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Thursday, October 1, 2015
October 1, 2015 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 5:20 PM :: 3628 Views

'Aha Candidates--Legislators, Trustee Violate Resign to Run Law 

Fresh off Obamacare Disaster, Obama Orders Hawaii Legislators to Impose Family Leave Mandate on Employers

Senate Puerto Rico Package to Include Jones Act Exemption?

State IT Contacts are "Rail #2" “dilapidated and decentralized” "$100Ms" "Contracts we may not even know about" 

SA: The audit was ordered by state lawmakers under Senate Concurrent Resolution 162, which observed that the state’s information technology infrastructure is “both dilapidated and decentralized.”

State Sen. Glenn Wakai (D-Salt Lake-Foster Village) chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Environment and Technology, said information technology is key to making state government more efficient, and lawmakers understand they will need to spend tens of millions of dollars — and perhaps hundreds of millions — on computer improvements.

However, “that’s where government sometimes falls flat on its face — in execution of necessary plans,” he said. “We don’t have a great track record with implementing IT systems. I think we need to have a real clear game plan, or things are going to go sideways. You look at rail, and rail has got the public’s ire because of all the questionable expenditures. We don’t want this to be rail No. 2.”

One computer project that ended particularly badly this year was the so-called “FAST” project that was canceled in March. The state spent $13.88 million in that failed effort to replace an out-of-date computer system in the state Highways Division, but the new system never worked.

Earlier this month, the state sued Colorado-based consultant Ciber Inc., alleging the company failed to perform under the FAST contract, defrauded the state, and used “inappropriate political influence” to persuade the state to continue making payments.

Ciber countered that the lawsuit by the state attorney general “is frivolous, contains numerous lies and misstatements, and is completely without merit.”

Acting State Auditor Jan Yamane said state departments traditionally have each independently purchased the computer equipment and systems they needed.

“I don’t think anybody has a handle on what is being spent and how and where it’s being spent because even with OIMT and all of that, the agencies still pretty much handle their own IT services because that’s the way it grew up in the state,” she said....

Once lawmakers have that data, “then we can start asking questions,” Wakai said. “I think sometimes the state is such a huge monster that we have a bunch of contracts that lawmakers may or may not even know about....

read ... Rail #2

Hawaii Rejects Fake Indian Tribe nearly 2-1

Big Q: Is the U.S. Interior Department right in opening the door to a reorganized Native Hawaiian government?

  • B. No, don't believe in sovereignty (48%) - 1,048 votes
  • A. Yes, indigenous rights overdue (37%) - 819 votes
  • C. No, feds meddling in sovereignty (15%) - 328 votes

Total Votes: 2,195  48+15 = 63% Rejected

Nobody Fooled any more--Aha is All About Federal Recognition

HNN: ...list of people wanting to participate in the landmark Na'i Aupuni election was released just one day after the Department of Interior announced a pathway toward federal recognition for Native Hawaiians -- which has some asking what impact, if any, it will have on the November vote.... (Duh!)

read ... Only One Option--Totally Controlled

Usual Suspects Running to Control Fake Hawaiian Indian Tribe

CB: Among the candidates are Rowena Akana, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee; Dante Carpenter, the former chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Faye Hanohano, who lost her re-election bid for a Big Island state House seat in 2014; University of Hawaii professor Lilikala Kameeleihiwa; activist Walter Ritte; and Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele....

in addition to the delegate candidates listed earlier, other familiar names include state Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, former state legislator Annelle Amaral, musician Teresa Bright, UH law professor Williamson Chang, former state homeless coordinator Colin Kippen, former OHA administrator Clyde Namuo, Hawaiian nationalist Poka Laenui and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu....

read ... Usual Suspects

Their purpose? To position themselves to be the biggest feeders at the money trough

HTH: Hawaiian Indian Tribe?  Here are two particularly lucid comments:

kuewa -- This nonsense must be stopped; a fringe group of individuals who claim to represent all native Hawaiians should not be empowered to negotiate as a representative government. There is no such thing as a Hawaiian nation or government except in the fantasies of these wannabe ali`i. They hold up as examples the native American nations who have petitioned and sometimes achieved semi-independence and land. However, this is not the same situation. The native American tribes were held together as nations, with governmental structures, largely through unfair treaty negotiations with the US creating reservations and restricting native rights. No such thing happened in Hawai`i. The so-called Hawaiian Nation has no link to the previous Hawaiian Kingdom and it does not represent this native Hawaiian or any that I know. The continual pandering to this group by Gabbard, Ige and others is an embarrassment and insult to me and to all Hawaiians who are proud to be Americans.

wahineilikea -- There's a lot of confusion about this issue. The group who is pushing this DOI-sponsored version of a "Native Hawaiian government" is way more fringe than you can imagine.

It's only a very few individuals, who work in the shadows and are very well connected politically, who have been working this agenda for more almost two decades. Their purpose? To position themselves to be the biggest feeders at the money trough that will start to fill - if a DOI version of a "native government" goes through. Research the Danner sisters and CNHA to start.

The overwhelming majority of Hawaiians do not seek a race-based "native government." This entire concept is based on a few people making HUGE amounts of money.

read ... Listen to the People

Criminal Hee: Further up state Democratic political ladder

SA: ... The deeper one digs into Hee’s financial dealings, the further up the state’s Democratic political ladder they go. Careful cultivation of those political ties — especially with Hawaii Democrats in Washington, D.C. — certainly worked in Hee’s favor. Since 2003, Sandwich Isles has received $242 million in federal Universal Service Fund subsidies.

Despite the millions from the feds, Hee contends that Sandwich Isles has never turned a profit: It has yet to pay out any benefits to Native Hawaiians under an agreement with DHHL to contribute a minimum of 0.5 percent of its profits from its home lands operations to education and training.

Yet, Hee and company executives found the money to make thousands of dollars in contributions over the years to many of Hawaii’s leading Democratic politicians, an Internal Revenue Service audit and federal campaign spending records show. Among them, the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case.

Waimana executives also gave thousands of dollars to the Hawaii Democratic Party and Hee also contributed generously to Democratic Party organizations in other states. Waimana was a sponsor of the 2009 Hawaii State Society Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., following President Barack Obama’s election, and more than $60,000 was donated to the Obama Victory Fund in 2011 and 2012. The IRS audit questioned $44,644 Waimana paid in connection with the 2005 funeral for former U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Henry K. Giugni, a longtime aide to Inouye. Records show the powerful Inouye at times would contact the FCC on Hee’s behalf.

Even as Hee appeals his conviction, fallout spreads around his questionable companies.

Kamehameha Schools trustee Janeen-Ann Olds, Sandwich Isles CEO and Waimana’s former general counsel, is seeking another six years after her term is up Jan. 31 — but she is rightly being opposed by four other trustees and others. Indeed, the financial quagmire involving firms she is supposed to be managing does not instill confidence; the Probate Court should not renew her as trustee.

Also thrown into uncertainty, now that Sandwich Isles won’t be recertified to receive federal subsidies come January, are telecom services for the rural DHHL residents it is supposed to be helping. It’s unclear how much money actually went into building the data network over the years; to date, the company’s network is still only 10 percent complete on Oahu; 20 percent complete on Hawaii island; 60 percent complete on Maui and 95 percent complete on Kauai.

Background:

read ... Telecom subsidies need close review

NextEra--Its One and Done

PBN: ...NextEra Energy Inc., the company proposing to buy Hawaiian Electric Co. for $4.3 billion, won’t go through the acquisition process a second time if Hawaii regulators ultimately nix the current proposal that’s on the table, according to public documents....

One of those intervenors, the state Office of Planning, asked NextEra Energy in a regulatory filing, that if the PUC rejected the acquisition, would the Florida firm be interested in competing against other companies for the “privilege of serving Hawaii retail customers?”....

In its response, NextEra Energy said that it has no desire to go through the process twice....  (Duh!)

read ... Surprised?

115 Homeless Flown Back to Mainland

KITV: For the last year, Hawaii's visitor industry has been trying to reunite homeless with their families by paying half of the airfare.

"There was a wonderful effort to clean up Waikiki for APEC and then we let our guard down and they all came back. So we don't want that to happen. Most importantly, we think we can come up with some creative solutions going forward," said Mufi Hannemann, the new executive director of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association.

HLTA is donating $25,000 to help with the growing homeless problem on Maui. The program is to start Nov. 1.

"Maui County had the largest proportion of homeless who were newer residents at 22 percent with 10 percent of those, or 180 people, having just arrived in Hawaii for less than a year," said Institute of Human Services Director Connie Mitchell.

The visitor industry is also providing $100,000 to boost Waikiki's homeless outreach.

The Institute for Human Services helped 355 homeless people with jobs, housing and 115 airline tickets back to the mainland....

read ... Flying Bums

Kohala Parents Demand Local Control--no Marijuana Stores

WHT: The meeting at the Kohala schools cafeteria drew a crowd of residents and several speakers about marijuana use and the legal structure of the dispensaries and growing locations.

“Tonight we’re talking about preventing another drug coming in,” said Councilwoman Margaret Wille, who represents the district.

The medical marijuana dispensary law allows for two marijuana production license holders on the Big Island, with each allowed up to two production centers and two dispensaries.

Each production center must be an enclosed indoors facility and can grow no more than 3,000 marijuana plants. The facilities are also required to maintain video surveillance, fencing, alarms and other security measures.

The law prevents the construction of the centers within 750 feet of a school, playground, public housing project or complex. They must also meet county zoning rules.

It also pre-empts local rules and advice.

The law states that no “law, county ordinance or rule shall prohibit the use of land for (licensed) medical marijuana production centers … provided that the land is otherwise zoned for agriculture, manufacturing, or retail purposes.”

read ... Home Rule

Pereira Complains About Attacks on Principals

SA: ...The manner by which these school principals have been treated is hurtful and not in the best interest of either the principal or the school community.

The complexity of emotionally charged complaints and the momentum built by those utilizing the media only serves to undermine efforts made to ensure the fair treatment of those accused.

Recent examples include cellphone video of a principal at an assembly that was widely circulated on social media then broadcast by a local TV station.

In another instance, a sign-waving campaign against a principal was organized, and in still another school district, a sign-holding demonstration was planned to protest a school leader’s decisions.

We urge the state Department of Education to follow up on complaints in a manner that is timely and fair to all parties involved. When complaints are found to be legitimate, through a system that assures the due process rights of the accused, then action should be taken.

Pereira on Video: Hospital Reform? Randy Perreira Says "F*** You"

read ... Not in best interest

Stupid Atheists Propose Kaneohe Sign Invoke Specific Gods

MT: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is escalating its battle with the Marine Corps over the placement of a religiously themed sign on a Hawaii military base: It is now demanding the right to erect six more signs next to it.

The sign at the center of the controversy, which base officials say was put up at Marine Corps Base Hawaii shortly after 9/11 14 years ago, states: "God bless the military, their families and the civilians who work with them." MRFF seeks to have the sign, which is at the corner of E Street and 2nd Street on base, taken down or moved to the grounds of the base chapel.

In an email to Col. Sean Killeen, commanding officer of the base, Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the MRFF, says the foundation's clients demand the right to build and display signs that start with "Yehweh bless," "Allah bless," "Odin blesses," Vishnu blesses" and "Goddess bless." In addition, on behalf of the foundation's atheist, agnostic, humanist and secular clients, Weinstein demanded "the immediate right to build and display the nonreligious message board appearing in the [photo illustration] which starts with the words 'There Is No God' and ends with the words 'We Have Each Other.'”

read ... Atheism is a Religion in which you worship yourself as a false god

Public Gets Chance to See Plan for Giant Wall Surrounding Ala Wai Canal

HNN: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a $170 million project that would include building a four foot-high wall on the banks of the canal to prevent the flooding from flowing into Waikiki....

It has actually taken more than 15 years for the project to reach this point, and it could be another seven years before anything it actually built. Funding would have to be approved by Congress.

While it is impossible to say when construction could begin on the project, there is an Oct. 7 deadline to comment on the draft environmental impact statement.

Related Link: Ala Wai Canal Project

read ... Public flooding of Ala Wai Canal

How Did the City Get It So Wrong on Waikiki Tower Proposal?

ILind:  The state Supreme Court’s rejection of plans for a 26-story hotel tower illuminates a city planning process steeped in bargaining and politics.

CB: Lawmakers, Please Give the State Land Commission Some Teeth

read ... So Wrong

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