Game Over for Fake Settlement? Lahaina Fire Insurers Find a Way into Federal Court
More on the Empty Homes Tax
To bee or not to bee?
Green Terrified by Lahaina Insurers Move to Federal Court
Star-Adv Editorial: … The report doesn’t assign liability, but it clearly provides backing for a finding that HECO and KS are most responsible for the fire ….
The assignment of cause and effect is a landmark step. Next, the road forward splits into two paths: Resolution of legal claims for damages; and (pretend) utilization of the facts revealed to protect against future risks ….
(NOTE: We have stripped out all the Star-Adv editors’ verbiage about improving future fire response. We all know it is empty talk.)
A global settlement urged by the state is at stake. The proposal creates a settlement fund of about $4 billion, and rightly establishes preference for payouts to individual fire victims.
(TRANSLATION: The so-called settlement would sweep away subrogation to bribe fire victims with HEI and KSBE money in order to use KSBE money to save HEI from bankruptcy. HEI and KSBE are one thing.)
The settlement ‘also’ (as if this were not the primary purpose, lol!) benefits HECO and KS, which have accepted responsibility for the fire damage, by providing a single path to resolution with all claimants, and establishing terms that will not damage them irreparably (by illegally robbing insurers.)
The biggest potential pitfall continues to be insurers’ efforts to sue for “subrogation” — repayment of their settlements with individual victims by those judged liable.
(TRANSLATION: The ‘biggest potential pitfall’ is getting the insurers to agree to be robbed.)
If separate subrogation suits are allowed, it would scuttle the global settlement, potentially reduce and delay payouts to victims as agreed to in the settlement — which would be very unfortunate — and expose HECO and KS to further, unsettled risk of liability.
(CLUE: If subrogation were eliminated from Hawaii, most insurers would abandon the state. Those who remain would jack up their prices. As usual, Hawaii politicians’ so-called thought process begins and ends with the immediate interests of HEI/KSBE. The real game is just to stall for time in order to get a Federal bailout that would make the settlement real by paying the insurers and thereby save HEI from bankruptcy. That comes after the November elections.)
The insurers’ effort was denied by the Maui Circuit Court with an order asserting state courts’ authority to consolidate claims. The Hawaii Supreme Court is now expediting consideration of the issue, to clarify the settlement’s legal status.
However, the insurers have also taken their claim to federal court — a move criticized by Gov. Josh Green. “It is disappointing,” he said Friday, “that mainland insurance companies continue to demonstrate their contempt for the people of Hawaii as they put profits ahead of people.” (Green did not then brandish an AR-15 while pumping his fist and shouting ‘Defend Hawaii’.)
(TRANSLATION: Green’s fake settlement is doomed in federal court because the federal judiciary will not toss away subrogation just to solve an HEI/KSBE problem.)
The federal court filing, made days before Wednesday’s release of the Maui/ATF report, has driven speculation that the report, with its assignment of cause to HECO and Kamehameha Schools, could bolster the insurers’ case with the feds….
The U.S. District Court should respect the jurisdiction of Hawaii courts in this matter….
(CLUE: Even if the US Dist Court 'respects' Green's effort to save HEI and KSBE the 9th Circuit won't. All Green can do here is play for time as a negotiating tactic with insurers.)
read … Editorial: ATF report basis for improvement | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Rail Chief Outmaneuvers The Hanabusa
Shapiro: … Hanabusa — who already had the scalp of one CEO, Dan Grabauskas, from a previous term as HART chair — planned to engineer Kahikina’s ouster as her contract expired.
That’s where the politics between the two got interesting.
Hanabusa is one of Hawaii’s most gifted politicians, having risen through the state Senate to become its first woman president and won election to Congress twice.
Kahikina is basically a bureaucrat, though one akamai enough to land a position in Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s Cabinet and the lucrative HART job at $275,000 a year, though lacking transit experience.
But Hanabusa picked the wrong time to move on Kahikina and underestimated the political skills she’d bring to the fight….
Kahikina’s new contract strengthens her hand vs. the board, but it doesn’t guarantee stability at HART. The city center bid came in at $1.66 billion, $300 million over budget, and the rail agency can afford it only if it makes cuts elsewhere.
The contractor, Tutor Perini Corp., is known to be demanding on costly change orders, Kahikina says. We’ll see if she’s as good fighting for taxpayers to minimize those as she is fighting for herself….
Hanabusa announced she’d step down as board chair at some future point, although it’s unclear what that means….
BACKGROUND: www.TheRealHanabusa.com
read … David Shapiro: Rail chief shows the pols how to really play politics
How long will noisy rail work persist in middle of the night?
