Profitable: $22M Funneled to ‘Nonprofit’ Tied to OHA Chair
Six More Fined for HI-5 Violations
Poll: Caldwell 48%-Djou 41%
CB: Less than three weeks from Election Day, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell leads challenger Charles Djou 48 percent to 41 percent, according to The Civil Beat Poll. (Early Voting Set to Begin—But Caldwell Still Can’t Break 50%)
The Oahu-only poll found that 9 percent of surveyed voters were still unsure who they will vote for, while 2 percent plan to sit out the mayoral election.
Voters identified rail as the issue that most influences their choice for mayor, ahead of trust, cost of living and affordable housing, and homelessness….
ILind: Civil Beat poll sheds light in split between rail supporters, opponents
PDF: Poll Results (25 pgs)
read … Caldwell Up 7 Points Over Djou In Honolulu Mayor’s Race
Poll: Clinton 56% – Trump 25% on Oahu
CB: …The poll…showed that Democrat Hillary Clinton has a wide lead over Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election, 56 percent to 25 percent, among Oahu voters.
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein polled in low single digits.
Another 14 percent said they were either undecided or would vote for another candidate….
“Hillary Clinton is not picking up many voters, either undecided ones or Trump supporters, but (Trump) is repelling voters who may now stay home,” Fitch said….
Fitch said Oahu voters backing Trump are not the same as his mainland supporters, who tend to be white and from lower income groups. The Civil Beat Poll shows the GOP nominee attracting Native Hawaiians and voters from higher income brackets.
PDF: Poll Results (25 pgs)
read … Caldwell Up 7 Points Over Djou In Honolulu Mayor’s Race
No on 19 – Don’t Let One Party System Control Reapportionment
SA: No. 19, asks this question: “Should the requirement be repealed that no more than five of the City Council Reapportionment Commission’s nine members be from the same political party?” Because passing this amendment would result in removing a critical safeguard that helps to ensure fairness for all Honolulu residents, Common Cause Hawaii urges that you vote “no.” …
The Honolulu City Charter currently allows the appointment of no more than five members of a single party, which constitutes a one-vote majority of the nine seats. This provision protects the rights of Honolulu residents in other parties by making it harder for one party to dominate the process and put partisan interests first.
Amendment No. 19 would change this vital provision by allowing the appointment of a dominant majority — or even every seat on the commission — to members of one party. It is important that we protect the rights of all voters, regardless of their political ideology, and we must not let the foxes guard the henhouse….
Big Q: Should Honolulu’s mayor and City Council have term limits of three consecutive four-year terms?
read .. No on 19
Kaiser Joins Plan to Begin Hiring at Maui Hospital
MN: …the Maui Region of HHSC has come up with an interim plan that will, hopefully, allow the facilities to operate until the transition without cutting services. Outgoing Maui Region Chief Executive Officer Wesley Lo, his interim successor, Dr. Barry Shitamoto, and board Chairman Avery Chumbley outlined an operating template to immediately begin hiring permanent nurses and technicians as well as an intensive recruitment of physicians.
Mary Ann Barnes, president of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, said her company would help HHSC with the hiring process — immediately. Barnes said Kaiser recruits from all over the Mainland and pledged her Human Resources Department would help the Maui Region’s staff. Kaiser’s participation would send the message these would be permanent jobs.
Lo told the legislators that the plan would require emergency supplemental funding from the state to the tune of $5.6 million — $2.6 million for the recruitment of nurses, techs and clerks, $3 million for doctors. Under questioning from Sen. Jill Tokuda, Lo said the Maui Region had enough cash on hand to start the process but the Legislature needed to be ready to come up with the funds before next July’s transition.
All of the legislators present seemed receptive to the plan. An update to its status was promised in 30 days….
read … A plan to protect us
Hawaii Will Pay a Price for Rejecting Telescope to Appease OHA
SA: If the project dies, not only will that be bad for Hawaii astronomy, but for any high-tech industry considering Hawaii, said Paul Coleman, a Native Hawaiian astrophysicist at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. The partners invested $170 million through the end of 2015, Thirty Meter Telescope Executive Director Ed Stone said. The project promises to create 300 construction jobs and employ 140 staff when operational. Earlier this year, telescope officials began looking for alternate sites in case the telescope can’t be built in Hawaii.
Reality: Telescope: For OHA, it’s all About the Rent Money
read … Cost of OHA
As Trial begins, Kenoi Sends in Flurry of Nominations
HTH: …After years of struggling to fill county boards and commissions, Mayor Billy Kenoi’s administration this week sent 10 nominees to the County Council for confirmation.
The last-minute flurry of nominations by the term-limited Kenoi, less than two months before he leaves office, is raising concerns from Mayor-elect Harry Kim, who thinks the incoming administration and four new council members should have some say in who will serve for the next three to five years.
Kim sent a letter Thursday to Council Chairman Dru Kanuha, with copies to the other council members.
“It is humbly requested that the Hawaii County Council file all present and future requests to fill vacancies of boards and commissions as a courtesy to the incoming administration and County Council members,” Kim’s letter said. “This would allow the new administration and council members to vet the nominees.”
“File” in council parlance means setting the nominations aside with no action….
