Native Hawaiian Access to Healthcare is a Symptom of a Statewide Problem
OHA’s 2022 Legislative Package
Act 90: 19,000 DLNR Acres Transferred to Agriculture Department
Honolulu Police Department Gun Registration Website Now Operational
Considering a Carbon Tax with Rebates
‘Social License’: Buying Off Activists with Bundles of Money Is Essential For Large-Scale Projects In Hawaii
CB: … Hawaii’s planning landscape is littered with the corpses of efforts that didn’t pan out despite having their designs, pro formas, and financing in place. Hawaii Superferry. Large-scale geothermal development. A spaceport in Kau.
The result? It is increasingly difficult for many new proposals, both small and large, to move forward….
Meeting legal and regulatory requirements is always necessary but, by themselves, insufficient. Good projects must win “social license,” that tenuous right to operate, built on face-to-face deliberations over plans and the evolution of $$$ trustworthy $$$ mutual benefits….
It involves serious consultative builder-community dialogues and joint fact-finding that result in understandable bundles of $$$ gives $$$ and $$$ takes $$$.
The odds of success demonstrably improve if a proposal scores well on the triple bottom line: A project that is simultaneously a little better for the local economy, the local environment and local $$$ social $$$ equity $$$….
Securing community social license is hard work and more is required than ticking the boxes of permit requirements. It requires civility and a grown-up approach to problem solving that includes truthful information exchange and smart negotiating.
Even then, there are challenges. Tempers flare. Discussions are hijacked by fire starters with other agendas. Elected officials pander to crowds and offers by developers look like (are) bribery while (and) community demands come across as (are) extortion…
The detailed architecture of agreements is essential. For a good example of creative gives and takes, look no further than the negotiated agreement achieved by West Maui Preservation Association and Innergex’s Kahana Solar proposed power purchase on Maui….
Background: Solar Farm: $1.37M Bribe Makes NIMBYs Go Away
(Skip several paragraphs of detailed instructions on how to negotiate for payoffs.)
We routinely seem to rely on public meetings to gauge community sentiment. Big meetings are valuable but not good forums for negotiation and problem solving. More often the heavy lift must come from smaller coalitions of the willing who are prepared to risk talking with perceived opponents.
(Translation: Smoke-filled room.)
Community conflicts can be sinkholes and quicksand — or opportunities $$$. Political leaders who want to play salutary roles (will they collect a percentage?) can be crucial champions pushing $$$ honest $$$ processes $$$, if they can resist the gravitational pull of using them to stump….
read … Securing ‘Social License’ Is Essential For Large-Scale Projects In Hawaii
Critical Hawaii issues face deadlines, uncertainty in 2022
SA: … Rough deadlines are in place for critical issues to be dealt with in 2022, but much uncertainty remains over what will happen with COVID-19, development on Mauna Kea, elections for every House and Senate seat, and the future of the city’s troubled rail project….
read … Critical Hawaii issues face deadlines, uncertainty in 2022
Wise quotables to help guide isle notables in the new year
Shapiro: … For Gov. David Ige: “Guidelines for Bureaucrats: 1) When in charge, ponder. 2) When in trouble, delegate. 3) When in doubt, mumble.” — James Boren ….
read … Wise quotables to help guide isle notables in the new year
Rain may delay US Navy’s timeline for flushing fuel-contaminated water out
KHON: … “With that we’re going to be very closely watching the amount of water going into the storm drains,” said Capt. Darren Guenther of the Navy Region Hawaii on Friday, Dec. 31. “There’s a possibility if we get a lot of rain, we may need to slow some of our flushing operations to we don’t over burden the drains.”
That’s not the only thing causing delays. Questions from Kapilina Beach Homes residents got their in-home flushing schedule pushed back nearly a week.
The Navy says may hold an open house before resuming.
The new target start date is Wednesday Jan. 5.
Meanwhile in-home flushing at 635 homes in Pearl City was expected to wrap up Dec. 31, 2021….
read … Rain may delay US Navy’s timeline for flushing fuel-contaminated water out
New law allows Hawaii residents to legally purchase, carry stun gun for self-defense
HNN: … Jan. 1 is the first day Hawaii residents 21 years old and older can legally purchase and carry a stun gun or Taser for self-defense.
The new law is strict compared to most states.
Vendors would have to complete a background check on potential buyers and provide proper training.
It’s a big day for former Honolulu police officer Raymond Craig, who just started up Smart Training Hawaii, a business that focuses on training and stun gun education….
SA Editorial: New laws would add to gun safety
KITV: Felons or those with violent criminal history will be barred from purchasing the devices.
read … New law allows Hawaii residents to legally purchase, carry stun gun for self-defense
Hawaii deputy sheriffs hoping for back hazard, overtime pay
SA: … Grievances filed by state deputy sheriffs over a new payroll system, and protracted negotiations involving hazard and overtime pay related to the COVID-19 pandemic and protests of the Thirty Meter Telescope project on Mauna Kea appear to be inching toward resolution in 2022.
The issue of hazard pay for deputies who experienced upper respiratory infections, disorientation, trouble breathing, high blood pressure, mood changes and other maladies associated with exposure to altitudes of between 7,500 and 13,000 feet for more than three weeks straight, has been unresolved since 2019.
The deputy sheriffs, who work in the Sheriff Division of the Department of Public Safety, are also seeking compensation for law enforcement duties performed in hazardous conditions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic….
read … Hawaii deputy sheriffs hoping for back hazard, overtime pay
Decision by Hawaii Supreme Court leads to dismissal of dozens of cases
SA: … A recent Hawaii Supreme Court ruling asserting that criminal complaints may be dismissed if they do not follow a procedural law requiring a signed affidavit or official declaration from the complaining party is resulting in the dismissal of dozens of misdemeanor cases.
The Dec. 10 opinion makes clear that HRS 805-1 requires prosecutors to ensure that a criminal complaint is supported by either the complainant’s signature or a declaration submitted in lieu of an affidavit.
The court was considering a 2017 misdemeanor domestic abuse case against a Kona man that was dismissed for lack of a probable cause affidavit and other evidence, only to have the dismissal set aside by the Intermediate Court of Appeals in June 2020.
To date, 33 petty misdemeanor and misdemeanor cases have been dismissed on Oahu because of the Thompson ruling, almost all of them “without prejudice” so prosecutors will be able to refile them, according to the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney….
Related: Without a Sworn Statement from the Complainant, the Complaint is Defective
read … Decision by Hawaii Supreme Court leads to dismissal of dozens of cases
Romantic ideas about locally grown food getting in the way
CB: … Double food production in Hawaii. Triple the percentage of locally grown food consumed in the state. Make state agencies source at least half their food locally.
Hawaii has some very ambitious goals for revitalizing the state’s languishing agricultural sector — a desire that has only been intensified by the food shortage scares and supply chain disruptions that have accompanied the coronavirus pandemic.
Meeting any of the state’s production goals would be an enormous achievement. But there’s no comprehensive plan for how the state will get there — or even a clear idea of what a goal like doubling food production will accomplish.
In the last decade, stakeholders in a growing number of states have been addressing some of these questions by developing a state food system plan, a document that lays out state goals and guides policy decisions.
There are currently 18 states with an active food system plan or charter, and many more working to develop one, according to a survey by the University of Michigan.
A food system plan or charter sets a vision for food in the state. That means not only agriculture and food production but farmer’s markets and food procurement and programs like Da Bux that help low-income families access food. That vision can then help guide public policy and investment toward achieving specific goals, Miles said….
(CLUE: Hawaii’s lack of manufacturing blocks farmers from reaching most of the processed foods marketplace. This is about 90% of the food consumed in Hawaii.)
SA Column: University of Hawaii project sows seeds for isles’ ag future
read … Romantic ideas about locally grown food and a lack of statewide planning could be getting in the way of making real progress
A Long Legal Battle Still Looms For Hawaiian Home Lands Beneficiaries
CB: … Hawaiian beneficiaries like Kelekolio scored a victory in 2020 when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the state fell short in its duty to manage the land trust and declared that a process for individuals on the waitlist to collect payments from the state should move forward.
But that hasn’t happened yet. And attorneys for the state and Hawaiian plaintiffs are still sorting through legal issues in the aftermath of the high court’s ruling. Hashing out those issues could stretch well into 2022, according to recently filed court documents.
And that’s not including the claims process that a state court still needs to rule on.
read … A Long Legal Battle Still Looms For Hawaiian Home Lands Beneficiaries
‘Just hop on the bus’: Hawaii County Council bill would make bus rides free thanks to grants
HTH: … Bus rides may be free for the next two years if a bill being discussed by the Hawaii County Council passes. … Current mass transit ridership is about 300,000 annually, but a previous fare-free project between 2005 and 2013 saw ridership increase to 1.5 million passengers per year….
read … ‘Just hop on the bus’: Council bill would make bus rides free thanks to grants
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