Election Day November 5 -- Drop Box and Voter Service Center Locations
The Cato Report Cards
How ADU growth can help ‘keep the country country’
Oahu Election Day lines, delayed results are necessary to suppress Republican Votes
SA: … On Election Day in 2020, voters waited in a long line outside Kapolei Hale. Hundreds waited for up to four hours for the chance to cast their ballots in person….
In the previous 2020 presidential election, which pitted the incumbent Trump against then-former Vice President Joe Biden, 69.6% of registered voters in Hawaii cast ballots, for a total turnout of 579,784.
Some 551,036 of them — or 95% — voted by mail. Only 28,748 voted in person, representing just 5% of all votes cast.
On Oahu only 17,204 voters — or 3.1% — voted in person.
Even though their numbers were small compared to voters who overwhelmingly voted by mail, people who showed up in person held up the release of everyone’s vote count in 2020 and likely will again Tuesday.
(WRONG: Results were held up by the Honolulu City Clerk’s decision to have only two Election Day polling places for an island of 1M people.)
In 2020, Moore said, “it took forever. We were just waiting, waiting, waiting.”
Those who insist on voting in person on Election Day are “primarily Republicans, not exclusively, of course,” Moore said. “They’re worried about voter fraud and that’s true across the nation in mail-in ballot states.”
(CLUE: Republicans can’t win any Hawaii statewide races. Trump will lose to Harris 2-1 in Hawaii. But Republicans could displace a couple of legislative Democrats on Oahu, thus upsetting the Legislative factional balance. That is why voters are being made to wait on Oahu, but not on the sister isles.)
With more Republicans and Democrats voting in the presidential race, higher turnout will likely affect so-called down ballot races where a handful of incumbent Republican state Senate and House members are in close races against Democratic challengers.
(See? Told you.)
“Overall, Hawaii will go overwhelmingly for Harris and that could make a difference for Republican candidates,” Moore said.
But Republicans who vote for Trump across Hawaii are also likely to vote for Republicans representing their districts, even if they do not know the candidates or the issues, Moore said.
“For Republicans in close races, that’s going to benefit Republicans,” he said.
(So we Democrats must suppress those Republican votes by making them wait for hours on Election Day.)
In Hawaii, a candidate can be elected to the state Legislature with as few as 2,500 or so votes.
Even with the numbers of voters expected to rise by the end of Tuesday, Moore said he would not be surprised if some candidates win with slim margins.
“Yes, I think there’s still going to be some close legislative races decided by less than 100 votes,” he said.
(So we Democrats must suppress those Republican votes by making them wait for hours on Election Day.)
PRECISELY AS EXPLAINED: Long Lines Suppress Republican Votes on Election Day: City Clerk Plans to do it Again in 2024
read … Hawaii voters can expect Election Day lines, delayed results
The Maui County Cultural Commission's Unfortunate Failure
CB: … This all should have spurred quick and responsive action by the Maui Cultural Resources Commission, the federally certified government agency responsible for overseeing the island’s historic landmarks. Its job is to serve in an advisory role on all matters concerning historic conservation and to help funnel federal dollars to worthy preservation projects. After the disaster, it should have been all hands on deck.
Instead, however, the nine-member commission has almost completely shut down. It has only met once since July 2023.
Maui government officials have canceled the monthly meetings, one after the other.
On Aug. 23, 2023, two weeks after the fire, county planning director Kathleen Ross Aoki informed the commissioners that the regular meeting was canceled “due to the lack of items for the Commission to review.” She told them the same thing when she canceled the meeting on Sept. 7.
The commission got together only once, in November of 2023, one year ago. In the months after that, from December through last month, planning department officials have blamed the cancelations on “lack of quorum,” which means not having enough commissioners present to conduct a meeting.
People who love Maui’s history are calling this dereliction of duty shocking and outrageous, particularly considering the seriousness of the preservation questions facing the island and the ways the commission’s inaction blocks other work from getting done. The Lahaina Restoration Foundation, for example, wants to push ahead with its plans to restore historic buildings in Lahaina and will need government review to proceed….
(CLUE: The plan is to demolish all the missionary and plantation era buildings and leave only the newly re-created royalist ‘Venice of the Pacific’ water feature. The mentality is the same as the renaming of Kauai’s Russian Fort and the removal of the name ‘Captain Cook’ from the town in South Kona. It is a scheme to rewrite Hawaii’s history as if it were only Hawaiian.)
RELATED: SHPDA State Agency Backlog Stalls Lahaina Rebuilding
read … Kirstin Downey: The Maui County Cultural Commission's Unfortunate Failure - Honolulu Civil Beat
Star-Adv: Construction of new Oahu jail Depends on Co-opting Soft-on-Crime Crowd
SA: … The state also, urgently, needs a new jail on Oahu to replace the substandard, poorly sited Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) in Kalihi — a decrepit, discouraging, overcrowded eyesore that does not serve its inmates, staff or surrounding community well….
For the past several years, however, advocates for a new correctional facility have been locked in a stalemate with legislators and reform advocates over how to accomplish both of those things at once, while spending as little as possible.
Hawaii’s previous governor, David Ige, grappled with this unsuccessfully. Ige made funding a new Oahu jail one of his signature issues, but was repeatedly foiled in the Legislature.
Justice reform didn’t fare much better. In 2022, House Bill 1567, which eliminated cash bail for pre-trial arrestees charged with nonviolent misdemeanors and low-level felonies, practically sailed through the Legislature — but was derailed by a public backlash, including heavy criticism from Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi. Ige vetoed it.
The level of public outcry over HB 1567 — it allowed for those charged with crimes like shoplifting or petty theft, including repeat offenders, to avoid cash bail, based on the probability that the accused would still appear for court — indicates that future attempts at reform may face a similarly rocky road.
Close study and careful crafting of reforms are required to avoid unintended impacts and reversals, even where public support exists, as with Oregon’s now-notorious Ballot Measure 110 — a 2020 voter-approved initiative that decriminalized possession of small amounts of illegal drugs….
Reform, while essential, will clearly take time. Yet Oahu needs a new jail, ASAP. Planning and preparation to build one must continue….
There’s still the matter of opposition to any jail project — particularly one the size of OCCC, holding about 1,000 inmates — that precedes justice reform. Such objections helped scuttle funding in the Legislature in 2022. And in his first year as governor, 2023, Josh Green said he wanted “a better proposal” and a less-expensive, “lower impact” facility.
In one promising development, DCR has contracted with the University of Hawaii Community Design Center to conduct community engagement and to study other states’ models for jail design, with the directive of envisioning “rehabilitative models” and a “community-based continuum of care.” The center will not design a new OCCC, but will provide information to a design-and-build team, once chosen.
The Design Center will host a “Virtual Shareout” via Zoom on Thursday, noon to 1:30 p.m., with updates from DCR and a roundtable discussion including members of the Correctional Reform Working Group and Correctional System Oversight Commission. Register at 808ne.ws/OCCCdesignSHAREOUT Opens in a new tab.
This engagement with key communities, including inmates themselves and reform advocates, bodes well for public safety and tackling recidivism. Green and his administration must build on this forward momentum and keep planning — along with the necessary funding — on track….
(Non-rhetorical question: Why do these constituencies matter?)
read … Editorial: New Oahu jail an urgent necessity
Legislators can Still use Waterless Reflecting Poll to give out Contracts
Borreca: … when the Hawai‘i Convention Center’s roof and top deck started leaking, officials grabbed the buckets and started asking for help to pay for repairs.
News reports say it has been leaking for 20 years, sometimes so bad that it caused flooding. The leaks, first noticed in 1999, have caused $64 million in damage and resulted in major repairs to the roof, sports court surface and tile, according to reports.
No state building, however, can compare to the state’s sodden mess of a state Capitol in downtown Honolulu. The building, dedicated in 1969, has been described as a series of architectural symbols….
And the ponds rested not on volcanic soil, but on the Capitol’s soon-to-be-always-dripping basement offices.
The state’s solution was to change the water metaphor into some sort of vision of what a pond would be if it just didn’t have water in it. Remember, this is the state Capitol, so the definition in words can get a tad sketchy there….
read … On Politics: For Capitol pool, artwork plan might not hold water | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Hilton Hawaiian Village, union reach tentative contract deal
KHON: … After a 40-day strike, the union representing hundreds of hotel workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village reached a tentative contract deal.
The news came in around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2 after more than 1,800 workers went on strike in late September….
SA: Hilton, hotel workers reach tentative agreement to end strike | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Hilton Hawaiian Village, union reach tentative contract deal
After Decades of Waiting, Laniakea highway realignment to begin
KHON: … “It was pretty bad, it took me 30 minutes to get here from Haleiwa,” said surfer Gration Lachlan. “We sat in traffic for like 25 minutes,” said another surfer.
After years of lawsuits, environmental studies and planning, the state Department of Transportation will begin work to shift the highway mauka.
“It’s really simple actually, we’re going to take this parking lot and move it to the makai side of the road, so people don’t have to cross back and forth and stop traffic,” explained state Rep. Sean Quinlan (D) Waialua, Haleiwa, Kahana, who has been hearing the complaints and working on a solution for decades alongside former state senator Gil Riviere ….
read … Laniakea highway realignment to begin Monday on North Shore
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