Petition: 'Let Hawaii Work!'
Cellphone Tracking Data Reveals Which Hawaii Counties are Best at 'Social Distancing'
Newlyweds Arrested for Quarantine Violation
Ige to step back from blanket suspension of open meetings law
SA: … State attorneys are working on language that would restore at least some portions of the Sunshine Law that requires government meetings to be public, a law that was suspended as part of an emergency proclamation issued by Gov. David Ige in mid-March to lessen the spread of the new coronavirus.
Krishna Jayaram, a spokesman for Attorney General Clare Connors, said Thursday that staff is working on a revised order that would restore at least a portion of the law.
There’s no timetable for issuing the new language, Jayaram said. “We’ve been told to work on it as soon as possible, so we’re working on it as we speak,” he said….
On Wednesday the Honolulu Police Commission held its regularly scheduled meeting behind closed doors without opportunity for the public to participate in or even observe the meeting. Commission Chairwoman Shannon Alivado told the Star-Advertiser after the meeting that she and the commission have been exploring ways to livestream meetings.
The commission’s meeting on Wednesday will be broadcast live on a monitor to be set up in the courtyard of the Honolulu Police Department’s Alapai station so that the public will be able to view it while practicing proper social distancing, Alivado said. The commission routinely meets in a conference room just beyond the building’s main entrance….
“The state’s original suspension of the Sunshine Law was done in the face of an impending public health disaster,” Jayaram said. Social distancing is expected to be the norm for the foreseeable future, he said. “The governor made clear to us that he wanted to make sure the suspension was revisited to make sure that given the current circumstances, there is proper access by the public to board meetings.”
Jayaram declined to give details of what changes are being considered. But asked whether an agency or commission could be completely shut off to the public like Wednesday’s Police Commission meeting, he said, “We recognize that the public should, at the very least, be allowed to hear what’s happening.”…
“I think it’s important for the public-access laws to be respected during a time of crisis,” Black said.
The state Office of Information Practices, which is tasked with providing interpretation, advice and training on public-access laws to agencies, boards and the public, has interpreted Ige’s position on the Sunshine Law in the initial proclamation in a manner “that doesn’t serve the public,” said Black.
Portnoy said the move to ease the suspension of the public-meetings law “comes six weeks too late.”
Portnoy said First Amendment advocates from around the country “were shocked when they saw the extent of (Ige’s) order essentially striking down (the Sunshine Law) and making it totally irrelevant. It was way over-broad, possibly unconstitutional, and to now acknowledge six to eight weeks later … that it was overly broad or excessive is too little, too late. There was never any need for that aspect of the executive order.”
The newspapers, and others, did not object to the notion that meetings could not be held in public during the pandemic, he said. “But not to have in place … simple technology to allow the public to participate either by video or at least by telephone was a serious misjudgment on the part of the governor and his staff,” Portnoy said….
PDF: 20200430 Letter to AG RE Ha…
read … Gov. David Ige to step back from blanket suspension of open meetings law
4,400 people wait in line for hours for food on Oahu
KHON: … Thousands of Oahu residents waited in long lines for hours on Thursday for 50 pounds of food provided by the City and County of Honolulu, the Bank of Hawaii Foundation, Hawaii Community Foundation and the Hawaii Foodbank.
The first day of the food assistance program took place at the Waipio Soccer Complex.
The program is for recently unemployed individuals and was set to begin at noon.
However, the line started at 5 a.m. and by 3:45 p.m., officers had to turn people away.
Traffic into and around Waipahu and Waipio was complete gridlock.
“There is 110 tons of food being distributed to Oahu residents, that’s unprecedented,” said Mizutani.
(220,000 lbs / 50 lbs = 4,400 families x 4 people per family = 17,600 recipients)
The city said they are aiming to have two distributions per week at venues across Oahu. Upcoming distribution locations, dates, and times are to be determined, and schedules will be posted on the Hawaii Foodbank’s website….
read … Thousands of people wait in line for hours for food on Oahu
811 Criminals Set Loose to Roam Streets—COVID is Excuse this time
HTH: … As of Thursday, according to a report by Daniel R. Foley, a retired Intermediate Court of Appeals judge appointed by the high court to oversee an orderly release of inmates, there were 235 inmates in the Hilo jail. That’s 20 fewer than on April 23, and a reduction of 160 inmates since March 2, when a population of 395 inmates was reported.
The statewide jails population, which also includes Oahu, Maui and Kauai community correctional centers, was at 1,378 on Thursday, down 811 inmates from the 2,189 inmate population reported March 2….
read … Criminals Loose
Criminal Released for COVID is Arrested for Carjacking
HNN: … A Waipahu woman has been charged in connection with an armed carjacking on April 22, and is back in custody as of Thursday night.
