Hawaii 2nd-Worst Taxpayer ROI
This Week’s Testimony from Grassroot Institute
LIST: Proposed pay raise for these city officials
KHON: … The Salary Commission adopted these schedule of salaries listed for the upcoming fiscal year:
- Honolulu mayor: $209,856
- Council chair: $123,292
- Council members: $113,292
- Prosecuting attorney: $198,888
- First deputy prosecuting attorney: $189,096
- Managing director: $200,712
- Deputy managing director: $190,296
- Corporation council: $192,864
- First deputy corporation council: $183,220
- Deputy heads: $187,488
- Deputy department heads: $177,888
- Police chief: $231,648
- Deputy police chiefs: $220,944
- Fire chief: $224,304
- Deputy fire chief: $213,912
- Medical examiner: $363,151
- Deputy medical examiner: $354,161
- Band director: $177,888
During the hearing before the recommendations were decided these testimonies were said:
“To actually give councilmembers who are at the office three times a week at the most a lot of them — a 90% pay increase? It’s just ignorance in my opinion and I cannot see that happening,” testified Alfred Medeiros.
“Every day citizens never receive 100% pay increases that’s beyond greedy. It makes you look very corrupt,” testified Jasmine Torres.
“They took pay cuts and they stepped up to the plate at a time when most people didn’t even want to think about what was going to happen,” said Blangiardi. “This was courageous on their part. I’ve been so humbled and inspired by them, and the work that they put in.”
(Wow. Just wow.)
read … LIST: Proposed pay raise for these city officials
Hawaii Senate President Remains Mum On The Turmoil In His Caucus
CB: … Inouye confirmed that there was debate in Senate caucus “and it was not a healthy one for Scott,”…
Lawmakers, staff and others who frequent the Capitol describe the the rift among senators as significant, one that could lead to a shakeup in committee positions. And senators are increasingly speaking out, although most fear retaliation particularly from Dela Cruz who as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee can kill bills that provide much needed projects and development money for their districts.
Dela Cruz insists that he has not done anything to influence votes on Glenn.
During a floor speech on Tuesday, Dela Cruz said he should be getting royalties “for the amount of time Civil Beat features me in interesting but mostly fictitious stories.”…
(CLUE: As always Civil Beat is flacking for the solar lobby.)
Two sources familiar with the vote count who asked not to be identified said that there appear to be at least 12 votes in favor of Glenn, while several others were on the fence. Thirteen senators in the 25-member body are needed for confirmation….
Opposition was minimal: Two planning office employees, who went only by J. Smith and A. Jones, sent written testimony to the committee opposing Glenn’s nomination.
Both said Glenn lacked the experience necessary to lead the department. Jones wrote that they were testifying anonymously to “avoid retaliation in the workplace.” …
One of the major concerns for lawmakers and those who opposed Glenn’s nomination during the hearing was closing Oahu’s last coal-burning power plant, which was mandated by lawmakers and ended up raising electric bills, in part because there weren’t enough working renewable energy projects to supplant the loss in power.
Glenn previously led the state’s Office of Energy, which was partially responsible for planning out those energy projects. That appears to be fueling the opposition against Glenn to lead the planning office….
March 17, 2023: Nominee for State Planning Director responsible for Oahu’s High Electricity Costs
read … Hawaii Senate President Remains Mum On The Turmoil In His Caucus
Criminal Homeless Drug Addicts Chase Last Store out of Downtown
SA: …First the downtown Walgreens closed about a year ago, followed six months later by the shuttering of the neighborhood Longs, and now the last major retailer, Walmart, plans to shut its doors after April 21 — leading to fears that the Fort Street Mall area will become a magnet for even more crime, homeless activity and graffiti….
they’ll have to head home and navigate a neighborhood where “empty storefronts serve as a magnet for homeless activity,” he said….
Walmart’s bathrooms had become “almost an attractive nuisance” for homeless people, and “it’s been a target for shoplifting and petty crime.”…
“Office workers will continue to work from home and will not be returning to their offices,” Saiki said, (thinking about the HGEA)….
The old Walgreens site has become “a big canvas for graffiti,” he said.
The Longs location is supposed to reemerge as a Korean supermarket but has yet to open, Dos Santos-Tam said….
“They’ve been causing trouble, scaring people downtown,” Green said….
read … Closure of last big downtown retailer, Walmart, prompts fears
Lum Crime Family News: Hawaii Senators’ favorite crook appeals sentence for illegally lobbying Trump
SA: … A Hawaii businesswoman is appealing her two-year federal prison sentence and the $250,000 fine she received Jan. 19 after she pleaded guilty to working with a former hip-hop star and a rich Republican donor to illegally lobby former President Donald Trump to drop the prosecution of a Malaysian fugitive and send an exiled businessman back to China.
Nickie Mali Lum Davis, 47, pleaded guilty Aug. 31, 2020, to a single count of aiding and abetting in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act for her work on behalf of Jho Low, a foreign fugitive responsible for one of the “largest embezzlement schemes in history,” involving the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, according to a sentencing memorandum from U.S. Department of Justice Principal Deputy Chief John D. Keller.
Davis, who did not register as a lobbyist for foreign interests, tried to “use back channel influence” to persuade Trump to drop a federal investigation into Low and to “agree to the extrajudicial removal of a Chinese exile,” Guo Wengui, living in the U.S.
Neither lobbying effort was successful. Guo Wengui, whose real name is Ho Wan Kwok, was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a 12-count indictment unsealed March 15 for alleged wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering in connection with a $1 billion fraud scheme….
BACKGROUND:
read … Lum Crime Family
Stadium Authority to hold special meeting on New Aloha Stadium Boondoggle
KHON: …On Wednesday, the Stadium Authority will hold a special meeting to discuss Gov. Josh Green’s new plan for the project. The meeting will be the authority’s first since Gov. Green announced he’s changing the project to a 25,000-seat venue with a design-build and management model….
The special meeting is Wednesday at 8:30 am. A link to watch can be found here….
read … Stadium Authority to hold special meeting on New Aloha Stadium
HB1110: Bill could track drivers’ mileage, tax them per mile
KHON: … the gas tax fuels $80 million into the HDOT’s highway systems, funding things like overtime, pension and top-three padding schemes ….
The bill is working to create a road usage charge program, applying to electric vehicle owners first. Under the proposal, by 2025, a mileage-based road usage charge would start and EV owners would have these options.
“We’ll track your mileage and you’re going to get charged 0.8 cents per mile that you travel based on the difference between your two inspections,” Sniffen said….
(DO THE MATH: 20mpg x 0.008 per mile = $.16 per gallon. 40mpg x 0.008 per mile = $0.32 per gallon tax. Plus all the other taxes.)
The HDOT does clarify that the road usage charges to EV owners would have a limit.
“That payment that you’ll make is capped at $50 every year or if you don’t want to be part of the program you can opt out of it and just pay the $50 upfront,” Sniffen claims….
Here is what the bill actually says: “Until June 30, 2028, owners of electric vehicles shall be offered a choice to pay a $50 registration surcharge in lieu of the state mileage-based road usage charge.”
HB1110: Text, Status
read … Bill could track drivers’ mileage, tax them by the mile
New class of DOCARE officers to hunt tourists, extract money
SA: … Forty-one new state conservation officers will help lead the crackdown on tourists who ignore visitor fees for Hawaii’s most popular state beaches and trails….
The new members of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) began work Monday and represent the agency’s largest recruiting class ever.
DOCARE is expected to be the lead agency to enforce the proposed expansion of “green fees” being debated in the state Legislature.
The fees are already in limited use at state parks, most notably at the popular Diamond Head State Monument….
Gov. Josh Green originally proposed requiring every tourist above the age of 12 to pay $50 to use state parks and trails. The Legislature seems more interested in a “license” only to visitors who want to access an unspecified number of unnamed state parks and trails.
The idea of charging fees for tourists to visit state beaches appears unpractical because of their multiple access points….
2017: DLNR Finally Gets Around to Firing Rapist Cop Son of HGEA President
DLNR NEWS RELEASE – 41 NEW DOCARE OFFICERS
read … New class of officers to lead enforcement of tourist fees
Funding requests for the Big Isle’s hospitals slashed
HTH: … Green requested that $50 million from the state budget be used to expand Hilo Medical Center, but when the House released its initial budget on Thursday, the amount was cut in half to $25 million….
Green sought another $22 million to help Kona Community Hospital, but the House cut that number even lower to $7 million….
read … Funding requests for the Big Isle’s hospitals slashed
OHA Kaka'ako plans dead for session
KITV: … Heads of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs held a press conference Tuesday trying to drum up support for its plan to build three condo buildings up to 400 feet high in Kaka'ako Makai. The project would require state lawmakers to lift a 2006 law prohibiting housing development in the area, located on the makai side of Ala Moana Boulevard.
This legislative session marks OHA's fourth attempt over the last decade to change the law in a bill lawmakers blocked yet again. …
While the ask to remove the residential zoning restriction has not progressed, State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz in another bill earmarked $65 million to repair bulkheads and revetments, as well as $6 million for an environmental impact statement for development in the area….
OHA Trustee Keli'i Akina added, "from the start, we have been committed to doing the best for the Native Hawaiian people, by finding the best commercial return for the property. I'm convinced we're going to continue to do that."
OHA linked an online petition to its website asking House Speaker Scott Saiki to revive its request to change the housing development ban.
"OHA would not stop just because the bill dies this session," OHA Chief Operating Officer Casey Brown insisted.
If the bill does indeed die this session, OHA could, of course, try again next year. Brown pointed out OHA could go ahead and start developing business buildings along the commercially-zoned waterfront. …
Coverage:
Background:
read … OHA: lawmakers stalling request to develop homes in Kaka'ako a 'blow to democracy'
Maui County, state working on plan to open high school
MN: … Maui County is poised to issue a temporary certificate of occupancy for the long-awaited Kulanihako’i High School in Kihei, putting the campus one step closer to opening, Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. announced Tuesday afternoon….
Bissen said that last week, the county sent Gov. Josh Green terms for an agreement that would indemnify the county from liability related to the LUC conditions….
On Tuesday, Bissen spoke to Green, who is expected to sign the indemnification this week, allowing the county to issue the temporary certificate of occupancy, the mayor said to applause and some shouts of joy….
Green, who was on island Thursday to announce a judicial appointment, told The Maui News that the state attorney general was working on the indemnification that will put liability on the state and not the county.
As for when the school might open, he said, “that’s up to the DOE and whether the facility’s fully ready. But in the coming week to two weeks, I’d like to have the legal question resolved so that there’s no longer an impasse, so that we know that the liability’s covered and kids can safely get on a bus and go … through that roundabout. Eventually I leave it to the senators and reps to decide whether they want to finalize the overpass or what have you. I really don’t want to micromanage that kind of thing, but I want the school to open safely,” Green said.
State Department of Education spokeswoman Nanea Kalani said Tuesday evening that the DOE “remains fully committed to working through all conditions” set by the LUC to open the new school….
CB: New Kihei High School Will Finally Open Under Deal With Governor, Maui Mayor Says
read … County, state working on plan to open high school
40% of Hawaii regularly get seven hours or less a night
UKDM: … Despite New York City and Las Vegas being known as the cities that never sleep, it is actually Hawaii that is the most sleep-deprived in the nation….
As many as two in five residents in the state (40 percent) fail to get seven hours of sleep every night, figures showed.
At the other end of the scale was Colorado with the lowest level of sleep deprivation, but even here more than a quarter of adults (26.8 percent) were still ranked as sleep deprived….
DW: Hawaii and Delaware had the most interest in sleep apnea based on search results in 2022.
read … Sleep Deprived
Frequent Flier Hits Queens Twice This Month--Looking for #3, Gets Straub
HNN: … Good Samaritans have been helping 59-year-old Timothy Walker, who’s been on the sidewalk outside the Queen’s Medical Center ER for the past week — surrounded by flies and ants.
Walker said he’s homeless and went to the area outside of Queen’s because he needed help.
He claims (key word) he has a broken hip, among other problems.
Walker has been treated at Queen’s at least twice this month, most recently last Friday….
On Tuesday afternoon, the city’s homeless outreach team took Walker to the Punawai Rest Stop.
He was later admitted to Straub Medical Center…
(And after all this he has not been forcibly incarcerated in a drug/alcohol treatment center.)
read … A man in need of medical treatment spent days on a sidewalk right outside Queen’s Medical Center
Legislative Agenda:
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