SA: … Question: I live in a Downtown high-rise building, and HART has been doing loud construction right next to our building for weeks. There’s a daytime shift, and then a break for several hours, and then they start up again after 9 p.m., usually going until about 2 a.m. All my neighbors are talking about how they are wearing earplugs but still can’t sleep. How long is HART planning to continue to do loud construction next to residential buildings in the middle of the night, and is it even supposed to be allowed in the first place?
Answer: Noisy construction of Oahu’s Skyline rail transit system will persist Downtown for years, although this section of utility relocation work is expected to wrap up in early 2025. You are one of numerous readers we’ve heard from lately, unable to sleep through middle-of-the-night work, which is permitted to speed the work along and reduce traffic disruptions during the morning and evening rush hours. Most of the readers we’ve heard from live along Ala Moana Boulevard/Nimitz Highway, particularly between Richards and Alakea streets….
HNN: HART gives green light to begin design phase for next Honolulu rail segment
read … Kokua Line: How long will noisy rail work persist in middle of the night?
Managing Failure: Clash erupts over Hawai‘i Tourism Authority budget request
SA: … The director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism is planning to make a $70 million legislative budget request for the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, even though its board, of which he is a voting member, voted to request a higher amount.
The HTA board voted 7-3 during a spirited and lengthy special meeting Sept. 13 to seek an $80 million budget, which was transmitted to DBEDT Director Jimmy Tokioka. On Friday, Tokioka told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he planned to reduce HTA’s budget request by $10 million before transmitting it to Gov. Josh Green and state Director of Finance Luis P. Salaveria.
Tokioka said Salaveria had instructed him to stay within HTA’s base budget; however, he said he is advocating for a $7 million increase because “there were some programs that needed additional funding and I was trying to be as congenial with the HTA board as possible. I’m not trying to be an obstructionist, but the $80 million — $17 million more than the base of what we were instructed to do — I cannot support that.”…
read … Clash erupts over Hawai‘i Tourism Authority budget request
Council bill seeks to ease permit restrictions for ag lot owners
HTH: … Agricultural landowners could encounter less red tape when trying to make small improvements to their properties, under a County Council proposal.
At Wednesday’s Planning, Land Use and Development Committee meeting, Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz introduced Bill 212, which would exempt greenhouses and other small structures from requiring building permits on agricultural lots.
Currently, permits are not required for “detached one-story accessory structures” used as tool sheds, storage sheds, gazebos, playhouses, animal sheds and the like on residential-zoned land, as long as the structure’s total floor area doesn’t exceed 200 square feet.
Bill 212 would extend that exemption to ag land and expand it, with no permits required for accessory structures up to 1,000 square feet of floor area ….
read … Council bill seeks to ease permit restrictions for ag lot owners
Usual Suspects Pretend they have found New Way to Attack Military
HTH: … A decades-old Hawaii County law ‘allowing’ the U.S. Armed Forces to freely transport radioactive materials on the island may be coming to an end.
(REALITY: Counties have no authority over nuclear materials. Therefore Hawaii County has not ‘allowed’ anything.)
Kona Councilman Holeka Goro Inaba introduced a measure at Tuesday’s meeting of the County Council’s Committee on Health, Safety and Well-being that would remove an obscure exception in the County Code specifying that prohibitions against the transportation or storage of radioactive material do not apply to U.S. military operations….
However, several residents did testify in support of Inaba’s bill. Inaba credited a testifier, peace (war) activist Jim Albertini, for bringing the matter to his attention in the first place and inspiring the creation of the bill.
(CLUE: Counties have zero authority over nuclear materials. And military nuclear materials are subject to ‘exclusive federal jurisdiction.’)
REALITY: “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission exercises regulatory authority over radioactive materials in States (like Hawaii) that do not have Agreements. In addition, the NRC retains regulatory authority over radioactive materials in certain portions of Agreement States that are subject to ‘exclusive Federal jurisdiction.’ In particular, these portions may include protected areas of nuclear reactors, most American Indian reservations, and certain areas of military bases.”
read … Bill targets 40-year-old law regarding radioactive materials - Hawaii Tribune-Herald
Fear and Anger: City stops Developer from developing residential units next to Turtle Bay Resort
KITV: … Utah-based developing firm Areté Collective, which bought about 65-acres of land near Turtle Bay Resort in April, said it is delaying vertical construction until Dec. 1, 2024 to allow for more conversations with the community.
This comes after State Rep. Sean Quinlan sent a letter to Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting about a week and a half ago, asking it to pause issuing building permits for the project.
"This initial unilateral agreement is from 1986," explained Rep. Quinlan. "It was a long time ago. It was with several owners before the current owners. It was Hilton back in the day, and a lot of people in the community just didn't understand the terms of that unilateral agreement. So there's a lot of confusion, there's a lot of fear, there's a lot of anger." …
KITV: City stops Areté Collective from developing residential units next to Turtle Bay Resort
read … Development of luxury condo units on O'ahu's north shore now on pause
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