Hawaiian Islands Bulletin

Homeless Proposal Stirs Up Residents

2010-03-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

Homeless crowd the covered doorways of Chinatown shops

The recent rally against the city project proposed that would create housing for the "chronically homeless" has stirred up hundreds of people in the vicinity. The project would create 100 units to first get the homeless off the street, then deal with their "problems", such as drugs or alcohol.

The project has even moved some residents of Chinatown, the land where the $10.6 million project was designated, to form the Concerned Citizens committee.

This is proposed project will be doomed if followed through. Not only will the proposed project cost $10.6 million of our tax dollars, but it will also be constructed very close to schools, churches, and other local businesses.

How would you like it if a homeless housing complex was constructed a block from your house or your child's school, all while you'd pay for it with your taxes?

In fact, it's almost better, but not quite, to take Castle and Cooke's idea and shove them in houses on agricultural land.

Lingle Takes Stand Against "Akaka Bill"

2010-03-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

The latest version of the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2010, dubbed the "Akaka Bill", has raised Governor Linda Lingle's eyebrow. She wonders if the bill is going to far as to make anyone belonging to the "Hawaiian Entity" exempt from state laws, and that it grants that entity "ill-defined powers."

She addressed the point of gambling, as if the bill passed, there would be some dispute as to the question if Hawaiians would be exempt from such anti-gambling legislation, being a sovereign people.

Dan Akaka, of course, pointed out that several hundred other native peoples of the US have had the same level of sovereignty. Akaka and cosponsor Dan Inouye are pleased with the bill's passing in the House and are optimistic about its passing in the Senate.

It would be wise for both parties, the Governor and the senators, to collaborate and reach a compromise. The OHA even offered to assist with negotiations. The Governor "still holds out hope" for a revised bill that she would like to support, just not as extreme.

Governor or HSTA Furlough Plan

2010-03-24T15:16:00.001-07:00

In the recent clash between the Governor and HSTA, a solution is finally sought to eliminate furlough Fridays for the DOE once and for all.

On one side, the Governor's plan, costing the state $62 million, would return "essential" employees to work and teachers would give up nine non-instructional days. And on the other side, HSTA/BOE's plan, costing the state $92 million, would return all DOE employees to work and convert six non-instructional/planning days to teaching days.

The money would be coming from the "rainy-day" and Hurricane Relief funds. The Governor doesn't need to approve the $92 million plan, but she does need to release money for it, which she clearly stated she would not because "the state can't afford" it.

I stand with the Governor. The main priority should be to return students to school for a full school year of 180 days. And that's exactly what her plan does: it intends to bring back the necessary workers to safely operate the school.

And so what if her plan is contingent on abolishing the BOE? It's going to be the decision of the voters, and if it's what we want, so it will be.

DUI Accident? Just Leave the Scene

2010-03-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

Recently, Siaosi Feleunga was convicted of fleeing the scene of an accident, second-degree negligent homicide, and driving while having his license revoked because of DUI.

The crash happened over a year ago on December 29, 2008 and it killed motorcyclist Linsay Kane. He claimed it was an accident.

Because there was no blood-alcohol test or test for any drugs in his system at the time of the incident, he cannot be convicted of DUI, which would mean first-degree negligent homicide or possible manslaughter and 20 years in prison. Instead, he was sentenced to only 10 years and about 7,000 in restitution for funeral and medical costs.

By fleeing the scene of the "accident" as claimed by Feleunga, he has escaped a possible additional 10 years in prison.

Feleunga does have the cleanest record either. He has multiple DUI convictions, including a previous hit-and-run crime, killing another innocent driver nearly six months before Kane.

This is a major loophole in the system and severe punishments should be dealt out to those who flee the scene of an accident. If not, the punishment of an accident due to DUI would be cut in half if the criminal simply leaves.

Beachfront Obtructions

2010-03-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

Some residents however have had to pay for the erosion from the new lack of the plants. These operations of moving sandbags and new stand to slow the erosion can cost beachfront property owners thousands of dollars.

One of the recent bills to be passed in the State House of Representatives is the bill that would prevent homeowners from encroaching on public beachfront shores with vegetation, HB 1808. This illegal obtainment of state property obstructs much of the beach and renders it inaccessible to walkers.

Native Beach Naupaka Plant

Many of beachfront landowners claim that the plants, mostly the native naupaka plant, are helping slow and even prevent the erosion of beaches.

When a few of these homeowners were asked to clear the beach walking area, many did as they were told. However, several of them deliberately planted naupaka, and even on state land.

The original bill imposed heavy fines starting at $1000 after failure to comply and other fines for multiple violations or negligence, but modifications have stripped the bill of much of the original content, including that of penalties.

I personally have no problem with this bill because I myself own no beachfront property. On the other hand, the state must be willing to accept any problems from erosion and complaints from residents that will result from the passing of this bill.

Where's the Money Coming From?

2010-03-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

The House recently passed the phenomenal health care reform bill, the culmination of nearly a year's hard work by President Obama and many democrats.

However, although I support many of the primary objectives of this bill, to increase coverage, options, and decrease costs, I'm not so sure about the effects, both short-term and long-term, this reform bill will have on our economy, which is just barely managing to survive.

With our record-breaking national debt nearly __ trillion dollars, in addition to our gargantuan annual budget deficit, both of which the government has managed to rack up in the last decade, incoming funds are substantially less than outgoing funds.

This means a steady, annual growth of our debt, most of which is to China. Even with miraculously low interest rates, the debt has accumulated nearly out of control thanks to a yearly contribution from the deficit.

And I'm afraid, I truly am, of the effect that even more money being pumped out from Capitol Hill will have upon our economy. Dire action will soon be called upon to make up for these and other mistakes that have shattered our economy.

Of course, I'd have no problem with the bill whatsoever if the government would care to tell us where the money is coming from.

HB 2381 v SB 2712: Construction for Credit

2010-03-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Under this new bill proposed by Rep. Sharon Har, a 4% tax credit would go toward the costs of planning, building, and materials for home remodeling.

So far, the bill has no cap on the savings per year, and so it also has yet to specify the amount that the bill would cost the state's tax revenues. The bill is aimed at years 2011 to 2013.

The bill is looking hopeful, as it receiving much support from construction firms and the Tax Foundation. However, the Tax Foundation, although lauding the effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs, would prefer a hotel construction tax credit along with Governor Linda Lingle.

SB 2712, favored by Lingle, would give 10% tax breaks to hotel and tourism construction projects anywhere from $10 million to $100 million.

Hotels and tourism make up a large portion of Hawaii's economy, and so would generate about $1.5 billion in construction, with the state losing about 10% of that.

According to Linda Smith, Lingle's senior policy advisor, it could create over 20,000 jobs (that's more than the rail) once the new hotels were built, as well as the jobs in the construction industry.

If the House is wise, it will pass this bill that will create thousands of badly needed jobs in a dwindling economy .

Too Close, Too Late

2010-03-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

The City was notified a year ago that the rail project would run too close to the airport. And look what's happened: a delay that is costing the city millions of dollars. This $5.3 billion dollar project is encroaching on something called the runway protection zone. By doing this, the project puts in jeopardy future federal improvement grants for the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is refusing, and rightfully so, to approve the rail plan because it obstructs one of the runways.

First of all, the city needs to file Form 7460 with the FAA so that they can do an airspace study. But instead, the city likes running its own airspace studies and wasting our money.

One solution is to change the route that the rail will follow so that it is closer to, if not on top of, the Nimitz viaduct, but that could take anywhere from three to six months, according to some estimates, to rewrite the plans and get approval. The delays would also heavily cost the city, which, as we all know, gets its money from taxpayers with the additional 0.5% surcharge. Another solution would be extend the runway opposite of the rail, depending on the results of the airspace study.

Either way, it's a lose-lose situation thanks to the city's year-late response to address this problem.

A Prospective Perspective: Electric Cars

2010-03-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

The all-electric Nissan Leaf

The latest and greatest vehicles on the road will be at Hawaii's biggest car-show, among which will be several electric vehicles that will soon dominate Hawaii's car market. As we begin to move away from petroleum-based vehicles to more energy efficient ones such as hybrid and electric, we are moving closer to Governor Linda Lingle's goal of 70% clean energy by the year 2030.

However, there are still a few smears left on the glass. A few obstacles to mention include price, battery-life, recharging stations, and car size.

On the flip side, depending on gas prices, these cars would cost only about half as much per year compared to electric cars. The number of these electric cars will increase dramatically, according to projections taken from studies. It is estimated that by the year 2020, over 40,000 electric vehicles will be on the roads throughout Hawaii.

These electric cars provide a safe, clean, and renewable energy alternative to that of the gasoline cars of today. As the new era of electric vehicles progresses, a more wide array of choices will arise, such as increased range, the option of hybrids to plug in, and possibly hydrogen fuel cells.

Rod Tam Censured

2010-03-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

The Honolulu City Council has censured Rod Tam, who is running for Mayor after his two-term limit on the City Council. In fact, Tam even voted for the censure himself. It is glaringly obvious that he just wants to be mayor and really has little, if any, care as to anything else. He just wanted to pay off the fines so he could run for Mayor. And now he expects us to vote for him? Yeah, right, Mr. Tam.

Then he thinks about coming up the excuse of a few "math errors", or say, $10,000 worth of miscalculations. Oops! Too little, too late. And he still refuses to admit any wrongdoings.

This is a serious wake-up call to politics in Hawaii. How can these politicians stoop so low as to use City funds to reimburse personal meals? This is truly corruption and its finest.

I was reading one of the comments to the original article, and it made a very good point: Mayor Mufi Hannemann has wasted much more money through the Rail Project Delays and other inconveniences.

But, as it goes politics and economics have always been like a child and last night's vegetables, and sometimes, economics just won't go down politics' throat.

Increasing the GET

2010-03-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

So this is the current plan recently approved by a couple senate committees: raise the general excise tax by about one-percentage point through 2012 to help close the budget deficit. This would raise the tax to about 5% on neighboring islands and 5.5% on Oahu (from the rail surcharge).

The other alternative was to increase the tax for certain targeted businesses, but it was feared that the higher costs would be reflected throughout the industries.

An increase in the GET would be the best decision given the choices because these temporary taxes are generally taken better by citizens and are a nice way to generate more badly needed money. Thankfully, almost 40% of the GET, according to economists, is payed by tourists and other visitors to the islands.

However, it should be known that we cannot simply tax our way out of this recession. The key to a healthy economy is more money, goods, products, and services being pumped through the markets. Increasing these taxes does nothing to help that.

These temporary increases in taxes should be combined with certain tax credits to small businesses, local services, and so on to get the wheels of our economy turning once again.

Rail: Less Jobs Expected

2010-03-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

With unemployment just about 6.9%, Hawaii's current unemployed is over 43,000, according to the Hawaii Department of Labor statistics. This, when compared to the nation's unemployment (up to about 9.7%), is a decent number. When the rail project was originally proposed, one of its major benefits was the creation of over 10,000 jobs, (direct, indirect, and induced)according the figures used by Mayor Mufi Hannemann in 2002. However, newer estimates show differently.

These newer estimates, based on job multipliers by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), show that only about 7,100 jobs would be created. These estimates were based on a 2005 model.

Moreover, in order for the state to pay for the massive, $5.3 billion project, a half-percent general excise tax on O'ahu has been established for 15 years. This increase in tax causes small businesses to tighten their wallets, and possibly make layoffs. Though it hasn't been calculated, that number would have to be subtracted from the 7,100 or so jobs created by the rail.

After that, employment might increase by just about 1% from 590,000 to 596,000.

However, I'm hopeful that because these figures were created when the economic downturn wasn't at its worse: There will be more labor available than in 2005 and the job figures will be, if not met, very closely attained.

Censure for Rod Tam

2010-03-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

I greatly applaud Charles Djou for making it very clear to Tam that the council, nor the people of this city, tolerate this abhorrent abuse of both power and resources. The Ethics Commission (EC) found that Tam was breaching the standards of conduct by using funds to pay himself back for meals claimed by him to be connected to the council's business. The EC found that over $10,000 of reimbursements were of questionable origin during the last three years.

This would be the second censure vote in the past three years of Tam's position on the City Council.

I personally find this type of behavior a big disgrace to his fellow politicians on the council, as well as to the people of Honolulu. When Charles Djou imposed the censure, all Tam could muster was, "The guy is angry and I don't understand why," claiming he made a few "math errors."

Considering that this is not just the first time that Tam has been in trouble with the EC, possible future unethical actions, and the degree of his infringements against the city, Tam should be censured and I commend Djou for his movement. We must make it clear that the City and People of Honolulu see this type of behavior as unacceptable.

School Fixes Fund Special Election

2010-03-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Now this is disgusting. Although Lingle has the authority to appropriate no more than 10% of the funds of the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS), she has removed nearly $400,000 from the repair fund of neighbor island public schools.

DAGS comptroller Russ Saito said that these new restrictions won't affect neighbor island projects, despite the new conditions.

The current logjam of repairs is up to over $400 million for public school across the state, while the DAGS budget is less than $150 million. And with these new restrictions, DAGS cannot spend even close to that amount. From cracked walls and leaking roofs to termite problems and poor facilities, the problems for public school are backlogging at an appalling rate.

And the reason Lingle did this: she didn't want to ask the Legislature for more money, according to Rep. James Tokioka.

As I have emphasized before, an excellent system of education is the key to Hawaii's success as a state in the future, and a good, well-maintained learning environment is one of the constituents of that system.

What kind of system can take money from school repair projects to fund a special election? How can we take away the right for a learning experience that our keiki so justifiably deserve? By restricting and moving these funds for the special election, we are taking that right.

Koa Ridge: Pros & Cons

2010-03-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

Castle and Cooke's latest plan is to create a new community, Koa Ridge, makai of the H-2. This plan would involve building some 3,500 homes, creating a flurry of new, temporary jobs in the construction industry, but it would also displace many farmers and turn agricultural land into urban land.

This farmer-displacement could become a major problem to Oahu residents, as we currently import over 80% of our food to these islands. With so little fertile land left for the farmers and agriculturists, they would be displaced to land currently owned by Dole.

But in the long run, however, this would be a beneficial decision by Castle and Cooke. As I mentioned before, this new community would create many more urgently needed jobs.

The displaced farmers would also be offered more land than they originally had.

It is also planned to be more environmentally-friendly than ever before, and with strategies to address other problems such as education, traffic, affordable housing, and other community issues, this is a win-win situation.

Castle & Cooke: Koa Ridge Project

Budget Cuts Fueling the Fire

2010-03-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

According to a handful of leading Hawaii economists, the budget cuts that have been introduced to many government programs and services are actually worsening the economic recession, or more officially, the economic downturn.

These economists said at the Capitol yesterday that budget cuts have a circular effect: lower paychecks equate to less money spent, which means less tax revenue. It is estimated that for every dollar cut from the budget, the economic impact is double that, so one can only imagine the problems when over $600 million is cut.

The solution is clear: We need to get more money pumping through the State. Figuring out how to do that is not as clear-cut. Some propose imposing temporary tax hikes and taking money from special funds.

We cannot simply tax our way out of this crisis, which is why I would also support a State-run program promoting small businesses in the high-tech and renewable energy industry through tax credits. This would create a flurry of new jobs; job creation, as the Governor said, should be a main priority of the state.

We're definitely at the bottom of the ditch, but we will still urgently need more encouragement to start our climb.

Destroying Hawaii's Future

2010-03-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

I must applaud the House for its efforts to increase funding, especially in the area of education, as it has somehow managed to pump an additional $50 million to go toward teacher furloughs. Moreover, the House has also been able to retrieve $3 million for public libraries and save about a thousand state jobs.

However, I am disappointed to say that despite these hopeful movements, the House also plans to strip $18 million from the DOE's "student formula", which will mostly likely lead to increased class sizes. Furthermore, the budget cuts include $10 million of the UH campuses. In total, with other budget cuts, the DOE will be receiving $70 million less.

If the Senate approves this bill, it will only further worsen our education crisis. Education is the basis of the successes, or, as I fear, failures, of future generations. The education that kids receive today will help to change the world of tomorrow. Education is our future.

Even when the DOE's funding is at a nearly all-time low, the House still seems to have worked up the pluck to further cut their budgets.

Although I am not a state worker and have no idea what it may be like, the state furloughing its workers was a bad move to start off with. Not attacking the teachers, if they Union really wanted to, I mean if they really were willing to sacrifice their time for their students, the Union would have taken a pay cut. But politics got in the way of things. Furloughs just take learning time away from the students who need it most: They are effectively destroying Hawaii's future.

I don't believe that we can tax our way out of this recession, nor can we simply spend our way out; the path ahead is not such a simple one. However, whether it involves pay cuts, tightening our wallets, or not spending as much on unnecessaries, I believe that we will come out of this recession stronger than before.