September 9, 2025 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

September 9, 2025 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 4:05 PM :: 695 Views

Brighter days ahead for Hawaii’s permitting conundrum

HPD ‘Tried’ To Fire This Cop. He’s Retiring With A Giant Pension Instead

CB: … The police department has opened an inquiry into the 2,375 hours of overtime filed last year by Darren Cachola ….

During his 29 years with the Honolulu Police Department, Darren Cachola was repeatedly accused of violently assaulting women, fired after a video surfaced of him hitting his girlfriend in a restaurant and sued for his role supervising DUI checkpoints where sober drivers were arrested.

Though his well-publicized bad behavior repeatedly tarnished the police department, Cachola always managed to walk away unscathed, regaining his job and clocking in enough overtime hours in his final years on the force to retire on Aug. 1 with a pension that could approach what the chief earns.

As a final goodbye to policing, Cachola distributed a flyer inviting family and friends to a retirement party on Aug. 22. It reads “The man, the myth, the legend” and contains a photo of a protester holding a sign with Cachola’s face next to the faces of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd in 2020, and George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in 2012. …

The administrative sergeant is being sued by the ACLU for his actions supervising DUI checkpoints where attorneys say more than 100 sober drivers were arrested for driving under the influence. Staffing at the checkpoints was paid as overtime through a grant, which incentivized the officers to work the checkpoints and make more arrests.

Cachola raked in major amounts of overtime in his final three years on the force. During his last year as an officer, he claimed more than 2,300 hours of overtime, the equivalent of working roughly 45 extra hours a week, every single week.

This also means he more than doubled his salary in his final year of work, vastly boosting his pension. Retirement payments for most government workers are based on the average of their highest three years of earnings. For those hired before 2012, the average includes overtime.

Taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $200,000 a year for the rest of Cachola’s retirement. By comparison, former Chief Joe Logan earned $231,648 and Mayor Rick Blangiardi earns $209,856. …

read … HPD Tried To Fire This Cop. He’s Retiring With A Giant Pension Instead - Honolulu Civil Beat

If We Build The Infrastructure, The Housing Will Come

CB: … We already know the main reasons local people struggle to afford homes: complicated rules, expensive land, limited financing and — most especially — years of not investing enough in public infrastructure.

This lack of investment means developers pay for upgrades, then pass those costs to renters and buyers. But understanding the problem is one thing. Actually fixing it is another.

Numbers illustrate how stalled infrastructure investment impacts housing. In Iwilei-Kapālama, 27,500 new homes require $667 million in upfront infrastructure investment. Maui’s Kaʻahumanu Avenue initiative needs $7 million for water infrastructure for 2,200 units. Līhuʻe Town Core could add 775 homes but needs $8 million for last-mile water and wastewater connections. Ane Keohokalole Highway Corridor has 4,200 units pending, needing $462 million investment.

Hawaiʻi’s housing shortage is fundamentally an infrastructure shortage….

read … Beth Fukumoto: If We Build The Infrastructure, The Housing Will Come - Honolulu Civil Beat

Residential project leases coming to more than 1,100 DHHL beneficiaries on Maui

MN: … Residential project leases will be awarded to four subdivisions:

Leialiʻi 1B (DO THE MATH: $128M / 155 units = $826K per unit)
- Lahaina, Maui
- Future homestead lots: 155
- Start of construction: 2026
- Occupation begins: 2028
- Project costs: $128 million
- Developer: Dowling Company, Inc.
Waiehu Mauka (DO THE MATH: $95M / 343 units = $277K per unit)
- Wailuku, Maui
- Future homestead lots: 343
- Start of construction: 2027
- Occupation begins: 2030
- Project costs: $95 million
- Developer: Dowling Company, Inc.
Wailuku Single-Family (DO THE MATH: $45M / 204 units = $221K per unit)
- Wailuku, Maui
- Future homestead lots: 204
- Start of construction: 2026
- Occupation begins: 2029
- Project costs: $45 million
- Developer: Dowling Company, Inc.
Kamalani (DO THE MATH: $35M / 400 units = $88K per unit)
- Kīhei, Maui
- Future homestead lots: 400
- Start of construction: 2026
- Occupation begins: 2028
- Project costs: $35.1 million
- Developer: Gentry Homes

Project leases — this administration’s take on undivided interest lease awards last issued in the early 2000s…

read … Residential project leases coming to more than 1,100 DHHL beneficiaries on Maui : Maui Now

Good Money After Bad: Only HHFDC has what it takes to LOSE money in Hawaii Real Estate

SA: … An “extraordinary boutique condominium” midrise in Kakaako is headed for an extraordinary intervention by a state agency trying to salvage a nearly $10 million investment in the project.

(CLUE: HHFDC will dump another $6M into this turkey.)

If successful, the plan also would allow Hawaii residents to buy some unsold moderate-price units in the nearly four-year-old building, The Block 803 Waimanu, at a discount through a rent-to-own program.

For over a year, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. has been wrestling with how to recoup a $9.8 million loan it made to The Block’s developer, who received the loan as part of making many condos in the project affordable to moderate-income households.

Despite initial subsidized prices as low as $276,102 for some studios, 48 units were still unsold as of July, representing 31% of the 153-unit project.

(DO THE MATH: 48 x $276K = $13.25M $16M - $13.25M = $2.75M loss.)

Foreclosing on The Block wasn’t attractive for HHFDC in part because another lender with its own outstanding loan to the project’s developer has a repayment priority. Agency staff in May offered up several options for the agency’s board to consider, while the developer also proposed his own plan to avoid default.

HHFDC board members in July unanimously decided on essentially paying off the other lender, which is owed about $5.8 million, by purchasing many unsold units.

The additional investment in the troubled project means less available funding for new affordable-housing development projects financed by HHFDC…

SA: Editorial: Get creative to save The Block | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … State agency to further invest in troubled Kakaako condo | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii Green Fee survey reveals 170 project submissions

PBN: … A new climate tax in Hawaii is set to generate millions for environmental projects, and a recent survey found there are proposals from across the state seeking a piece of the funding….

(VISUALIZE: Pigs at trough.)

read … Hawaii Green Fee survey reveals 170 project submissions - Pacific Business News

Kauaʻi sets new standard with wildfire mitigation ordinance

KN: … Bill 2961 introduces new wildfire safety regulations for plantation camps to enhance the safety of homes and families. The changes call for a 5-foot clear zone immediately around houses, with no flammable items, safer spacing, and regular upkeep of plants within 30 feet, as well as low, well-maintained vegetation up to 100 feet.

Homes will need fire-resistant roofs, ember-proof vents, stronger windows, and screened crawl spaces. …

… The ordinance is effective immediately, applying to all new development applications in plantation camp districts. To learn more, view Bill 2961 here.

TGI: County strengthens wildfire safety in West Kauai plantation camp communities - The Garden Island

read … Kauaʻi sets new standard with wildfire mitigation ordinance : Kauai Now

Mass Deportations Ensnare Military Members, Veterans with Criminal Record

CB: … Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, U.S. Army veteran Sae Joon Park kept in mind a warning from an immigration officer: If Donald Trump were elected, Park would likely be at risk for deportation.

Park was 7 when he came to the U.S. from Seoul, South Korea. He joined the Army at 19 and received a Purple Heart after being shot in Panama. After leaving the military, he lived with PTSD, leading to addiction issues.

After a 2009 arrest on a drug charge, Park was eventually ordered deported. But because he was a veteran, he was granted deferred action, allowing him to remain in the U.S. while he checked in with immigration officials annually….

read … Mass Deportations Ensnare Military Members, Veterans - Honolulu Civil Beat

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