Debt Financing: The mayor's word on rail has been broken – again
Bishop Museum: ‘Fears that some pieces might have disappeared’
Telescope Doom: OHA intends to take state and UH to court
SA: …the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs has been working behind the scenes for months in a move to gain some control over the summit of Hawaii’s tallest mountain.
Now, having been rebuffed in its attempts, OHA is threatening to go to court over the issue….
…(OHA) … entered formal mediation with the state and UH in November regarding a proposal to transfer management on the mountain.
But the state and UH attended only one session, and they have not provided a written response to a formal proposal as requested, according to a May 26 memo to the trustees by Dan Ahuna, chairman of the board’s Ad Hoc Committee on Mauna Kea.
“Thus it is very apparent that there is no real motivation or sense of urgency on the part of the (state) and UH to engage meaningfully with OHA,” Ahuna told his fellow trustees in the memo obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
In a statement provided to the newspaper, Ahuna said, “OHA felt the only available recourse was to file notice, as required by law, of its intent to file suit over the mismanagement of Mauna Kea.” …
The state and the university, which manages the summit under a lease from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, were given formal notice May 31 that the suit would be filed in less than 60 days. That means a formal complaint could be filed as soon as the end of the month….
The state Constitution guarantees OHA a share of the income from these lands, comprised of Hawaiian kingdom lands, including Mauna Kea. State law gives OHA 20 percent of the income….
OHA will pursue an award of land or monetary damages as compensation, the letter says.
In a white paper presented at the mediation and obtained by the Star-Advertiser, OHA suggests that oversight of the summit be taken away from the DLNR and the university and handed over to OHA….
Kealoha Pisciotta, a leader of the Mauna Kea Hui petitioners, said OHA’s effort is news to her. and she’s surprised the agency didn’t reach out to those who have been trying to stop development on the summit for years.
While she agrees that the state and university have failed Mauna Kea, Pisciotta said she’s worried OHA’s motivations are political.
“I hope they aren’t just posturing for a land grab,” she said.
Another TMT foe, Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, said she can support OHA’s move.
“It is evident that the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the University of Hawaii are incapable of handling their responsibilities,” she said in a statement. “Though OHA has been mismanaged since its inception, it is based in the Hawaii Constitution and is the only official organization we Hawaiian people have to protect our interests. I shall give my full support to this endeavor.”
Big Q: 90% ‘NO’ -- Do you think the Office of Hawaiian Affairs should have more control over how the summit of Mauna Kea is managed?
Meanwhile: Leaving Hawaii: Decision on New Site for Thirty Meter Telescope set for ‘Early 2017’
Precisely as Explained: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read … Kill the Golden Goose
Gabbard to Challenge Hirono in 2018?
CB: Hirono Campaign Has $558K On Hand … It’s likely Hirono will need a lot more cash in the coming years. Many political observers expect U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to challenge Hirono in 2018.
Gabbard’s war chest has a positive balance of $1,883,357, according to the latest data. It’s only expected to grow.
In fact, FEC filings show that from April 1 to June 30, Gabbard took in $420,917 in total receipts.
That’s second only to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who has been the Hawaii delegation’s most prolific campaign fundraiser.
Gabbard hasn’t faced a serious challenger since she was first elected to Congress in 2012. That’s allowed her to sock away a lot of cash for a future run at higher office.
And just this weekend she made an odd plea for more money, saying in a campaign email that she was facing “multiple opponents who are twisting my record in an attempt to win voters. I need your help to defeat them.”
read … 2018
Should a deal be struck, it’s unclear how it will impact SB 2077
CB: …Senate Bill 2077 calls for providing severance payments or pension benefits to unionized public employees at three hospitals in Maui County that are being privatized by Kaiser Permanente.
Cost estimates range from $25 million to $77 million as to the amount that will be needed to implement the law.
However, SB 2077 does not explain where the money will come from or whether the state pension system will lose its tax-exempt status, as Gov. David Ige warned.
Meanwhile, the Ige administration is said to be nearing a settlement agreement with the United Public Workers, which represents hundreds of the employees at the hospitals.
Should a deal be struck, it’s unclear how it will impact SB 2077….
read … Unclear
Top donors to state and local candidates so far this year
ILind: …In the top spot is (anti-GMO) part-time Maui resident Jeffrey Bronfman, an investor and consulted, who contributed $2,000 each to several county council and state House candidates.
Four of the top ten contributors are associated with Capitol Consultants of Hawaii, the state’s top lobbyist firm, who combined to give nearly $60,000 to candidates during the six month period.
The rest are a cross-section of business and development interests….
KE: Bronfman top giver to Kauai Anti-GMO Candidate
PDF: Top Donors
read … Top donors to state and local candidates so far this year
Bankrupt Puerto Rico Cited as Model for Hawaiian Electric
IM: …I asked Walls, “You were talking about the need for community buy-in. How do you define community?”
