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Sunday, July 17, 2022
July 17, 2022 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 6:50 PM :: 4367 Views

It’s Tourism, Mooooo

Hawaii Congressional Delegation How They Voted July 16, 2022

Crime Families Rake in Lots of Campaign Contributions

CB: …Makua Rothman … reported raising $100,816 from Jan. 1 to June 30 after starting this year with no money. He’s hoping to represent District 2, which encompasses a variety of neighborhoods on the North Shore.

(Makua’s father is Eddie Rothman.) 

The incumbent, Heidi Tsuneyoshi, is vacating her seat to run for governor as a Republican.

Rothman, who has benefited from supportive ('protected') business owners and political action committees, spent more than $73,000 on fundraisers, T-shirts, political signs and professional services, leaving him with $17,737….

Trailing behind Rothman in fundraising is former city prosecutor Matt Weyer who raised $61,164 in the last six months. He still has $22,878 after spending $38,286, considering he started the election with no money.

Weyer received $4,000 each from House District 25 candidate Kim Coco Iwamoto, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Waters. He also got $1,000 from Sen. Stanley Chang and $250 from council member Esther Kiaaina.

(Convicted cocaine dealer) Chad Tsuneyoshi, a political consultant, businessman and Heidi Tsuneyoshi’s ex-husband, raised $23,110 so far this year. He’s left with $8,125 after spending $14,984 on banners and fliers.

Tsuneyoshi received $4,000 from a family member, $2,000 from Local Union 293 State Legislature Fund, $3,000 from Plumbers and Pipefitters PAC Fund and $1,000 from the president of PVT Landfill….

Background: Cocaine News Update: Is Council District 2 Reserved for Crime Families?

read … Newcomers Step Up Fundraising In Honolulu Council Race

Indicted Kealoha Conspirator is First to Donate to Ikaika Anderson LG Campaign

CB: … PAC money is also a factor in Anderson’s campaign. The construction industry, through its super PAC Be Change Now, is spending more than $136,000 on ads supporting the former city councilman.

Anderson raised $113,735 in the first six months of the year. His first donation in 2022 was $500 from Max Sword, the former chairman of the police commission facing federal charges for his role in a large payout to former Police Chief Louis Kealoha….

read … The Top Hawaii LG Candidates Have Spent $2 Million Telling Voters Who They Are

Corporate Money Flows to Kai Kahele PAC--buys him slot at Democratic Convention

SA: … U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele received nearly $13,000 in donations from mainland political action committees — including one representing the billionaire owner of the Miami Heat basketball team — then less than a month later condemned such contributions, saying “Hawaii is not for sale.”

Kahele announced his candidacy for governor on May 8, saying he had been part of the problem of accepting money from mainland and corporate interests and political action committees.

But beginning April 15, Kahele’s congressional campaign received donations from six mainland PACs including $5,000 from the Washington, D.C.-based Air Line Pilots Association, of which Kahele is a union member as a Hawaiian Airlines pilot; $2,500 each from the Communications Workers of America and International Association of Firefighters, both based in Washington, D.C.; $1,500 from Alaska Air Group Inc. in Seattle; and $1,400 from the Coral Gables, Fla.-based PAC named on behalf of Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Cruises, who was reported to be worth more than $9 billion. His wife, Madeleine Arison, also donated to Kahele, in the amount of $1,600….

Kahele made nearly $27,000 in campaign donations to six candidates and incumbents hoping to represent congressional districts including California, Illinois, Minnesota and New Jersey.

His congressional campaign also donated $5,000 to the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC and a whopping $250,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of House Democrats….

Kahele also donated $10,000 to the Democratic Party of Hawaii ahead of the three-day party convention at the ‘Alohilani Resort in Waikiki in late May.

By making a $10,000 donation at the highest “‘Ilima Level,” Kahele was provided lodging and “prime” locations to display campaign materials. He also spoke as a candidate for governor, “just like Vicky and Josh,” Kahele said, referring to the other major Democratic gubernatorial contenders, Lt. Gov. Josh Green and Vicky Cayetano, a business entrepreneur and former Hawaii first lady….

read … Kai Kahele uses PAC donations to help Democrats

Usual Inouye-Connected Suspects Give to Tokuda For Congress

CB: … Tokuda’s donor list includes some of the most recognizable names in Hawaii business and politics.

Among the top contributors is Jennifer Sabas, a lobbyist who once served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye, who died in 2012. Tokuda and Sabas have worked closely together over the years, including in 2015 when Sabas’ consulting firm, Kaimana Hila, was one of her clients.

The late senator’s close confidant and campaign adviser, Walter Dods, also gave thousands of dollars to Tokuda’s campaign. Dods has served as chairman of some of Hawaii’s most iconic and powerful businesses, including Matson, First Hawaiian Bank and Alexander & Baldwin.

Tokuda received major donations from well known lawyers Paul Alston, William McCorriston and Bill Kaneko, who was former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s campaign manager, as well as from major island developers, such as Jeffrey Stone, Everett Dowling and Bert Kobayashi.

More than two dozen Matson executives and employees, including CEO and chairman Matthew Cox, donated $23,000 to Tokuda’s campaign.

She also received a boost from U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a close friend and political ally. Hirono’s Pineapple PAC donated $5,000 to Tokuda’s campaign. The senator also formed a joint fundraising committee with Tokuda — called the Hirono Tokuda Victory Fund — that so far has reported raising nearly $18,000.

Other outside spending groups that have donated to Tokuda include Emily’s List, which backs pro-choice women for office, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Medicare for All PAC.

Branco received more than $92,000 from individual donors, including from foreign services officers and diplomats working for the State Department. Branco is a former diplomat.

A number of lobbyists in Washington and Hawaii donated to Branco’s campaign, including Bruce Coppa and Blake Oshiro.

The political action committees for Matson and Alexander & Baldwin both contributed to Branco’s bid for Congress as have the leadership PACs of a number of federal legislators affiliated with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The caucus and several of its members have endorsed Branco, who is Latino and Native Hawaiian.

Branco, who is openly gay, has also received $5,000 from Equality PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus….

read … Case, Tokuda Dominate The Democratic Money Race For Congress

MMA Fighter, Anti-Vaxxer Top GOP Fund Race

CB: … Retired MMA fighter BJ Penn led the top Republican candidates for governor in fundraising during the first half of this year after raking in $225,000, according to recently filed campaign spending reports.

He’s trailed closely by Oahu contractor and activist Gary Cordery, who raised $205,536 between Jan. 1 and June 30. Cordery outspent the other candidates, including Penn, dropping $185,276 on the race so far.

Honolulu City Council member Heidi Tsuneyoshi raised about $36,000 and spent $29,000. Former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona entered the race last and is trailing after raising $23,620.

The GOP primary candidates have raised far less than their Democratic counterparts, who are spending millions of dollars of personal funds and donor money to sway voters ahead of the Primary Election on Aug. 13. Mail-in ballots go out July 26….

read … Penn Leads Aiona, Cordery, Tsuneyoshi In GOP Fundraising For Governor

Grab for Tourism Contract Puts CNHA in Spotlight after COVID Growth

CB: … When Hawaii’s Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement holds its annual Native Hawaiian Convention starting Tuesday, the event will mark a significant inflection point for the organization – a coming-of-age party for a 21-year-old nonprofit that started with the modest vision of bringing Hawaiian advocacy groups together.

Now, in one demonstration of its burgeoning power, the council is preparing to host one of the landmark political events of the election season: Thursday night’s televised debates among the major candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.

In another coup, the council is on the verge of taking over Hawaii’s tourism marketing contract for the mainland U.S., the state’s flagship travel promotion, worth $34 million over two years. The council (allegedly) built a team of marketing, research and media firms (some of whom didn’t know they were included) and (after stacking the selection committee) snatched the contract from the venerable Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, which has marketed Hawaii for more than a century….

Sponsors include Hawaii’s largest companies and nonprofits, including Hawaiian Airlines, First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, Hawaiian Electric, The Queen’s Health System and the Hawaii Community Foundation, as well as national companies like AT&T and Amazon.

With 1,500 registered attendees, this year’s convention will be the council’s largest, Lewis said….

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement went from landing grants and contributions worth just over $1 million in 2018 to $70 million in 2021. …

A close look at CNHA’s financial records shows something extraordinary over the past several years: a growth in annual grants and contributions from just over $1 million annually in 2018 to $70 million in 2021.

Specifically, the council’s federal tax return for the year ended September 2019 shows the organization received contributions and grants of about $1.9 million that year, which was up from $1.1 million the year before.

The next year – as the coronavirus pandemic hit, and CNHA stepped up to play a role helping manage relief funds – grants and contributions rose to just under $10.9 million. By 2021, the council reported $70.4 million in government grants and contracts.

This wasn’t just CDFI money but also coronavirus funds for rent relief, which the council stepped up to help administer, in tandem with Catholic Charities Hawaii….

Best Comment: “Like many nonprofits, this seems like an enormous grift. Are we really to believe that a 21 year old organization formed around Native Hawaiian advocacy has suddenly become an expert in banking, marketing, and ecommerce? Seems a bit like the mafia.”

(Prediction: Jail.)

REALITY: Fraud: CNHA Should be Banned from Future bidding

read … Native Hawaiian Nonprofit Is Suddenly In The Spotlight

Fire code violation contributed to Red Hill fuel leak, report finds

SA: … Navy officials and their contractors violated the Department of Defense’s fire code when they installed PVC piping instead of steel throughout a new fire suppression system at Red Hill. After recognizing the error in 2017, instead of fixing it, they chose to save on costs and replace only a small portion of the PVC piping.

The sloppy handling of the pipeline system, which was designed to deploy aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, a fire suppressant, was a major factor that led to fuel contaminating the Navy’s drinking water system in November, according to a Navy investigation into last year’s fuel spills at Red Hill that was released June 30. The PVC piping also increased the risk of a fire at the underground facility that currently holds more than 100 million gallons of fuel.

In November, a Red Hill worker inadvertently crashed the passenger cart of a train into a fire suppression line, cracking one of the PVC valves. More than 19,000 gallons of fuel that was never supposed to be in the pipe came gushing out, flowed down a tunnel and ultimately made its way into the Navy’s Red Hill drinking water well and the taps of residents living around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam….

If the pipeline had been made of steel, as the fire code required, the damage likely would have been averted, according to the report, which cited a long list of other operational, maintenance and management failures at Red Hill that contributed to the disaster.

The report also found that the pipeline rupture was largely foreseen….

Shapiro: The Navy keeps getting sunk by its own lies on Red Hill

read … Fire code violation contributed to Red Hill fuel leak, report finds

Kaua‘i Police Department revising firearm application

TGI: … KPD said it is working with the state Department of the Attorney General and respective county attorneys in revising the firearms application to carry and permit process to comply with the Bruen ruling.

The KPD anticipates the revised firearms application to carry will be available to the public within the next 30 days.

Persons wishing to apply for a permit to carry will be required to submit an application on the revised firearms application for review and consideration.

No permits have been issued on island in response to the Bruen decision at this time, KPD said….

read … Kaua‘i Police Department revising firearm application

Nine time loser Gets Probation: Promoting porn to minors charge dropped in plea deal

HTH: … Moniz pleaded no contest on April 11 to the terroristic threatening charge — which was added by prosecutors on March 30 this year in a complaint superseding the original indictment.

In return for her plea, prosecutors dropped the original charge of promoting pornography for minors, also a Class C felony, which is punishable by up to five years imprisonment upon conviction….

Moniz was originally indicted by a Hilo grand jury on Oct. 23, 2019, for the alleged incident on Nov. 20, 2017.

She was 42 when the indictment was filed. The victim, identified only by initials, was born in 2002 and is now legally an adult.

Nakamoto ordered Moniz to return to court on Sept. 28 for a proof-of-compliance hearing about her probation.

Moniz will not have to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.

A check of Hawaii court records indicated nine criminal convictions for Moniz between 1997 and 2016, but none were for felonies. Those include four convictions for driving under the influence of an intoxicant, plus unlawful use of a driver’s license, theft, violating a protective order, inattention to driving and contempt of court….

read … Promoting porn to minors charge dropped in plea deal

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