Gay Bullying Policy: DoE Sets Public Hearings
Hawaii Family Advocates 2018 Voter Guide
Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition: Hawaii 38th
Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted October 14, 2018
Volunteers Needed for Polling Places
Lawsuit over $109M Fraud: Oahu Head Start Fakes Enrollment, Scores Megabux
HNN: …A lawsuit alleges that Oahu’s Head Start operator padded enrollment by hundreds of students, defrauding millions of dollars from the state and federal governments.
A recently unsealed lawsuit by former Head Start worker Bethany Lewis said staffers felt pressured to invent “ghost children” to qualify for federal and state grants….
The Honolulu Community Action Program operates Head Start program at over 70 locations across Oahu, offering pre-K classes and meals for under privileged children.
In the past six years, HCAP has received more than $107 million in state and federal grants, the suit said. To qualify for that funding, it must have at least 1,659 students in its programs at all times.
The lawsuit said officials inflated enrollment by 489 students in the 2016 school year and by 209 students the year before.
Evidence in the lawsuit includes an audio recording of a staff meeting, in which a top manager said: “When we’re trying to get full enrolled, we pull from everywhere. We’ve been known to have a few ghost kids here and there."…
Lewis' lawyers also cited a 2013 email in which a program manager, Melanie Ho, instructed staffers not to report enrollment drop outs immediately.
“If you have a drop, please hold off on dropping him or her from your roster and talk to me first,” Ho wrote.
“We need to meet funded enrollment so every child listed on ChildPlus is crucial if we are getting an extension.”
The so-called ghost children include students who applied but are not enrolled, students who have dropped out, and others who were ineligible or improperly enrolled, the suit said.
“To me, there’s clearly fraud but it wasn’t just like [they were] making up a student and saying it’s a Head Start student. They actually made up a fact pattern for these students,” said Michael Green, Lewis' attorney, who filed the Qui Tam lawsuit….
If HCAP loses the lawsuit, it could be forced to pay back some of the $100 million in federal and state grants it has already received…
read … Lawsuit accuses Head Start operator of inflating enrollment with ‘ghost children’
Poll: Hawaii Voters Oppose HSTA Property Tax
CB: … Asked how they would vote on the so-called “ConAm” question, 53 percent said they would oppose it compared to just 35 percent who would vote in favor.
Another 5 percent said they would not vote on it at all. Since ballots left blank or spoiled effectively are counted as “no” votes, it will be a challenge for the ConAm question to obtain the 50 percent majority that is required for passage….
Civil Beat polled the ConAm question in two ways: as an issue question to gauge how voters feel about taxing investment properties to help schools, and as a voting question asking what they will do when they fill out their ballot.
When it came to voting, 53 percent decisively said they would vote against it.
But when thinking about the idea of allowing the state to tax property and use it for schools, the results were much closer and, with a margin of error of 4.4 percent, possibly a tossup: 41 percent said they oppose using property taxes for schools, 37 percent said they support the proposal and 18 percent said they need more information.
Either way, the ConAm question turns off many voters….
PDF: Civil Beat Poll October 2018 — Constitutional Amendment
read … Hawaii Voters Oppose ConAm On Property Taxes
UHPA Says No to HSTA Rental Tax
KHON: …UHPA, says the proposal is still too vague and could hurt their members. …
the union for UH faculty sides with the Affordable Hawaii Coalition, which says the ballot question is too vague.
"We support the idea of it. On the other hand many of our members rent and we think that this could actually be a negative for them," said UHPA president Lynne Wilkens….
read … Battle heats up on the controversial constitutional amendment proposal
Mind Control: Ige Debate Strategy—“Tupola = Trump”
CB: The debate gave Ige the chance to tie Tupola to President Donald Trump, which he did several times….
Ige noted that Tupola replaced Rep. Beth Fukumoto as House minority leader after Fukumoto publicly criticized Trump for his sexist and racist remarks. And the Democratic governor pressed Tupola on what federal policies, if any, she would disagree with Trump on….
It wasn’t until the debate moderator, Gina Mangieri, asked Tupola again what Trump policies she would oppose that she provided a couple of hypothetical examples, such as federal money being cut for Native Hawaiians or individual rights being threatened.
Ige underscored how his administration has challenged the president’s “archaic” positions on health care, immigration and women’s reproductive rights, saying they are not in line with the values of Hawaii residents….
Tupola hammered Ige for leaving half a billion dollars in federal money on the table, in part by not acting fast enough to utilize it, and called him out for not fighting for more funding to offset the state’s cost of providing health care for immigrants.
Ige fired back with a request to see a full accounting of that money because he said no such thing happened. He pointed at the state having its highest bond rating ever, which saves millions of dollars in borrowing costs….
read … Ige, Tupola Take Advantage Of Opportunities In First TV Debate
Absentee mail-in ballots arriving for Hawaii voters
SA: …Voting in the 2018 general election has begun now that the county clerks on three islands sent out tens of thousands of absentee mail-in ballots during the past week.
The Elections Division of the Kauai County Clerk’s office mailed ballots to about 14,000 absentee mail-in voters over the weekend, and those voters should begin receiving their ballots today.
On Maui, a spokeswoman for the clerk’s office said 29,280 ballots were mailed out on Oct. 9, and the clerk’s office on Hawaii island shipped out another 38,546 mail in ballots on Oct. 10.
Honolulu officials plan to mail out more than 164,817 ballots by the close of business on Tuesday, and those ballots should begin arriving in Oahu mailboxes by Wednesday, according to a city spokesman….
read … Absentee mail-in ballots arriving for Hawaii voters
Ige Extends Emergency Proclamation to Destroy Tax-Free Hanalei TVRs
KGI: Gov. David Ige signed a fourth supplementary proclamation extending the emergency relief period for the Kauai floods that occurred in April 2018….
This fourth supplementary proclamation extends the disaster emergency relief period for Kauai until Dec. 14….
(Best Comment)… Emergency relief is helpful, no doubt, but what we really need is to open up the North Shore to vacation renters. So many people up here rely on renters for jobs and businesses. How long before other businesses fail? Will our mayor do anything? does he care? I suspect he’s too busy campaigning to care about those of us who have no work due to the silly moratorium on vacation rentals….
(Ditto for Puna.)
read … Ige extends Kauai flood recovery help
Brower: Affordable Housing Set-Asides Backfire
CSM: …Although local zoning rules typically play out in city council and suburban board meetings, states from South Carolina to Hawaii are getting involved. Sometimes this means removing zoning barriers to building affordable housing. And sometimes state lawmakers take the opposite approach, seeking to prevent cities from requiring that builders include affordable housing units in their developments….
Lawmakers in Hawaii and Tennessee also introduced legislation this year that would ban locales from adopting inclusionary zoning. The Hawaii bill is still in committee (dead), but the Tennessee law, which was aimed at blocking Nashville’s affordable housing efforts, passed in March. Tennessee joins Texas, the only other state that bans inclusionary zoning. Housing advocates in Texas say that law has thwarted efforts to build more affordable housing.
Hawaii state Rep. Tom Brower, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said requiring developers to set aside affordable housing units through inclusionary zoning ordinances, while well-intended, can actually make the housing problem there worse. Inclusionary zoning ultimately acts as a tax for developers, he said, which serves as a disincentive. The state recently passed legislation to provide incentives to local builders.
“Developers say they want to build as long as the projects ‘pencil out,’ ” Representative Brower said in an interview. “They need a certain combination of higher income units to subsidize the lower income units.”
Policies that require builders to set aside affordable housing units miss the point, said Howard Husock, vice president for research and publications at the libertarian-leaning Manhattan Institute. Rather than focusing on building housing around income type, cities should open up zoning to allow for different types of housing, he said, such as less expensive houses on smaller lots.
That creates a “housing ladder” of aspiration. As families move up the economic ladder, he said, they go from renting to buying.
But “if we don't have a variety of housing types,” Mr. Huscock said, “then we consign people to renting forever and wishing to move to a house with a white picket fence but never being able to get there.”….
read … As affordable housing crisis deepens, states begin to take action
Finding work that’ll actually cover the bills
HNN: …Over the past year, the Institute for Human Services Hele2Work program has helped 191 people find work. Today, more than 90 percent of them are still employed.
“A lot of the jobs that we actually help people into are those higher paying positions in warehousing, in management,” said Morris. "Sometimes, it means people are switching jobs from a minimum wage job to something a little more higher paying. Others are getting a second job.”
Over the past year, 814 people have participated in the Hele2Work Program.
“Over 20 people a month are getting hired. That’s a lot,” said Morris….
The Hele2Work program is always looking to connect with new employers. Incentives include covering the cost of background checks and drug testing. The program also provides counseling to new hires….
read … Innovative program not only helps homeless people find work, it connects them to higher pay
Caldwell Scheme to ‘Completely’ Jam up Pearl City Streets
CNN: …Now shifting focus to Pearl City, city officials are seeking public input on proposed changes to Hoolaulea Street, Hoomalu Street and Waimano Home Road.
“This current project aims to create a comprehensive, integrated network of streets for all people and abilities, regardless of the transportation mode of their choice,” the Mayor’s office said in a news release. (Translation: They want to make driving so miserable that you will take the bus.)
“Improvements that are being proposed include the installation of sidewalks, pedestrian refuge islands, landscaping, buffered bicycle lanes, a road diet, removal of un-signalized crosswalk markings, and the relocation of bus stops,” officials added.
To gather public input, the community is invited to a meeting scheduled for Thursday Oct. 25 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Pearl City Library….
Complete Streets is not a new idea. In fact, after the city began the idea, it was met with opposition from Waipahu residents who felt the changes made things more dangerous.
HNN: Read more: In Waipahu, residents fear a 'complete streets' upgrade could make things worse
read … ‘Complete Streets’ are coming to Pearl City, but first, public input is needed
Hawaii Co Charter Commission recommends cutting back 2% Open Space Fund
WHT: …A four-member committee of the 11-member commission is recommending the county trim the current minimum 2 percent of annual property taxes earmarked for the Public Access Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission, known by the acronym “PONC.”
Three of the committee think it should be cut to 0.5 percent, while the fourth thinks it should be 1 percent, the committee said in an Oct. 1 report.
The full commission did not discuss the committee report at its meeting Friday. But Mayor Harry Kim is hoping changes can be placed on the 2020 ballot.
Kim would like to see more flexibility, so the county could issue bonds instead of using cash from property taxes for purchases. He’d like to use some of the fund to maintain current county parks. He’d also like to see language eliminated that requires the county keep the land in perpetuity, rather than being able to turn it over to the state or federal government for a park….
read … Charter Commission recommends cutting back property taxes going to land preservation
Sears played groundbreaking role in creating modern Hawaii
ILind: …When Sears was first assessing the potential for establishing a Hawaii store, Matson apparently let it be known that its ships would not transport Sears merchandise to the islands. After all, Sears would become a direct competitor to Liberty House, part of the Big Five’s network of retail businesses. Matson reportedly relented only after Sears threatened to support a new shipping line offering service between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland.
The Big Five oligarchy maintained power for three more decades, but Sears was the first to successfully pose a direct challenge its attempt to monopolize the islands’ economy. More followed. Sears was the first….
PBN: Potential Sears closures could have dramatic effects on Hawaii retail vacancy
read … Sears played groundbreaking role in creating modern Hawaii
City OK’d Permit For Site With Native Hawaiian Remains
CB: …Kent Untermann said he had no idea until earlier this year that iwi kupuna — Native Hawaiian burial remains — might lie in the path of his plans for a residential development on an Aina Haina hillside .
But state officials knew about the possibility 12 years ago. That’s when they wrote a letter to the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting asking that no building permits be issued for the property until an archeological survey was done.
But a city employee misfiled that letter, and two years ago the DPP approved Untermann’s development plans.
Now remains have been found in a small cave on the site, Untermann’s project is on hold, and the DPP’s deputy director has publicly acknowledged the city’s failure to act sooner….
that the remains may be from the late-1800s or early-1900s based on some beads and a coffee can found in the cave that may have been manufactured during that time period….
read … City OK’d Permit For Site With Native Hawaiian Remains
City sued over damage caused by flooding
SA: …The executive director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is suing the city over damage caused to his home by April’s flooding.
Hakim Ouansafi is suing not in his official capacity, but as a homeowner. And he is suing on behalf of hundreds of other East Oahu homeowners who suffered damage from the April 13 flooding. Ouansafi filed a class-action lawsuit in state court on Friday.
The lawsuit claims that the damage to his home was caused not just by runoff, as the city claims, but also by wastewater and sewage that had overwhelmed the city’s wastewater system. Ouansafi claims that as residential development and public works projects progressed in areas adjacent to the Wailupe, Niu Valley, Kuliouou and Hahaione streams, the city failed to adequately evaluate, repair and maintain existing flood and drainage systems….
read … City sued over damage caused by flooding
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