Low Real Property Tax Is a Bad Thing?
State Saves $32M by refinancing general obligation bonds
After Sanders: Will Progressives Re-Take Control of Hawaii Democratic Party?
Borreca: …Here’s Clinton’s superdelegate breakdown in Hawaii: Democratic National Committee members Jadine Nielsen and Russell Okata, U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, and U.S. Rep. Mark Takai.
Sanders has one Hawaii superdelegate, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. No political stink eye or threat will make those folks change their vote.
Missing from the Hawaii tally are Gov. David Ige, Tsutsui, plus the Democratic Party chairperson and vice chairperson.
Those two leaders will be selected at the state Democratic convention in May. Now Sanders Democrats have until May to get Ige and Tsutsui over to their side and then elect their own party chair and vice chair….
…(the) pending fight recalls the 2008 convention when Hawaii’s Barack Obama delegates voted in Brian Schatz, co-chairman of the Obama campaign, as party chairman, ensuring another Obama superdelegate vote.
In May, when the party state convention delegates pick the chair and vice chair, it will be a measure of the strength of the new Sanders wing of the Democratic Party….
Big Q: Should Hawaii’s superdelegates vote according to voters’ results in the Democratic presidential preference poll?
Losing control in 2014: Bye-Bye Closed Primary: Stephanie Ohigashi defeats attorney Tony Gill for Democratic Party Chair
read … Sanders Takeover?
Sanders Vote: ‘A true cross-section of Kauai, heavily populated by healers, anti-GMO activists, anti-vaccine partisans’
KGI: …Sen. Bernie Sanders beat former Sen. and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Sanders took 69.79 of the statewide vote and 77.09 percent on Kauai, although we lost to Maui County (78.52) in the race to boast the highest Sanders support in the state.
I had time to reflect on how this was going down as I stood in the line with a couple of hundred other people at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center waiting to vote. It was a true cross-section of Kauai, heavily populated by healers, anti-GMO activists, anti-vaccine partisans and the usual run of what one comes to expert from politics on the island.,,,
Things start to get interesting when you look at how the vote played out around Kauai. It was Kilauea, not Hanalei, as might have been expected, that gave Sanders the highest victory margin in the county: 86 percent. The North Shore, unsurprisingly, was the most overwhelmingly Sanders real estate: 78 percent among Hanalei voters, 81 percent among Anahola voters, and 83, 76 and 82 percent in the three precincts of Greater Kapaa. The North Shore voter turnout was also the highest in the county, with Hanalei, Kilauea and the one Kapaa precinct bringing out more than 300 voters each….
But an unfortunate other distinction all of these more Clinton-centric precincts had was that turnout there was dreadful. In stark contrast to the North Shore precincts, only 64 Democrats bothered to show up from the Hanamaulu precinct, 34 from the Koloa Elementary School precinct, 41 in Waimea and 45 in Kekaha. In all, 2,618 Kauai voters went to the polls and everyone else, essentially, surrendered their political futures to the comparatively high numbers from Kapaa north to Hanalei….
read … Voter apathy may lead to new Dark Age
‘Stop the Bleeding’: After Rail Tax Hike, Another $695M Shortfall Announced
SA: As rail costs continue to climb, questions are mounting over whether a new five-year tax extension will generate enough money to complete the 20-mile transit project.
At this time last year, when state lawmakers were still debating the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge extension, rail officials testified it would likely provide the funds they needed to finish the project — with hundreds of millions of dollars to spare.
Since then, however, costs have swelled by at least another $415 million, and the total cash the extension is expected to produce has been downgraded from $1.8 billion to $1.52 billion, based on the most recent official estimates. $415M + $280M = $695M
Also, completion of the rail has been delayed by about two years, pushing the largest public works project in state history deeper into one of the nation’s hottest building markets.
The future transit system’s planners did not foresee challenges presented by utility-pole clearances along the rail route, which could drive up costs even more. They say they’re still negotiating with Hawaiian Electric Co., but if talks don’t go their way, the project could be delayed by as long as another year….
Both Grabauskas and HART board Chairman Don Horner say they want to wait to see bid prices on the remaining work before declaring whether the project is in jeopardy of running out of cash again.
HART is slated to receive the first of those bid proposals later this week, but the public won’t know the details until after the agency evaluates the proposals and awards the contract. That could be in June at the earliest, Grabauskas said.
The project’s latest official cost estimate stands at $6.57 billion….
City Council Chairman Ernie Martin, who’s considering a mayoral run against Caldwell, sent a letter to Horner several days after Caldwell.
“Please be advised that the Council will have no choice but to stand firmly behind its decision that no more money generated by the GET tax extension be appropriated for this project,” Martin’s March 24 letter stated. “For the sake of Oahu’s taxpayers, we need to stop the bleeding.” (Martin’s letter refers to a $1.1 billion limit for rail costs from the cash extension, although the ordinance allows HART to spend past that limit after the agency gives the Council an update.) ….
read … Rail again in deficit danger zone
HART Schemes to Make Middle Street Cut off Impossible
Shapiro: …Last year, as the Council considered a five-year rail excise tax extension to cover a $1.3 billion deficit, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation suggested accelerating the first segment, scheduled to open in 2018 between Kapolei and Aloha Stadium, to run five more miles to Middle Street.
“This configuration would connect our Westside residents to their 35,000-plus jobs at the airport and Hickam/Pearl Harbor as well as provide these residents access to the city’s largest bus hub at Middle Street,” HART Chairman Don Horner and CEO Daniel Grabauskas wrote in September.
With the full 20-mile line to Ala Moana not scheduled to open until 2022, it made sense to serve far more commuters with a longer interim route.
HART’s tune changed, however, once the tax extension was in hand and rail cost critics suggested Middle Street as a good bailout point if expenses keep escalating.
Grabauskas now says construction delays make it impractical to extend the first segment to Middle Street, so it will go only to Aloha Stadium as originally planned.
In fact, he said the Middle Street segment won’t be ready until a few months before the final Ala Moana phase, and they both will probably open at the same time in 2022.
In other words, the schedule for the Middle Street segment has slipped by four years in six months.
Problem No. 1: Four years of wasted operating expenses on a nearly useless segment to Aloha Stadium that HART admits will have “limited ridership.”
Problem No. 2: When HART runs out of money again before getting to Ala Moana — and it likely will — options will be limited to stopping with the useless Kapolei to Aloha Stadium segment or writing more blank checks to reach Ala Moana at any cost….
read … HART schemes to end talk of cutting short rail’s reach
Superferry, Telescope, Next Era
SA: …Yet, this merger is about something as large, maybe even larger than the energy future of our state, as important as that is.
It is also about preserving Hawaii’s ability to attract capital from outside the state.
Hawaii needs many tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investment capital, from private as well as public sources, if we are to sustain and grow our economy, and ultimately maintain our way of life.
Hawaii is a small state with limited resources, so most of the capital we need must come from mainland and international investors.
To secure necessary capital investment, we need to do more than just be open to it: We must compete for it both in the private and public sectors.
Capital from around the world flows to those jurisdictions with friendly climates for investment.
Our state unfortunately is at risk of being viewed as hostile to investment, particularly from outsiders.
While we are privileged to do business at home, Hawaii is regularly ranked as one of the worst business climates in the U.S.
Regardless of one’s views on particular projects, the plight of high-profile initiatives, the most recent being the Thirty Meter Telescope, have not enhanced our reputation as an attractive place to invest or do business….
This brings us to Next- Era Energy….
Big Q: Do you support a “smart grid” energy system, as proposed by HECO, at 23 cents more per month?
read … Sales Pitch
Telescope Protesters Protest Way Hearing Officer Selected
HNN: …While supporters of the $1.4 billion project applaud the progress, opponents are voicing concerns about the process in how Amano was selected.
"What the state is required to do, according to the board's own rules, is to have the board hold a public hearing pursuant to Sunshine Law, then make a determination first as to whether itself would conduct a contested case hearing," said Attorney Richard Naiwieha Wurdeman. "If they decide not to, it can then decide to delegate that function to a hearing officer."
According to Wurdeman, the state skipped that entire step and went straight to selecting Amano, without holding a public hearing….
Wurdeman says he will file formal written objections next week with the board. Results will determine if the board will return to court.
read … Doomed
PHOCUSED Using Homeless to Grub for Money in Legislature
AP: …"With the extreme crisis in homelessness and affordable housing, we feel that the funding at the level the governor requested is almost the minimum that should be allocated," said the Rev. Bob Nakata, a former state legislator pushing for progress on those issues….
"The importance of having them in the budget is really because it shows a commitment, a long-term commitment, by our government to maintain these programs," said Scott Fuji, executive director of PHOCUSED….
"Although it's just a plan, we're concerned that without the funding that I talked about, it may be like several other plans in the past and end up just sitting on the shelf," said Nakata….
CB: Will Honolulu Leaders Ever Adopt A United Front On Affordable Housing?
read … Hawaii housing, homelessness plans compete for state funding
DLNR Backs Small Boat Harbor Privatization Bill
WHT: …A bill to privatize Honokohau Harbor after years of disrepair is gaining steam at the Capitol. And the state agency which now oversees the facility is backing what could become a model for privatization of small boat harbors across Hawaii.
Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Suzanne Case has told lawmakers the small boat harbors program needs to take a different direction. In written testimony, she is supporting opening up Honokohau to public-private partnerships — but she’d like to go even further and is seeking legislative support for making that option available at harbors statewide.
The support comes as contractors finally begin work on long-awaited improvements at Honokohau.
“Allowing the department to enter into public-private partnerships or working with private organizations would free up valuable staff time and resources that can be allocated to the management of the state’s navigable waters and nearshore areas that are in dire need of resource protection,” she wrote to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means this past week.
However, Case doesn’t support local community boards to oversee the harbors, calling that form of management cumbersome and ineffective. The local control was struck from the legislation during committee hearings.
That’s disappointing to Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen, who introduced the house version of a concept that was also pushed forward by Kona Sen. Josh Green….
read … Finally!
Counties push to increase share of transient accommodations tax revenue
HNN: …In 2010, the counties' share of TAT revenue was capped at $93 million because of the poor economy during the Great Recession. That was increased to $103 million in 2013.
"What actually happened with the split was that the counties stayed at 103 million, and the state moved from 8.3 million to over 205 million," said Maui County Council Chair Mike White.
In 2010, the TAT brought in $244 million; the counties received $93 million of that. In 2015, TAT revenues totaled $435 million. The counties share was capped at $103 million.
A measure before the state House Finance Committee would make the $103 million cap permanent. If the bill doesn't pass, the cap falls again to $93 million….
The Finance Committee will make a decision on the measure Tuesday….
read … TAT
Thanks to Rep Andria Tupola, DoT Finally Getting Around to Solving Nanakuli Traffic Jam
SA: …State Department of Transportation officials are working on plans for a contraflow lane in Nanakuli to start this summer. The pilot project would change one eastbound lane to a westbound lane on Farrington Highway from 3:30 to 7 p.m. weekdays from Piliokahi Avenue to near Helelua Street.
At the Nanakuli/Maili Neighborhood Board meeting last month, Ed Sniffen, deputy director of DOT in charge of the Highways Division, outlined details of the contraflow plan.
The project would cost about $300,000 per year, 80 percent of which would be federally funded. Sniffen estimated that about 50,000 vehicles use Farrington Highway on average every day and that the afternoon ratio westbound compared to eastbound is 4 to 1, so the contraflow would help to balance the streams….
Feb, 2016: Traffic relief in Nanakuli in the works Thanks to Rep Andria Tupola
read … Finally
Hawaii DoE Has Most Counselors Per Capita of Any School District
BS: …Not one of the top 10 districts, where counselors may be particularly beneficial for low-income students, meets the American School Counselor Association’s recommendation of one counselor for every 250 students — most weren’t even close. The nearest to the standard was Hawaii with 274 students for every counselor….
Other districts, like Hawaii, have no police presence in its schools, employing only safety personnel,” Barnum said….
read … Counselors
Latest Eco-Hype for the Gullible: Radar Destroys Reefs
KGI: …After spending time underwater on Kauai and studying the reefs, Simonson’s theory is that the answer is accelerated corrosion — caused by an electrical current in the ocean. (Yeah, right.)
Simonson said he’s found “hundreds of tons of calcium carbonate” dissolved in the sea where thriving reefs used to be on Kauai, “and that’s pretty impressive.”
“In the industry, if someone asked me to do that, I’d need tanker trucks of hydrochloric acid in concentrated form to get that much to dissolve,” Simonson said….
(Actually coral disease is caused by the cesspools used by eco-faddists living in beach-front houses.)
Bonus: Terry Lilley's claim that military jets were dumping chemicals on school children in Kapaa
KE: The last thing Kauai needs is more foolish fear-mongering.
read … IQ Test Pass or Fail
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