DoTax Suganuma Out?
BLNR Transfers 300 ac to DHHL
Want more local food? Start by weeding out barriers
DPP establishes new review standards to speed up building permit approvals
Case: Jones Act waiver has assured delivery of domestic fuel supplies critical for Hawaii’s energy needs
State Tax Competitiveness
Carpenters spent $14.8M on Hawaii elections but phony Bill 9 Circus was more than they could beat
SA: … The Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters’ powerful super political action committee and a sister PAC combined to spend over $14.8 million during this year’s elections, according to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser review of documents filed with the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission following the Nov. 3 general election.
(CLUE: Money isn’t everything. Here is a story about an illusion more powerful than money.)
The political donations represent a significant increase from the $8.5 million the two PACs spent in the 2024 election cycle and included an eye-popping $2 million for Maui County Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura’s unsuccessful effort to unseat incumbent Mayor Richard Bissen. Sugimura, the Maui Council’s vice chair, gave up her Upcountry residency seat to run for mayor….
Sugimura was among three of the nine Maui County Council members who voted against Bissen’s controversial Bill 9 that calls for the phaseout (theft) of over 6,000 short-term vacation rental units to be converted into long-term housing to help provide stable homes for Maui fire survivors …
(CLUE: The Bill 9 illusion existed only to get Bissen & Co reelected. It worked. Now, having served its purpose, this illusion will be defeated in Court because neither property nor property entitlements can be taken without compensation. Despite a boatload of Carpenter Cash, 27,567 ducks just voted to reelect Missen Bissen Mayor of Duckburg after he let Lahaina burn down because they were fooled into believing that Bill 9 is real. No stolen TVR properties will ever be transferred to fire victims as a result of Bill 9. There will be some quacking and ruffled feathers. Then the circus will move on to the next spectacle as it always does.)
As with the carpenters’ financial support for Sugimura and Kauai County Council Member Bernard Carvalho, who lost his race for Kauai mayor, Izumi-Nitao said, “Opposition expenditures do not always yield the results that they want.”…
Another PAC controlled by the carpenters’ union, RISE Together Hawaii, spent $2.9 million to support a state constitutional amendment that called for Resilient Infrastructure for Shelter and Equity bonds, or RISE bonds. The amendment was overwhelmingly approved by voters….
Read … Carpenters spent $14.8 million on candidates and issues in Hawaii’s elections this year, with mixed results | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
BAAJA: Schatz, Hirono Split Votes on NIMBY Abolition Bill
SA: … Environmental and Indigenous advocates (The usual suspects) are urging Hawaii’s U.S. senators to oppose a sweeping federal permitting reform bill they say could weaken environmental protections, limit public participation (artificially induced property value inflation) and make it harder for ‘communities’ to challenge federally approved projects (profit themselves by property inflation, a byproduct of applied eco-snobbery) ….
The Senate voted 73-25 Monday to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA, setting up a potential final vote.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, voted against advancing the bill, while U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, joined 20 Democrats and all but one Republican in supporting the procedural vote ….
Big Q: Do you support the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA)? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
CB: Hirono said she couldn’t go along with the bill
SA: Editorial: Reach accord on BAAJA permitting bill | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
If you are surprised by Schatz’ position, click below to catch up on the last three years:
2023: Schatz-Goes-YIMBY
2024: Schatz: $6.6M for YIMBY
2025: VIDEO: Building common ground: Expanding housing in Hawaii
2026: Fixing Hawaiʻi’s Affordability Problem
read … Advocates warn bill could weaken environmental protections | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Green: The Left blocked my housing programs
CB: … I learned that some people that should be your deep allies sometimes forget. If I may, let me say this very specifically to some people that are a little even further to my left: We passed the climate impact fee. No one passed that in a generation. We settled the Navahine suit. We moved environmental policy like you can’t believe. Yet people still didn’t trust me that I would build safely new houses, and they blocked my housing programs.
Everyone should take a personal inventory and wonder why we haven’t moved further together when we have those opportunities. Because I’ve been, from my perspective, very cognizant of the value of our land, the need to protect our climate, and really be thoughtful about those who are struggling the most. So, I would love it if people took full inventory of all the things that our team did. And I think the election is a reflection that most people took a full inventory, and I’m going to be the governor for everybody.
But there were some people who still decided they couldn’t quite come to our side because they wanted lower taxes. They happened to forget I lowered taxes more than anyone in the history of Hawaiʻi because people get things stuck in their brain when they watch the wrong television show too often, and that is something I also want to work on. So you’ll see a lot more social media from me. You’ll see a lot more of these long-form conversations….
Read … Gov. Josh Green: 'Will I Do Better? Always' - Honolulu Civil Beat
Green Picks Bruno and Yu for Cabinet
CB: … Gov. Josh Green continues to make more changes to his second-term Cabinet.
The latest new face, The Blog hears, is Robert Yu as director of the Department of Budget and Finance. He was president and general manager of Oahu Transit Services and a member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board. Yu would succeed Seth Colby, if confirmed by the state Senate.
George “Rick” Bruno, meanwhile, may be named by Green to run the Department of Health, sources tell The Blog. He was formerly president of The Queen’s Medical Center. Bruno, if appointed and if confirmed by the Senate, would succeed Kenny Fink….
Read … The Sunshine Blog: Have The Inmates Taken Over The Asylum? - Ideas
22 Years later, Maui County Decides to let Long-awaited Waikapū development proceed
MN: … Developer Mike Atherton said he was a “young man” of 55 when he first started dreaming up Waikapū Country Town, a sprawling housing development in Maui’s central valley.
“They said, ‘Atherton, you’ll never get this project approved.’ Everybody told me that,” recalled Atherton, now 77. “I said, ‘oh yeah, you just sit back and watch.’ … Took awhile, but here we go.”
(CLUE: This project had to be stalled for 22 years in order to drive prices up by restricting supply. It worked. Now he is allowed to proceed.)
After more than two decades, Atherton’s Waikapū Properties LLC is preparing to break ground on the 1,433-unit housing project that will also include a new public school after obtaining the needed permits to start. He told the Hawai‘i Journalism Initiative on Wednesday he expects construction to be underway “more or less in 60 days.”
“We’re going to build this little town,” Atherton said.
The expected groundbreaking comes just as Maui County is moving forward with plans to build a much-needed wastewater treatment plant in Central Maui. It will serve the growing needs in the island’s population center, including Waikapū Country Town.
(TRANSLATION: Maui Co refused to build the sewage treatment plant in order to prevent the project from being built so that prices would be driven up. Now he is being allowed to proceed.)
The development will include 500 workforce housing units; 933 market-rate units; 200,000 square feet of retail space; 910 acres of agricultural preserve land; and a new elementary and middle school with capacity for 1,650 students at full buildout.
Atherton started planning the development in 2004, after purchasing 2,000 acres in Waikapū that included the Maui Tropical Plantation. After years of working through state and county review, where the project received widespread support from both officials and community members, the project got approval from the Maui County Council in 2019. However, Atherton said it has taken several more years after the project received the green light to get approval for the permits needed to start construction.…
REALITY: Affordable housing? Hawaii has already solved this problem
read … Long-awaited Waikapū development prepares to break ground as county moves forward with wastewater treatment plant : Maui Now
Affordable? Give full disclosures on Kakaako Makai
SA: … promises of affordable homes must be examined alongside costs, public safety and future development of the last public oceanfront land in urban Honolulu.
The public deserves to understand Kakaako Makai’s history, what “affordability” means, environmental concerns and constructive alternatives that could generate revenue while preserving public access.
In 2005, the proposed sale of public oceanfront land for luxury condominiums galvanized a groundswell of grassroots opposition. Protecting public ownership and access, while keeping the land residential-free, were central. In 2006, the Legislature enacted Act 317, prohibiting the Hawaii Community Development Authority from approving residential development in Kakaako Makai….
read … Column: Give full disclosures on Kakaako Makai | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
From Bill 7 to Bill 18: Honolulu rethinks its affordable housing strategy
KITV: … The goal was 500 completed units each year.
But rising construction costs, higher borrowing rates and permitting delays have made that target difficult to reach.
“I think it is time for us to look at a new affordable housing program through the city and conclude this program when it sunsets in 2030,” said Tupola.
That's where Bill 18 comes in.
“I proposed Bill 18 to kind of remedy some of these suggestions that are in the UHERO report,” said Tupola….
Nov 9, 2026: UHERO: Honolulu Bill 7 housing only 6.4% of goal
CB: Will Caron: Planning And Purgatory - Ideas
read … From Bill 7 to Bill 18: Honolulu rethinks its affordable housing strategy | News | kitv.com
Doors opening for factory-built homes in Hawaii
SA: … Factory-built housing, long envisioned as a way to reduce the high price of homes in Hawaii, may be establishing a foothold in the state.
A least a couple of major local developers have plans to fill out new subdivisions with homes built in a factory and attached to foundations at the homesite.
The developers, Honolulu-based Nan Inc. and Wailuku-based Dowling Co., both say they can deliver homes that match the quality of traditional “stick built” construction at a significantly lower cost and faster ….
read … Doors opening for factory-built homes in Hawaii | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Maui Police Commission Plans Illegal Secret Meeting to Fire Pelletier
CB: … Here we go again. Another public board planning to debate and take action on the performance of a top public official behind closed doors. Something that state law and the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court says needs to be done openly and in full public view.
This time it’s the Maui Police Commission. The commission plans to meet on Wednesday and has outlined an extensive agenda for an executive session that appears intended to lay the groundwork for firing Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. …
Read … Maui Police Commission's Secret Agenda To Deal With Its Outspoken Chief - Ideas
Hawaiʻi Makes It Hard For Independents Like Brenton Awa
CB: … Want to bust up Hawaiʻi’s dysfunctional two-party system? Change the state’s election rules….
read … Beth Fukumoto: Hawaiʻi Makes It Hard For Independents Like Brenton Awa - Ideas
Election Commission Fail: There will be no Quorum at the next meeting
CB: … The Sunshine Blog was surprised and happy to see that last week’s meeting of the Hawaiʻi Elections Commission — the first in five months — was much less acrimonious and a heck of a lot shorter than in the past. The politically polarized commission even managed to elect a pro tem chair to serve until members can find a permanent one.
But, alas, all is not hunky-dory. Only five of the eight commissioners tuned into the Zoom meeting and only one of those was a commissioner appointed by Democrats. The other three Dem-appointed members skipped the meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, but commissioner John Sabas — the sole Dem who made it to the Nov. 12 meeting — will be out of town. Good luck reaching quorum, let alone agreeing on new agenda items. The commission has also seen a lot of turnover, and it would not be a surprise to see more commissioners bail….
read … The Sunshine Blog: Have The Inmates Taken Over The Asylum? - Ideas
Court fiddles with elephants while human needs burn hot
Shapiro: … It wasn’t clear whether the elephants requested the group’s representation verbally or in writing….
Read … Volcanic Ash: Court fiddles with elephants while human needs burn hot | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Free legal clinic to help Waianae Criminals Hide their Arrest Records
HNN: … “Last year we had over 200 people attend the clinic here in Kapālama,” Aquino said….
SA: Kokua Line: Is person tested for ice before getting kauhale unit? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
read … Free legal clinic to help Waianae residents address warrants, arrest records | Hawaii News Now
THC Drinks in Hawaii: Are They Legal, Where to Buy Them and What's Changing
HNN: … Hawaii caps hemp THC drinks at 0.5mg per container and limits stronger products to medical patients. Here is what is legal, where to buy, and what 2026 changes mean….
Read … THC Drinks in Hawaii: Are They Legal, Where to Buy Them and What's Changing (2026) | Herb
QUICK HITS:
- Update: Council votes 9-0 to confirm Mimi Desjardins as corporation counsel and Andrew Martin as prosecuting attorney : Maui Now
- Hawaii students put robotics skills to the test in Oahu competition | Hawaii News Now
- Waimanalo District Park maintenance concerns sideline youth sports | Hawaii News Now
- 2026-11-19-Election Comm Agenda-FINAL.pdf
- Hawaii state treasury audit finds $16.1B in assets, records in order | Hawaii News Now
- UH Manoa Campus Atheist Event
- USS North Dakota changes home port to Pearl Harbor, becoming Submarine Squadron 1’s sixth Virginia-class attack submarine
- NEWS RELEASE: HAWAIʻI AIR NATIONAL GUARD TO PERFORM FLYOVER AT UH MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT EVENT | Governor Josh Green, M.D.
- $3.7 million Diamond Head Lighthouse maintenance project going smoothly despite storms, says Coast Guard
- New training project from University of Hawaiʻi GoFarm Hawaiʻi, partners helps veterans build farming operations
- ‘Entertainment Tonight’ showcases Kauaʻi’ as county welcomes back tourists after hurricane recovery : Kauai Now
- Plan to rebuild fire-ravaged Wild Ginger Hotel in Hilo advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
- Column: East-West Center is better than ever | Honolulu Star-Advertiser