Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Saturday, November 26, 2016
November 26, 2016 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 2:38 PM :: 4260 Views

RFP Posted for Honolulu Ethics Commission Audit

Ewa Villages Convict Released to Money Shower—Collected Pension for 15 Years while in Prison

SA: The state says former city Housing Department employee Michael Kahapea has paid just $50 toward the $365,000 he was fined for stealing millions of dollars from the city’s ill-fated Ewa Villages project, so it’s going after Kahapea’s state retirement payments for the rest.

The state attorney general filed a civil lawsuit in state court Wednesday against Kahapea and the state Employees’ Retirement System.

The lawsuit says Kahapea is believed to be receiving a state government pension (thanks, HGEA) based on his years working for the city. (It has been paid out for years and they are finally getting around to) It is seeking garnishment of Kahapea’s state pension for $364,950 plus 10 percent annual interest from the date of Kahapea’s October 2000 state court sentence….

A state jury found Kahapea guilty in August 2000 of 23 counts of theft, 11 counts of forgery, five counts of unlawful ownership of a business, two counts of money laundering, two counts of failing to report income and one count of bribery.

Lee told the jury that Kahapea diverted $5.8 million from the Ewa Villages relocation fund to himself, family and friends through bogus moving companies and false and inflated moving expenses. He used the money on frequent trips to Las Vegas, where casinos came to recognize him as a high roller, and had even chartered a plane there for friends and family.

Circuit Judge Rey Graulty sentenced Kahapea to five consecutive 10-year prison terms. He also fined Kahapea $365,000….  (5x10=50)

By the time Kahapea went to trial, he had been fired from his city job….

Hawaii Paroling Authority Administrator Tommy Johnson says Kahapea became eligible for parole in 2012, but it wasn’t until May 2015 when the board granted him parole. He said Kahapea was released in July 2015…. (5x10=15 per HPA Soft on Crime Math)

read … Corruption Pays Off Again and Again

DoE School Construction: “Malfeasance, confusion, lack of process and no oversight”

MN: …The new wing at Maui Waena, the fifth largest intermediate school in the state with 1,183 students, was first proposed in 2005, and then-Gov. Linda Lingle released $8.7 million for the project in 2007. At the time, construction was slated to begin in 2008 and completed a year later.

In December 2013, Ray L’Heureux, then assistant superintendent for facilities, told a meeting at the school that construction would begin by the end of that year.

Ground-breaking did not occur until July 2014. Officials said then that construction would take a year and that the classrooms would be ready for the beginning of the 2015-16 school year….

Since then, there have been more delays. Move-in dates have been pushed back to October and now possibly January.

The initial delays were blamed on a “soap opera” of “malfeasance, confusion, lack of process and no oversight” with much of the blame falling on the original contractor, L’Heureux told the Maui Waena gathering in 2013. Education Department spokesman Brent Suyama said in April that the contractor did not to meet regulatory requirements, including failing to complete an environmental assessment on time, which delayed the initial permits.

“The DOE continues to make adjustments to their processes,” Woodson said, adding that he didn’t know if legislation was necessary to fix the system. He did say that “a lot of it is systemic” relating to how the state goes about building and repairing school buildings.

The items that need to be completed include the installation of Wi-Fi, which is needed to run the phones and security system, and of a phone and heat sensor in the elevator to make it operational, and obtaining a variance from having to install a septic system for disposal of chemicals from the science lab, Yap said.

Furniture for the first floor has arrived but not for the second floor, Yap said. That may be just as well because the furniture cannot be moved upstairs without the elevator.

No date has been set for a final walk-through, he said.

The building may not be ready for people, but it is currently being cooled by an air conditioner on a timer, which school officials have been hesitant to adjust, Yap indicated….

read … Maui Waena building move-in date delayed again

Proposed affordability rules for Kakaako draw concern

HNN: …developers say a new draft proposal for future affordable housing in Kakaako will make it harder to build middle-income projects like theirs.

"I don't see us doing another 801 if the proposed rules go through. I don't see it," said Dale Nishikawa, CEO of Marcus & Associates, which heads sales for the project.

"From a sales standpoint, we would be uncomfortable with trying to sell 1,000 units under rules like that. I don't believe we would be able to do it."

Under the draft rules, the Hawaii Community Development Authority wants to lower maximum income for buyers from 140 percent to 120 percent of median income.

This would make the affordable homes available for people who make less money. But it will also mean fewer people would be eligible to buy into workforce housing projects.

For a family of four, the new rules will drop the maximum incomes from about $120,000 to $100,000 a year.

HCDA officials say a recent city study showed that 120 percent area median income level is where most of the demand for housing is….

Related: Ethics complaint: HCDA Falsifies Kakaako Workforce Housing Affordability Formulas

read … Proposed affordability rules for Kakaako draw concern

Paradise for Lawyers: UH law school graduates can pay off loans quickly

SA: University of Hawaii law school graduates attract starting salaries that give them a good shot at paying off their debt quickly, a national magazine reports.

U.S. News and World Report said earlier this month that the UH William S. Richardson School of Law is one of the 10 best law schools in the country in terms of starting salaries that exceed the debt that graduates carry.

read … Lawyer Paradise

QUICK HITS:


Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii