Rail

...A long time ago the Tax Foundation of Hawaii sued the State....

..."What now for rail?" was the question considered by three prominent guests at a sold-out luncheon event sponsored last week by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii....

...Hawaii radio personality Michael W. Perry hosts Keli‘i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii....

...a short list of not more than 3 preferred offerors is now being asked to put together proposals that include pricing and technical details of how they plan to complete the rail project to Ala Moana Center, construct the Pearl Highlands parking garage and transit center, and operate and maintain the rail system for a period of 30 years....

"...HART does not require Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., (HECO) to provide overhead cost supporting documentation. HART reimburses Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. 100% of their costs incurred...."

... Randy Roth discusses key issues in the rail controversy and gets his insights from having watched the project since its beginning ....

...panel discussion Friday, May 3, sponsored by Grassroot Institute of Hawaii... with Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi and rail critics Randall Roth, University of Hawaii professor emeritus of law, and Panos Prevedouros, chairman of the UH civil and environmental engineering department....

...Even as the Honolulu Rail project collapses around Mayor Caldwell’s ears, the election result gives a pro-Caldwell faction the majority on the council.  This contradiction is due to the failure of anti-rail politicians to separate themselves from criminals....

...HART and the City will evaluate the submittals received today and then select a short list to move on to the second part of the procurement....

...The Honolulu rail is now famous, but for all the wrong reasons. The question is: “What we are going to do about it?....

...We found that DAGS fundamentally misunderstands its responsibilities under Act 1, performing unnecessary busy work that not only wastes time and money but also increases the risk of improper payment....

...We already have a good stadium.  And this consultant now admits Aloha Stadium is located in the best possible place.  So why tear it down for yet another unnecessary boondoggle?....

...government officials are blaming others and dodging responsibility....

...The project has tallied one of America’s biggest transit cost overruns; a grand jury is investigating....

"...Despite the rejection of the Supreme Court of Hawaii, our efforts were key in the legislature’s decision to drop the skim from 10% to 1% during the 2017 Special Session—this was a win for all taxpayers in this State...."

...Paul Giannelia left his last rail transit job after only seven months because of "difficulties acclimating to the municipal workplace"....

..."Repeals the requirement that the Auditor conduct an annual review of certain rapid transportation authorities in the State." -- HB118 ....

"...Dwyer was to acquire all federal properties...."

...Flashback Feb 23, 2018: Criminal Intent: Honolulu rail pays $3.8M penalty for Corrupt Relocation Over Payments to Politically Connected Developers....

...transit commuting is growing fastest among people in the highest income classes....

... HART is required to deliver documents to a Honolulu Federal Grand Jury on or before March 7, 2019 ....

...New York and California killed off expensive rail projects--Hawaii can too....

...After taking over the publishing of the Hawai‘i Directory of Public Officials in 2018, PRP saw an opportunity....

"...HART policies and practices are inadequate to prevent cost overruns and schedule delays from recurring...."

...In Report 2, we examined the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s current management structure, the relationship between HART and its Board of Directors, and HART’s use of third-party consultants to manage the Honolulu Rail Transit Project....

Among conditions for the buyers of these “ALOHA homes”....

...We found that, as the Honolulu Rail Transit Project progressed and costs swelled from $5.122 billion in 2012 to $9.188 billion in 2018, HART began reporting information to the public that often contradicted its own internal projections or differed from what it was telling the Federal Transit Administration....

...At the top of his list of complaints: Things just aren't like they were back in the Inouye days....

...The Cato Institute has released its 14th biennial fiscal report card on the governors....

...to distinguish good public-private partnerships from bad ones, we use the same principles employed whenever we evaluate government action: cost, accountability and risk....

...Keli'i Akina and Joe Kent discuss the latest research by the Grassroot Institute on rail, vacation rentals and the unfunded liabilty of Hawaii's public pension system....

...Joint letter sent to FTA as city and HART meet all deadlines for rail project....

...For a long time, I was wondering what the authors of 07-001 were smoking....

...Bill 42 break the promise made by the full City Council in 2006 that city funds or bonds would not be used to fund the rail....

...a “blank check” for adding fees and increasing Oahu property taxes for rail construction and operations....

...FTA has exercised considerable patience in waiting for the City to identify and implement the method it would use to provide the $44 million, yet the process is still incomplete....

...Proposals responding to RFP Part 1 will be accepted up to 2:00 p.m., Hawai‘i Standard Time (HST) on December 21, 2018....

...Contact your City Council member and strongly urge them to vote NO on all these gimmicks....

...to duck budgetary limits in the short run and spread their higher costs over the long run....

...IMF provides a handy list of things HART is not doing....

...the FTA has signaled its lack of faith in the project by withholding federal funds absent a recovery plan and setting a Nov. 20 deadline for the city to come up with $44 million — the initial payment on a $214 million obligation to HART....

"...in the event of default, the Government may demand all Federal funds provided to the Grantee for the Project be returned...."

...public and private stakeholders involved in developing the Honolulu Rail Transit Project attended the event, as did a number of directors from the HART Board....

...a free public lecture on Tactical Urbanism on Wednesday, September 5 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at SALT Kaka‘ako (the Barn, 691 Auahi Street)....

...talk of “recovery plans,” new bonds and property tax dollars allocated to rail inevitably raises the spectre of new rail taxes....

...With HART repaving Kamehmeha Hwy out of its own budget, this is money that could be used to pay for rail--but HDOT refuses....

...All mail-in applications must be postmarked by July 31, 2018....

...To date, HART officials have not publicly explained why it has been recording the meetings between the auditor and HART employees....

...Applicants must submit the HART Board Application Form, along with a cover letter and resume via email by July 6, 2018 at 4:30 p.m....

... That is over 6 times the annual budget of the Honolulu C & C ....