Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted September 12, 2025
Police wrote Fake DUIs as part of Pension Scam: 125 HPD Officers Logged More Than 1,000 Hours Of Overtime
CB: … Three years after a city audit revealed rampant overtime at the Honolulu Police Department allowed some officers to increase their pay by more than $100,000, the number of officers filing more than 1,000 hours of overtime a year has increased by almost 500%.
(CLUE: 'Top Three')
More than 40 Honolulu police officers logged enough overtime last year to double their base salaries, according to HPD records obtained by Civil Beat.
Sgt. Darren Cachola, who retired last month after a turbulent two decades on the force, collected more than 2,400 overtime hours in his last year on the job. Cachola supervised DUI checkpoints that are now subject to a lawsuit claiming HPD officers arrested drivers with no alcohol in their systems.
Officers running these checkpoints had a “one and done” policy, allowing them to shut down a checkpoint after making a single arrest and head home but still be paid for their full shift, according to the lawsuit….
read … Records Reveal 125 HPD Officers Logged More Than 1,000 Hours Of Overtime - Honolulu Civil Beat
Senate Hearing to Consider Plan to Hire Soft-on-Crime Activist Groups to Expunge Criminal Records
DO: … House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee (JHA): they’re thinking of outsourcing Hawaii’s criminal justice system to tech-loving nonprofits from the Continent! If you thought government modernization was about getting a better DMV website, think again—now it means “automatic criminal record expungement” for those who managed to get through life without making too many mistakes… as long as the right algorithm says so ….
Who needs courts, judges, or actual due process, anyway? Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) and Code for America (CFA)—those unsung heroes who modernized paperwork in Utah and San Francisco—are here to liberate us from the costly horror of personal responsibility. Thanks to their “state-initiated” expungement system, there will soon be a magical digital wand waving over Hawaii’s records, whisking away criminal history without the “archaic burden” of a person asking first.
PDF: HEARING_JHA_09-16-25_INFO_.PDF
read … “Public Safety Optional: The JHA Committee Automatic Redemption Briefing!"
Trump Wants You to get Stoned
SA: … President Donald Trump recently teased that a decision on reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug could come soon. Moving cannabis from a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act — meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no current accepted medical use— to the lesser Schedule III substance designation does not federally legalize marijuana….
Honolulu City Prosecutor Steve Alm has been among the most vocal opponents, saying that until 2000 the average potency of marijuana was 3-4% THC. Now, he said, marijuana stores typically sell marijuana in the 20-40% THC range with concentrates above 95%....
He said recreational use of marijuana is associated with a myriad of harms, including increases in car collisions and emergency and hospital admissions; marijuana use disorder; increased psychiatric disorder; chronic vomiting; impaired cognitive and memory function; loss of IQ; increased risk of heart attacks and strokes to sharp increases in calls to poison centers for children who have eaten marijuana edibles which typically look like candy or sweets; and environmental harms from illegal grow sites.
Tarnas said even without a demand-friendly environment there already is a market in Hawaii for visitors and residents.
“Anybody who wants to obtain cannabis for recreational use or adult use is able to do so,” he said. “One of the main things I am advocating for establishing a legal framework for adult use is to ensure that we’ve got quality control and that the consumer is purchasing something that they can depend on being accurate to what the label says it is, and that it does not have contaminants.”…
Alm said efforts by states to legalize personal use was up until about two years ago, but that he believes “that the tide is starting to turn.”
He added that “20 states considered it in 2023 and 17 rejected it — so three approved it. Last year nobody approved it, and nobodyhas approved it so far this year.”
Alm said Thailand is even reversing its 2022 decriminalization policy. The new policy, which will allow for medical use only, is slated to take effect in late 2025 and is expected to shut down much of the country’s $1 billion cannabis industry.
“They cited the effects on kids and its hard to regulate,” he said.
(Hawaii riding the end of a dying trend.)
SA: Hawaii visitors show high interest in weed tourism | Honolulu Star-Advertiser -- Some 46% of likely Hawaii travelers are interested in experiencing the intoxicating effects of cannabis while on vacation as compared to 39% of likely U.S leisure travelers, according to the study, which surveyed 4,509 U.S. adults in May.
HNN: DOH program offers support, resources for youth experiencing psychosis
read … Hawaii debates legalizing recreational cannabis | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Political Insider and Lobbyist Appointed to Hawai'i Elections Commission
DO: … James Apana (replacing Jeffrey Kuwada), also known as Kimo Apana, is a former Mayor of Maui County, serving from 1999 to 2003. Apana has also held positions as a Maui County Councilmember and was a candidate for the Hawaii State House of Representatives. He is active in community organizations and has a background in business. -- Appointed to represent Maui by the Speaker of the House Nadine Nakamura, with a term that expires on June 30, 2026.
