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Lets Make it Even Worse! High rents on Maui prompt advocates to push rent control bill
KITV: … With rent for a studio apartment on Maui averaging about $2,000 a month, the Maui Tenants and Workers Association is proposing the county council adopt a Rent Stabilization Bill.
(CLUE: Rent Control would result in even less housing available.)
"It's just heartbreaking to see what people have to do to pay those high rents," Alan Lloyd, a consultant for the organization, said.
(TRANSLATION: FEMA rent subsidies artificially drove rents up thanks to Josh Green refusing to request FEMA trailers. Now one government-created crisis will beget another.)
The Association predicts rent prices will worsen when fire survivors lose their protection from mortgage foreclosure and FEMA support.
"They're going to be going out, looking for affordable places, so we're going to have increased demand, low supply, and that creates an even worse crisis because prices can then go up," Lloyd added.
(REALITY: Rents will go down because landlords won’t be able to tap into a pool of FEMA subsidized tenants.)
The association's rent control bill would set a base rent, require landlords to register their units with the county, and only allow rents to increase based on consumer price index, or CPI.
(REALITY: Rent control is a disaster everywhere it is in effect.)
read … 'Heartbreaking' | High rents on Maui prompt advocates to push rent control bill
4,500 affordable residential units secure building exemptions under emergency proclamation
HPR: … Over a year ago, Gov. Josh Green issued an emergency proclamation on affordable housing to address the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi.
Nine affordable housing projects, decided by the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation director, have received building exemptions through the governor’s proclamation.
So far, over 4,500 units on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Maui have received building exemptions.
“What it did do was draw attention to a few issues that are fairly important,” said Sterling Higa, the executive director of Housing Hawaiʻi’s Future. “One of those issues was impact fees of various kinds, especially the school impact fee.”
Six of the nine exemptions through the emergency proclamation were for the school impact fee. It is levied on residential units in four areas that were expected to have large population growth due to increased development: West Maui, Central Maui, Leeward Oʻahu, and Ala Moana to Kalihi.
(IDEA: Abolish the school impact fee. The DoE just banks it anyway.)
read … 4,500 affordable residential units secure building exemptions under emergency proclamation
HART board OKs new contract for CEO Lori Kahikina with 22% raise – requires her to attend ‘management training’
SA: … The board of directors for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation today approved a new contract with a 22% raise for Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina to oversee completion of the nearly $10 billion Skyline.
During a special HART board meeting, the panel offered Kahikina a new three-year, $336,000 annual contract, up from her $275,000 salary under the current contract, which expires Dec. 31.
The new contract will start Jan. 1 and includes two, two-year options for extension….
In related business at the same meeting, the HART board formally selected the panel’s ninth voting member.
Lisa J. Baker, a Kailua resident and retired project manager who had worked for HART-related contractors from 2015 through 2023, was picked out of three finalists vying to join the volunteer board.
The panel’s vacant voting-member position was previously held by Edwin Young, who stepped down early this year due to health concerns.
Baker will serve the remainder of that position’s term, which expires June 30, 2028, according to HART staff….
HNN: Honolulu rail CEO gets new contract, but says she was ‘a little offended’ by one requirement -- The Honolulu Rail authority approved a new contract Friday for CEO Lori Kahikina, which could keep her on the job until the project is finally finished, but also requires she go to a training program for top executives. Although Kahikina said she was pleased with the contract terms, she had mixed feelings about the mandatory training.
“At first I was a little offended,” she said. “But it’s OK. It wasn’t a deal breaker for me because everyone can learn.” Although which program she attends is to be determined, the contract recommends the UC Berkeley CEO program, which offers flexible schedules for busy executives and a curriculum including leadership style, inclusive corporate culture and managing a board of directors.
CB: Honolulu Rail CEO Gets A Hefty Raise As Part Of New Long-Term Contract - Honolulu Civil Beat
SA: Off the news: HART CEO’s contract renewed with raise | Honolulu Star-Advertiser (staradvertiser.com)
read … HART board OKs new contract for CEO Lori Kahikina with 22% raise
No contested Honolulu city races on general election ballot
SA: … all of the contested city races — namely, elections for mayor and City Council — were decided during the Aug. 10 primary election.
It’s an unusual situation, and something that’s not happened in city-held elections in recent memory, according to Honolulu Election Administrator Rex Quidilla….
Quidilla said what the city will place on the Nov. 5 ballot are four proposed city charter amendments, including one related to city employee salaries, in addition to two state-level constitutional amendments.
According to Quidilla, the city will send out mail-in ballots on Oct. 15 and 16. “It should appear shortly thereafter in voters’ mailboxes,” he added.
According to the state Office of Elections, the registration deadline for the general election is Oct. 28….
read … No contested Honolulu city races on general election ballot
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