Governor Green Releases 'Intent-to-Veto' List
Supreme Court to Decide: Are HMSA Physician Contracts “oppressive, unconscionable, and unenforceable”?
Short-Staffed HPD 20-minute Wait for 911 Callers to Reach an Operator
SA: … Some 911 callers are waiting as long as 20 minutes to ask for help. Employees face “vitriol and verbal abuse” from supervisors.
The allegations were outlined in a two-page letter delivered to the Honolulu City Council on Thursday from the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
HPD currently has 456 vacant police officer positions and 188 civilian employee openings as of May 1. Making up more than a quarter of the vacant civilian positions are Police Communications Officer I and II, also known as dispatchers….
Operating with 35% of its dispatcher positions vacant, the situation in HPD’s Communications Division has become so dire that the department is “regularly changing its operational policies” to keep services running, according to a June 5 letter to the City Council, obtained by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser from HGEA….
… Twenty-five current police communication officers are at retirement age, which threatens to “compound the vacancy crisis the department faces, not to mention the strain it will put on the workforce when these veteran employees leave,” Perreira wrote Thursday.
HPD has retained only 13 police communication officers hired since 2020 compared to 21 who left….
RELATED: Hospital Crisis: How to Use Union Work Rules for Fun and Profit
read … Short staffing at HPD dispatch leads to long 911 wait times | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
ACLU of Hawai‘i (again) asks county leaders not to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement
BIN: … The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i is asking county leaders in the state to commit to not helping the federal government in immigration enforcement.
In a letter to Hawai‘i County’s Mayor Kimo Alameda, Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz, County Chair Holeka Inaba and council members, the nonprofit asks them specifically to not signing any 287(g) agreements with any entities within the Department of Homeland Security.
The letter all asks them to prevent state resources, such as personnel or facilities, from being used for immigration enforcement under any other agreements, like memoranda of understanding, also known as MOUs.
MEANWHILE: LA: After Mayor Bass orders LAPD not to cooperate with Feds, Riot Police, Provide Attitude Adjustment Therapy to Protestors
read … ACLU of Hawai‘i asks county leaders not to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement : Big Island Now
City launches funeral assistance program for COFA families
SA: … The City and County of Honolulu on Tuesday launched a program to help the Micronesian community with funeral expenses due to COVID-19.
The ‘Ohana Memorial Support: COVID-19 COFA Funeral Assistance Program will provide $1.5 million in direct reimbursements of burial expenses to Compact of Free Association citizens living on Oahu….
Before vaccines were available, Pacific Islanders, which include COFA migrant groups, represented 4% of the population, but 25% of COVID cases, according to data from the Hawaii Department of Health.
Of all ethnic groups, Pacific islanders in Hawaii also experienced the highest per capita mortality rate.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program offered up to $9,000 to cover the costs for someone who died of COVID-19.
COFA citizens, however, were not eligible to apply for the FEMA funds….
read … City launches funeral assistance program for COFA families
Oʻahu racetrack gets the green light
KHON: … The plan for the track stretches from Coral Sea Road and Independence Road down to Kalaeloa Airport.
For now, Thielen says they can build a dirt style track.
“And that can happen concurrent while we go through with a master plan for the overall area,” she explained during the town hall meeting.
… “We got a lot of homeless and they’re constantly dumping trash,” Cobian said. “So the sooner we get out here and break ground and clean everything up, put some fences up, we’re going to deter all of that.”
Cobian stated it will also prevent fires in the area.
The City says it has requested funds in the upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget for the master plan which will include public input.
The City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation said it has allocated $1.8 million in the upcoming budget for consultant services to help develop that Master Plan. DPR said it also appropriated $150,000 for on guard services to reduce illegal activity in the area, and $500,000 in CIP funds to renovate and reopen the bathrooms at the Kalaeloa Campgrounds….
read … Oʻahu racetrack gets the green light
Residents want sustained enforcement on Diamond Head homeless
KHON: … There is concern that someone cooking dinner (meth) could provide the spark that lights up the whole mountainside with the summer heat drying out the slopes.
City officials said at Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s Town Hall meeting on Thursday that they were aware of the risks, especially from campfires and open flames. A joint sweep with the State removed most of the homeless living around Diamond Head in April.
“There were as many reported 120, 140 people on the Hill. There’s 12 there now, seven on top, five below. We’re going to zero. We’re going to zero because of the fire safety issues that are posed there,” said Department of Community Services director Anton Krucky.
Diamond Head Beach is still troubled even though some areas are mostly cleared. Folks are still living in the cliffs and along the shoreline — neighbors said it simply is not safe….
read … Residents want sustained enforcement on Diamond Head homeless
Remember the Office of the Ombudsman?
ILind: … I went back a dozen years, and found almost nothing substantive about the office or any of its investigations. That confirmed my impression that the office has been essentially invisible for years, whether by design or not. It makes me wonder where people learn that the ombudsman’s office is a resource for their complaints about public employees or services….
PDF: Annual-Report-55-For-Web.pdf
read … Remember the Office of the Ombudsman? | i L i n d
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