She was among the hundreds of Hawaii inmates released early due to the coronavirus pandemic.
27-year-old Vanity Sua was initially charged with forgery, and was doing time for repeatedly violating HOPE probation. But she was let out on April 8 due to the pandemic.
Then weeks later, she was allegedly involved in an armed carjacking along with two other men. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Sua initiated the encounter with the victims and got into their parked vehicle. The two men then swooped in.
When the victim in the driver’s seat attempted to start the car, one of the men pulled a gun and the keys were allegedly taken away by Sua.
The victims were then ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint and the three suspects drove away, taking the victim’s vehicle….
USDOJ: Female charged with armed carjacking
April 21, 2020: Prisoners ARE being released from jail because of pandemic --- One of them is now charged with sex assault
read … Waipahu woman released due to pandemic is now back in custody for a carjacking
DLIR Won’t Process Self-Employed Checks Anytime Soon
HNN: … The state has already received more than 7,500 unemployment claims from independent contractors since a state web portal was launched Wednesday.
But the state warns those Pandemic Unemployment Assistance forms cannot be processed until mid-May because of the federal requirements.
“PUA is a completely separate program,” said Scott Murakami, the director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.
"It is not an insurance program and as a result, as it stands now, it has to be completely constructed as a new program.”
That requires ‘work’ by both the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Department of Taxation, which is required to match the claims with previous 1099 filings….
Meanwhile, the number of new, jobless filings in Hawaii has hit 227,497.
SA: DLIR makes progress paying claims, but must fix glitches in new PUA system
read … Federal help for independent contractors, gig workers in Hawaii still weeks away
A&B: 89% of Restaurants Did Not Pay April Rent
PBN: … Alexander & Baldwin said it received 62% of the rents due in April from its commercial real estate tenants in Hawaii, but collected only 22% of rents due from restaurant tenants, which have seen their business slashed by the Covid-19 stay-at-home orders across the state.
Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE: ALEX) said a total of 38% of tenants have asked for some form of rent relief because of the coronavirus closures; that number rises to 66% for restaurants and 76% for soft goods retailers….
Lance Parker, A&B’s chief real estate officer, noted that the 62% of rent collected tracked with the fact that just 62% of tenants were open — while 98% of grocery tenants were open, while 65% of restaurants were open, although only for takeout and delivery because of the state and county orders, but only 2% of soft-goods retail stores were open during April….
Local retail and restaurant tenants have been impacted more severely by the closures, with A&B collecting just 42% of the rents due from those tenants. A&B collected 72% of the rents due from its national tenants, which include Safeway supermarkets, its largest statewide tenant.
A&B collected 11% of rents from local restaurant tenants, with 63% of those requesting rent relief, and collected 24% of the rents due from local soft-foods retail tenants, with 63% of those stores requesting rent relief….
read … A&B collected 62% of rents from Hawaii commercial tenants in April due to Covid closures
Senators: Quarantine Not Working
SA: … Hawaii Tourism Authority president and CEO Chris Tatum told the committee that the agency refers presumptive violators to local law enforcement or the Attorney General’s Office every day.
“We’re up to a little over 14,000 (follow-up) calls. Right now we’ve referred 330 people to law enforcement, 250 on Oahu, 20 on Maui, 11 on Kauai and 49 on Hawaii island,” Tatum said.
Ross Higashi, who oversees the Airports Division as deputy director of the state DOT, said “to date 27 visitors have been forced to leave Hawaii either because they didn’t have verifiable place of quarantine or they were violating the quarantine rules.”
Senator Donovan Dela Cruz (D-Mililani Mauka, Waipio Acres, Wheeler, Wahiawa, Whitmore Village, portion of Poamoho) said those statistics only prove that the system isn’t working.
He and other committee members plan to tour the airport Friday at 11:30 a.m. to evaluate current passenger entry, screening and verification procedures. They’ve also ordered DOT and HTA to come up with a plan by next week detailing what they need to improve quarantine compliance and enforcement. They said the plan also must include staffing estimates for how many more workers will be needed to keep the quarantine going as other states begin to open and more passengers start coming to Hawaii….
read … Senate committee wants passenger quarantine improved
Plans in the works to market Hawaii as the ‘safest place in the world’
SA: … Alan Oshima, who was appointed by Gov. David Ige in April as the “navigator” of Hawaii’s stabilization and economic recovery effort, said Thursday he hears from tourism and other industry leaders that “we have one chance to reopen and to re-brand Hawaii as the safest place on earth, and we should do it right.”
Lt. Gov. Josh Green used essentially the same phrase during a news conference Wednesday, noting Hawaii has one of the lowest fatality rates in the nation from COVID-19 and has a very small number of cases compared with other states.
Apart from the obvious benefit of protecting residents from the disease, Hawaii’s handling of the crisis will pay dividends later, he said.
“We have the secondary benefit when this ends — and it will end, whether it’s this fall or next spring — of being able to say we were the safest, healthiest state in the country, and maybe destination in the world, and I think that’s really going to speed up our recovery, too,” Green said…..
read … Plans in the works to market Hawaii as the ‘safest place in the world’
Maui Council Votes 2% Raise for Top Managers, Cuts Property Taxes—But not as much as Mayor Wanted—TVRs Soaked
MN: … The committee worked with county departments on where cuts could be made, such a deferring purchases on new equipment, reducing travel costs, eliminating new positions and holding off on capital improvement projects that could wait.
But the committee did approve 2% raises for its top management and staff in the Office of Council Services.
PROPOSED PROPERTY TAX RATES
Listed are the current rates and the mayor’s and council budget committee’s proposed rates. The full council is set to approve the rates May 22. A public hearing will be held May 15 on the rates. The rates are per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
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Owner-occupied: $2.90; $2.61; $2.51 for homes valued up to $800,000, $2.56 for homes between $800,001 to $1.5 million, $2.61 for homes more than $1.5 million. (No tiered rates currently and mayor did not tier rates).
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Nonowner occupied: $5.60; $5.60 for homes valued up to $800,000, $6.20 for homes $800,001 to $1,500,000, $6.50 for homes more than $1,500,000; $5.45 for homes up to $800,000, $6.05 for homes $800,001 to $1,500,000 and $6.90 for homes more than $1,500,000.(No tiered rates currently)
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Apartment: $6.31; $5.55; $5.55.
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Commercial: $7.39; $6.29; $6.29.
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Industrial: $7.48; $7.11; $7.20.
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Agricultural: $5.94; $5.94; $5.94.
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Conservation: $6.43; $6.43; $6.43.
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Hotel and resort: $11; $9.37; $10.70.
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Timeshare: $14.40; $14.40; $14.40.
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Short-term rental: $10.75; $10.75 for homes up to $900,000, $11 for homes more than $900,000; $11.08 for all tiers.
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Commercial residential: $4.60, $4.60, $4.40.
read … Council committee forwards $816.8M budget for approval
Hawaii County Officials mull extra property tax on second homes to shore up county budget
WHT: … Hawaii County might take a page from Honolulu’s playbook and tack an extra property tax on multi-million dollar residences.
County Council Chairman Aaron Chung and Mayor Harry Kim said Thursday they’re considering an additional tax for residences where the building plus land is valued at more than $1.5 million or $2 million. The extra tax, of another $1-$2 in tax for each $1,000 of value, would be levied against second homes, not those in the homeowner class….
Chung, who represents Hilo, estimated the change would raise an additional $6 million to $7 million in taxes….
read … Officials mull extra property tax on second homes to shore up county budget
Nishihara Patient Zero? ‘I had COVID Before I Went to Vegas’
KHON: …“A 76-year-old guy who has diabetes, and I don’t know what else, but I would be the classic kind of patient that you would be worried about.”
But he said he’s completely recovered. And feels fortunate to have had only mild symptoms.
“I did have a fever that lasted four days and went up to about a 102 degrees… I didn’t have that where you end up in the hospital, need a respirator and all that stuff.”
He said after the fever went away, he had some congestion–He thought he had a cold.
That was in February, before the disease was widespread. He went to the doctor because he had an upcoming trip to Las Vegas planned.
(This makes Sen Nishihara the first known COVID case in Hawaii.)
“(The doctor) said I have some kind of a flu, but he didn’t say it was COVID.”
A few days later, Nishihara said he felt better so he went on his trip.
“After I came back, I still had my cold.”
But because he had the high fever two weeks prior, he got tested just in case.
It came back positive for COVID-19….
read … Senator is Patient Zero?
Hawaii Lawmakers Have no Plan for Returning to Legislative Session
CB: … For now, leadership has little to provide in the way of details, other than to confirm they are working on things.
“Senate President Kouchi is in preliminary discussions about the possibility of resuming the session,” Senate Communications Director Jesse Broder Van Dyke said via email Thursday. “Questions such as what date, and how procedures will be modified with social distancing requirements, are still being discussed at this time.”