Three key commissions, the Board of Ethics, Environmental Management Commission and Transportation Commission, canceled a number of meetings during the past two years for being unable to field a quorum because of a lack of nominations. The cancellations have caused issues to linger for months, if not years.
Last December, there were 35 vacancies in 154 positions listed on the county’s boards and commissions website. The administration disputed that number, saying the website hadn’t been updated. The administration said recently it placed more than 475 people on 32 county boards and commissions during Kenoi’s eight-year term….
read … Kim wants say in last-minute Kenoi nominations
Report: 7 DOE employees placed on leave since July
HNN: Seven state Education Department employees have been placed on leave for alleged improper behavior since July, a report presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday shows.
The employees include a teacher and an educational assistant accused of having sexual relations with students, and a custodian under investigation for workplace violence.
In all, according to the report, there are 27 DOE employees under investigation.
Of those, 20 are teachers.
The report, released quarterly, is part of the department’s effort to close employee investigations faster.
And the DOE has made progress. In December 2014, there were 63 pending cases. In February, there were 43….
PDF: DoE Report
read … 7 Placed on Leave
Former officer charged in 2014 assault of in-custody man dies ahead of change of plea
WHT: …Robert Kim, Smith’s attorney, said Smith was “under so much pressure” as a result of the cases.
At the scene of the January 2014 incident, Smith, who was off duty at the time, allegedly grabbed a suspected squatter by his ponytail and dragged him to a police vehicle, slamming the victim against it and assaulting him inside the car.
Smith almost went to trial earlier this month, but it was delayed because a key defense witness would not be available.
It was unclear if the proposed plea change, scheduled for 9 a.m. this morning, would be to guilty or no contest.
Part of the charge included language that the vehicle Smith allegedly threw the victim against was a deadly weapon. An earlier charge of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle was dropped.
Deputy prosecuting attorney Kauanoe Jackson, who was in charge of the case, deferred all comments to Kim. She said she could not comment on the substance of the plea agreement.
Smith was commended in 2010 by police Chief Harry Kubojiri for “his thorough investigative skills that led to the identity of a burglary suspect” and received six letters of appreciation from the public. One of the letters came in the same quarter of the alleged offense….
read … Former officer charged in 2014 assault of in-custody man dies ahead of change of plea
Former HPD sergeant gets 60 days for accidental shooting
SA: Kimura’s lawyer told Garibaldi that the gun went off while Kimura was checking to see if it was loaded….
read … Former HPD sergeant gets 60 days for accidental shooting
Fight Over Papahanaumokuakea Expansion Isn’t Over
CB: The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council wants a study of the economic impacts of marine monument expansion….
AP: Usual Suspects Hold Anti-Fishing Protest
read … Over?
Judge: Crackpot Democrat-Republican Congressional Candidate Stays on Ballot
CB: Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit seeking to remove Angela Aulani Kaaihue’s name from the special election ballot for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District.
The Democratic Party of Hawaii last month filed its objection to Kaaihue running as a Democrat in the special election to fill out the brief remainder of the term of the late Congressman Mark Takai, who died in July.
The party’s argument is that Kaaihue is not a party member. She is also running as a Republican in the 2nd Congressional District against Democrat incumbent Tulsi Gabbard on the same ballot….
Fritz Rohlfing, chair of the Hawaii Republican Party, has strongly denounced Kaaihue’s candidacy, too, and lamented that the party waited too long to file its own challenge to remove her from the ballot for the 2nd Congressional District seat….
PDF: Kaaihue Answer To Complaint
read … Cracked
Leftists Plan ‘Hawaii Peoples Congress’
CB: A diverse group of nonprofits including the Sierra Club of Hawaii, Unite Here! Local 5, Hawaii Appleseed Center and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation has organized a series of community meetings this month focused on environmental, economic and social justice.
The Hawaii People’s Congress, as it’s called, is seeking input from community members and local leaders, input that will be shared at a two-day statewide convention Dec. 2-4 in Honolulu.
The longer aim is to put together “a political and organizing strategy” to guide “ongoing coalition action” for the next two years….
Here’s the new hui’s website and Facebook page. And here’s the schedule.
The first forum is on Kauai this Wednesday and the second on Oahu thus Thursday. Additional forums are scheduled on Maui and in Hilo and Kona later this month.
read … ‘People’s Congress’ Forums Set
Kauai Flooded with Pilgrims of the Eco Religion
SA: …Too bad we can’t bridge synapses on these fools…
You cannot drive the circumference of Kauai, and where the road ends on the lush north shore of the island is a beach called Kee. There, at what should be the quiet turnaround point for Sunday holoholo drives, is a chaotic jumble of rental cars parked wherever the drivers can squeeze them in. It is the end of civilization and the beginning of what is called a wilderness trail that has become a crowded, unmanaged and unmanageable danger zone for people who don’t know any better and those who think caution is for losers.
So how is it that the state’s solution to this chaos is to build a bridge in the wilderness to make the wilderness less wild?
It’s harm reduction, like giving condoms to teenagers or providing needle exchanges for IV drug users….
read … Too bad we can’t bridge synapses on these fools
QUICK HITS: