawaii Global Warmers a Bunch of Phonies
Shapiro: Hawaii government has few climate-change deniers; local Democrats will talk your ear off about the threat.
But in terms of actual planning for what’s all but certain to come, Honolulu isn’t so different from Miami.
Construction cranes in the Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako corridor fill the sky a virtual stone’s throw from the water’s edge.
The new skyscrapers were approved without major upgrades to wastewater infrastructure that failed so miserably in recent storms that flooded the area and caused a 500,000-gallon raw sewage spill right in front of the luxury condos being built at Ala Moana Center.
The city designed the $6 billion rail system to run makai through Kakaako instead of taking a more prudent mauka route along Beretania.
The economics are the same as in Miami: Developers and construction interests make their money well before future sea-level rises, and politicians are seduced by the double bounty of tax revenues and campaign contributions.
Waikiki state Rep. Tom Brower reflected the “What, me worry?” mindset when he dismissed a proposed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood-control project for the Ala Wai and its tributaries to protect Waikiki from an inevitable “100-year flood” that could put our tourism industry out of business.
“There’s just a lot of optimists we have in our community,” Brower blithely told Honolulu Civil Beat. “If you have a natural disaster, you’re going to probably just have to take your lumps and rebuild.”
read ... Behavior, not beliefs, puts Honolulu in disaster’s path
Windfarm Request to kill more bats, nene pending
SA: The state Department of Land and Natural Resources appreciates your recent coverage related to the incidental take of bats by wind energy facilities and pending requests to secure authorization for higher levels of incidental take of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat.
We would like to clarify important aspects of the approval process. Currently no changes have been approved for the wind facility that was the subject of the article ("Maui wind farm owner wants higher limit on bat, nene kills," Star-Advertiser, Sept. 9).
Any such requests must ultimately be approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources and at this time are pending: publication of a draft amended Habitat Conservation Plan in the Office of Environmental Quality Control bulletin; a public hearing; an approval or disapproval recommendation by the Endangered Species Recovery Committee; and consideration of approval by the board.
Each of these important steps in the review process includes opportunities for public comment....
read ... Kill More
Tightening the screws on Procurement
SA: ...Allen, who has been director of the State Procurement Office (SPO) since November 2013, is hoping to launch programs that, if implemented correctly, will produce smarter contracts that result in cost savings for taxpayers. The SPO is responsible for procurement at the state's executive branch level, which encompasses 19 departments that includes the Governor's Office. But the office delegates procurement authority to the department heads, who further delegate that responsibility to procurement specialists, at least in some departments.
The system, though, is disjointed with some departments centralizing their procurement officers and others having no procurement specialists.
"Some (departments) have procurement specialists and some do not, which is amazing to me," Allen said.
And because there is no level of consistency in the skills and knowledge that procurers have from one department to another, Allen is proposing a certification process for the state's procurers.
"It's very hard, actually, to find the skill set," she said. Procurers have to manage projects, deal with legalese, administer contracts and be a partner to contractors and their respective departments, Allen said.
"It really is a professional career field," Allen said, adding the state must "elevate the level of procurement expertise across the state ... you can't just give this as a second duty to your forestry chief." ....
Within a few months, Allen hopes to put out a request for proposals to establish an eProcurement system that will allow for more transparency, consistency and accountability. Vendors would register on the site and a database would be created and purchases could be made with a state pCard, or purchasing card.
The system, which Allen described as a "less sexy Amazon," would simplify purchases so that procurement specialists are able to concentrate on larger acquisitions. It would allow the SPO to see what items are being purchased by departments and use that information to leverage economies of scale and find cost savings.
Right now, there are no templates or boilerplate contracts available through SPO, although some might exist among departments, Allen said. The plan, however, is to have those available when the e-Procurement system is set up.
The e-Procurement would also benefit those who do business with the state, creating a one-stop shop.
"Right now we're at the bottom of the list of ease of doing business" among the 50 states, Allen said. "We're dislocated ... we don't make it easy right now."
read ... Tightening the screws
HMSA, state seek price transparency on medical services
SA: "We believe that cost is an important factor when making health care decisions," HMSA spokeswoman Elisa Yadao said in a statement. "Members can use this tool when discussing their options with their doctor. Our goal is to increase transparency and help our members make better, more informed decisions about their physical, emotional, and financial well-being."
HMSA didn't say when the tool will be available to members. The insurer has been trying to get doctors to discuss prices with patients, but the move has riled physicians.
Earlier this year HMA, the physicians association, objected to a new contract with the insurer that required doctors for the first time to discuss possible higher out-of-pocket costs with patients referred to specialists outside HMSA's provider network. HMA doctors say HMSA is trying to discourage them from referring patients to nonparticipating providers, even though they may be deemed best for the patient's care.
The state also is working to get price transparency for consumers. It was awarded more than $3 million in federal grants last year to develop the Hawaii Health Data Center to analyze claims data and eventually be a resource for consumers to compare prices.
"Once we're up and running, we intend to have a consumer facing website. We've got until 2017 to get it running," said Bryan Fitzgerald, a representative for the state Office of Information Management and Technology.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency in charge of Medicare, for the first time in 2013 released a list of prices U.S. hospitals charge for common procedures. The list exposed extreme differences in the pricing of medical services. For instance, treating a patient with a brain hemorrhage at Kaiser Permanente Hawaii costs $30,000, while the price for the same procedure 7 miles away at Straub Clinic & Hospital was 80 percent higher at $54,000. A CMS spokeswoman said fiscal 2014 data won't be available until next year.
read ... HMSA, state seek price transparency on medical services
Homeless “just doesn’t want to deal with the bills”
KHON: The plan is to build temporary housing that can accommodate up to 90 people.
The modular units, which will cost about $2.3 million to construct, will cater to families in Waianae, where an estimated 300 people call an encampment next to the Waianae boat harbor home. ($2.3M / 90 = $25,555 per person)
But 10-year-old Kekai Makepa-Kapahe, who lives in the encampment, knows it’s lack of money that’s keeping his family from living in a house.
“My parents don’t want to deal with the bills and stuff, ’cause even though they have enough money to buy the house, we don’t really have much money to pay the bills. Dad doesn’t have a running job, so he just doesn’t want to deal with the bills.”
When asked what does he want, Kekai said “a house, a car, goodies.”
Twinkle Borge, who calls herself the leader of the encampment, let the families know about the the city’s proposed modular units.
“What I seen yesterday was 2-bedroom, a living room, your own bathroom, kitchen area. That would be perfect for these guys. … I want to see what it’s gonna be like. Of course, you’re going to have to pay rent, just like anybody else.”
Which is a problem for some. “I’ve been living here almost 5 years,” said Roiti Vilmaire. “I have no income, I’m not on welfare, and I’ve been surviving without it. I’m doing good.”
When asked how many families call the encampment home, Borge said there are at least 10 families and 42 kids, ranging in age from just a few months to 17-years-old.”
KITV: Councilman wants urban rest stop for Mapunapuna homeless
read ... Homeless Waianae families interested in city plan, but can they afford rent?
Taxi contract lacks bidding competition
SA: The same company has run the taxi concession at Honolulu Airport for more than a decade without going through a competitive bidding process, eliminating competition and possibly cutting into state revenue, according to the state auditor and others.
The state Department of Transportation’s Airports Division has spent decades struggling to find the right framework for its taxi concession. SIDA Taxi of Hawaii had an exclusive contract to provide service at the airport, but the not-for-profit group of about 400 independent drivers went bankrupt in 2003. Howard Higa, president of Signature Cab Holdings Inc., which does business as TheCab, said SIDA owed the state about $800,000 at the time. Higa’s company later absorbed SIDA, and the state asked the company to run the taxi concession on an emergency basis. This time the state wanted an open-access system, which meant that one company would manage dispatch services, but qualified drivers from any company could pick up passengers.
In 2003 the state put the concession up for bid, but Higa said the request for proposals was withdrawn and replaced by another that excluded vendors affiliated with taxicab or ground transportation companies. AMPCO Express, the longtime airport parking operator, was awarded a yearlong permit in 2004. When the permit expired, the state allowed AMPCO to operate without a permit at the same rate until 2012.
PDF: Procurement Examination of the DOT, Auditor State of Hawaii, May 2013
read ... Bidding
Oakland: Hawaii needs to decide if state should support Children and Youth Day events
SA: ...I spoke to long-time children's advocate state Rep. Dennis Arakaki, and together we founded the Keiki Caucus.
This year is its 25th anniversary. The caucus, a bipartisan group of more than one-third of Hawaii's Legislature....
We are now at a crossroads: Does the caucus continue to lead the coordination of this event?
read ... Decide
Ethics Commission helping DOE bring school-related travel into compliance
SA: Contrary to what many may believe, the commission is not saying that teachers cannot accompany students on school- related trips, nor is the commission questioning the educational value of the trips or the amount of work and responsibility teachers assume as chaperones on the trips. Most important, the commission is not saying that the trips cannot happen....
To ensure that its teachers do not engage in conduct that may be contrary to the state ethics code, the DOE must find a way to restructure how school-related trips are organized and arranged.
The commission is currently working with the DOE by reviewing DOE policies and procedures developed to address some of the concerns associated with the teachers’ acceptance of free travel, while ensuring compliance with the state ethics code.
read ... Compliance
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