Gene Ward: Release ATF Report on Maui Fires
Governor Using Title IX Against Girls Sports
Regulations gone wrong
(EXTENDED) Notice of Anticipated Judicial Vacancy – Circuit Judge, Circuit Court of the First Circuit (island of Oʻahu)
Mayoral spending tops $277K as HGEA Grabs for $70M COVID Money in Big Isle Race
HTH: … The seasoned political observer thinks the top two vote-getters in the seven-person race on Election Day, Saturday, Aug. 10, will be Mayor Mitch Roth and first-time candidate Kimo Alameda….
(CLUE: Alameda is a HGEA/UPW puppet. Roth isn’t.)
Roth, who turns 60 today, seeks reelection without the backing of the two largest public worker unions, Hawaii Government Employees Association and United Public Workers. Both are endorsing Alameda because Roth opposed, for budgetary reasons, COVID-19 hazard pay for county workers. Also endorsing Alameda is the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.
Roth does, however, have the endorsements of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Laborers’ International, International Union of Operating Engineers, and the Plumbers and Pipefitters.
Roth also has the best birthday gift a politician could ask for — the largest campaign war chest….
As Explained: $70M Shakedown: Grab for COVID ‘Hazard Pay’ Drives HGEA, UPW Endorsements in Big Island Mayor's Race
read … Mayoral spending tops $277K: UH political scientist predicts runoff between Roth, Alameda - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
County to study economics of short-term rental industry on Big Island, but likely won’t delay proposed new regulations
BIN: … Bills 121 and 122 were postponed to the council’s Aug. 20 Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Development meeting. Bill 123 was postponed to the committee’s Aug. 6 meeting….
read … County to study economics of short-term rental industry on Big Island, but likely won’t delay proposed new regulations
Lahaina's Front Street Property Owners Are Eager To Rebuild: Bissen is about to Block Them with a 200’ setback
CB: ... the mostly local owners of the prime real estate are waiting for direction from Maui County, which is wrestling with how to rebuild one of the world’s iconic public thoroughfares in a historic district boasting many century-old buildings that are oh-so-close to an ocean that continues to rise due to climate change.
While many would like to see the quaint town recreated as it was, the county has been hearing from many residents who say the clean slate created by the fire is an opportunity to pivot away from (turn) Lahaina as (into) a (differently-designed) tourist mecca.
(IQ Test: Do you know anybody who actually believes that the plan is to make Lahaina into something other than a tourist mecca?)
A small (key) part of the town under that vision could include restoring historic Moku’ula, a 1-acre island that was the private residence of King Kamehameha III, and its surrounding fishpond Mokuhinia. The land and wetlands were buried decades ago to eliminate mosquitoes and make way for a ballfield and park….
As of Friday, 21 residential property owners, taking advantage of expedited permitting, already have begun rebuilding their homes in the 5-mile burn zone and in Kula, with another 25 residential permits approved and 89 in the pipeline. But so far no commercial permits in the burn zone have been submitted….
Rebuilding in the commercial and historical area is much more complicated, said Kate Blystone, Maui County’s new planning director.
Most of the 140 or so destroyed commercial and public buildings, and all of the Front Street properties, are in a special management area, established by the Legislature in 1975 to protect shorelines. Construction and land use in the SMA requires special permitting that can take a year or more under normal circumstances.
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this,” Blystone said last month. “It is very complicated. It was complicated before the fire.”
Council member Tamara Paltin, who represents West Maui, said she thinks the county should have a greater sense of urgency rebuilding the business district so mom-and-pop stores are not replaced by corporations. She said local landowners in disaster forbearance are getting foreclosed upon.
She said the county is not providing commercial property owners direction about who can rebuild or where they can rebuild.
Most property owners in the special management area are waiting to see what is happening with the updates to the SMA and shoreline rules that the Maui Planning Commission approved in March 2023 but have not gone into effect due to delays relating to the wildfires.
The approved changes would increase the setback rules by factoring in a leading (pseudo-) scientific model that predicts areas that could be flooded in the future if seas rise by 3.2 feet as forecast. Where there is no mapped erosion hazard line, the shoreline setback would be 200 feet.
(CLUE: This wipes out makai side of Front Street. It will become a beach park.)
Blystone said the shoreline rules are ready to be signed by Bissen. Meanwhile, Nishita said, property owners can submit applications under the current rules.
(But they aren’t. Why is that? After Bissen signs, they will be told ‘Too bad.’)
But with the scientific community saying that the negative impacts of climate change are only getting worse, Fletcher said other people think: “Why not take that opportunity to leave the area, to be moved out of the area that you know is going to be dangerous.”
Even if Bill 105 passes, any construction along Front Street would still have to meet current building codes and obtain SMA and other necessary permits, which makes it confusing to many.
“The zoning codes and laws that we have in place right now would not, in some cases, allow the things that you loved most about Lahaina,” Blystone said….
SA Editorial: Act diligently to revitalize Maui
SA: University of Hawaii receives $68.5M to advance climate resilience
read … Lahaina's Front Street Property Owners Are Eager To Rebuild, But It's Complicated
David Shapiro: Hawaii Legislature has too much power
Shapiro: … an assault on majority will is also occurring in Hawaii, led by the Democratic Legislature.
The Legislature has accrued enormous power unto itself; little happens in Hawaii without going through the Legislature, and little goes through the Legislature without legislators getting paid.
It’s mostly via lavish campaign donations and other forms of legalized bribery from special interests that prop up incumbent lawmakers willing to put private desires over the public’s.
Reforms such as term limits, voter initiative and publicly financed elections to curb the power of entrenched lawmakers are unachievable because only the Legislature can enact these changes, and legislators zealously guard their self-interest….
read … David Shapiro: 2 parties forge 2 paths to promoting minority rule
When Hawaii’s Local Elections Went Nonpartisan
CB: … Fasi was also the last Republican mayor of the City and County of Honolulu. In that same election, Oahu voters approved a charter amendment making the county’s elections for mayor and City Council nonpartisan. (The city’s elected prosecuting attorney was made nonpartisan in 1978.)
Just four years later Kauai County followed suit, as did Maui County in 1996 (that county’s prosecutor is an appointed position) and Hawaii County in 2000….
In that same 1992 election for Honolulu mayor, voters easily passed term limits for mayor and council….
The Hawaii Legislature and races for governor and lieutenant governor remain partisan and have historically been dominated by the Democratic Party of Hawaii. The Legislature has rejected several times putting a constitutional amendment before voters regarding term limits for senators and representatives….
Interestingly, it was party politics that almost cut short Fasi’s time in office. His opponent, O’Connor, was chair of the state Democratic Party who argued that it was time to throw Fasi out of office once and for all.
The reason: Fasi had previously run for mayor as a Democrat, serving from January 1969 until January 1981. But he lost to Democrat Eileen Anderson in 1980….
RELATED: Mauna Kea Protest Shows Need for a Return to Elected County Sheriffs
RELATED: Kahuku and Waimanalo Protests show why Hawaii Needs Municipal Government
read … When Hawaii’s Local Elections Went Nonpartisan
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