OHA Check Register 2022--Insiders Rake in $1.2M for Kakaako Makai Lobbying
Money Laundering: Feds Unmask Shell Companies Behind Hawaii Real Estate Purchases
Crichton: Environmentalism is a religion
Ira Einhorn, Earth Day's Dirty Secret
Bill 21 is 'Affordable Housing' a windowless box surrounded by drug-addicted zombies?
EDITOR’s NOTE: Does 'Affordable Housing' in Honolulu mean a windowless box surrounded by drug-addicted zombies? Is this just another way to convince people to move to the mainland? Not surprising that Bill 21 comes from long-time construction lobbyist Tyler Delos Santos. It is a plan to build ‘affordable’ housing so unappealing that it will never compete with Hoopili or Koa Ridge.
SA: … The Honolulu City Council is expected to consider Bill 21, introduced by Council member Tyler Dos-Santos Tam earlier this year, which is intended to provide flexibility for certain ventilation and lighting requirements related to local, state and international building codes….
As drafted, Bill 21 relates to ventilation and natural light for multifamily housing “by means of windows or skylights with an area of not less than one-tenth of the floor area of such rooms with a minimum of 10 square feet.”…
As far as anyone taking over the Walmart site for a residential project, according to Luzar, there has been no official declaration from any developer over converting the empty Walmart space into residences.
However, Luzar asserted that Christine Camp, president and CEO of real estate development company Avalon Group Hawaii — which is currently doing another office-to-residential conversion that’s already received a DPP exemption — has expressed interest….
UPDATE -- Response from Christine Camp: "I am not converting Walmart into anything. I don’t know why my name and company were mentioned in the (Star-Adv) article. I have no intention to buy Walmart to convert it into residential the way it is. That box without windows would be a nightmare to convert. I am working on other projects in the area but not Walmart. And every unit that I build does and will have operable windows that open to the outside."
Camp: "City Council Housing Proposal Is Not About Homes Without Windows"
PDF Bill 21: LINK
NOTE: Bill 21 creates a broad-based exemption from these existing minimum requirements found in ROH16A-4.4: “In lieu of required openable windows for natural ventilation, a mechanical ventilation system may be provided for all spaces except bedrooms.” …“A required window in a service roam may open into a vent shaft that is open and unobstructed to the sky and not less than 4 feet in least dimension.” … “required windows may open into a roofed porch or lanai where the porch or lanai: (A) Abuts a public way, yard, or court; (B) Has a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet; and (C) Has the longer side at least 50 percent open and unobstructed. The area affixed openings in open guardrails (!) of minimum height (HINT: parking garage) may be credited for this requirement.” (CLUE: Walmart’s downtown Parking Garage has 7’ ceilings.)
CB: No Window In Your Bedroom? It Could Be The Future Of Low-Cost Housing In Honolulu
Developer: City Council Housing Proposal Is Not About Homes Without Windows --"allowing bedroom designs that, for example, may have a glass door/transparent door that opens into an area WITH windows"
read … City Council considers helping turn empty commercial space into housing
Hawaii joint committee approves another clean-government bill
SA: … A joint House and Senate committee Friday unanimously endorsed another bill aimed at rooting out political corruption by making it a Class C felony for committing a crime of “official misconduct.”
“This is an important measure that helps to further our goal this session to strengthen our laws to prevent official misconduct and corruption that we have seen too many cases of in recent time,” said Rep. David Tarnas, chair of the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, who recommended that House and Senate members of the conference committee approve the latest version of House Bill 986.
The bill went to conference committee after it was amended to become official “upon approval.”…
Other bills intended to clean up government corruption are also scheduled to go before conference committee, including:
>> The latest version of HB 727, which prohibits “a ballot issue committee to donate surplus funds to a community service, educational, youth, recreational, charitable, scientific, or literary organization” and prohibits campaign funds “to be used to buy up to two tickets for an event or fundraiser held by another candidate or committee.”
>> The latest version of Senate Bill 203, which allows the Campaign Spending Commission “to treat a respondent’s failure to explain or otherwise respond to a complaint alleging a violation of campaign spending laws” as a “presumption that a violation has occurred.”…
read … Hawaii joint committee approves another clean-government bill
Domestic Violence: Why I left Hawaii
HNN: … Every day, dozens of people in Hawaii flee abuse in their homes and find safe haven in transitional housing or eight emergency shelters across the state.
But for very serious cases, a flight may be the only way to survive.
That was the situation for Maila Villacruzes, who says staying on Oahu kept her trapped in a toxic cycle of abuse.
“It’s a flight to freedom. It’s a new life and a new chance. And I’m so blessed,” she said, before boarding a flight to the mainland.
How Maila got here is a story many domestic violence survivors can relate to….
read … For a domestic violence survivor, this one flight meant freedom
Timeline for completing redeveloped Aloha Stadium pushed back a another year, LOL!
KHON: … Here we go again! The new Aloha Stadium has hit another delay and will likely not be ready until the 2028 football season. It was only last month when the governor announced that the stadium would be delayed until 2027.
(At the year-a-month delay rate, the new Aloha Stadium should be scheduled for 2035 by December!)
State Sen. Glenn Wakai was on PBS Hawaii’s Insights show and said the state administration still has not released the RFP, or Request For Proposal, for the new stadium, and will likely not be ready any time soon. So football will not be played there until the 2028 season. A spokesperson for Aloha Stadium confirmed the timeline. It’s another round of disappointment for schools who can only wait for the venue to open up again.
“Even our state tournament, we’d love to have it there, our championships, our semi-finals. But we’ve kind of adjusted to what’s happening and it’s something you just gotta deal with,” said Harold Tanaka of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
It’s not just football. Promoters say that means the wait is even longer for a big name artist to come here for a concert.
“We simply don’t have an alternative here and so losing a stadium for that many years is simply losing opportunities. That may not come back around,” said Barb Saito, concert promoter.
Saito says that also means a substantial loss of revenue for the state.
“They do bring money in and it’s a disappointment for people that would go to these shows. They don’t have the opportunity to enjoy the kind of entertainment they would really love to see, and that means they’re flying to shows in other parts of the nation,” said Saito.
read … Timeline for completing redeveloped Aloha Stadium pushed back a year
Hawaii CEO pay rose only slightly in 2022, but critics say executive salaries are still too high
HNN: … A tougher business climate and higher interest rates led to smaller pay raises for Hawaii’s top CEOs last year.
But critics complain that local CEO compensation is still too high.
Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show that average CEO compensation in Hawaii rose just 2% in 2022 to about $3.4 million….
read … Hawaii CEO pay rose only slightly in 2022, but critics say executive salaries are still too high
Legislative Agenda:
QUICK HITS: