GOP Lost 50% of Statewide Offices Under Willes Lee
Hawaii Republican State Convention May 17-18
Hawaii County Democratic Convention This Weekend
Full Text: Rail Appeal Challenges Failure to Consider Bus Rapid Transit
Neighborhood Board Voting Deadline is Today
Abercrombie Nominates Salmonson for Environmental Quality Control
Hawaii Scores 'C' on Attack Ad Transparency
Hawaii schools scale back extended learning time
AP: Last year's approval of extended learning time for low-performing schools on Oahu's Waianae coast and in the Kau, Keaau and Pahoa areas of the Big Island, along with the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind, was heralded as a stride toward progress on school reforms that won Hawaii a federal Race to the Top $75 million grant.
The agreement approved by 80 percent of the more than 1,100 teachers in those schools called for about an hour more per day, Monday through Thursday, and 12 additional days of teacher training. That represents about 18 percent more in compensation for teachers.
Next school year, only Waianae Elementary and the School for the Deaf and the Blind will get the compensated extra time for all teachers, Deputy Superintendent Ronn Nozoe said.
read ... Same Old DoE
DoTax Invents More Excuses for Shortchanging Rail
SA:A lag in processing tax returns, thanks to the Department of Taxation being short-staffed, has led to the project receiving about $29 million less than anticipated so far from the 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge used to fund it....
Pablo’s board visit came after HART CEO Dan Grabauskas requested in an April 1 letter that the department explain exactly how the cash flows and the reason behind the “fluctuations that we have experienced since the inception of the GET surcharge.”
In response, Pablo told the board that the lag and other factors would make payments on a monthly and quarterly basis unpredictable.
He recommended that HART staff project cash flow annually, not month to month.
Pablo also presented the board with slides that showed fluctuations in statewide GET and the surcharge running nearly parallel on a monthly basis once the “noise” of the department’s processing delay was removed.
(Translation: During the Legislative session DoTax actions resulted in the appearance of greater than actual State revenues. This illusion assisted Abercrombie in selling his big new spending programs. Now that the session is over, DoTax is cleaning up the mess. This is the opposite of what DoTax did in 2011 when the illusion of short revenues assisted Abercrombie in making the case for tax hikes.)
As Explained: DoTax Cooking Books to Influence Legislature? HART Calls for Audit
read ... More Excuses
Caldwell Campaign Chair Backs Out Of Zoning Board Appointment
CB: In April, Caldwell nominated Smith for an unpaid seat on the Honolulu Zoning Board of Appeals. This board handles requests for variances from land use laws as well as hears challenges to decisions of the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting.
But Smith never completed the vetting process. Several Kahuku Village lessees opposed his appointment during an April 25 Honolulu City Council Zoning and Planning Committee meeting, and Smith sent a letter to Caldwell asking him to withdraw his nomination.
“As the lawyer for (Continental Pacific), it is going to be my job to explain the facts relating to the Kahuku Village project to councilmembers, the press and the public,” Smith said.
read ... Caldwell Campaign Chair Backs Out Of Zoning Board Appointment
Investigate airport contracts
SA: Brian Sekiguchi, who was hired as the division's deputy transportation director in 2003 by then-Gov. Linda Lingle, resigned in August 2010 after he admitted to accepting free lodging at a home of a Honolulu-based airport engineering vendor during the 2009 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga.
That conflict of interest was piddling compared to the auditor-unearthed sweet treatment of Parsons, which has a 12-year state contract valued at $90 million. That includes mostly the responsibility for Honolulu Airport's modernization project. The company charged the highest possible rate for labor and billed the state for more than $1.2 million in questionable contract work.
Sekiguchi resigned after legislators found that the state had been paying $876,000 a year to sublease space in its own building near the airport where Parsons worked rent-free and — even crazier — was reimbursed for renovations. The state now charges Parsons rent at the building, according to current Transportation Director Glenn Okimoto.
The auditor's report estimates that "the pattern of recurring violations and questionable practices" accounted for 30 percent of the department's total procurements of $417 million of goods and $467 million of services during the two years examined....
Acting state Auditor Jan Yamane says she thinks the Abercrombie administration has taken positive steps but plans to re-examine the division in 2016 to see whether reforms have been made as the airport modernization construction nears completion.
Background: Airports Division Audit: Mismanagement, Recurring Violations, Delays, Cost Overruns
read ... (But only the ones from the past)
New US Transportation Dep't Nominee Backs Honolulu Rail, Complete Streets
CB: In a statement after their meeting, Schatz said, “Mayor Foxx informed me that the Department of Transportation transition will be seamless when it comes to the Honolulu rail project… Foxx understands the importance of Honolulu’s rail project and is committed to being our partner in seeing it to completion along with other transportation priorities that will create jobs in Hawaii, and give the people of Hawaii more transportation choices.”
Schatz, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said also, “As Mayor of Charlotte, Foxx expanded Charlotte’s public transit system, implemented street design guidelines that promote walking and bicycling, and expanded Charlotte’s airport. His experience and priorities align with those of Hawaii—economic growth, sustainability, and expansion of our transportation network.”
read ... Railroaded
UH regents urged to hire new president locally
KITV: "Right in this very room there might just be some who will qualify to be the president of the university," said Artemio Baxa.
The outgoing regent suggested UH administrator Linda Johnshrud, and two sitting UH board members: former U.S. ambassador John Holzman and former UH Travel Industry Management Dean Chuck Gee.
But considering sitting regents could be problematic because the board makes the final decision.
The undercurrent of politics seemed to be the order of the day....
The faculty union pointed to the lack of action by the legislature to approve a bill that would have provided $23 million to cover negotiated salary hikes.
"I assume to some degree it was an oversight, because I can’t believe it would have been a willful act to in somehow or another, take retribution to the university," said J. N. Musto of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly....
Chairman Eric Martinson said the the board is expected to form a selection committee and will likely call for a special meeting in the weeks to come. He could not say for sure whether a private headhunting firm will be hired. He did say the regents wanted to be in control of the process, how ever after spending an hour and a half discussing the matter, he could say that none of the regents said they were interested in being considered for the position of president.
read ... UH regents urged to hire new president locally
Regents Vote to Wipe Athletic Department Debts
SA: The Manoa Chancellor's office will absorb the $13 million accumulated net deficit, help funding of some athletic staff positions and allow the department to recruit out-of-state and foreign athletes at in-state tuition rates.
In addition, regents will convene a committee on intercollegiate athletics to oversee the department.
The actions were unanimously approved by the 15-member board.
Athletic director Ben Jay said he hoped the changes could help the department be solvent by the completion of fiscal year 2014, which concludes July 1, 2014.
read ... Clean Slate
Occupy: “Mixed Bag Of Self-Absorbed Social Protestors”
CB: “This case is not about the homeless. This case is about a mixed bag of self-absorbed social protesters — recent Mainland transplants — who have seen fit to pitch their tents, invoke King Kamehameha’s law, and drag bulky item pickup junk furniture and other personal property on the sidewalk fronting one of Honolulu’s most historic and culturally significant public parks, which was established to commemorate the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy in July 1843, 170 years ago.” -- Honolulu Corporation Counsel
The protestors are represented by Honolulu attorney Richard Holcomb, who specializes in DUI defense.
read ... “Mixed Bag Of Self-Absorbed Social Protestors
Homeless Dude: 'I Hate Hawaii'
SA: The number of Oahu’s homeless people is growing at a higher rate than last year, and an important metric, the number living on streets instead of shelters, rose 11 percent, according to the latest Homeless Point-in-Time Count.
The count, conducted Jan. 22-29, tallied 4,556 homeless people on Oahu, a rise of 4.7 percent from the previous year. Counters identified 3,091 homeless people on Oahu as sheltered, a 1.8 percent increase from the 2012 measure. Of this number, 901 were individuals and 2,190 were part of 523 households with children.
Oahu’s unsheltered homeless count climbed to 1,465 from 1,318, a roughly 11 percent increase over last year. While 1,193 of these people were singles, 102 people were in multi-adult households and 170 people were part of 43 households with children. The number of chronically homeless people and families on Oahu also rose 18.9 percent to 718; however, 89 more of them went into shelters this year than in 2012.
It’s a good sign that 67.8 percent of Oahu’s homeless count was sheltered in 2013 and that the number of chronic homeless people moving into shelters increased significantly...
Consistently good weather and easy access to services are among the reasons that homeless flock to Oahu, said Jay, a 32-year-old homeless man from the West Coast, who enjoys permitted camping in the beach parks and commutes into Waikiki a few days a week to solicit tourist donations.
“I hate Hawaii. I wouldn’t choose to live here if I wanted to jump through hoops like a normal person,” said Jay, who declined to give his last name. “I’m here because it’s a good place to be homeless. It was easy to get on food stamps and the weather is great, all you need are your shorts, flip-flops, a sheet for a blanket and a tarp.”
Oshiro said continual migration from the U.S. mainland and from nations that have compacts of free association with the U.S. such as Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia also have boosted homelessness, while widespread drug problems and mental health issues have exacerbated issues....
Mendoza said she survives off Waikiki tourists, one of whom donated as much as $90. “I went to a shelter once, but I didn’t like the rules. To me it was stink,” she said.
read ... Officials still optimistic despite 4.7% rise in homeless population
Housing Last: Tobacco Smokers to Be Evicted
HNN: July 1 the Hawaii Public Housing Authority begins enforcing smoking restrictions at its 85 properties. From then on smoking will only be allowed in designated areas.
"They will be given a warning, first, second, third and fourth. The worst case scenario, it could be eviction," the Authority's executive director Hakim Ouansafi said.
Bottom Line: We will have 'housing first' for unrepentant alkies and drug addicts, but tobacco smokers will be evicted.
read ... Housing Last
Hawaii County Pays 130% of Assessed Value for Geothermal Relocations
HTH: The bill, introduced by Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan, would limit eligibility for the program to anyone who owns a home near Puna Geothermal Venture within 90 days of the bill’s adoption.
Ilagan said he is trying to “cut the bleeding” for the relocation fund that has become overtaxed with about two dozen requests.
The fund, which also covers “community benefits” for Puna, has $3.3 million, including a $1 million reserve that can’t be touched for home purchases. That can cover five or six of the requests, which are funded at up to 130 percent of assessed value, according to the county Planning Department.
The bill would also allow the reserve to be used toward relocations.
read ... Ca-Ching!
Suspect in infant death has prior record
KITV: Asuncion does have a prior record for theft and burglary. He was also convicted three times of a misdemeanor -- abuse of a family member. His most recent conviction was 10 years ago.
read ... Suspect in infant death has prior record
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