Hawaii Daily News Read

Monday, October 12, 2026

October 12, 2026 News Read

By Andrew Walden @ 9:50 AM :: 179 Views

Hawaii: Money in Politics Becomes an 'Open Secret'

OHA Candidate Literally on Payroll of Big Developers

CB: … Kalei Akaka and Hina Wong are facing off for a seat on the nine-member Board of Trustees….

Ethics filings show Wong reported earning at least $150,000 as a cultural adviser for the Hawaiian Council, Group 70, Kamehameha Schools and Ward Village. If elected, ‘she’ plans to continue ‘her’ ‘work’ as an adviser unless those jobs conflict with ‘her’ trustee duties. (‘They’ will ‘find’ that it doesn’t.)

She said ‘she’ took on the role of advising development in Ward Village ~~years ago so that a Hawaiian voice would~~ (to) be close to decisionmakers (and their money). It overlapped with ‘her’ time on the burial council, but (Wong got away with it and) ‘she’ said ‘she’ recused herself whenever board decisions affecting Ward came up (uh-huh)….

(Wong became a ‘cultural advisor’ on the payroll of big developers just as his previous role as ‘director of culture’, for the corrupt Halau Lokahi Public Charter School ended because the school was closed down by state for corruption.)

Wong, (the Perfect Servant of the Elite,) has raised more than $70,000 so far in the leadup to the general election. Donors who have contributed at least $2,000 include Malia Kaaihue, CEO of consulting firm DTL; Kūhiō Lewis, president and CEO of the Hawaiian Council; Veronica Kawānanakoa, (the transsexual) ‘wife’ of the late Princess Abigail Kawānanakoa; resort developer Jeff Stone; and the labor union representing ironworkers….

2023: Kumu Hina Wong-Kalu, director of culture, corrupt Halau Lokahi Public Charter School (which was closed down by state)

2015: Oahu Burial Council Chair on Payroll of Kakaako Developer

2014: No Surprise: DoE Includes Tranny on Pono Choices Review Panel

Read … Military Leases, Kakaʻako, Control Of Board At Issue In OHA Oʻahu Race - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii Senate plans hearing on kauhale project after critical audit

SA: … Like several other House and Senate members, San Buenaventura said she does not want to halt construction of kauhale communities, which are intended to move people from the streets into housing and connect them with services. Instead, she said, “We need to try and tighten up the problems.”

Legislators say they want to ensure that the Statewide Office of Homelessness and Housing Solutions (SOHHS) has properly trained staff to oversee kauhale spending by nonprofit builder HomeAid Hawai‘i, a hui of builders and developers that’s on pace to open a total of 33 kauhale communities across the state by the end of the year. …

But there’s got to be a point where we can’t use it as an emergency. There needs to be a strategic plan to reduce homelessness instead of this patchwork. I asked for a plan last session and still haven’t gotten it.”

Sen. Sharon Moriwaki, the Senate Ways and Means Committee vice chair, said Green’s use of emergency proclamations that allowed kauhale construction to accelerate after he was elected in 2022 also have allowed state funding to be mismanaged and almost “abused.” She said she worries about lax oversight by the state….

The kauhale concerns are not new. On April 20, as the legislative session began winding down, State Auditor Less Kondo notified the Legislature of the need for “immediate attention” to the kauhale effort to address “improper use of public funds.”

“We are concerned that significant deficiencies in internal control in the Statewide Office of Homelessness and Housing Solutions’ (SOHHS) implementation of the kauhale initiative create an ongoing and substantial risk of improper use of public funds,” Kondo said in his memo.

The memo raised concerns among House and Senate conference committee members that resulted in the death of a kauhale funding bill on the last day of conference committee negotiations, said Sen. Troy Hashimoto (D, Wailuku-Kahului-Waihee), who serves on the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Senate Bill 2803 would have required the state Department of Human Services to come up with a reorganization plan for the Office of Homelessness and Housing Solutions, including annual reports to the Legislature. SB 2803 also would have authorized issuing general obligation bonds to fund additional kauhale efforts….

Read … Hawaii Senate plans hearing on kauhale project after critical audit | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Star-Adv: Legislators Must Evade Court Rulings to Slip 400 Flock Cameras into Hawaii

SA: … This month, U.S. District Judge Sara Hill said dragnet-style surveillance while in public is reasonable and accepted, but found Flock’s indiscriminate, passive and long-term location recording a bridge too far. Previous rulings turned on the point at which ALPR searches become mass surveillance. Hawaii lawmakers must devise and adopt clear rules and restrictions to ensure DLE’s solution does not reach that inflection point, perhaps by limiting its effective surveillance footprint or titrating data retention periods….

Big Q: Do you support automated license-plate cameras being used for law enforcement? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Read … Editorial: Set ground rules for ALPR cameras | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Pension? What Pension? How Mike Lambert Ends up Staying at DLE

CB: … Earlier this year, Mike Lambert threw a curve ball: He was leaving the top job at the Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement and returning to the Honolulu Police Department.

The move was the only way to obtain the full retirement benefits for 21 years of HPD service, he said. And he was applying to be HPD’s chief. As the only local candidate, he drew strong endorsements from Gov. Josh Green, Mayor Rick Blangiardi and 90% of the rank and file officers represented by the police union.

But in June, Honolulu’s police commission picked David Lazar to lead HPD, leaving Lambert in an awkward position. He’d already nominated his deputy, Jared Redulla, to take the lead of DLE.

Now Lambert is still serving the agency he headed, but in a civil service position as chief special investigator. And he is taking the hit to his pension benefits that he had wanted to avoid. …

The scenario has parallels with former Big Island police chief Ben Moszkowicz who resigned in anticipation of a successful run for HPD chief, and ended up out of both jobs. Lambert however managed to keep his foothold at DLE….

Lambert will forfeit 11% of his retirement payout, because the special chief investigator job carries the same retirement penalty as the director.

Redulla will go before the state Senate in January for confirmation.

Lambert said the chief special investigator position was not created as a soft landing for him after he was passed over for chief. …

DLE Acting Director Redulla said in a statement that Lambert will be integral to continuing efforts against illegal fireworks and agricultural crime — initiatives which “gained a lot of traction” during Lambert’s tenure as director. … And Lambert has been very hands-on establishing a network of 400 surveillance cameras across the state …

read … State Law Enforcement Chief Voluntarily Demoted - Honolulu Civil Beat

Federal, local investigations spur fresh scrutiny and calls for more oversight of Maui Police Department

MN: … The Police Department’s public relations crisis comes right around the five-year mark of Pelletier’s tenure on Maui. Pelletier was a former Las Vegas police captain before being selected for the job. His outsider status was seen as an asset by some police commissioners and elected officials who hoped he would clean up the force.

At the time, the department was dealing with fallout over claims by an officer that members of the Criminal Intelligence Unit had kidnapped and unlawfully interrogated him over a leaked surveillance video showing then-Chief Tivoli Faaumu’s hit-and-run in a mall parking lot.

“I swore an oath to fight crime, to fight evil,” Pelletier said during a Friday news conference that was held in Honolulu rather than Maui. “I came here as an outsider to fight corruption. It’s amazing to me how hard evil fights back and it’s amazing how deep the corruption is.” …

Residents like Masuda and her partner Jake Carton, a volunteer project organizer with Maui Indivisible, want to see more oversight of the police department, pointing not just to the incident with Vaituulala but also the recent arrest and indictment of veteran police officer Devin Schoeppner, who is facing multiple counts of sexual assault.

They have pushed for the Maui County Council to use its power of the purse to conduct an audit of the department or conduct an investigation of its own….

Chuck Spence, the co-chair of the Multi-Cultural Advisory Counsel created by Pelletier to represent marginalized groups in the community, disagreed with the decision to put Pelletier on leave because he has yet to be linked “to any of the nefarious activity.” He questioned whether the commission’s investigation could come up with better findings than the FBI.

“It’s just a waste of taxpayer dollars, and that’s what’s so upsetting,” Spence said.

Spence agreed that when the news broke about Vaituulala’s arrest, the “knee-jerk reaction is to have mistrust of what’s occurring,” but he thinks the community is still supportive of Pelletier as chief.

“Yes, there are still very, very great concerns that still exist,” Spence said. “Based on what I’m hearing and seeing, I think that things have vastly improved.” …

Rubenstein said, “You take a crisis, and you create an opportunity out of it.”…

read … Federal, local investigations spur fresh scrutiny and calls for more oversight of Maui Police Department : Maui Now

Man accused of 2022 deadly stabbing in Chicago found in Hawaii

WGN: … Reed is accused of stabbing a 55-year-old man to death on New Year’s Eve in 2022 (that’s Dec 31, 2022) in the 300 block of West 87th Street. …He was located taken into custody at O’Hare by US Marshals Saturday, but Chicago police said he was previously located and extradited from Hawaii….

ECOURTKOKUA: Nasir Reed Criminal Written Complaint Jan 13, 2023 –been in OCCC and State Hospital ever since (Just two weeks after Chicago murder, Reed is already under arrest in Hawaii for theft, terroristic threatening.)

read … Man accused of 2022 deadly stabbing in Chatham found in Hawaii | WGN-TV

Air Force secretary’s space weapons confirmation gives usual suspects a new excuse to demand money from planned Haleakalā telescopes

MN: … Air Force Secretary Troy Meink’s confirmation that the United States has deployed weapons in orbit has ~~raised new concerns on Maui about~~ (given the usual suspects another excuse to oppose) the Air Force’s plan to build up to seven more telescopes atop Haleakalā, a summit many Native Hawaiians consider sacred.

Speaking Sept. 14 at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Maryland, Meink said the United States has “on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.” The Associated Press reported it as the first time the United States has confirmed deploying weapons in space….

read … Air Force secretary’s space weapons confirmation raises concerns about planned Haleakalā telescopes : Maui Now

Coconut Island Visitors Still Shut Out In A $22 Million Bridge Fiasco

BH: … Nearly four years before an 8,000-pound county excavator collapsed part of Coconut Island’s pedestrian bridge in Hilo, engineers had already classified the structure as being in “serious condition.” They documented extensive deterioration and estimated repairs at about $1.35 million, including design and permitting. Now Hawaii County is looking at as much as $22 million for a temporary crossing and permanent replacement….

The January 2022 inspection documented deteriorating concrete and exposed, corroding steel. Engineers nevertheless allowed continued pedestrian use, with restrictions on large gatherings and maintenance vehicles.

The county proposed $2.5 million for bridge repairs in 2022 and announced handrail work that March. But we found no confirmation that the county completed the recommended structural repairs before the collapse, or that the engineering findings explicitly permitted the 8,000-pound excavator.

On the day the bridge collapsed, county spokesperson Tom Callis said officials were already negotiating a design contract for rehabilitation or replacement. That still doesn’t explain what happened to the earlier repair recommendations….

The $20 million proposal also includes seawalls, utilities, and other park improvements, making it hard to separate the actual bridge cost. Alameda says federal funding could cover most or all of the replacement, but we haven’t seen a final award or a clear breakdown….

Read … Coconut Island Visitors Still Shut Out In A $22 Million Bridge Fiasco

Vote by Mail Produces Many ‘Invalid’ Ballots

CB: … In August, Hawaiʻi’s Office of Elections broke two tied Oʻahu primaries by drawing plastic capsules from a lauhala basket. One result stands. The other goes back to voters on Nov. 3.

It didn’t have to come down to a basket, or a court fight, to pick a winner. One more counted vote would have broken either tie.

The day after the primary, the state listed 36 mail envelopes in House District 43 as “invalid,” which often means a ballot was flagged for a signature problem. Voters whose mail ballots were flagged had until Aug. 14 to fix them. The morning after the deadline, 33 envelopes were listed as invalid….

MEANWHILE: Long Lines Suppress Votes on Election Day: Election Officials Plan to do it Again

Read … Beth Fukumoto: Hawaiʻi Should Mend Ballot Process That Bred Recent Fiascos - Honolulu Civil Beat

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