House leaders offered no formal response to inquiries Thursday.
But Speaker Scott Saiki announced in a press release that House offices at the State Capitol will remain closed through May 31 “to maintain consistency with Governor David Ige’s stay-at-home order directing all persons to remain and work from home except for those performing necessary functions.”…
read … Hawaii Lawmakers Are Trying To Figure Out How To Get Back Into Session
Information Lockdown At Hawaii Labor Department Stymies Coronavirus Stories
CB: … I asked the designated media liaison, William Kunstman, for any complaints regarding COVID-19 protections to the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is part of the labor department.
I also asked about any worker comp claims or administrative decisions regarding workers who said they contracted COVID-19 on the job.
Crickets. Two days go by, and nothing. So I sent Kunstman another email, asking him if he was still the media spokesman for the labor department. I called the number listed for him and got another person’s voicemail. That person didn’t return my calls.
Finally, four days after my initial emails I got a one-sentence reply from Kunstman.
“You did notice the unemployment situation?” ….
read … Information Lockdown At Hawaii Labor Department Stymies Coronavirus Stories
Car Dealers Excited to Reopen
HNN: … While businesses now allowed to operate were happy about the change, they also said they were taking a cautious approach. Some are only bringing back a handful of workers to begin with. Others are waiting a little while longer.
“Obviously, we’re really excited about it,” said Gary Scheuring, the general manager at Cutter Volvo.
But they’re jumping into the deep end of the pool.
Scheuring said only a few staff members will return this week. They will also offer solo test drives because of social distancing, do more work over the computer and phone, and will be cleaning cars and surfaces constantly.
“It’s going to be a little different buying environment for sure.”
Piano instructor Sharon Takara has been teaching students via Facetime since the stay-at-home order went into effect. She is eager for in-person lessons to resume — but is also reluctant to start too soon….
read … Select businesses allowed to reopen in first steps toward reopening economy
Despite pandemic, Big Island real estate market fairly stable
HTH: … According to multiple listing service data, 30% more Big Island single-family homes were sold in March than February, despite the entire state being under lockdown restrictions for much of the month.
Most districts around the island had average sales prices increase during the first quarter of 2020 compared to that of 2019: prices in Puna jumped by $10,000, in South Hilo by $73,000, in North Kona by $118,000 and in Hamakua by $152,000. Only in North Hilo, South Kohala and South Kona did average prices drop, and not by any more than $20,000.
Takase said, so far, home sellers have decided to ride out the COVID-19 crisis, choosing to hold on to their properties rather than panic and sell them early, which would lead to prices dropping more significantly.
Meanwhile, prospective buyers from all areas are still interested in the Big Island, Takase said — an “even mix” of Big Islanders, residents of neighbor islands and mainlanders are consistently seeking to buy homes and vacant land around the island.
Starr Kealaluhi, Hilo broker-in-charge at Clark Realty, agreed, saying she has not seen significant fall-off from mainland buyers yet.
Nor have the demographics of buyers changed significantly. Takase said the buyers he has seen include a usual mix of first-time buyers, retirees and investors….
read … Despite pandemic, Big Island real estate market fairly stable
DoE to Establish Classrooms in Homeless Tweeker Camps?
KITV: … Public schools in Hawaii may look different next year because the state Department of Education faces possible budget cuts. The Deputy Superintendent on Wednesday told a Senate COVID-19 committee it's expecting a funding crunch next fiscal year, so leadership took it upon themselves to make suggestions for cuts.
There's already a freeze on buying new textbooks, but the DOE estimates Hawaii is eligible for at least $43.4 million from the federal CARES Act.
And if homeless kids are having trouble getting to school, the state's considering sending the school to them. The DOE also told the Senate committee it's working with Robert's Hawaii to buy buses, take out the seats, and pack them with school supplies like tech devices and food.
"This is especially for our homeless across 15 complex areas, putting in sanitation, supplies, food, basic needs, school, academic, and even devices on bus – and going into those [homeless] communities," Deputy Superintendent Phyllis Unebasami explained….
(Better Idea: Send a regular school bus to pick the kids up and bring them to school. See how simple that is?)
read … Public school round up: budget cuts and support for homeless students
Challenges to Hawai`i Renewable Energy Projects
IM: … Most renewable energy contracts submitted by the five utilities submitted to the Public Utilities Commission go unchallenged, that is to say, no third party files a motion to participate or to intervene. By law, the Consumer Advocate is a party to every application….
Seven applications under challenge are described below ….
IM: HECO Responds to PUC re Na Pua Makani Wind Farm
read … Challenges to Hawai`i Renewable Energy Projects
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