Walls responded, “That`s a great question. And I think, you know just, it`s, context dependent. I think, you know, in Hawai`i, and so it depends on the issue.
I think, I often view Hawai`i as a single community, in relation to DOE. But I know when I'm actually working here, that`s not, it`s not the same. So while I converse about Hawai`i as a unified community, as one entity if you will, one community, when I'm in DOE, because that`s useful for that audience. I know in fact, when I get here, it`s not the case.
It`s similar in Puerto Rico. VI is, maybe a little bit different, but Puerto Rico is, definitely has a variety of constituencies similar to, you know, variety here. And, you know, it depends on what we talked about, I still haven`t learned to say this right. Please forgive me. Kalaeloa?
That`s one community that has, you know, special needs, among others, around, all of the islands.
You know, so, that`s sort of a wishy washy answer, for you, but I think it`s as close to truth as I can get. What defines community depends on the issue, and the broader context.”
I asked a follow up question. “Then how do you know whether you have community buy-in for this?”
Walls responded, “It`s important to rely on meetings like this actually. This is actually why, meetings like this and your involvement is important. Because that`s helpful for people like me, especially that don`t live here.”
At least one-third of the forty-nine people in the room were DBEDT staff members….
read … Re-Aligning Electric Bills with Hawai`i Energy Goals
WSJ Looks at UH 15-to-Finish Program
WSJ: …More than 190 campuses nationwide have implemented or will launch in the next year “15-to-Finish” campaigns, which drill into students the need to take 15 credits each term in order to graduate in four years, according to Complete College America, a nonprofit that advocates for higher graduation rates. Six states have rolled out the programs across their entire university systems, the group said at a conference on the topic late last month.
The University of Hawaii has blanketed local media and posted 15-to-Finish slogans on T-shirts, cups and pens since 2012. It holds a drawing for free textbooks for students who took 30 credits their first year, it weighted graduation rates more heavily in school-funding formulas, and it even stopped renewing scholarships for students who didn’t take 30 credits the prior year.
“We’ve changed the culture,” said Risa Dickson, vice president of academic planning and policy for the state university system. “We’ve changed what people think full-time is.”
The four-year graduation rate at University of Hawaii at Mānoa rose to 27% for the class that started in 2011, up from 21% two years prior, and hit 37% for those who took at least 15 credits in their first term.
Even a full course load every term can’t guarantee a four-year timeline. For example, Justin Calso had been studying finance at University of Hawaii at Mānoa, taking at least 18 credits most semesters. But he decided in the spring of his junior year to add a second major in Korean and spend a semester in Seoul before leaving school.
“I simply was not ready to graduate,” Mr. Calso said. The 21-year-old will study in South Korea this coming fall, then take a few final classes and work as an intern back in Hawaii in the spring.
Meanwhile, students who are ready to move on can struggle to get credit for how far they have come. With more than one-third of students now attending multiple institutions during their college careers, convoluted credit-transfer policies continue to slow the timeline to graduation….
read … Slow graduation rates hurt schools’ reputations and adds to tab for ‘super seniors’
Special Session’s Price Tag At Least $10,000
CB: …Each non-Oahu member was paid $175 each day they were counted present for a floor session.
If they did not show up, they did not get the daily pay.
In the 25-member Senate, neighbor island daily expenses totaled $3,325. In the 51-member House of Representatives, it totaled $6,825.
That adds up to $10,150.
If the neighbor island lawmakers stayed on Oahu for any additional days this month, they are required to file for the $175 day rate separately….
read … $10,000
Debunked Instantly: Civil Beat Pushing for Rent Control
CB: (Lets just skip to the comments from Sierra Club Pres Anthony Aalto) “I love you guys at CB, but this is a shamefully shallow analysis. You have the right diagnosis, but the wrong prescription. This idea tickles my lefty instincts: it sounds progressive, but it’s not. It’s a cop-out, a sop to those who want to feel good that they have taken a whack at the problem by punishing greedy landlords. Paul Krugman -a Nobel-prize-winning progressive economist, generally regarded as one of the three most influential in the country today- stated nearly two decades ago that rent control is “among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and—among economists, anyway—one of the least controversial.” And the reason it’s so uncontroversial is because the practitioners of the dismal science are pretty much all agreed: rent controls don’t work.
“Why don’t they work? Because they tend to discourage construction of new rental buildings. By restricting supply they make the market tighter and, perversely, increase the pressure to raise rents. They also discourage landlords from maintaining or improving their properties - so the quality of the existing inventory declines. And those outcomes are exactly the opposite of what we need to do here. We do not have enough rental inventory in this state and the problem literally gets worse every day. Our population is growing by 31 people every day….
“That’s 2,200 new units needed every year. How many affordables did we build in the last decade? An average of 450 per year! Instead of incentivizing landlords to build the needed inventory, your prescription would make the problem worse….”
read … Rent Control
Democratic Convention Coverage
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