John Sabas (replacing Peter Young) is the Director of Public and Governmental Affairs at the prominent Hawai'i law firm Carlsmith Ball, where he advises on political and governmental matters. Sabas has also been a longtime lobbyist in Hawai'i and was especially active in matters involving public-private partnerships, such as lobbying for CoreCivic in connection with prison and jail development projects on Oahu. In the past, he served as the general manager of community affairs for Molokai Ranch. -- Appointed by the President of the Senate Ron Kouchi, with a term expiring on June 30, 2028.
read … "Political Insider and Lobbyist Appointed to Hawai'i Elections Commission"
Usual Suspects’ latest Scam: Maui Council Pushing Moratorium On New Backyard Pools In West Maui
CB: … While officials agreed a ban on new pools would help conserve water, they underscored its limitations.
For starters, there were only 69 permit applications for new pools in West Maui as of Tuesday morning, according to Paul Barany, Public Works deputy director.
Based on the typical evaporation rate and annual rainfall, an average 15-by-30-foot pool would use about 20,476 gallons per year — or 56.1 gallons per day — in Lahaina, according to Department of Water Supply Director John Stufflebean. By comparison, the average household uses about 500 gallons per day, he said.
The proposed restrictions on private pools would not be sufficient on their own to conserve enough water to support more housing, Stufflebean said in a letter to the commission. He added that another measure worth considering would be to mandate the use of pool covers, which reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation by roughly 90%.
“There’s so much focus on a pool, and a lot of weight being given to people that have pools, a lot of guilt, when I’m not sure that is a significant contribution to our problem,” commissioner Mark Deakos, who lives in West Maui, said prior to Tuesday’s vote….
(BETTER IDEA: Moratorium on Meth Gang involvement in Maui Policy Making.)
read … County Weighs Moratorium On New Backyard Pools In West Maui
Hawaiʻi Is Turning To Charters To Expand Free Preschool Options
CB: … Last month, Waikīkī Community Preschool became the first program to make the transition from a private to charter school in Hawaiʻi. As a result, the school reports to the State Public Charter School Commission, receives state funding — and is tuition-free. …
Waikīkī Community Preschool is part of the state’s ongoing strategy to involve more charter schools in its ambitious goals to provide all 3- and 4-year-olds access to preschool by 2032. Charter schools currently operate 33 preschool classrooms in the state, including six at Waikīkī Community Preschool, said Deanne Goya, who oversees early learning programs at the charter commission.
The state opened an additional 26 preschool classrooms this fall on Department of Education campuses and plans to add around 25 more next year. Roughly 6,700 children don’t have access to preschool, meaning that Hawaiʻi needs to open around 330 classrooms over the next seven years, according to state estimates.
Preschool directors and advocates say charter preschools can help solve the state’s long-time shortage of early educators. Private preschools typically struggle to hire staff and increase teacher wages because they’re reliant on tuition payments and don’t want to raise the prices for parents, said Malia Tsuchiya, early childhood policy and advocacy coordinator at Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network.
Converting private preschools to charters creates a steady source of state funding for providers and often ensures higher wages for teachers, making hard-to-fill jobs more attractive, Tsuchiya said. Teachers working for charter preschools are state employees and receive the same benefits and salaries of educators working in K-12 public schools.
The current funding model makes it difficult for other programs to follow Waikīkī Community Preschool’s lead, however. Charter preschools receive $171,000 in state funding per classroom, which Tsuchiya said falls short of what schools need to cover staff, rent, facilities and other expenses. Most charters run small preschool programs, she said, so it’s harder to spread the costs across multiple classrooms….
read … Hawaiʻi Is Turning To Charters To Expand Free Preschool Options
Honolulu ‘Downtown Business Improvement District’ measure progresses
SA: … Introduced as Bill 51, the City Council measure, if adopted, would rename the existing Fort Street Mall Special Improvement District to the Downtown Honolulu Business Improvement District, or BID.
That action would expand the new district’s boundaries to include an area bordered by Nuuanu Avenue, South Beretania Street, Richards Street, and Nimitz Highway, the bill indicates. It also would include an adjacent commercial block bounded by Queen, Mililani, Halekauwila and Richards streets.
With an initial term of five years, the new district comes with a management association, governed by either an elected or appointed nonprofit board.
Comprised of up to 20 voting and nonvoting members, the proposed board will include downtown property owners, along with representatives from city agencies, including the Honolulu Police Department, and other community stakeholders, the measure states.
On Sept. 3, the Council voted unanimously to pass Bill 51 on its second of three readings.
The measure is now expected to be referred to the panel’s Zoning and Planning Committee for further review.
“Like the successful Waikiki Business Improvement District, it is hoped that the Downtown Honolulu BID would provide needed services such as enhanced cleaning, safety patrols, and landscaping, and supplemental improvements like lighting, signage, and street furniture,” a Council news release states. “The Downtown Honolulu BID could also plan and coordinate festivals and other activities to enliven the Downtown Honolulu area.”
Under the updated plan, nonresidential property owners in the district would contribute to a $1.9 million “first fiscal year” annual budget through special assessments. These funds, according to Dos Santos-Tam, support a visible safety and maintenance presence seven days a week and help coordinate services with HPD and city agencies.….
read … Honolulu ‘Downtown Business Improvement District’ measure progresses
QUICK HITS: