Duke Aiona Legislative Update March 1, 2016
Grassroot: Pro Bowl Numbers Don’t Add Up
HB1473: Help Legislators Buy Influence, Spread Campaign Cash
Demographic and Economic Profiles of Hawaii's Electorate
CTA Innovation Scorecard: Hawaii Dead Last, Likely to Stay There
Trump’s isle lead has rivals wary of upcoming caucus
SA: …Hawaii Republicans overhauled their delegate selection process in 2012, a shift that attracted 10,000 participants to the contest that year between Mitt Romney and his rivals. Andrew Walden, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party’s presidential caucus committee, expects a similar turnout this year, but he had 30,000 ballots printed just in case.
People who want to participate in the presidential poll can register to vote at one of the 44 Republican caucus sites around the state, and sign a Republican party card on the spot to become eligible to vote, Walden said. The caucuses will start at 6 p.m. and wrap up at 8 p.m.
Five of the candidates who qualified to compete in the caucus voting in Hawaii are still active: Trump, Cruz, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich. Jeb Bush also qualified for the Hawaii caucuses, but has since dropped out of the race.
A Hawaii Poll published early this year showed Trump is locally the most popular GOP candidate running for president, winning support from 22 percent of the voters who said they usually vote Republican and 16 percent of those who consider themselves to be independents.
Cruz had the support of 11 percent of Republican-leaning voters, while Carson had 9 percent and Rubio had 8 percent….
read … VOTE
Tulsi Gabbard Not a Combat Veteran
HTH: …I can find no reference to any combat award from her military service overseas, either in her online bio or anywhere else on the Internet.
If she cannot qualify for “Combat Veteran” license plates in the state of Hawaii (which requires combat certification on her DD Form 214), then she should not be described … as such….
read … Combat?
Star-Adv: Keep Political Appointees out of HART, Bus Lines Will have to be Cut
SA: …pointedly remarked that his own reputation is at stake where this project is concerned, which is undoubtedly true.
However, that doesn’t make it a good idea to transfer the operation of the finished system to an administrative agency headed by political appointees….
Besides focus, a measure of independence enables management to run things with fewer political considerations. Once the rail begins operations that are meshed with TheBus, some hard decisions will have to be made.
Among them will be choosing which bus routes should be eliminated or changed to create a multimodal transit system that makes the optimal use of funds to achieve service goals. Anyone who recalls bus-route changes made in recent years can confirm that they can be contentious decisions. They’re best made on the basis of system efficiency, and not by anyone worried about getting re-elected….
read … Cut Bus Lines
Geothermal Wars: IDG/Huena—The Highest Price of Them All
IM: Ormat bid the lowest price but later withdrew. Hu`ena now wants to be declared the winner….
According to Hu`ena, “The award of 25 MW of geothermal generation to Hu`ena would provide substantial cost savings to consumers.”
According to HELCO, “Petitioner’s proposed pricing is unreasonable and not in the interests of customers of Hawai‘i Electric Light.
Specifically, Petitioner’s proposed price is not only almost double the threshold price set forth in the Geothermal RFP, but Petitioner was not even the next lowest priced proposal submitted.”
“In fact, Petitioner’s proposal was the highest priced proposal of them all. Specifically, Petitioner’s proposed levelized price was more than 26% higher than that of the next highest proposal.”
read … Geothermal Wars Heating Up
Media Ignored OHA Cronies Aha—62% Say ‘Meaningless’
ILind: …There were literally only a handful of news stories that reported on the Native Hawaiian convention once it was underway. Choose your favorite online search engine and you might be surprised at how little news coverage was devoted to the event.
How to explain the paucity of reporting on the convention proceedings?
Well, one factor is that the convention wasn’t open to the media. But that’s nothing new for professional journalists, who are often asked to dig out and report news that those involved would rather keep out of the press.
In this case, with some 150 delegates and a supporting cast as well, there should have been no shortage of sources for enterprising reporters. And some of the proceedings were broadcast live by ‘Olelo Community Media, and were available online for later viewing as well, which provided a starting point for reporting.
62% Say ‘Meaningless’ -- What do you think about the Native Hawaiian constitution adopted during the aha (convention)?
read … ILind
5.5% increase in $462M Hawaii County Budget mostly for salaries, benefits
HTH: Higher property values are enabling the county to bump up its spending plan this year by $23.9 million — or 5.5 percent — according to a preliminary budget released Tuesday by Mayor Billy Kenoi.
The mayor, in his last year of office because of term limits, is continuing his focus on building and maintaining county parks, creating a legacy for the future. But fixed costs such as salaries, benefits and debt repayments are eating up most of the new money.
There are no increases in the property tax rate in the $462.7 million budget, but individual property owners should expect to pay more because of increased property values. Tax revenues from property taxes are expected to increase 7.9 percent….
read … Kenoi releases budget plan; county to bump up spending
Soft on Crime: Lunatic Returns to Asylum
KHON: The man who police say broke into a Kailua woman’s home and stabbed her multiple times has been found not guilty by reason of insanity….
As we discovered following his arrest, Ingraham had been in Hawaii State Hospital before. He stayed there in 2013 after getting arrested for criminal property damage, which is a petty misdemeanor.
He was eventually found fit to stand trial for that incident, served his time, and was released.
read … Revolving Door
City: Artificial Turf Cheaper than UPW Lawnmowers
HNN: City hopes artificial turf equates to big savings….
read … Cheaper than UPW
NextEra Merger News
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