DAGS Update on Payroll Modernization Program
HECO says it will seek rate hike Due to Green Energy Costs
HNN: …In an ad in the Sunday newspaper, HECO CEO Alan Oshima said costs for providing electric service has gone up since 2011.
"Our company has absorbed a large portion of these increased costs without passing them on to you," he said.
He didn't say how much of a rate increase the company would seek but he did say that lower fuel prices and recent company cost containment would likely offset some of the increases. (Translation: Green energy costs are the cause of this rate hike.)
"(The) typical residential electrical bill would be less than the average bill last year," he said….
(Translation: Higher green energy costs will eat up all the savings created by the spread of fracking.)
PDF: HECO Rate Hike Advert
Meanwhile: KIUC Electric Rates Down 18%
read … Rate Hike
Democratic Party Chair asked to Investigate Rigged HD2 Selection
SA: Questions of fairness are being raised about the Dec. 3 process that selected Moana Kelii, Stacy Higa and Christopher Todd as the three names to be forwarded to Gov. David Ige.
Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, a four-term Hawaii County councilman, has called on Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Tim Vandeveer to investigate how the three finalists were picked. Prior to that Saturday’s open interviews with qualified candidates, and voting conducted in public, a text message surfaced the night before, indicating that Kelii, Higa and Todd already had the votes to be selected. It was that message of predetermination that Onishi said led him to skip the interview session, and to a lesser extent, fellow candidate J Yoshimoto, as well.
“It’s clear no rules were broken,” Hawaii County Democratic Party Chairman Phil Barnes told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald later in the week. “It looks terrible … (but) I’m not seeing any kind of fixed outcome.”
Memo to Democratic Party: Appearances do matter. If this tumultuous year has taught nothing else, it’s that voters want inclusion, that closed-door decisions can’t be condoned….
read … Democratic Party should boost, not stymie, inclusion
Sierra Club Split on Anti-Telescope Activism
HTH: …One fire that will carry over from the last council session is a proposed islandwide ban on polystyrene foam products: a new petition circulated among members during Saturday’s event. Harden and other club members testified in favor of the ban.
The Sierra Club has weighed in on other island conservation issues, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope project (member Deborah Ward is a party in the ongoing contested case hearing). Though many in the club support the project as individuals, the island chapter and state chapter stance is in opposition to the construction of the telescope.
“Years ago we had asked for a moratorium on new telescopes until there was (better management) of the (mountain’s) resources),” Ho said. “In our view, that hasn’t happened yet.”
Ho said he will be stepping down as chair next year because he will be working in newly-elected Hawaii County Councilwoman Jen Ruggles’ office and did not want conflicts of interest. Ruggles represents District 5 in Puna.
Fellow Puna councilwoman Eileen O’Hara, who is also newly-elected, is a Sierra Club member and attended Saturday’s meeting….
read … Drive a Wedge into This
HSTA to Record Every BoE Meeting
CB: A former teacher and the teachers union are teaming up to ensure that Hawaii Board of Education meetings will continue to be videotaped for those who cannot attend.
For the past year and a half, former elementary schoolteacher Vanessa Ott, with the help of another volunteer, has taped almost all of the board’s general business and committee meeting and posted them to her website within a day or two.
However, she and her volunteer can’t attend every meeting. Now, with the Hawaii State Teachers Association’s help, the plan is to utilize the union’s network to gather more volunteers to help tape and post the videos on the union’s website within 24 hours.
read … Video
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